Financial Agents' Responsibilities PDF

# DO L de 26.9.2024 ## Chapter 5: Responsability of Financial Agents ### Section 1: General Rules - **Article 90: Withdrawal of Delegations of Competencies and Suspension of Functions of Financial Agents** - Competent authorizing officers may be deprived of their delegation or subdelegation at a...

# DO L de 26.9.2024 ## Chapter 5: Responsability of Financial Agents ### Section 1: General Rules - **Article 90: Withdrawal of Delegations of Competencies and Suspension of Functions of Financial Agents** - Competent authorizing officers may be deprived of their delegation or subdelegation at any time, temporarily or definitively, if so decided by the authority that appointed them. - Accountants or administrators of advances, or both, may be suspended at any time, temporarily or definitively, if so decided by the authority that appointed them. - The above paragraphs are to be understood without prejudice to disciplinary measures taken in relation to the financial agents referred to in those paragraphs. - **Article 91: Liability of Financial Agents for Illegal Activities, Fraud or Corruption** - This chapter does not prejudice the criminal liability that may be incurred by the financial agents referred to in Article 90 under applicable national law and pursuant to the provisions in force relating to the protection of the financial interests of the Union and to the fight against corruption in which officials of the Union or the Member States were involved. - Without prejudice to Articles 92, 94, and 95 of this Regulation, competent authorizing officers, accountants, and administrators of advances may incur disciplinary and financial liability under the conditions laid down by the Staff Regulations, or for staff for the Commission employed in crisis management and humanitarian aid under Article 89(1) of this Regulation, under the conditions laid down by their contracts of employment. In the event of illegal activity, fraud, or corruption that may harm the interests of the Union, recourse shall be had to the authorities and bodies designated by applicable legislation, in particular OLAF. ### Section 2: Rules Applicable to Competent Authorizing Officers - **Article 92: Rules Applicable to Authorizing Officers** - The competent authorizing officer may incur financial liability as laid down in the Staff Regulations. - The competent authorizing officer shall incur financial liability, in particular, if, intentionally or through gross negligence: - it determines receivables or issues payment orders, commits expenditure or signs a payment order without complying with this Regulation; - it fails to record a credit instrument, fails to issue a payment order or delays issuing a payment order or delays issuing a payment order, thereby taking on the civil liability of the Union institution vis-à-vis a third party. - A delegated or sub-delegated authorizing officer who receives a binding instruction that he considers to be irregular or contrary to the principle of sound financial management, in particular because the instruction cannot be carried out with the resources allocated to it, must inform the authority from which it received the delegation or sub-delegation in writing. If the instruction is confirmed in writing and if such confirmation is received within the prescribed time limit and is sufficiently precise, the delegated or sub-delegated authorizing officer shall be exempt from any liability. He must carry out the instruction, unless it is manifestly illegal or constitutes a breach of the relevant security rules. - The same procedure shall apply if an authorizing officer considers that a decision of its responsibility is irregular or contrary to the principle of sound financial management, or if an authorizing officer becomes aware, during the implementation of a binding instruction, that the circumstances of the case may lead to such a situation. - The competent delegated authorizing officer shall record the confirmed instructions under the circumstances referred to in this paragraph and mention them in the annual activity report. - In the event of sub-delegation within its services, the delegated authorizing officer shall remain responsible for the effectiveness and efficiency of the internal management and control systems that have been set up and for the choice of the sub-delegated authorizing officer. - In the event of sub-delegation to the heads of the Union delegation and their deputies, the delegated authorizing officer shall be responsible for the definition of the internal management and control systems that have been set up and for their effectiveness and efficiency. The heads of the Union delegations shall be responsible for the proper functioning of these systems, in accordance with the instructions of the delegated authorizing officer, and for the management of funds and the operations carried out in the Union delegation under their responsibility. Before taking up their duties, they shall complete specific training courses on the duties and responsibilities of authorizing officers and budgetary implementation. - The heads of the Union delegations shall report, in accordance with Article 76(3), on their responsibilities under the first subparagraph of this paragraph. - The heads of the Union delegations shall present each year to the delegated authorizing officer of the Commission a declaration of reliability on the internal management and control systems in place in their delegation, as well as on the management of the operations sub-delegated to them and on their results, so as to enable the authorizing officer to make the declaration of reliability provided for in Article 74(9). - This paragraph shall also apply to the deputy heads of Union delegations when they act as authorizing officers by sub-delegation in the absence of the heads of Union delegations. - **Article 93: Treatment of Irregularities Committed by a Member of Staff** - Without prejudice to the specific powers of OLAF or the administrative autonomy of the institutions of the Union, the bodies of the Union, the European offices or the bodies or persons entrusted with the implementation of specific actions in the framework of the CFSP, in accordance with Title V TEU, with regard to their members of staff, and paying due attention to the protection of whistleblowers, any breach of a provision of this Regulation or a provision relating to financial management or to the verification of operations, resulting from an act or omission of a member of staff, shall be brought to the attention of the body referred to in Article 145, for its opinion, by any of the following: - the authority empowered to make the appointments responsible for disciplinary matters; - the competent authorizing officer, including the heads of Union delegations and the deputies who, in their absence, act as sub-delegated authorizing officers in accordance with Article 60(2). - Where it is a member of staff who reports directly to the body, the latter shall forward the file to the authority empowered to make the appointments of the Union institution, the body of the Union, the European office or the body or the person concerned and shall inform the member of staff thereof. The authority empowered to make the appointments may request an opinion from the body on the case. - Any request for an opinion from the body in accordance with paragraph 1, first subparagraph, shall be accompanied by a description of the facts and the act or omission the assessment of which is requested of the body, as well as the relevant supporting documents, including the reports of any investigations that may have been carried out. Whenever possible, the information that is submitted shall be anonymized. - Before submitting a request or any additional information to the body, the authority empowered to make the appointments or the authorizing officer, as the case may be, shall give the member of staff the opportunity to put forward his observations, after having notified him of the supporting documents referred to in the first subparagraph, to the extent that such notification does not seriously jeopardize the continuation of the investigations. - In the cases referred to in paragraph 1 of this article, the body referred to in Article 145 shall be competent to assess whether, on the basis of the elements submitted to it in accordance with paragraph 2 of this article and of any additional information received, a financial irregularity has occurred. In the light of the opinion issued by the body, the Union institution, the body of the Union, the European office or the body or person concerned shall decide on the appropriate follow-up measures in accordance with the Staff Regulations. If the body has identified systemic problems, it shall make a recommendation to the authorizing officer and the delegated authorizing officer, unless the latter is the person concerned, and to the internal auditor. - In the cases referred to in paragraph 2 of this article, the body shall consist of the members referred to in Article 145(2), first subparagraph, points (a) and (b), as well as the following additional members, who shall be appointed taking into account the need to avoid any conflict of interest: - a representative of the authority empowered to make the appointments responsible for disciplinary matters of the Union institution, the body of the Union, the European office or the body or person concerned when the case is brought to the attention of the body in accordance with paragraph 1, first subparagraph, point (a), or a representative of the competent authorizing officer when the case is brought to the attention of the body in accordance with paragraph 1, first subparagraph, point (b); - a member appointed by the Committee of Staff of the Union institution, the body of the Union, the European office or the body or person concerned; - a member of the Legal Service of the Union institution to which the member of staff belongs. - If the body issues the opinion referred to in paragraph 1, it shall address it to the authority empowered to make the appointments of the Union institution, the body of the Union, the European office or the body or person concerned. - The body shall not have any investigative powers. The Union institution, the body of the Union, the European office or the body or person concerned shall cooperate with the body with a view to ensuring that it has all the information necessary to issue its opinion. - If the body concludes that the matter referred to it is within the competence of OLAF, it shall forward the file to the competent authority empowered to make the appointments without delay, in accordance with paragraph 1, and shall inform OLAF thereof without delay. - The Member States shall fully support the Union when it demands accountability under Article 22 of the Staff Regulations from temporary agents to whom Article 2(e) of the Scheme applying to other agents of the European Union applies. ### Section 3: Rules Applicable to Accountants and Administrators of Advances - **Article 94: Rules Applicable to Accountants** - The accountant may incur disciplinary or financial liability in the conditions and under the procedures laid down by the Staff Regulations. In particular, the following constitute breaches that may compromise its liability: - misplacing or damaging any funds, securities or documents held in its custody; - improperly modifying bank accounts or postal current accounts; - making collections or payments that are not in accordance with the relevant payment orders; - failing to collect the sums owed. - **Article 95: Rules Applicable to Administrators of Advances** - The administrator of advances may, in particular, incur liability for any of the following breaches: - misplacing or damaging any funds, securities or documents held in its custody; - being unable to justify payments made with appropriate documentation; - making payments to persons who are not entitled to them; - failing to collect the sums owed. ## Chapter 6: Income ### Section 1: Income from Own Resources - **Article 96: Own Resources** - Income consisting of own resources as referred to in Decision (EU, Euratom) 2020/2053 shall be subject to a forecast which shall be entered, in euros, in the budget. The own resources corresponding shall be transferred pursuant to the provisions of Regulations (EU, Euratom) No 609/2014 and (EU, Euratom) 2021/770. - The authorizing officer shall draw up a timetable for income forecasts in favour of the Commission of the own resources defined in Decision (EU, Euratom) 2020/2053. - The accrual and collection of own resources shall be carried out in accordance with the legislation adopted in implementation of that Decision. - For accounting purposes, the authorizing officer shall issue a payment order for the credits and debits in the own resources account provided for in Regulations (EU, Euratom) No 609/2014 and (EU, Euratom) 2021/770. ### Section 2: Forecasts of Credit Instruments - **Article 97: Forecasts of Credit Instruments** - When the competent authorizing officer has sufficient and reliable information in connection with any measure or situation that may give rise to a debt in favour of the Union, he shall make a forecast of credit instruments. - The competent authorizing officer shall adapt the forecast of credit instruments as soon as he becomes aware of an event that modifies the measure or the situation which gave rise to the forecast. - When establishing the payment order for a measure or situation which had previously given rise to a forecast of credit instruments, the competent authorizing officer shall adapt that forecast accordingly.