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)

CHAPTER 3 Information to be provided regarding use of the Fund

Article 19 Principle of proportionality

1. Pursuant to Article 9(2) of the basic act, the extent to which the information available to a Member State on use of the Fund is transmitted to the Commission in the documents referred to in this chapter may be proportionate to the amount of the Community contribution allocated to the Member State concerned and, where appropriate, this information may be provided in summarised form.

2. However, upon a request from the Commission, the Member State shall nevertheless provide more detailed information. The Commission may request this information if it appears necessary in order for the Commission to fulfil effectively its obligations under the basic act and the Financial Regulation.

Article 20 Description of management and control systems

1. The description of the management and control systems referred to in Articles 31(4) and 32(2) of the basic act shall be submitted in accordance with the model in Annex 1.

2. The responsible authority shall validate the description of the systems implemented by any delegated authority. Each of the designated authorities shall confirm the accuracy of the description of the management and control systems which concerns it. In addition, the audit authority shall also confirm the completeness of the description.

3. When examining the description, the Commission may request clarifications and propose measures to comply with the provisions defined in the basic act. If necessary, on-site visits may be carried out by Commission officials or authorised Commission representatives.

4. If the responsible authority is the same for two or more of the four Funds or where common systems apply to two or more of the Funds, a description of the common management and control systems may be submitted highlighting, where appropriate, any specific features.

Article 21 Revision of the description of management and control systems

1. The responsible authority shall:

(a) when submitting the draft annual programme, report whether changes have been made to the management and control systems;

(b) notify the Commission of any substantial change at the latest once any such change has taken effect;

(c) at the request of the Commission, provide a revised description in the event of multiple substantial changes.

2. Substantial changes are changes which are likely to have an impact on the separation of functions, on the effectiveness of selection, award, control and payment mechanisms and on communication with the Commission. They shall include, in particular, changes in one of the designated authorities, in the accounting system and in the payment and certification processes.

3. Revision of the management and control systems shall follow the same procedure as laid down in Article 20.

Article 22 Programming documents

1. Member States shall submit to the Commission a multiannual programme, as referred to in Article 18 of the basic act, in accordance with the model in Annex 2.

2. Member States shall submit to the Commission the annual programmes, as referred to in Article 20 of the basic act, in accordance with the model in Annex 3.

3. The financial plans linked to the multiannual programme shall present a breakdown of the budgeted amounts by priority, as defined in the strategic guidelines.

The financial plans linked to the annual programmes shall present a breakdown of the budgeted amounts by category of action, as defined in Article 3(1) of the basic act, with a reference to the priorities.

Article 23 Revision of financial breakdown in annual programmes

1. In order to revise the annual programme approved by the Commission pursuant to Article 20(5) of the basic act, the Member State concerned shall submit a revised draft annual programme to the Commission before 1 May of the year following the reference year. The Commission shall examine and, as soon as possible, approve the revised programme in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 20(5) of the basic act.

2. Changes to the financial breakdown without revision of the annual programme pursuant to paragraph 1 shall not exceed 10 % of the total contribution from the Fund and shall be allowed only in circumstances justified by causes beyond the control of the responsible authority. An adequate explanation of any such changes shall be provided in the progress report and/or in the final report on the implementation of the annual programme.

Article 24 Progress and final reports on implementation of annual programmes

1. Member States shall submit to the Commission the progress reports on implementation of the annual programme and payment requests, as referred to in Article 39(4) of the basic act, in accordance with the model in Annex 4.

2. Member States shall submit to the Commission the final reports on implementation of the annual programme and payment requests, as referred to in Article 40(1)(b) of the basic act, in accordance with the model in Annex 5.

3. The financial tables linked to the progress reports and final reports shall present a breakdown of the amounts both by priority, as defined in the strategic guidelines, and by projects for each category of action, as defined in Article 3(1) of the basic act.

Article 25 Documents established by the audit authority

1. The audit strategy referred to in Article 30(1)(c) of the basic act shall be established in accordance with the model in Annex 6.

2. Except when each of the last two annual programmes adopted by the Commission corresponds to an annual Community contribution below EUR 1 million, the audit authority shall submit an annual audit plan before 15 February each year, as from 2009. The audit plan shall be established as an annex to the audit strategy in accordance with the model in Annex 6. In the case of a combined audit strategy, as provided for in Article 30(2) of the basic act, a combined annual audit plan may be submitted.

3. The audit report and the opinions referred to in Articles 30(3)(a) and 30(3)(b) of the basic act shall be based on the systems audits and audits of projects carried out in accordance with the audit strategy and shall be drawn up in accordance with the models in Annexes 7.A and 7.B.

4. The validity declaration referred to in Article 30(3)(c) of the basic act shall be based on all the audit work carried out by the audit authority and on additional checks, if necessary. The validity declaration shall be drawn up in accordance with the model in Annex 7.C.

5. If there is any limitation on the scope of the examination or if the level of irregular expenditure detected does not allow provision of an unqualified opinion for the annual opinion referred to in Article 30(3)(b) of the basic act or in the declaration referred to in point (c) of the same Article, the audit authority shall give the reasons and estimate the scale of the problem and its financial impact.

Article 26 Documents established by the certifying authority

1. The certified declaration of expenditure relating to the request for a second pre-financing payment referred to in Article 39(4) of the basic act shall be drawn up and transmitted to the Commission in the format in Annex 8.

2. The certified declaration of expenditure relating to the request for a final payment referred to in Article 40(1)(a) of the basic act shall be drawn up and transmitted to the Commission in the format in Annex 9.