Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council (repealed)Show full title

TITLE IX PRESENTATION OF THE ACCOUNTS AND ACCOUNTING

CHAPTER 1 Presentation of the accounts

Article 141 Structure of the accounts

The accounts shall comprise:

(a)

the consolidated financial statements, which present the consolidation of the financial information contained in the financial statements of the institutions financed by the budget, those of the bodies referred to in Article 208 and of other bodies whose accounts are required to be consolidated in accordance with the accounting rules referred to in Article 143;

(b)

the aggregated budgetary accounts which present the information contained in the budgetary accounts of the institutions.

Article 142 Report on budgetary and financial management

1. Each institution and body referred to in Article 141 shall prepare a report on budgetary and financial management for the financial year.

They shall send the report to the European Parliament, the Council and the Court of Auditors, by 31 March of the following financial year.

2. The report referred to in paragraph 1 shall give an account, both in absolute terms and expressed as a percentage, at least, of the rate of implementation of appropriations together with summary information on the transfers of appropriations among the various budget items.

3. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on the report on budgetary and financial management.

Article 143 Rules governing the accounts

1. The accounting officer of the Commission shall adopt rules based on internationally accepted accounting standards for the public sector. The accounting officer may diverge from those standards if he or she considers this necessary in order to give a true and fair view of the assets and liabilities, charges, income and cash flow. Where an accounting rule diverges materially from those standards, the notes to the financial statements shall disclose this fact and the reasons for it.

2. The budgetary accounts referred to in Article 141 shall respect the budgetary principles laid down in this Regulation. They shall present a true and fair view of the budgetary revenue and expenditure operations.

Article 144 Accounting principles

1. The financial statements referred to in Article 141 shall present information, including information on accounting policies, in a manner that ensures it is relevant, reliable, comparable and understandable. The financial statements shall be drawn up in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles as outlined in the accounting rules referred to in Article 143.

2. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts concerning the establishment of the framework for the implementation by the accounting officer of his or her tasks under this Article and Articles 145, 146, 148, 151, 154, 156 and 157.

Article 145 Financial statements

1. The financial statements shall be presented in millions of euro and shall comprise:

(a) the balance sheet and the statement of financial performance, which represent all assets and liabilities, the financial situation and the economic result at 31 December of the preceding year; they shall be presented in accordance with the accounting rules referred to in Article 143;

(b) the cash-flow statement showing amounts collected and disbursed during the year and the final treasury position;

(c) the statement of changes in net assets presenting an overview of the movements during the year in reserves and accumulated results.

2. The notes to the financial statements shall supplement and comment on the information presented in the statements referred to in paragraph 1 and shall supply all the additional information prescribed by internationally accepted accounting practice where such information is relevant to the activities of the Union.

Article 146 Budgetary implementation reports

1. The budgetary implementation reports shall be presented in millions of euro. They shall consist of:

(a) reports which aggregate all budgetary operations for the year in terms of revenue and expenditure;

(b) explanatory notes, which shall supplement and comment on the information given in the reports.

2. The structure of the budgetary implementation reports shall be the same as that of the budget itself.

Article 147 Provisional accounts

1. The accounting officers of the other institutions and bodies referred to in Article 141 shall send their provisional accounts to the accounting officer of the Commission and to the Court of Auditors by 1 March of the following year.

2. The accounting officers of the other institutions and bodies referred to in Article 141 shall also send by 1 March of the following year a reporting package to the accounting officer of the Commission, in a standardised format as laid down by the accounting officer of the Commission for consolidation purposes.

3. The accounting officer of the Commission shall consolidate those provisional accounts with the Commission's provisional accounts and shall send to the Court of Auditors, by 31 March of the following year, the provisional accounts of the Commission and the consolidated provisional accounts of the Union.

Article 148 Approval of the final consolidated accounts

1. The Court of Auditors shall, by 1 June, make its observations on the provisional accounts of the institutions other than the Commission and each body referred to in Article 141, and by 15 June, make its observations on the provisional accounts of the Commission and the consolidated provisional accounts of the Union.

2. The institutions other than the Commission, and each of the bodies referred to in Article 141, shall draw up their final accounts and send them to the accounting officer of the Commission, the Court of Auditors, the European Parliament and the Council by 1 July with a view to drawing up the final consolidated accounts.

The accounting officers of the other institutions and bodies referred to in Article 141 shall also send by 1 July, a reporting package to the accounting officer of the Commission, in a standardised format as laid down by the accounting officer of the Commission for consolidation purposes.

3. The accounting officer of each institution and body referred to in Article 141 shall also send to the Court of Auditors, with a copy to the accounting officer of the Commission, at the same date as the transmission of his or her final accounts, a representation letter covering those final accounts.

The final accounts shall be accompanied by a note drawn up by the accounting officer, in which the latter declares that the final acccounts were prepared in accordance with this Title and with the applicable accounting principles, rules and methods.

4. The accounting officer of the Commission shall draw up the final consolidated accounts on the basis of the information presented pursuant to paragraph 2 of this Article by the institutions other than the Commission and by bodies referred to in Article 141. The final consolidated accounts shall be accompanied by a note drawn up by the accounting officer of the Commission, in which the latter declares that the final consolidated accounts were prepared in accordance with this Title and with the accounting principles, rules and methods set out in the notes to the financial statements.

5. After approving the final consolidated accounts and its own final accounts, the Commission shall send them both to the European Parliament, the Council and the Court of Auditors by 31 July.

By the same date, the accounting officer of the Commission shall transmit a representation letter covering the final consolidated accounts to the Court of Auditors.

6. The final consolidated accounts shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union together with the statement of assurance given by the Court of Auditors in accordance with Article 287 TFEU and Article 106a of the Euratom Treaty by 15 November.

CHAPTER 2 Information on the implementation of the budget

Article 149 Report on budgetary guarantees and risks

In addition to the statements and reports provided for in Articles 145 and 146, the Commission shall report to the European Parliament and to the Council once a year on the budgetary guarantees referred to in point (d) of Article 49(1) and the corresponding risks.

That information shall be sent to the Court of Auditors at the same time.

Article 150 Information on budget implementation

1. In addition to the statements and reports provided for in Articles 145 and 146, the Commission's accounting officer shall send once a month to the European Parliament and to the Council figures, aggregated at chapter level at least, on the implementation of the budget, both for revenue and for expenditure against all appropriations.

Those figures shall also provide details of the utilisation of appropriations carried over.

The figures shall be sent within 10 working days of the end of each month.

2. Three times a year, within 30 working days of 31 May, 31 August and 31 December, the Commission's accounting officer shall send to the European Parliament and to the Council a report on the implementation of the budget, covering both revenue and expenditure broken down by chapter, article and item.

Those reports shall also provide details of the utilisation of appropriations carried over from preceding financial years.

3. The figures and the report on implementation of the budget shall at the same time be sent to the Court of Auditors and published on the Commission's website.

4. By 15 September of each year, the accounting officer shall send to the European Parliament and to the Council a report containing information on current risks noted, general trends observed, new accounting issues encountered, progress on accounting matters, including those raised by the Court of Auditors, and information on recoveries.

CHAPTER 3 Accounting

Section 1 Common provisions

Article 151 The accounting system

1. An institution's accounting system shall serve to organise the budgetary and financial information in such a way that figures can be entered, filed and registered.

2. The accounting system shall consist of general accounts and budgetary accounts. The accounts shall be kept in euro and on the basis of the calendar year.

3. The authorising officer by delegation may also keep analytical accounts.

Article 152 Common requirements for the institutions' accounting system

The accounting officer of the Commission shall, in accordance with Article 143, after consulting the accounting officers of the other institutions and of the bodies referred to in Article 141, adopt the accounting rules and the harmonised chart of accounts to be applied by all the institutions, the offices referred to in Title V of Part Two and all the bodies referred to in Article 141.

Section 2 General accounts

Article 153 The general accounts

The general accounts shall record, in chronological order using the double-entry method, all events and operations which affect the economic and financial situation and the assets and liabilities of the institutions and of the bodies referred to in Article 141.

Article 154 Entries in the general accounts

1. Balances and movements in the general accounts shall be entered in the accounting ledgers.

2. All accounting entries, including adjustments to the accounts, shall be based on supporting documents, to which the entries shall refer.

3. The accounting system shall be such as to leave a clear audit trail for all accounting entries.

Article 155 Accounting adjustments

The accounting officer shall, after the close of the financial year and up to the date of presentation of the general accounts, make any adjustments which, without involving disbursement or collection in respect of that year, are necessary for a true and fair presentation of those accounts. Such adjustments shall comply with the accounting rules referred to in Article 143.

Section 3 Budgetary accounts

Article 156 Budgetary accounting

1. The budgetary accounts shall provide a detailed record of the implementation of the budget.

2. For the purposes of paragraph 1, the budgetary accounts shall record all budgetary revenue and expenditure operations provided for in Title IV of Part One.

CHAPTER 4 Property inventories

Article 157 The inventory

1. Each institution and body referred to in Article 141 shall keep inventories showing the quantity and value of all the Union's tangible, intangible and financial assets in accordance with a model drawn up by the accounting officer of the Commission.

Each institution and body referred to in Article 141 shall check that entries in the inventory correspond to the actual situation.

2. The sale of the Union's tangible assets shall be suitably advertised.