Article 50

The management board shall appoint an accounting officer, covered by the Staff Regulations, who shall be totally independent in the performance of his or her duties. The accounting officer shall be responsible in the Union body for: properly implementing payments, collecting revenue and recovering amounts established as being receivable; preparing and presenting the accounts in accordance with Title IX; keeping the accounts in accordance with Title IX; implementing, in accordance with Title IX, the accounting rules and the chart of accounts in accordance with the provisions adopted by the Commission’s accounting officer; laying down and validating the accounting systems and, where appropriate, validating systems laid down by the authorising officer to supply or justify accounting information; in this respect, the accounting officer shall be empowered to verify at any time compliance with validation criteria; treasury management. Two or more Union bodies may appoint the same accounting officer. Union bodies may also agree with the Commission that the accounting officer of the Commission shall also act as accounting officer of the Union body. Union bodies may also entrust the accounting officer of the Commission with part of the tasks of an accounting officer of the Union body, taking into account the cost-benefit analysis referred to in Article 29. In the case referred to in this subparagraph, they shall make necessary arrangements in order to avoid any conflict of interests. The accounting officer shall obtain from the authorising officer all the information necessary for the production of accounts which give a true and fair view of the Union body’s financial situation and of budgetary implementation. The authorising officer shall guarantee the reliability of that information. Before the adoption of the accounts by the director, the accounting officer shall sign them off, thereby certifying that the accounting officer has reasonable assurance that the accounts present a true and fair view of the financial situation of the Union body. For the purposes of the first subparagraph, the accounting officer shall verify that the accounts have been prepared in accordance with the accounting rules, referred to in Article 143 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012, and that all revenue and expenditure is entered in the accounts. The authorising officer shall forward any information that the accounting officer needs in order to fulfil his or her duties. The authorising officers shall remain fully responsible for the proper use of the funds they manage, the legality and regularity of the expenditure under their control and the completeness and accuracy of the information forwarded to the accounting officer. The accounting officer shall be empowered to check the information received as well as to carry out any further checks he or she deems necessary in order to sign off the accounts. The accounting officer shall make reservations, if necessary, explaining exactly the nature and scope of such reservations. Subject to paragraph 7 of this Article and Article 51, only the accounting officer shall be empowered to manage cash and cash equivalents. The accounting officer shall be responsible for their safekeeping. The accounting officer may, in the performance of his or her duties, delegate certain tasks to subordinate staff subject to the Staff Regulations, where this is indispensable for the performance of his or her duties. The instrument of delegation shall lay down the tasks entrusted to the delegatees and their rights and obligations.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-11-01 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.