TITLE II

The budget of the Union body shall comprise: own revenue consisting of all fees and charges which the Union body is authorised to collect by virtue of the tasks entrusted to it, and any other revenue; revenue made up of any financial contributions of the host Member States; a contribution granted by the Union; revenue assigned to specific items of expenditure in accordance with Article 23(1); the expenditure of the Union body, including administrative expenditure. Revenue consisting of fees and charges shall only be assigned in exceptional and duly justified cases provided for in the constituent act. When one or several constituent acts provide that clearly defined tasks are financed separately or when the Union body implements tasks entrusted to it by a delegation agreement, it shall hold separate accounts, on the revenue and expenditure operations. The Union body shall clearly identify each group of tasks in its human resource programming included in the annual and multiannual programming document referred to in Article 32. Union bodies may not receive ad-hoc grants from the budget unless authorised in the constituent act and expressly provided for by the basic act. Where the Union body has been authorised to receive ad-hoc grants the tasks financed by these grants shall be included in the annual work programme referred to in Article 32(3). The Union body shall not be entrusted budget implementation tasks by the Commission except if it is duly justified by the special nature of the action and specific expertise of the Union body. The choice of the Union body shall take due account of: the cost efficiency of entrusting those tasks; the impact on the body’s governance structure and on its financial and human resources. Where the Commission exceptionally entrusts tasks to the Union body: Article 60 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 shall apply to the Union body in respect of funds allocated to those tasks and Articles 108 and 109 of this Regulation shall not apply; tasks entrusted should be referred to in the annual work programme of the Union body, referred to in Article 32(3), for information purposes only. Without prejudice to paragraph 2, the authorising officer shall consult the management board before signing the delegation agreement. No revenue shall be collected and no expenditure effected unless booked to a line in the budget of the Union body. No expenditure may be committed or authorised in excess of the appropriations authorised by the budget of the Union body. An appropriation may be entered in the budget of the Union body only if it is for an item of expenditure considered necessary. Interests generated by pre-financing payment made from the budget of the Union body shall not be due to the Union body. The appropriations entered in the budget of the Union body shall be authorised for a financial year which shall run from 1 January to 31 December. The budget of the Union body shall contain non-differentiated appropriations and, where justified by operational needs, differentiated appropriations. Differentiated appropriations shall consist of commitment appropriations and payment appropriations. Commitment appropriations shall cover the total cost of the legal commitments entered into during the financial year. Payment appropriations shall cover payments made to honour the legal commitments entered into in the financial year or preceding financial years. The revenue of the Union body referred to in Article 6 shall be entered in the accounts for the financial year on the basis of the amounts collected during that financial year. The revenue of the Union body shall give rise to an equivalent amount of payment appropriations. The appropriations authorised for a financial year shall be used solely to cover expenditure committed and paid in that financial year, and to cover amounts due against commitments from preceding financial years. Commitments shall be entered in the accounts on the basis of the legal commitments entered into up to 31 December. Payments shall be entered in the accounts for a financial year on the basis of the payments effected by the accounting officer by 31 December of that year. The appropriations entered in the budget of the Union body may be committed with effect from 1 January, once the budget of the Union body has been definitively adopted. Appropriations which have not been used by the end of the financial year for which they were entered shall be cancelled. However, they may be carried over, but only to the following financial year, by a decision taken by 15 February by the management board or, where the constituent act allows it, by the executive board in accordance with paragraphs 3 and 4 or they may be carried over automatically in accordance with paragraph 5. Appropriations relating to staff expenditure may not be carried over. Differentiated commitment appropriations and non-differentiated appropriations not yet committed at the end of the financial year may be carried over in respect of: amounts corresponding to commitment appropriations; amounts corresponding to non-differentiated appropriations relating to building projects, for which most of the preparatory stages of the commitment procedure have been completed by 31 December. The preparatory stage of the commitment procedure shall be specified in the rules implementing the financial regulation of each Union body. Such amounts may be committed up to 31 March of the following year, or up to 31 December of the following year for amounts relating to building projects. Payment appropriations may be carried over in respect of amounts needed to cover existing commitments or commitments linked to commitment appropriations carried over, where the payment appropriations provided for in the relevant budget lines for the following financial year are not sufficient to cover requirements. The Union body concerned shall first use the appropriations authorised for the current financial year and shall not use the appropriations carried over until the former are exhausted. Non-differentiated appropriations corresponding to obligations duly contracted at the end of the financial year shall be carried over automatically to the following financial year only. Appropriations carried over which have not been committed by 31 March of year N+1 shall be automatically cancelled and shall be identified in the accounts. Carry-over of assigned revenue referred to in Article 23, and of appropriations not used and available at 31 December arising from such revenue, shall comply with the following rules: external assigned revenue shall be carried over automatically and shall be fully used by the time all the operations relating to the programme or action to which it is assigned have been carried out; external assigned revenue received during the last year of the programme or action may be used in the first year of the succeeding programme or action; internal assigned revenue shall be carried over for one year only, with the exception of internal assigned revenue defined in point (f) of Article 23(3), which shall be carried over automatically. By 1 June of the year N+1 at the latest, the Union body shall inform the Commission about the implementation of the assigned revenue carried over. Where appropriations are decommitted in any financial year after that in which the appropriations were entered in the budget of the Union body as a result of total or partial non-implementation of the actions for which they were earmarked, the appropriations concerned shall be cancelled. As from 15 October of each year, routine administrative expenditure may be committed in advance against the appropriations provided for the following financial year. Such commitments shall not, however, exceed one quarter of the appropriations decided by the management board on the corresponding budget line for the current financial year. They shall not apply to new expenditure of a kind not yet approved in principle in the last budget of the Union body duly adopted. Expenditure which shall be paid in advance, for example rents, may give rise to payments from 1 December onwards to be charged to the appropriations for the following financial year. In this case, the limit referred to in paragraph 1 shall not apply. If the budget of the Union body has not been definitively adopted at the beginning of the financial year, the rules set out in paragraphs 2 to 6 shall apply. Commitments and payments may be made within the limits laid down in paragraph 3. Commitments may be made per chapter up to a maximum of one quarter of the total appropriations authorised in the relevant chapter of the previous financial year plus one twelfth for each month which has elapsed. The limit of the appropriations provided for in the statement of estimates of revenue and expenditure shall not be exceeded. Payments may be made monthly per chapter up to a maximum of one twelfth of the appropriations authorised in the relevant chapter of the preceding financial year. That sum shall not, however, exceed one twelfth of the appropriations provided for in the same chapter in the statement of estimates of revenue and expenditure. The appropriations authorised in the relevant chapter of the preceding financial year, as specified in paragraphs 2 and 3, shall be understood as referring to the appropriations voted in the budget of the Union body, including by amending budgets, and after adjustment for the transfers made during that financial year. At the request of the director, if the continuity of action by the Union body and management needs so require, the management board, may authorise expenditure in excess of one provisional twelfth but not exceeding the total of four provisional twelfths, except in duly justified cases, both for commitments and for payments over and above those automatically made available in accordance with paragraphs 2 and 3. The additional twelfths shall be authorised in full and shall not be divisible. If, for a given chapter, the authorisation of four provisional twelfths granted in accordance with paragraph 5 is not sufficient to cover the expenditure necessary to avoid a break in continuity of action by the Union body in the area covered by the chapter in question, authorisation may exceptionally be given to exceed the amount of the appropriations entered in the corresponding chapter of the budget of the Union body of the preceding financial year. The management board shall act in accordance with the procedures provided for in paragraph 5. However, the overall total of the appropriations available in the budget of the Union body of the preceding financial year or in the draft budget of the Union body, as proposed, may in no circumstances be exceeded. Revenue and payment appropriations shall be in balance. Commitment appropriations may not exceed the amount of the Union contribution, plus own revenue and any other revenue referred to in Article 6. For bodies for which the revenue is constituted by fees and charges in addition to the Union contribution, fees should be set at a level such as to avoid a significant accumulation of surplus. Where a significant positive or negative budget result, within the meaning of Article 97, becomes recurrent, the level of the fees and charges shall be revised. The Union body may not raise loans within the framework of the budget of the Union body. The Union contribution to the Union body shall constitute for the budget of the Union body a balancing contribution and may be divided into a number of payments. The Union body shall implement rigorous cash management, taking due account of assigned revenue, in order to ensure that its cash balances are limited to duly justified requirements. With its payment requests it shall submit detailed and updated forecasts on its real cash requirements throughout the year, including information on assigned revenue. If the budget result within the meaning of Article 97 is positive, it shall be repaid to the Commission up to the amount of the contribution paid during the year. The part of the budget result exceeding the amount of the Union contribution paid during the year shall be entered in the budget of the Union body for the following financial year as revenue. The first subparagraph shall also apply when the revenue of the Union body is constituted by fees and charges in addition to the Union contribution. The difference between the contribution entered in the budget and that actually paid to the Union body shall be cancelled. The Union body shall provide, no later than 31 January of the year N at the latest, an estimate of the budget result from the year N–1, which is to be returned to the budget later in year N, in order to complete the information already available concerning the budget result of the year N–2. This information shall be duly taken into account by the Commission when assessing the financial needs of Union body for the year N+1. In exceptional cases, where the constituent act provides that the revenues arising from fees and charges are assigned to particular items of expenditure, the Union body may carry-over the balance of fees and charges as assigned revenue for the activities related to the provision of the services for which the fees are due. If the budget result within the meaning of Article 97 is negative, it shall be entered in the budget of the Union body for the following financial year as payment appropriations or, where appropriate, offset against positive budget result of the Union body in the following financial years. The revenue or payment appropriations shall be entered in the budget of the Union body during the budgetary procedure using the letter of amendment procedure set out in Article 39 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 or, while implementation of the budget of the Union body is under way, by means of an amending budget. The budget of the Union body shall be drawn up and implemented in euro and the accounts shall be presented in euro. However, for cash-flow purposes, the accounting officer and, in the case of imprest accounts, the imprest administrators shall be authorised to carry out operations in other currencies as laid down in the financial rules of each Union body. Without prejudice to Article 23, total revenue shall cover total payment appropriations. Without prejudice to Article 25, all revenue and expenditure shall be entered in full without any adjustment against each other. External assigned revenue and internal assigned revenue shall be used to finance specific items of expenditure. The following shall constitute external assigned revenue: financial contributions from Member States and third countries, including in both cases their public agencies, entities or natural persons, to certain activities, of Union bodies insofar as this is provided for in the agreement concluded between the Union body and the Member States, third countries or the public agencies, entities or natural persons in question; revenue earmarked for a specific purpose, such as income from foundations, subsidies, gifts and bequests; financial contributions, not covered by point (a), to Union bodies’ activities from third countries or various non-Union bodies; revenue from ad-hoc grants referred to in Article 7, revenue from delegation agreements referred to in Article 8; internal assigned revenue referred to in paragraph 3, to the extent that it is ancillary to the other revenue referred to in points (a) to (c) of this paragraph; revenue from fees and charges referred to in Article 6(2). The following shall constitute internal assigned revenue: revenue from third parties in respect of goods, services or work supplied at their request, with the exception of fees and charges referred to in Article 6(1)(a); proceeds from the sale of vehicles, equipment, installations, materials, and scientific and technical apparatus which are replaced or scrapped when the book value is fully depreciated; revenue arising from the repayment, in accordance with Article 62, of amounts wrongly paid; proceeds from the supply of goods, services and works for Union institutions or other Union bodies; insurance payments received; revenue from lettings; revenue from the sale of publications and films, including those on an electronic medium; revenue arising from subsequent reimbursement of taxes pursuant to Article 25(3)(b). Without prejudice to Article 23(2)(e) the relevant constituent act may also assign the revenue for which it provides to specific items of expenditure. Unless specified otherwise in the relevant constituent act, such revenue shall constitute internal assigned revenue. All items of revenue within the meaning of points (a) to (c) of paragraph 2 and points (a) and (d) of paragraph 3 shall cover all direct or indirect expenditure incurred by the activity or purpose in question. The budget of the Union body shall include lines to accommodate external assigned revenue and internal assigned revenue and wherever possible shall indicate the amount. Assigned revenue may be included in the estimate of revenue and expenditure only for the amounts which are certain at the date of the establishment of the estimate. The Director may accept any donation made to the Union body, such as foundations, subsidies, gifts and bequests. Acceptance of donations which may involve a financial charge shall be subject to the prior authorisation of the management board or, where the constituent act allows it, of the executive board, which shall take a decision within two months of the date on which the request is submitted to it. If the management board or, where the constituent act allows it, the executive board fails to take a decision within that period, the donation shall be deemed accepted. The following deductions may be made from payment requests which shall then be passed for payment of the net amount: penalties imposed on parties to procurement contracts or beneficiaries; discounts, refunds and rebates on individual invoices and cost statements; adjustments for amounts unduly paid. The adjustments referred to in point (c) of the first subparagraph may be made, by means of direct deduction, against a new interim payment or payment of a balance to the same payee under the chapter, article and financial year in respect of which the excess payment was made. Union accounting rules shall apply to the deductions referred to in points (c) of the first subparagraph. The cost of products or services provided to the Union body incorporating taxes refunded by the Member States pursuant to the Protocol on the Privileges and Immunities of the European Union shall be charged to the budget of the Union body for the ex-tax amount provided that it applies to the Union body. The cost of products or services provided to the Union body incorporating taxes refunded by third countries on the basis of relevant agreements may be charged to the budget of the Union body for any of the following: the ex-tax amount; the tax-inclusive amount. In such case, subsequently reimbursed taxes shall be treated as internal assigned revenue. Any national taxes temporarily borne by the Union body under paragraphs 2 and 3 shall be entered in a suspense account until they are refunded by the State concerned. Any negative budget result shall be entered in the budget of the Union body as expenditure. Adjustments may be made in respect of exchange differences occurring in the implementation of the budget of the Union body. The final gain or loss shall be included in the budget result for the year. Appropriations shall be earmarked for specific purposes by title and chapter. The chapters shall be further subdivided into articles and items. The Director may transfer appropriations: from one title to another up to a maximum of 10 % of the appropriations for the year shown on the line from which the transfer is made; from one chapter to another and from one article to another without limit. Beyond the limit referred in paragraph 1, the director may propose to the management board or, where the constituent act allows it, to the executive board transfers of appropriations from one title to another. The management board or, where the constituent act allows it, the executive board shall have three weeks to oppose such transfers. After that time-limit they shall be deemed to be adopted. Proposals for transfers and transfers carried out under paragraphs 1 and 2 shall be accompanied by appropriate and detailed supporting documents showing the implementation of appropriations and estimates of requirements up to the end of the financial year, both for the headings to be credited and for those from which the appropriations are drawn. The director shall inform the management board as soon as possible of all transfers made. The director shall inform the European Parliament and the Council of all transfers carried out under paragraph 2. Appropriations may only be transferred to lines in budget of the Union body for which the budget of the Union body has authorised appropriations or which carry a token entry ‘pro memoria’. Appropriations corresponding to assigned revenue may be transferred only if such revenue is used for the purpose for which it is assigned. Appropriations shall be used in accordance with the principle of sound financial management, namely in accordance with the principles of economy, efficiency and effectiveness. The principle of economy requires that the resources used by the Union body in the pursuit of its activities shall be made available in due time, in appropriate quantity and quality and at the best price. The principle of efficiency concerns the best relationship between resources employed and results achieved. The principle of effectiveness concerns the attainment of the specific objectives set and the achievement of the intended results. The Union body shall carry out a benchmarking exercise referred to in Article 50 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012. The benchmarking exercise shall include: a review of the efficiency of the Union body’s horizontal services, a cost-benefit analysis of sharing services or transferring them entirely to other Union body or the Commission. When carrying out the benchmarking exercise referred to in the first and the second subparagraph the Union body shall make necessary arrangements to avoid any conflict of interests. Specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and timed objectives shall be set for all sectors of activity covered by the budget of the Union body. The achievement of those objectives shall be monitored by performance indicators for each activity, and the information shall be provided to the management board by the director. That information shall be provided annually and at the latest in the documents accompanying the draft budget of the Union body. In order to improve decision-making, the Union body shall undertake both ex ante and ex post evaluations in line with guidance provided by the Commission. Such evaluations shall be applied to all programmes and activities which entail significant spending and evaluation results shall be sent to the management board. The director shall prepare an action plan to follow-up on the conclusions of the evaluations referred to in paragraph 5 and report on its progress twice a year to the Commission and regularly to the management board. The management board shall scrutinise the implementation of the action plan referred to in paragraph 6. The budget of the Union body shall be implemented in compliance with effective and efficient internal control. For the purposes of the implementation of the budget of the Union body, internal control is defined as a process applicable at all levels of management and designed to provide reasonable assurance of achieving the following objectives: effectiveness, efficiency and economy of operations; reliability of reporting; safeguarding of assets and information; prevention, detection, correction and follow-up of fraud and irregularities; adequate management of the risks relating to the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions, taking into account the multiannual character of programmes as well as the nature of the payments concerned. Effective internal control shall be based on best international practices and include, in particular, the following: segregation of tasks; an appropriate risk management and control strategy including control at recipient level; avoidance of conflicts of interests; adequate audit trails and data integrity in data systems; procedures for monitoring of performance and for follow-up of identified internal control weaknesses and exceptions; periodic assessment of the sound functioning of the internal control system. Efficient internal control shall be based on the following elements: the implementation of an appropriate risk management and control strategy coordinated among appropriate actors involved in the control chain; the accessibility for all appropriate actors in the control chain of the results of controls carried out; reliance, where appropriate, on independent audit opinions, provided that the quality of the underlying work is adequate and acceptable and that it was performed in accordance with agreed standards; the timely application of corrective measures including, where appropriate, dissuasive penalties; the elimination of multiple controls; improving the cost-benefit ratio of controls. The budget of the Union body shall be established and implemented and the accounts presented in accordance with the principle of transparency. A summary of the budget of the Union body and any amending budget of the Union body, as definitively adopted, shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union within three months of their adoption. The summary shall show the five main revenue budget lines, the five main expenditure budget lines for the administrative and operational budget of the Union body, the establishment plan and an estimate of the number of contract staff expressed in full-time equivalents for which appropriations are budgeted, and seconded national experts. It shall also indicate the figures for the previous year. The budget of the Union body including the establishment plan and amending budgets of the Union body, as finally adopted, as well as an indication of the number of contract staff expressed in full-time equivalents for which appropriations are budgeted, and seconded national experts, shall be transmitted for information to the European Parliament and the Council, the Court of Auditors and the Commission, and shall be published on the internet site of the Union body concerned within four weeks of their adoption. The Union body shall make available on its internet site no later than 30 June of the following financial year information on the recipients of funds deriving from the budget of the Union body, including experts contracted pursuant to Article 89, in accordance with paragraphs 2, 3 and 4 of Article 21 of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1268/2012 Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1268/2012 of 29 October 2012 on the rules of application of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union (OJ L 362, 31.12.2012, p. 1). following a standard presentation. The published information shall be easily accessible, transparent and comprehensive. The information shall be made available with due observance of the requirements of confidentiality and security, in particular the protection of personal data laid down in Regulation (EC) No 45/2001.

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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.