Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046 of the European Parliament and of the CouncilShow full title

Article 74 U.K. Powers and duties of the authorising officer

1. The authorising officer shall be responsible in the Union institution concerned for implementing revenue and expenditure in accordance with the principle of sound financial management, including through ensuring reporting on performance, and for ensuring compliance with the requirements of legality and regularity and equal treatment of recipients.

2. For the purposes of paragraph 1 of this Article, the authorising officer by delegation shall, in accordance with Article 36 and the minimum standards adopted by each Union institution and having due regard to the risks associated with the management environment and the nature of the actions financed, put in place the organisational structure and the internal control systems suited to the performance of his or her duties. The establishment of such structure and systems shall be supported by a comprehensive risk analysis, which takes into account their cost effectiveness and performance considerations.

3. To implement expenditure, the authorising officer responsible shall make budgetary and legal commitments, shall validate expenditure and authorise payments and shall undertake the preliminary steps for the implementation of appropriations.

4. To implement revenue, the authorising officer responsible shall draw up estimates of amounts receivable, establish entitlements to be recovered and issue recovery orders. Where appropriate, the authorising officer responsible shall waive established entitlements.

5. In order to prevent errors and irregularities before the authorisation of operations and to mitigate risks of non-achievement of objectives, each operation shall be subject at least to an ex ante control relating to the operational and financial aspects of the operation, on the basis of a multiannual control strategy which takes risk into account.

The extent in terms of frequency and intensity of the ex ante controls shall be determined by the authorising officer responsible taking into account the results of prior controls as well as risk-based and cost-effectiveness considerations, on the basis of the authorising officer’s own risk analysis. In case of doubt, the authorising officer responsible for validating the relevant operations shall, as part of the ex ante control, request complementary information or perform an on-the-spot control in order to obtain reasonable assurance.

For a given operation, the verification shall be carried out by staff other than those who initiated the operation. The staff who carry out the verification shall not be subordinate to the members of staff who initiated the operation.

6. The authorising officer by delegation may put in place ex post controls to detect and correct errors and irregularities of operations after they have been authorised. Such controls may be organised on a sample basis according to risk and shall take account of the results of prior controls as well as cost-effectiveness and performance considerations.

The ex post controls shall be carried out by staff other than those responsible for the ex ante controls. The staff responsible for the ex post controls shall not be subordinate to the members of staff responsible for the ex ante controls.

The rules and modalities, including timeframes, for carrying out audits of the beneficiaries shall be clear, consistent and transparent, and shall be made available to the beneficiaries when signing the grant agreement.

7. Authorising officers responsible and staff responsible for budget implementation shall have the necessary professional skills.

In each Union institution, the authorising officer by delegation shall ensure the following:

(a) that the authorising officers by subdelegation and their staff receive regularly updated and appropriate information and training concerning the control standards and the methods and techniques available for that purpose;

(b) that measures are taken, where needed, to ensure the effective and efficient functioning of the control systems in accordance with paragraph 2.

8. If a member of staff, involved in the financial management and control of transactions, considers that a decision he or she is required by his or her superior to apply or to agree to is irregular or contrary to the principle of sound financial management or the professional rules which that member of staff is required to observe, he or she shall inform his or her hierarchical superior accordingly. If the member of staff does so in writing, the hierarchical superior shall reply in writing. If the hierarchical superior fails to take action or confirms the initial decision or instruction and the member of staff believes that such confirmation does not constitute a reasonable response to his or her concern, the member of staff shall inform the authorising officer by delegation in writing. If that officer does not reply within a reasonable time given the circumstances of the case and in any event within a month, the member of staff shall inform the relevant panel referred to in Article 143.

In the event of any illegal activity, fraud or corruption which may harm the interests of the Union, the member of staff shall inform the authorities and bodies designated in the Staff Regulations and in the decisions of Union institutions concerning the terms and conditions for internal investigations in relation to the prevention of fraud, corruption and any other illegal activity detrimental to the interests of the Union. Contracts with external auditors carrying out audits of the financial management of the Union shall provide for an obligation of the external auditor to inform the authorising officer by delegation of any suspected illegal activity, fraud or corruption which may harm the interests of the Union.

9. The authorising officer by delegation shall report to his or her Union institution on the performance of his or her duties in the form of an annual activity report containing financial and management information, including the results of controls, declaring that, except as otherwise specified in any reservations related to defined areas of revenue and expenditure, he or she has reasonable assurance that:

(a) the information contained in the report presents a true and fair view;

(b) the resources assigned to the activities described in the report have been used for their intended purpose and in accordance with the principle of sound financial management; and

(c) the control procedures put in place give the necessary guarantees concerning the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions.

The annual activity report shall include information on the operations carried out, by reference to the objectives and performance considerations set in the strategic plans, the risks associated with those operations, the use made of the resources provided and the efficiency and effectiveness of internal control systems. The report shall include an overall assessment of the costs and benefits of controls and information on the extent to which the operational expenditure authorised contributes to the achievement of strategic objectives of the Union and generates EU added value. The Commission shall prepare a summary of the annual activity reports for the preceding year.

The annual activity reports for the financial year of the authorising officers and, where applicable, authorising officers by delegation of Union institutions, Union bodies, European offices and agencies shall be published by 1 July of the following financial year on the website of the respective Union institution, Union body, European office or agency in an easily accessible way, subject to duly justified confidentiality and security considerations.

10. The authorising officer by delegation shall, for each financial year, record contracts concluded by negotiated procedures in accordance with points (a) to (f) of point 11.1 and point 39 of Annex I. If the proportion of negotiated procedures in relation to the number of contracts awarded by the same authorising officer by delegation increases significantly in relation to earlier years or if that proportion is distinctly higher than the average recorded for the Union institution, the authorising officer responsible shall report to the Union institution setting out any measures taken to reverse that trend. Each Union institution shall send a report on negotiated procedures to the European Parliament and to the Council. In the case of the Commission, that report shall be annexed to the summary of the annual activity reports referred to in paragraph 9 of this Article.