Commission Decision of 19 December 2007 laying down rules for the implementation of Decision No 573/2007/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the European Refugee Fund for the period 2008 to 2013 as part of the General programme ‘Solidarity and Management of Migration Flows’ as regards Member States’ management and control systems, the rules for administrative and financial management and the eligibility of expenditure on projects co-financed by the Fund (notified under document number C(2007) 6396) (Only the Bulgarian, Czech, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish and Swedish texts are authentic) (2008/22/EC)

B. Opinion on the functioning of the management and control systems

To the European Commission

1. INTRODUCTION

I, the undersigned, representing the [name of audit authority designated by Member State], have examined the functioning of the management and control systems in the [name of the Fund] regarding the actions implemented under the Annual Programme for the year [20XX], in order to issue an opinion on whether the systems functioned effectively so as to provide reasonable assurance that declarations of expenditure presented to the Commission are correct and, as a consequence, reasonable assurance that the underlying transactions are legal and regular.

2. SCOPE OF THE EXAMINATION

The examination was carried out in accordance with the audit strategy in respect of this Fund during the period [dd/mm/year] to [dd/mm/year] and reported in the annual audit report under section A.

Either

There were no limitations on the scope of the examination.

Or

The scope of the examination was limited by the following factors:

(a)

[…]

(b)

[…]

(c)

Etc.

(Indicate any limitation on the scope of the examination, for example any systemic problems, weaknesses in the management and control system, lack of supporting documentation, cases under legal proceedings, etc., and estimate the amounts of expenditure and the Community contribution affected. If the audit authority does not consider that the limitations have an impact on the expenditure declared, this should be stated.)

3. OPINION

Either (unqualified opinion)

Based on the examination referred to above, it is my opinion that, for the abovementioned annual programme, the management and control systems established for the [name of the Fund] complied with the applicable requirements of the basic act [reference] [and Commission Decision No [XXX/2007/EC] and functioned effectively so as to provide reasonable assurance that declarations of expenditure presented to the Commission are correct and, as a consequence, reasonable assurance that the underlying transactions are legal and regular.

Or (qualified opinion)

Based on the examination referred to above, it is my opinion that, for the abovementioned annual programme, the management and control systems established for the [name of the Fund] complied with the applicable requirements of the basic act [reference] [and Commission Decision No XXX/2007/EC] and functioned effectively so as to provide reasonable assurance that declarations of expenditure presented to the Commission are correct and, as a consequence, reasonable assurance that the underlying transactions are legal and regular, except in the following respects:

(a)

[…]

(b)

[…]

(c)

Etc.

My reasons for considering that this (these) aspect(s) of the systems did not comply with the requirements and/or did not operate in such a way as to give a reasonable assurance on the correctness of the declarations of expenditure presented to the Commission are as follows:

(a)

[…]

(b)

[…]

(c)

Etc.

I estimate the impact of the qualification(s) to be […] % of the total expenditure declared. The Community contribution affected is thus […].

Or (adverse opinion)

Based on the examination referred to above, it is my opinion that, for the abovementioned annual programme, the management and control system established for the [name of the Fund] did not comply with the requirements of Articles […] of the basic act [reference] [and Commission Decision No XXX/2007/EC] and did not function effectively so as to provide reasonable assurance that declarations of expenditure presented to the Commission are correct and, as a consequence, does not provide reasonable assurance that the underlying transactions are legal and regular.

This adverse opinion is based on:

(a)

[…]

(b)

[…]

(c)

Etc.

Date

Signature

[signature of the responsible person]