2008/670/JHA: Council Decision of 24 July 2008 amending Council Decision 2000/265/EC on the establishment of a financial regulation governing the budgetary aspects of the management by the Deputy Secretary-General of the Council, of contracts concluded in his name, on behalf of certain Member States, relating to the installation and the functioning of the communication infrastructure for the Schengen environment, Sisnet

‘4 The expenditure of a financial year shall be entered in the accounts for that year on the basis of expenditure authorised no later than 31 December and for which the corresponding payments were made by the accounting officer before the following 15 January.’;

‘2 The Deputy Secretary-General shall forward the preliminary draft budget to the SIS/SIRENE Working Party before 15 October and attach an explanatory memorandum.

3 The SIS/SIRENE Working Party shall deliver its opinion on that preliminary draft.

4 The Deputy Secretary-General shall establish the draft budget and forward it by 15 November to the States referred to in Article 25.’;

‘2 An amending budget shall be submitted on an annual basis, in the three months following the closure of the accounts as laid down in Article 46(1), with the aim of entering the balance of the budget outturn from the previous financial year as revenue in the case of a positive balance or expenditure if the balance is negative.’;

The budget shall be implemented in accordance with the principle that the authorising officer and the accounting officer are different individuals. The duties of authorising officer, accounting officer and internal auditor shall be mutually incompatible.’;

The liability to disciplinary action of the authorising officer and accounting officer in the event of failure to comply with the provisions of this Financial Regulation shall be as laid down in the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Communities.’;

An internal auditor shall verify the proper operation of the budgetary implementation systems and procedures set out in this Regulation. By analogy, the internal auditor shall benefit from all the powers, shall perform all the tasks, and shall be subject to all the rules provided for in Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities , in particular in Part I, Title IV, Chapter 8 thereof.

No discrimination shall be practised between nationals of Member States and of Iceland, Norway and Switzerland on grounds of nationality in respect of contracts entered into by the Deputy Secretary-General on behalf of the Member States referred to in Article 25.’;

Contracts to be concluded by the Deputy Secretary-General on behalf of the Member States referred to in Article 25 and by the appropriate representatives of Iceland, Norway and Switzerland after an invitation to tender has been issued shall first be submitted for the opinion of an Advisory Committee on procurements and contracts.’;

The files submitted to the Advisory Committee for an opinion pursuant to Article 39(b) to (e), shall also be accompanied by a report approved unanimously by the Member States referred to in Article 25, as well as Iceland, Norway and Switzerland.’;

The opinions of the Advisory Committee shall be signed by its chairman. In order to avoid delays in the process as a result of the intervention of the Advisory Committee, the Member States referred to in Article 25, as well as Iceland, Norway and Switzerland, may, if they deem it necessary, impose a reasonable deadline by which an opinion must be furnished. Opinions shall be communicated to the Deputy Secretary-General and to the Member States referred to in Article 25, as well as to Iceland, Norway and Switzerland. Following due consideration of that opinion, the Member States referred to in Article 25, as well as Iceland, Norway and Switzerland, shall take a final decision on the case by unanimity. Once that decision has been taken, the contract or contracts which form the subject of each case shall be concluded by the Deputy Secretary-General on behalf of the Member States referred to in Article 25 and by the appropriate representatives of Iceland, Norway and Switzerland.’;

1 This Decision shall take effect from the date of its adoption.

2 It shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union.