The revenues of the Authority shall consist of a contribution from the Community and, from any State with which the Community has concluded the agreements referred to in Article 49, and charges for publications, conferences, training and any other similar activities provided by the Authority.

The expenditure of the Authority shall include the staff, administrative, infrastructure and operational expenses, and expenses resulting from contracts entered into with third parties or resulting from the financial support referred to in Article 36.

The Executive Director shall draw up, in good time before the date referred to in paragraph 5, a draft statement of estimates of the Authority's revenue and expenditure for the following financial year and shall forward it to the Management Board, together with the establishment plan.

Revenue and expenditure shall be in balance.

Each year the Management Board, on the basis of a draft statement of estimates of revenue and expenditure, shall produce a statement of estimates of revenue and expenditure of the Authority for the following financial year. This statement of estimates, which shall include a draft establishment plan together with the provisional work programmes, shall be forwarded by 31 March at the latest by the Management Board to the Commission and to the countries with which the Community has concluded agreements in accordance with Article 49.

The statement of estimates shall be forwarded by the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council (hereinafter referred to as the budgetary authority) together with the preliminary draft general budget of the European Union.

On the basis of the statement of estimates, the Commission shall enter in the preliminary draft general budget of the European Union the estimates it deems necessary for the establishment plan and the amount of the subsidy to be charged to the general budget, which it shall place before the budgetary authority in accordance with Article 272 of the Treaty.

The budgetary authority shall authorise the appropriations for the subsidy to the Authority.

The budgetary authority shall adopt the establishment plan for the Authority.

The budget shall be adopted by the Management Board. It shall become final following final adoption of the general budget of the European Union. Where appropriate, it shall be adjusted accordingly.

The Management Board shall, as soon as possible, notify the budgetary authority of its intention to implement any project which may have significant financial implications for the funding of the budget, in particular any projects relating to property such as the rental or purchase of buildings. It shall inform the Commission thereof.

Where a branch of the budgetary authority has notified its intention to deliver an opinion, it shall forward its opinion to the Management Board within a period of six weeks from the date of notification of the project.

The Executive Director shall implement the Authority's budget.

By 1 March at the latest following each financial year, the Authority's accounting officer shall communicate the provisional accounts to the Commission's accounting officer together with a report on the budgetary and financial management for that financial year. The Commission's accounting officer shall consolidate the provisional accounts of the institutions and decentralised bodies in accordance with Article 128 of the general Financial Regulation.

By 31 March at the latest following each financial year, the Commission's accounting officer shall forward the Authority's provisional accounts to the Court of Auditors, together with a report on the budgetary and financial management for that financial year. The report on the budgetary and financial management for the financial year shall also be forwarded to the European Parliament and the Council.

On receipt of the Court of Auditors' observations on the Authority's provisional accounts under Article 129 of the general Financial Regulation, the Executive Director shall draw up the Authority's final accounts under his own responsibility and submit them to the Management Board for an opinion.

The Management Board shall deliver an opinion on the Authority's final accounts.

The Executive Director shall, by 1 July at the latest following each financial year, forward the final accounts to the European Parliament, the Council, the Commission and the Court of Auditors, together with the Management Board's opinion.

The final accounts shall be published.

The Executive Director shall send the Court of Auditors a reply to its observations by 30 September at the latest. He shall also send this reply to the Management Board.

The Executive Director shall submit to the European Parliament, at the latter's request, all information necessary for the smooth application of the discharge procedure for the financial year in question, as laid down in Article 146(3) of the general Financial Regulation.

The European Parliament, on a recommendation from the Council acting by a qualified majority, shall, before 30 April of year N + 2, give a discharge to the Executive Director in respect of the implementation of the budget for year N.