Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1271/2013 of 30 September 2013 on the framework financial regulation for the bodies referred to in Article 208 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council
Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1271/2013of 30 September 2013on the framework financial regulation for the bodies referred to in Article 208 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 of the European Parliament and of the CouncilTHE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,Having regard to Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union and repealing Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002OJ L 298, 26.10.2012, p. 1., and in particular Article 208 thereof,Whereas:(1)Commission Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2343/2002Commission Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2343/2002 of 19 November 2002 on the framework Financial Regulation for the bodies referred to in Article 185 of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities (OJ L 357, 31.12.2002, p. 72). on the framework Financial Regulation for the bodies set up by the Communities was based on Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities (OJ L 248, 16.9.2002, p. 1).. Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 has been replaced by Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012. It is therefore necessary to revise Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2343/2002. In the interests of clarity, it is necessary to replace Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2343/2002.(2)It is necessary to take into account the Joint statement of the European Parliament, the Council of the EU and the European Commission on decentralised agencies of 19 July 2012.(3)Certain provisions of Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2343/2002 need to be reviewed in order to take into account the experience gained in their application.(4)This Regulation should establish the broad principles and basic rules applicable to the bodies set up under TFEU and the Euratom Treaty (hereinafter "Union bodies") that receive contributions charged to the budget and without prejudice to the constituent act. On the basis of this Regulation Union bodies should adopt their own financial rules which may not depart from the Regulation except where their specific needs so require, and with the Commission’s prior consent.(5)Nevertheless Union bodies that are fully self-financed, to which this Regulation does not apply, should establish for the sake of consistency similar rules where appropriate. In accordance with the Joint statement of the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission of 19 July 2012, those bodies should submit to the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission an annual report on the execution of their budget and take duly into account their requests and recommendations.(6)Union bodies should establish and implement their budget in accordance with the five fundamental principles of budgetary law — unity, accuracy, universality, specification and annuality, and the principles of equilibrium, unit of account, sound financial management and transparency.(7)The balancing nature of the Union contribution should be emphasised. The part of the Union body’s positive budget result that exceeds the amount of Union contribution paid during the year should be returned to the Union budget.(8)Where the constituent act provides that the revenue is constituted by fees and charges in addition to the Union contribution and that the revenues arising from fees and charges are assigned to particular items of expenditure, Union bodies should have the possibility to carry forward the balance in the form of assigned revenues.(9)It is necessary to ensure that the fees are set at an appropriate level to cover the costs of providing the services and to avoid significant surpluses.(10)The delegation of budget implementation tasks to the Union bodies needs to be duly justified by the characteristics of the tasks and the specific expertise of the Union body, while ensuring sound financial management and cost-efficiency. The delegated tasks should be compatible with the constituent act.(11)The Union bodies should be allowed to receive ad-hoc grants only if this is expressly provided in the relevant basic acts and authorised in the constituent act.(12)Pursuant to Article 50 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012, the Union body has to take part in a benchmarking exercise with other Union bodies and institutions.(13)It is necessary to establish rules on the action plan to follow up on conclusions of the overall periodic evaluations in order to ensure their efficient implementation.(14)For the purpose of ensuring the consistent programming, the Union body should draw up a document containing annual and multiannual programming taking into account Commission guidelines.(15)The Union body should align the timetable for the annual and multiannual programming with the budgetary procedure to ensure its efficiency and consistency of all programming documents.(16)It is necessary to clarify the current architecture of the internal audit and internal control functions and to streamline the reporting requirements. The internal audit function within the Union body should be performed by the Commission’s internal auditor who should carry out audits when justified by the risks involved. It is necessary to provide rules on establishment and functioning of internal audit capabilities.(17)Reporting obligations should be streamlined. Union bodies should provide a consolidated annual activity report which includes comprehensive information on the implementation of its work programme, budget, staff policy plan, its management and internal control systems.(18)In order to improve the cost-efficiency of Union bodies, it is necessary to provide for the possibility of sharing services or transferring them to another Union body or to the Commission. In particular cost-efficiency can be improved by allowing the accounting officer of the Commission to be entrusted with all or part of the tasks of the accounting officer of the Union body.(19)As foreseen in Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012, the possibility to break down commitments extending over several years into annual instalments should be allowed only where the constituent act or basic act so provides or where they relate to administrative expenditure(20)In order to align the rules on assigned revenues with those of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 it is necessary to provide for rules on a differentiation of assigned revenue (internal and external) and on their carry over.(21)In order to align the rules on treatment of interest generated by the Union contribution to the Union body with those of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012, it is necessary to provide that interest is not due to the budget.(22)Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 provides for a possibility to enter a legal commitment before a budgetary commitment in specific cases. Union bodies should also have that possibility.(23)In order to ensure the consistency between Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2343/2002 and Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012, specific provisions on procurement and grants should not be allowed. The application of a single set of rules ensures simplification of the Union body’s work and enables the use of the guidelines and models prepared by the Commission.(24)The possibility of awarding prizes by the Union body should be introduced in order to align the provisions of Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2343/2002 with Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012.(25)To identify and correctly manage risk of actual or perceived conflict of interests, Union bodies should be required to adopt rules on the prevention and management of conflict of interests. Such rules should take into account guidelines developed by the Commission following the Joint statement of the European Parliament, The Council and the Commission of 19 July 2012.(26)The provisions regarding building policy, including the introduction of the possibility and conditions allowing Union bodies to raise loans, should be aligned with Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 to ensure a consistent application of newly introduced rules by all Union bodies and institutions.(27)It is necessary to provide for transitional provisions for programming and reporting given that Commission needs time to develop the appropriate guidelines in cooperation with the Union bodies,(28)This Regulation should enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union in order to allow for the timely adoption of the revised financial regulations of the Union bodies as of 1 January 2014 in order to ensure coherent rules for the next multiannual financial framework,HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: