Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council (repealed)Show full title

TITLE VI ADMINISTRATIVE APPROPRIATIONS

Article 201 General provisions

1. Parts One and Three shall apply to administrative appropriations, except as otherwise provided in this Title.

2. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on the scope of administrative appropriations and rent guarantees.

Article 202 Commitments

1. 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 European Parliament and the Council 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 duly adopted.

2. Expenditure which shall be paid in advance pursuant to legal or contractual provisions, 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.

Article 203 Specific provisions regarding administrative appropriations

1. Administrative appropriations shall be non-differentiated appropriations.

The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules on specific administrative appropriations, including buildings and advances to staff members of the institutions.

2. Administrative expenditure arising from contracts covering periods that extend beyond the financial year, either in accordance with local practice or relating to the supply of equipment, shall be charged to the budget of the financial year in which it is effected.

3. Each institution shall provide the European Parliament and the Council, by 1 June each year, with a working document on its building policy, which shall incorporate the following information:

(a) for each building, the expenditure and surface area covered by the appropriations of the corresponding budget lines;

(b) the expected evolution of the global programming of surface area and locations for the coming years with a description of the building projects in planning phase which are already identified;

(c) the final terms and costs, as well as relevant information regarding project implementation of new building projects previously submitted to the European Parliament and the Council under the procedure established in paragraphs (4) and (5) and not included in the preceding year's working documents.

4. For any building project likely to have significant financial implications for the budget, the institution shall inform the European Parliament and the Council as early as possible about the building surface area required and provisional planning before any prospecting of the local market takes place, in the case of building contracts, or before invitations to tender are issued, in the case of building works.

5. For any building project likely to have significant financial implications for the budget, the institution shall present the building project, including its detailed estimated costs and its financing, as well as a list of draft contracts intended to be used, and shall request the approval of the European Parliament and the Council before contracts are concluded. At the request of the institution, documents submitted relating to the building project shall be treated confidentially.

Except in cases of force majeure, the European Parliament and the Council shall deliberate upon the building project within four weeks of its receipt by both institutions.

The building project shall be deemed approved at the expiry of this four-week period, unless the European Parliament or the Council take a decision contrary to the proposal within that period of time.

If the European Parliament and/or the Council raise duly justified concerns within that four-week period, that period shall be extended once by two weeks.

If the European Parliament or the Council take a decision contrary to the building project, the institution concerned shall withdraw its proposal and may submit a new one.

6. In cases of force majeure, the information provided for in paragraph 4 may be submitted jointly with the building project. The European Parliament and the Council shall deliberate upon the building project within 2 weeks of its receipt by both institutions. The building project shall be deemed to be approved at the expiry of this two-week period, unless the European Parliament and/or the Council take a decision contrary to the proposal within this period of time.

7. The following shall be considered as building projects likely to have significant financial implications for the budget:

(i)

any acquisition of land;

(ii)

the acquisition, sale, structural renovation, construction of buildings or any project combining these elements to be implemented in the same timeframe, exceeding EUR 3 000 000;

(iii)

any new building contract (including usufructs, long-term leases and renewals of existing building contracts under less favourable conditions) not covered by point (ii) with an annual charge of at least EUR 750 000;

(iv)

the extension or renewal of existing building contracts (including usufruct and long-term leases) under the same or more favourable conditions, with an annual charge of at least EUR 3 000 000.

This paragraph shall also apply to building projects which have an interinstitutional nature, as well as to Union delegations.

8. Without prejudice to Article 17, a building acquisition project may be financed through a loan, subject to prior approval by the European Parliament and the Council.

Loans shall be contracted and repaid in accordance with the principle of sound financial management and with due regard to the best financial interest of the Union.

When the institution proposes to finance the acquisition through a loan, the financing plan to be submitted, together with the request for prior approval by the institution concerned, shall specify in particular, the maximum level of financing, the financing period, the type of financing, the financing conditions and savings compared to other types of contractual arrangements.

The European Parliament and the Council shall deliberate upon the request for prior approval within four weeks, extendable once by two weeks, of its receipt by both institutions. The acquisition through a loan shall be deemed to be rejected if the European Parliament and the Council do not expressly approve it within the deadline.