Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1268/2012 (repealed)Dangos y teitl llawn

TITLE II BUDGETARY PRINCIPLES

CHAPTER 1 Principles of unity and budgetary accuracy

Article 2 Accounting for interest yielded on pre-financing(Article 8(4) of the Financial Regulation)

Where interest is due to the budget, the agreement concluded with the entities or persons listed in points (ii) to (viii) of Article 58(1)(c) of the Financial Regulation shall stipulate that pre-financing is paid to bank accounts or sub-accounts which allow the funds and related interest to be identified. Otherwise, the accounting methods of the recipients or intermediaries must make it possible to identify the funds paid by the Union and the interest or other benefits yielded by those funds.

Provisions of this Regulation concerning interest on pre-financing shall be without prejudice to the entry of pre-financing on the assets side of financial statements, as laid down in the accounting rules referred to in Article 143 of the Financial Regulation.

CHAPTER 2 Principle of annuality

Article 3 Appropriations for the financial year(Article 11(3) of the Financial Regulation)

The commitment appropriations and payment appropriations authorised for the financial year shall consist of:

(a)

appropriations provided in the budget, including by amending budgets;

(b)

appropriations carried over;

(c)

appropriations made available again in accordance with Articles 178 and 182 of the Financial Regulation;

(d)

appropriations arising from pre-financing payments which have been repaid in accordance with Article 177(3) of the Financial Regulation;

(e)

appropriations provided following the receipt of revenue assigned during the financial year or during previous financial years and not used.

Article 4 Cancellation and carryover of appropriations(Article 13(2) of the Financial Regulation)

1. The commitment appropriations and the non-differentiated appropriations relating to building projects referred to in Article 13(2)(a) of the Financial Regulation may be carried over only if the commitments could not be made before 31 December of the financial year for reasons not attributable to the authorising officer and if the preparatory stages are sufficiently advanced to make it reasonable to surmise that the commitment will be made by no later than 31 March of the following year, or 31 December for building projects.

2. The preparatory stages referred to in Article 13(2)(a) of the Financial Regulation, which should be completed by 31 December of the financial year in order to allow a carryover to the following year, are in particular:

(a) for global commitments within the meaning of Article 85 of the Financial Regulation, the adoption of a financing decision or the closing by that date of the consultation of the departments concerned within each institution for the adoption of the decision;

(b) for individual commitments within the meaning of Article 85 of the Financial Regulation, the completion of the selection of potential contractors, beneficiaries, prize winners or delegatees.

3. Appropriations carried over in accordance with Article 13(2)(a) of the Financial Regulation which have not been committed by 31 March of the following financial year or up to 31 December of the following year for amounts relating to building projects shall be automatically cancelled.

The Commission shall inform the European Parliament and Council of the appropriations cancelled in this way within one month following the cancellation in accordance with the first subparagraph.

4. Appropriations carried over in accordance with Article 13(2)(b) of the Financial Regulation may be used until 31 December of the following financial year.

5. The accounts shall identify appropriations carried over in accordance with paragraphs 1 to 4.

CHAPTER 3 Principle of unit of account

Article 5 Rate of conversion between the euro and other currencies(Article 19 of the Financial Regulation)

1. Without prejudice to specific provisions arising from the application of sector-specific regulations, conversion by the responsible authorising officer shall be made using the daily euro exchange rate published in the C series of the Official Journal of the European Union.

Where conversion between the euro and another currency is to be made by the contractors or beneficiaries, the specific arrangements for conversion contained in procurement contracts, grant agreements or financing agreements shall apply.

2. In order to avoid that currency conversion operations have a significant impact on the level of the Union co-financing or a detrimental impact on the Union budget, the specific arrangements for conversion referred to in paragraph 1 shall provide, if appropriate, for a rate of conversion between the euro and other currencies to be calculated using the average of the daily exchange rate in a given period.

3. If no daily euro exchange rate is published in the Official Journal of the European Union for the currency in question, the responsible authorising officer shall use the accounting rate referred to in paragraph 4.

4. For the purposes of the accounts provided for in Articles 151 to 156 of the Financial Regulation and subject to Article 240 of this Regulation, conversion between the euro and another currency shall be made using the monthly accounting rate of the euro. That accounting exchange rate shall be established by the Commission’s accounting officer by means of any source of information he regards as reliable, on the basis of the exchange rate on the penultimate working day of the month preceding that for which the rate is established.

5. The results of the currency operations referred to in paragraph 4 of this Article shall be shown under a separate heading in the respective institution’s accounts.

The first subparagraph of this paragraph shall apply mutatis mutandis to bodies referred to in Article 208 of the Financial Regulation.

Article 6 Rate to be used for conversion between the euro and other currencies(Article 19 of the Financial Regulation)

1. Without prejudice to specific provisions deriving from the application of sector-specific regulations, or from specific procurement contracts, grant agreements or grant decisions and financing agreements, the rate to be used for conversion between the euro and other currencies shall, in cases where the conversion is carried out by the responsible authorising officer, be that of the day on which the payment order or recovery order is drawn up by the authorising department.

2. In case of euro imprest accounts, the rate to be used for the conversion between the euro and other currencies shall be determined by the date of the payment by the bank.

3. For the regularisation of imprest accounts in national currencies, as referred to in Article 19 of the Financial Regulation, the rate to be used for the conversion between the euro and other currencies shall be that of the month of the expenditure from the imprest account concerned.

4. For the reimbursement of flat-rate expenditure, or expenditure arising from the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Union and the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union (hereinafter ‘Staff Regulations’) which is fixed at a ceiling, and which is paid in a currency other than the euro, the rate to be used shall be that which is in force when the entitlement arises.

CHAPTER 4 Principle of universality

Article 7 Structure to accommodate assigned revenue and provision of corresponding appropriations(Article 21 of the Financial Regulation)

1. Without prejudice to Articles 9 and 10, the structure to accommodate assigned revenue in the budget shall comprise:

(a) in the statement of revenue of each institution’s section, a budget line to receive the revenue;

(b) in the statement of expenditure, the budget remarks, including general remarks, shall show which lines may receive the appropriations corresponding to the assigned revenue which are made available.

In the case referred to in point (a) of the first subparagraph, a token entry ‘pro memoria’ shall be made and the estimated revenue shall be shown for information in the remarks.

2. The appropriations corresponding to assigned revenue shall be made available automatically, both as commitment appropriations and as payment appropriations, when the revenue has been received by the institution, save in any of the following cases:

(a) in cases provided for in Article 181(2) and 183(2) of the Financial Regulation;

(b) in the case provided for in Article 21(2)(b) of the Financial Regulation for Member States where the contribution agreement is expressed in euro.

In the case referred to in point (b) of the first subparagraph, commitment appropriations may be made available upon signature by the Member State of the contribution agreement.

Article 8 Contributions from Member States to research programmes(Article 21(2)(a) of the Financial Regulation)

1. The Member States’ contributions to the financing of certain supplementary research programmes, provided for in Article 5 of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1150/2000(1) shall be paid as follows:

(a) seven twelfths of the sum entered in the budget shall be paid by no later than 31 January of the current financial year;

(b) the remaining five twelfths shall be paid by no later than 15 July of the current financial year.

2. Where the budget has not been finally adopted before the start of a financial year, the contributions provided for in paragraph 1 shall be based on the sum entered in the budget for the previous financial year.

3. Any contribution or additional payment owed by the Member States to the budget shall be entered in the Commission’s account or accounts within 30 calendar days of the call for funds.

4. Payments made shall be entered in the account provided for in Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1150/2000 and shall be subject to the conditions laid down by that Regulation.

Article 9 Assigned revenue resulting from the participation of EFTA States in certain Union programmes(Article 21(2)(e) of the Financial Regulation)

1. The budget structure to accommodate the participation of the Member States of the European Free Trade Association (hereinafter ‘EFTA States’) in certain Union programmes shall be as follows:

(a) in the statement of revenue, a line with a token entry ‘pro memoria’ shall be entered to accommodate the full amount of the EFTA States’ contribution for the financial year in question.

(b) in the statement of expenditure:

(i)

the remarks for each line relating to the Union activities in which the EFTA States participate shall show ‘for information’ the estimated amount of the participation;

(ii)

an annex, forming an integral part of the budget, shall set out all the lines covering the Union activities in which the EFTA States participate.

For the purposes of point (a) of the first subparagraph the estimated amount shall be shown in the budget remarks.

The annex referred to in point (b)(ii) of the first subparagraph reflects and is part of the structure to accommodate the appropriations corresponding to such participation, as provided for in paragraph 2, and to allow the expenditure to be implemented.

2. Under Article 82 of the Agreement on the European Economic Area (hereinafter ‘EEA Agreement’) the amounts of the annual participation of the EFTA States, as confirmed to the Commission by the Joint Committee of the European Economic Area in accordance with Article 1(5) of Protocol 32 annexed to the EEA Agreement, shall give rise to the provision, at the start of the financial year, of the full amounts of the corresponding commitment appropriations and payment appropriations.

3. If, in the course of the financial year, additional appropriations are provided on the budget lines with EFTA State participation without the EFTA States being able, during that year, to adjust their contributions accordingly in order to comply with the ‘proportionality factor’ provided for in Article 82 of the EEA Agreement, the Commission may, as a provisional and exceptional measure, use its cash resources to pre-finance the share of the EFTA States. Whenever such additional appropriations are provided, the Commission shall, as soon as possible, call in the corresponding contributions from the EFTA States. The Commission shall inform the European Parliament and Council each year of any such decisions taken.

The pre-financing shall be regularised as soon as possible in the budget for the following financial year.

4. In accordance with Article 21(2)(e) of the Financial Regulation, the financial contributions of the EFTA States shall constitute external assigned revenue. The accounting officer shall adopt appropriate measures to ensure that use of the revenue arising from those contributions and of the corresponding appropriations is monitored separately.

In the report provided for in Article 150(2) of the Financial Regulation, the Commission shall show separately the stage of implementation, in both revenue and expenditure, corresponding to EFTA State participation.

Article 10 Proceeds of sanctions imposed on Member States declared to have an excessive deficit(Article 21(2)(c) of the Financial Regulation)

The budget structure to accommodate the proceeds of the sanctions referred to in Section 4 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1467/97(2) shall be as follows:

(a)

in the statement of revenue, a line carrying a token entry ‘pro memoria’ shall be entered to accommodate the interest on such amounts;

(b)

at the same time, and without prejudice to Article 77 of the Financial Regulation, entry of those amounts in the statement of revenue shall give rise to the provision, in the statement of expenditure, of commitment appropriations and payment appropriations.

The appropriations referred to in point (b) of the first subparagraph shall be implemented in accordance with Article 20 of the Financial Regulation.

Article 11 Charges entailed by acceptance of donations to the Union(Article 22 of the Financial Regulation)

For the purposes of the authorisation of the European Parliament and of the Council referred to in Article 22(2) of the Financial Regulation, the Commission shall estimate and duly explain the financial charges, including follow-up costs, entailed by the acceptance of donations made to the Union.

Article 12 Accounts for recoverable taxes(Article 23(3) of the Financial Regulation)

Any taxes borne by the Union under Article 23(2) and 23(3)(a) of the Financial Regulation shall be entered in a suspense account until they are refunded by the States concerned.

CHAPTER 5 Principle of specification

Article 13 Rules concerning the calculation of percentages of transfers of the institutions other than the Commission(Article 25 of the Financial Regulation)

1. The percentages referred to in Article 25 of the Financial Regulation shall be calculated at the time the request for transfer is made and with reference to the appropriations provided in the budget, including amending budgets.

2. The amount to be taken into consideration shall be the sum of the transfers to be made on the line from which transfers are being made, after adjustment for earlier transfers made.

The amount corresponding to the transfers which can be carried out autonomously by the institution concerned without a decision of the European Parliament and Council shall not be taken into consideration.

Article 14 Rules concerning the calculation of percentages of transfers of the Commission(Article 26 of the Financial Regulation)

1. The percentages referred to in Article 26(1) of the Financial Regulation shall be calculated at the time the request for transfer is made and with reference to the appropriations provided in the budget, including amending budgets.

2. The amount to be taken into consideration shall be the sum of the transfers to be made on the line from which or to which transfers are being made, after adjustment for earlier transfers made.

The amount corresponding to the transfers which can be carried out autonomously by the Commission without a decision of the European Parliament and the Council shall not be taken into consideration.

Article 15 Administrative expenditure(Article 26 of the Financial Regulation)

The expenditure referred to in point (b) of the first subparagraph of Article 26(1) of the Financial Regulation shall cover, for each policy area, the items referred to in Article 44(3) of the Financial Regulation.

Article 16 Grounds for requests for transfers of appropriations(Articles 25 and 26 of the Financial Regulation)

Proposals for transfers and all information for the European Parliament and Council concerning transfers made under Articles 25 and 26 of the Financial Regulation shall be accompanied by appropriate and detailed supporting documents showing the implementation of appropriations and estimates of requirements up to the end of the financial year, both for the lines to which the appropriations are to be transferred and for those from which they are to be taken.

Article 17 Grounds for requests for transfers from the emergency aid reserve(Article 29 of the Financial Regulation)

Proposals for transfers to allow the utilisation of the emergency aid reserve, referred to in Article 29 of the Financial Regulation, shall be accompanied by appropriate and detailed supporting documents showing:

(a)

for the line to which the transfer is to be made, the most recent information available for the implementation of appropriations and the estimate of requirements up to the end of the financial year;

(b)

for all lines relating to external action, the implementation of appropriations up to the end of the month preceding the request for transfer and an estimate of requirements up to the end of the financial year, including a comparison with the initial estimate;

(c)

an analysis of the possibilities of reallocating appropriations.

CHAPTER 6 Principle of sound financial management

Article 18 Evaluation(Article 30 of the Financial Regulation)

1. All proposals for programmes or activities occasioning budget expenditure shall be the subject of an ex ante evaluation, which shall address:

(a) the need to be met in the short or long term;

(b) the added value of Union involvement;

(c) the policy and management objectives to be achieved, which include measures necessary to safeguard the financial interests of the Union in the field of fraud prevention, detection, investigation, reparation and sanctions;

(d) the policy options available, including the risks associated with them;

(e) the results and impacts expected, in particular economic, social and environmental impacts, and the indicators and evaluation arrangement needed to measure them;

(f) the most appropriate method of implementation for the preferred option(s);

(g) the internal coherence of the proposed programme or activity and its relations with other relevant instruments;

(h) the volume of appropriations, human resources and other administrative expenditure to be allocated with due regard for the cost-effectiveness principle;

(i) the lessons learned from similar experiences in the past.

2. The proposal shall set out the arrangements for monitoring, reporting and evaluation, taking due account of the respective responsibilities of all levels of government that will be involved in the implementation of the proposed programme or activity.

3. All programmes or activities, including pilot projects and preparatory actions, where the resources mobilised exceed EUR 5 000 000 shall be the subject of an interim and/or ex post evaluation in terms of the human and financial resources allocated and the results obtained in order to verify that they were consistent with the objectives set, as follows:

(a) the results obtained in carrying out a multiannual programme shall be periodically evaluated in accordance with a timetable which enables the findings of that evaluation to be taken into account for any decision on the renewal, modification or suspension of the programme;

(b) activities financed on an annual basis shall have their results evaluated at least every six years.

Points (a) and (b) of the first subparagraph shall not apply to each of the projects or actions conducted within those activities, for which the requirement may be met by the final reports sent by the bodies which carried out the action.

4. The evaluations referred to in paragraphs 1 and 3 shall be proportionate to the resources mobilised for and the impact of the programme and activity concerned.

Article 19 Financial statement(Article 31 of the Financial Regulation)

The financial statement shall contain the financial and economic data for the assessment by the legislative authority of the need for Union action. It shall provide appropriate information as regards coherence with other activities of the Union and any possible synergy.

In the case of multiannual operations, the financial statement shall contain the foreseeable schedule of annual requirements in terms of appropriations and posts, including for external staff, and an evaluation of their medium-term financial impact.

CHAPTER 7 Principle of transparency

Article 20 Provisional publication of the budget(Article 34 of the Financial Regulation)

As soon as possible and no later than four weeks after the final adoption of the budget, the final detailed budget figures shall be published in all languages on the internet site of the institutions, on the Commission’s initiative, pending official publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Article 21 Publication of information on value and recipients of Union funds(Article 35 of the Financial Regulation)

1. The information on recipients of Union’s funds awarded under direct management shall be published on an internet site of the Union institutions, no later than 30 June of the year following the financial year in which the funds were awarded.

In addition to the publication referred to in the first subparagraph the information may also be published, according to a standard presentation, by other appropriate means.

2. The following information shall be published unless otherwise provided in this Regulation and in the sector specific rules, taking into account the criteria set out in Article 35(3) of the Financial Regulation:

(a) the name of the recipient;

(b) the locality of the recipient;

(c) the amount awarded;

(d) the nature and purpose of the measure.

For the purpose of point (b) the term ‘locality’ shall mean:

(i)

the address of the recipient when the latter is a legal person;

(ii)

the Region on NUTS 2 level when the recipient is a natural person.

As far as personal data referring to natural persons are concerned, the information published shall be removed two years after the end of the financial year in which the funds were awarded. The same shall apply to personal data referring to legal persons for whom the official title identifies one or more natural persons.

3. The information referred to in paragraph 2 shall only be published for prizes, grants and contracts which have been awarded as a result of contests or grant award procedures or public procurement procedures. The information shall not be published for:

(a) scholarships paid to natural persons and other direct support paid to natural persons in most need, referred to in Article 125(4)(c) of the Financial Regulation;

(b) contracts below the amount referred to in Article 137(2) of this Regulation.

4. The publication shall be waived if such disclosure risks threatening the rights and freedoms of individuals concerned as protected by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union or harm the commercial interests of the recipients.

Article 22 Link to the publication of information on recipients of Union funds awarded under indirect management(Article 35 of the Financial Regulation)

Where the management of Union funds is delegated to the authorities and bodies referred to in Article 58(1)(c) of the Financial Regulation, the delegation agreements shall require that information referred to in paragraphs 2 and 3 of Article 21 is published according to a standard presentation, by those entrusted authorities and bodies on their website.

The internet site of the Union institutions shall contain a reference at least of the address of the website where the information can be found if it is not published directly in the dedicated place of the internet site of the Union institutions.

In addition to the publication referred to in the first subparagraph the information may also be published, according to a standard presentation, by any other appropriate means.

Paragraphs 2 to 4 of Article 21 shall apply to the publication referred to in the first paragraph of this Article.

(1)

OJ L 130, 31.5.2000, p. 1.

(2)

OJ L 209, 2.8.1997, p. 6.