CHAPTER 7

The Union body shall have an internal auditing function which shall be performed in compliance with the relevant international standards. The internal audit function shall be performed by the Commissions’ internal auditor. The internal auditor may be neither authorising officer nor accounting officer neither of the Union body nor of the Commission The internal auditor shall advise the Union body on dealing with risks, by issuing independent opinions on the quality of management and control systems and by issuing recommendations for improving the conditions of implementation of operations and promoting sound financial management. The internal auditor shall be responsible, in particular, for: assessing the suitability and effectiveness of internal management systems and the performance of departments in implementing programmes and actions by reference to the risks associated with them; assessing the efficiency and effectiveness of the internal control and audit systems applicable to each operation for implementation of the budget of the Union body. The internal auditor shall perform his or her duties in relation to all the Union body’s activities and departments. The internal auditor shall enjoy full and unlimited access to all information required to perform his or her duties. The internal auditor shall take note of the consolidated annual activity report of the authorising officer and any other pieces of information identified. The internal auditor shall report to the management board and the director on his or her findings and recommendations. The internal auditor shall also report in any of the following cases: critical risks and recommendations have not been addressed, there are significant delays in the implementation of the recommendations made in previous years. The management board or, where the constituent act allows it, the executive board, and the director shall ensure regular monitoring of the implementation of audit recommendations. The management board or, where the constituent act allows it, the executive board shall examine the information referred to in the Article 47(1)(a) and whether the recommendations have been fully and timely implemented. The Union body shall make available the contact details of the internal auditor to any natural or legal person involved in expenditure operations, for the purposes of confidentially contacting the internal auditor. The reports and findings of the internal auditor shall be accessible to the public only after validation by the internal auditor of the action taken for their implementation. The independence of the internal auditor, his or he liability for action taken in the performance of his or her duties and the right for the internal auditor to bring action before the Court of Justice of the European Union shall be determined in accordance with Article 100 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012. The management board or, where the constituent act allows it, the executive board may establish, with due regard to cost effectiveness and added value, an internal audit capability which shall perform its duties in compliance with the relevant international standards. The purpose, authority and responsibility of the internal audit capability shall be provided for in the internal audit charter and shall be subject to the approval of the management board or, where the constituent act allows it, of the executive board. The annual audit plan of an internal audit capability shall be drawn up by the Head of internal audit capability taking into consideration, inter alia, the director’s assessment of risk in the Union body. It shall be reviewed and approved by management board or, where the constituent act allows it, by the executive board. The internal audit capability shall report to the management board and the director on his or her findings and recommendations. If the internal audit capability of a single Union body is not cost-effective or is not able to meet international standards, the Union body may decide to share an internal audit capability with other Union bodies functioning in the same policy area. In such cases the management board or, where the constituent act allows it, the executive board of the concerned Union bodies shall agree on the practical modalities of the shared internal audit capability. The internal audit actors shall cooperate efficiently through exchanging information and audit reports and, where appropriate, establishing joint risk assessments, and carrying out joint audits. The management board or, where the constituent act allows it, the executive board, and the director shall ensure regular monitoring of the implementation of internal audit capability’s recommendation.

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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.