Commission Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2342/2002 of 23 December 2002 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities
Modified by
Commission Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1261/2005of 20 July 2005amending Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2342/2002 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities, 305R1261, August 2, 2005
Corrected by
Corrigendum to Commission Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2342/2002 of 23 December 2002 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities, 302R2342R(04), December 28, 2005
Commission Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2342/2002of 23 December 2002laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European CommunitiesTABLE OF CONTENTSPART ONECOMMON PROVISIONSTITLE ISUBJECTTITLE IIBUDGETARY PRINCIPLESChapter 1Principles of unity and budget accuracyChapter 2Principle of annualityChapter 3(Chapter 4 of the Financial Regulation) Principle of unit of accountChapter 4(Chapter 5 of the Financial Regulation) Principle of universalityChapter 5(Chapter 6 of the Financial Regulation) Principle of specificationChapter 6(Chapter 7 of the Financial Regulation) Principle of sound financial managementChapter 7(Chapter 8 of the Financial Regulation) Principle of transparencyTITLE IIIESTABLISHMENT AND STRUCTURE OF THE BUDGETChapter 1Establishment of the budgetChapter 2Structure and presentation of the budgetTITLE IVIMPLEMENTATION OF THE BUDGETChapter 1General provisionsChapter 2Methods of implementationSection 1General provisionsSection 2Special provisionsChapter 3Financial actorsSection 1Rights and obligations of the financial actorsSection 2Authorising officerSection 3Accounting officierSection 4Imprest administratorChapter 4Liability of the financial actorsSection 1General rulesSection 2Rules applicable to authorising officers by delegation and subdelegationChapter 5Revenue operationsSection 1Own resourcesSection 2Estimate of amounts receivableSection 3Establishment of amounts receivableSection 4Authorisation of recoverySection 5RecoveryChapter 6Expenditure operationsSection 1Commitment of expenditureSection 2Validation of expenditureSection 3Authorisation of paymentsSection 4Payment of expenditureSection 5Time limits for expenditure operationsChapter 7IT systemsChapter 8Internal auditorTITLE VPROCUREMENTChapter 1General provisionsSection 1Scope and award principlesSection 2PublicationSection 3Procurement proceduresSection 4Guarantees and controlChapter 2Specific provisions applicable to contracts awarded by the Community institutions on their own accountTITLE VIGRANTSChapter 1ScopeChapter 2Award principlesChapter 3Award procedureChapter 4Payment and controlChapter 5ImplementationTITLE VIIPRESENTATION OF THE ACCOUNTS AND ACCOUNTINGChapter 1Presentation of the accountsChapter 2(Chapter 3 of the Financial Regulation) accountingSection 1Organisation of the accountsSection 2Accounting ledgersSection 3Chart of accountsSection 4RegistrationSection 5Reconciliation and verificationSection 6Budget accountsChapter 3(Chapter 4 of the Financial Regulation) property inventoriesPART TWOSPECIAL PROVISIONSTITLE I(TITLE II OF THE FINANCIAL REGULATION) STRUCTURAL FUNDSTITLE II(TITLE III OF THE FINANCIAL REGULATION) RESEARCHTITLE III(TITRE IV OF THE FINANCIAL REGULATION) EXTERNAL ACTIONSChapter 1General provisionsChapter 2Implementation of actionsChapter 3ProcurementChapter 4GrantsChapter 5Imprest accounts and inventoriesTITLE IV(TITLE V OF THE FINANCIAL REGULATION) EUROPEAN OFFICESTITLE V(TITLE VI OF THE FINANCIAL REGULATION) ADMINISTRATIVE APPROPRIATIONSPART THREETRANSITIONAL AND FINAL PROVISIONSTITLE ITRANSITIONAL PROVISIONSTITLE IIFINAL PROVISIONSTHE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community,Having regard to Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European CommunitiesOJ L 248, 16.9.2002, p. 1., and in particular Article 183 thereof,Having consulted the European Parliament, the Council, the Court of Justice of the European Communities, the Court of Auditors, the European Economic and Social Committee, the Committee of the Regions, the Ombudsman and the European Data Protection Supervisor,Whereas:(1)The provisions of Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 (hereinafter "the Financial Regulation") have been simplified to confine the Regulation to the basic principles and definitions relating to the establishment, execution and control of the general budget of the European Communities (hereinafter "the budget").(2)These implementing rules should therefore not only supplement the Financial Regulation in respect of the provisions thereof for which it expressly refers to the implementing rules but also in respect of the provisions whose application requires the implementing measures to be determined in advance. In the interests of clarity, it is necessary to replace Commission Regulation (Euratom, ECSC, EC) No 3418/93 of 9 December 1993 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of the Financial Regulation of 21 December 1977OJ L 315, 16.12.1993, p. 1., as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1687/2001OJ L 228, 24.8.2001, p. 8..(3)To ensure that sectoral rules are consistent with the budgetary principles set out in the Financial Regulation, an inventory should be produced of all regulatory instruments relating to budget execution and provision made for this inventory to be drawn up by the Commission and submitted to the budgetary authority.(4)As regards the budgetary principles, in particular the principle of unity, the requirement that interest on pre-financing to be repaid to the budget be identified means that any pre-financing which remains the property of the Communities must be identified. Such pre-financing remains the property of the institution unless the basic act, within the meaning of Article 49 of the Financial Regulation, provides otherwise and unless it is paid under a procurement contract, or to staff or members of the institutions, or to the Member States. This rule should be spelled out according to the type of management (direct or indirect centralised management and shared management). It does not apply to joint management since in such cases the Community funds are merged with the funds of the international organisation. Where pre-financing which remains the property of the Communities yields interest, this interest should be paid to the budget as miscellaneous revenue.(5)For the principle of annuality, it is important to clarify the meaning of annual appropriations and the preparatory stages of the commitment procedure which, if completed by 31 December, may allow the carryover of commitment appropriations which will then have to be used by 31 March of the following financial year.(6)As regards the principle of the unit of account, the rates to be used for conversion between the euro and the other currencies for the requirements of the management of the cash flow and the accounts should be specified.(7)As regards the derogations from the principle of universality, the budget treatment to be given to assigned revenue, in particular to contributions by Member States or third countries to certain Community programmes, should be specified, as must the limits on the netting of expenditure and revenue.(8)As regards the principle of specification, a precise definition should be given of the calculation of the percentage of appropriations which the institutions are authorised to transfer by virtue of the autonomy they enjoy and provision should be made for the budgetary authority to be given full information through a detailed explanation of the requests for transfers which have to be submitted to it.(9)As for sound financial management, it is necessary to specify the objectives of the ex ante, interim and ex post evaluations of the programmes and activities, the minimum frequency with which they are to be carried out and the information to be given in the legislative financial statement.(10)As for the establishment and presentation of the budget, it is necessary to determine the contents of the general introduction to the budget, the working documents backing up the budget and the budget remarks for ensuring that the budgetary authority is fully informed. In the new activity-based budgeting (ABB) presentation, the definition and classification of administrative appropriations should also be set out.(11)As regards implementation of the budget, it is appropriate first to clarify the forms which may be taken by basic acts in the Community field and in the fields covered by the Treaty on European Union. The maximum amounts of appropriations which may be implemented for preparatory actions and pilot schemes without the existence of a basic act should be determined and the provisions of the Treaties conferring specific powers directly on the Commission should be listed.(12)Acts likely to constitute a conflict of interests should also be defined, together with the procedure to be followed in such cases.(13)As for the different methods of implementing the budget, it should be laid down that, when the Commission does not implement the budget directly in its departments, it must first ascertain that the entities to which it plans to entrust implementing tasks have management procedures and control and accounting systems which are adequate and appropriate with regard to the requirements of sound financial management.(14)In respect of indirect centralised management, that is to say, of management delegated by the Commission to executive agencies or to bodies governed by Community law or national public-sector bodies or bodies with a public-service mission, it is also necessary to lay down the framework for such delegation of powers and the arrangements for its implementation by act of delegation or agreement. The executive agencies, which remain under Commission control, should be recognised as authorising officers by delegation of that institution for implementation of the Community budget. Where national bodies have to carry out acts of budget implementation, they should offer adequate financial guarantees and be chosen in a transparent manner following a cost-effectiveness analysis showing the reasons for delegating management to such a body. The Commission should seek the opinion of the relevant committee, in accordance with the basic act for implementing the appropriations concerned, before delegating powers to national bodies. Private-law entities performing preparatory or ancillary tasks on the Commission's behalf should be selected in accordance with procurement procedures.(15)For shared management with the Member States or decentralised management with third countries, the stages and objectives of the procedure for the clearance of accounts should be laid down without prejudice to the specific provisions contained in the relevant sectoral regulations.(16)Finally, for joint management, it should be made clear that the share contributed by each donor to each type of expenditure need not be identified but that the subsidised actions must none the less be subject to comprehensive controls; the international organisations eligible for this type of management should be identified.(17)As regards the role of the financial actors, the reform of financial management, together with the dropping of centralised ex ante controls, increases the responsibilities of the authorising officers in all revenue and expenditure operations, including in terms of internal control systems. The budgetary authority should in future be informed of the appointment or termination of duties of an authorising officer by delegation. Consequently, the tasks, responsibilities and principles of the procedures to be observed should also be laid down. The internalisation of ex ante controls requires, in particular, a clear distinction between tasks relating to the initiation of operations in implementation of the budget and tasks relating to the verification of such operations. Moreover, each institution should adopt a code of professional standards applicable to the staff responsible for ex ante and ex post verifications. Provision should then be made for the responsibilities assumed to be accounted for in an annual report to the institution which must, inter alia, give the results of the ex post verifications; arrangements should also be made for keeping the supporting documents relating to the operations carried out. Finally, all the various forms of negotiated procedure for the award of public contracts should, since they represent derogations, be the subject of a special report to the institution and of a communication to the budgetary authority.(18)In order to clarify responsibilities, a precise definition should also be given of the tasks and responsibilities of the accounting officer in connection with the accounting systems, treasury management, the management of bank accounts and third-party files. The arrangements for the termination of the accounting officer's duties should also be spelled out.(19)The conditions for the use of imprest accounts, a system of management which forms an exception to normal budgetary procedures, should also be laid down, and the tasks and responsibilities of the imprest administrators, as well as those of the authorising officer and accounting officer in connection with the control of imprest accounts, should be set out. The budgetary authority should be informed of any appointment or termination of duties.(20)Once the tasks and responsibilities of each financial actor have been defined, they may be held liable only under the conditions laid down in the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Communities and the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants. However, a new specialised financial irregularities panel should be set up in appropriate manner in each institution to determine whether irregularities of a financial nature have occurred. The procedure by which an authorising officer may seek confirmation of an instruction and thus be released from any liability should also be laid down.(21)As regards revenue, except for the special case of own resources covered by Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1150/2000 of 22 May 2000 implementing Decision 94/728/EC, Euratom on the system of the Communities' own resourcesOJ L 130, 31.5.2000, p. 1., it is necessary to specify the tasks and controls falling within the responsibility of the authorising officers at the different stages of the procedure: establishment of the estimate of amounts receivable and then the recovery order; dispatch of the debit note informing the debtor that the amount receivable has been established; calculation of any default interest due; and, finally, the decision, where necessary, to waive an entitlement subject to criteria guaranteeing compliance with sound financial management. The accounting officer's role in the collection of revenue and in allowing any additional time for payment should also be specified.(22)As regards expenditure, the relationship between financing decisions, global commitments and individual commitments should be defined, as should the characteristics of those different stages. The distinction between a global commitment and an individual commitment depends on the extent to which the beneficiaries are identified and the amounts involved. Provisional commitments are limited to routine administrative expenditure and expenditure in connection with the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF). To restrict the volume of dormant commitments, appropriations corresponding to commitments for which no payment has been made for three years should be decommitted.(23)It is then necessary to clarify the relationship between validation, authorisation and payment operations and the controls to be carried out by the authorising officer when validating expenditure, with the endorsement "passed for payment", and when authorising payment by checking the validity of the release from all liability, for which the authorising officer now has sole responsibility. The documents to be produced in support of payments should be specified and rules laid down for the clearing of pre-financing and interim payments. Finally, the time-limits applicable to validation and payment operations should be laid down, account being taken of Directive 2000/35/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 June 2000 on combating late payment in commercial transactionsOJ L 200, 8.8.2000, p. 35..(24)For the internal audit, it is necessary to lay down the procedure for appointing the auditor and to guarantee his independence within the institution which has appointed him and to which he must report on his activities; the budgetary authority should be informed of any appointment or termination of duties.(25)With regard to procurement, the option taken is to insert in the present Regulation the provisions of Council Directives 92/50/EECOJ L 209, 24.7.1992, p. 1., 93/36/EECOJ L 199, 9.8.1993, p. 1. and 93/37/EECOJ L 199, 9.8.1993, p. 54., as last amended by Commission Directive 2001/78/ECOJ L 285, 29.10.2001, p. 1., relating to the procedures for the award of public service, supply and works contracts respectively. Consequently, it is first necessary to define the various types of procurement contract; the advertising and publication measures applicable; the conditions in which use may be made of a particular form of procedure and the main features of the existing procedures; the specification of selection criteria and the possible award arrangements; rules for access to tender documents and for communication with tenderers or candidates; and, for cases where the Commission awards contracts on its own account, the various thresholds applicable and the rules for estimating the value of the contracts to be awarded.(26)The purpose of the procedures for the award of contracts is to satisfy the needs of the institutions on the best possible terms while guaranteeing equal access to public contracts and complying with the principles of transparency and non-discrimination. With a view to ensuring transparency and the equal treatment of candidates, as well as the full responsibility of authorising officers in the final choice, it is necessary to lay down the procedure for opening and then evaluating tenders and requests to participate, from the appointment of a committee up to the substantiated and documented award decision, which ultimately rests with the contracting authority. The financial guarantees needed to protect the Communities' financial interests should also be specified.(27)Finally, it is necessary to delimit the contracting authorities' powers to impose administrative penalties, in order to ensure that penalties are proportionate and dissuasive and to secure equal treatment as between the various institutions and as between departments.(28)The scope of the Title on grants should also be clarified, particularly with regard to the different methods for implementing the budget, but also with regard to the type of action or body of general European interest eligible for a grant. The characteristics of the annual work programme and of calls for proposals should be specified, as should the possible exceptions in this context and the possibility of retroactive effect, particularly in the context of humanitarian aid and the management of crisis situations, for which the constraints are very specific.(29)Again with regard to the requirements of transparency, equal treatment for applicants and the enhancement of the accountability of authorising officers, the award procedure should be laid down, from the application for the grant to its evaluation, by a committee, in the light of previously specified selection and award criteria, before the authorising officer takes his final, appropriately documented decision.(30)Sound financial management then requires that the Commission protect itself with guarantees: at the stage of grant applications, by arranging financial audits for applications involving larger amounts; then, at the time of paying pre-financing, by requiring advance financial guarantees; and, finally, at the stage of final payment, by arranging financial audits for the requests which involve the largest amounts and which present most risk. Sound management and compliance with the no-profit and co-financing principles also require rules to be laid down delimiting the possible use of flat-rate payments. Finally, the sound management of Community funds means that the grant beneficiaries themselves must comply with the principles of transparency and equal treatment of potential contractors, as well as with the principle that the contract must be awarded to the tender offering best value for money when the action is partly sub-contracted.(31)Finally, powers for imposing penalties in that context should be aligned with those conferred in the context of procurement.(32)As regards the keeping and presentation of the accounts, each of the generally accepted accounting principles on which the financial statements must be based should be defined. It is also necessary to specify the conditions for entering a transaction in the accounts and the rules for valuing assets and liabilities and for the constitution of provisions.(33)It should be specified that the institutions' accounts must be accompanied by a report on budgetary and financial management and details should be given of the content and presentation of the elements making up the financial statements (balance sheet, economic outturn account, cash-flow table and annex) and the budget implementation statements (budget outturn account and annex).(34)On accounting matters, it should be specified that the accounting officer of each institution must produce documents describing the organisation of the accounts and the accounting procedures of that institution and define the conditions to be respected by the computerised accounting systems, in particular as regards security of access and the audit trail for any changes made to the systems.(35)As regards the keeping of the accounts, it is necessary to specify the principles applicable to the accounting ledgers, the trial balance, the periodical reconciliation of the totals in that balance and the inventory, and to specify the components of the chart of accounts adopted by the Commission's accounting officer. The rules applicable to the registration of operations, in particular the double-entry method, the rules for the conversion of operations which are not denominated in euro and the supporting documents for accounting entries, should be laid down. The content of the accounting records should also be specified.(36)Finally, it is necessary to lay down the rules relating to the property inventory and to clarify the respective responsibilities in this field of the accounting officers and authorising officers, as well as the rules applicable to the resale of property entered in the inventory.(37)As regards the Structural Funds, it should be specified that the repayment of payments on account in respect of a given operation does not have the effect of reducing the contribution from the Fund to that operation.(38)The types of action, direct and indirect, which may be financed in the research sector should be specified.(39)For external actions, the implementing rules, like the Financial Regulation itself, aim to make provision for exceptions which reflect the specific operational features of that sector, mainly as regards procurement and the award of grants.(40)As regards procurement, these implementing rules take over the substance of the provisions of the Commission Decision of 10 November 1999 on the simplification of the management systems for the award of contracts in the framework of the cooperation programmes implemented by the Directorates-General for external relations,SEC(1999) 1801. resulting in procurement rules which differ from the standard rules by virtue of the different thresholds set and the management procedures, which have been adapted to external actions.(41)As for grants, it is necessary to list the types of action for which derogation is possible from the principle of co-financing referred to in Article 109 of the Financial Regulation. This applies in particular to humanitarian aid and aid in crisis situations and actions for the protection of the health or fundamental rights of peoples.(42)To guarantee the sound management of Community appropriations, it is also necessary to specify the pre-conditions and the rules to be contained in the agreements when the management of appropriations is decentralised or if use is made of imprest accounts.(43)The provisions of the Financial Regulation relating to European Offices should be supplemented by specific rules for the Office for Official Publications of the European Communities and by provisions authorising the Commission's accounting officer to delegate some of his tasks to staff in those Offices. Operating procedures should also be laid down for the bank accounts which the European Offices may be authorised to open in the Commission's name.(44)As regards administrative appropriations, each institution should inform the budgetary authority of significant building projects which are under way, that is to say, of those increasing the building stock.(45)It is necessary to identify the bodies which may receive grants charged to the budget and which have to be given a set of rules in accordance with the conditions laid down in Article 185 of the Financial Regulation.(46)The various thresholds and amounts referred to in this Regulation should be regularly updated by linking them with the inflation recorded in the Community, with the exception of the thresholds applicable to procurement,HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: