Commission Decision of 13 November 2014 on the Early Warning System to be used by authorising officers of the Commission and by the executive agencies (2014/792/EU)

SECTION 2 INFORMATION ENTERED IN THE EWS

Article 9 Categories of warnings

1. EWS warnings shall be divided into the following two categories:

(a) ‘verification warnings’, where a person is suspected or subject to findings of fraud, corruption or any illegal activities affecting the Union's financial interests as referred to in Article 141 of Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1268/2012, of substantial errors or irregularity, of professional misconduct or of serious breach of contract;

(b) ‘exclusion warnings’, where a person is excluded in accordance with the grounds of exclusion provided for in Articles 106(1) and 109(1) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012.

2. A person may be subject to distinct warnings registered for different grounds.

Article 10 Information contained in the EWS warnings

EWS warnings shall contain the following information:

(a)

the identification of the person;

(b)

the type of warning;

(c)

the duration of the warning;

(d)

the grounds for which a person represents a threat to the Union's financial interests and image or to any other fund managed by the Union;

(e)

the information related to the contradictory procedure;

(f)

the name of the authorising officer responsible;

(g)

the name of the warning contact person referred to in Article 8 of this Decision.

Article 11 Verification warnings

1. The authorising officer responsible may request a verification warning where either of the following conditions is fulfilled:

(a) OLAF has informed the authorising officer responsible in accordance with Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 883/2013, where its investigations show that it might be appropriate to take measures to protect the financial interests of the Union;

(b) the European Court of Auditors has transmitted information to the Commission or the IAS has transmitted information to the authorising officer responsible indicating fraud, corruption or any other illegal activity affecting the Union's financial interests as referred to in Article 141 of Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1268/2012, or substantial errors or irregularity, or professional misconduct or of serious breach of contract in relation to a person;

(c) the authorising officer responsible has carried out a check, an audit or a control indicating fraud, corruption, any other illegal activity affecting the Union's financial interests as referred to in Article 141 of Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1268/2012, substantial errors, irregularity or professional misconduct or of serious breach of contract in relation to a person or has received information on such a check, audit or control.

2. A verification warning shall have a maximum duration of one year. It shall be removed when an exclusion warning is requested, or when there is no longer a need for verification.

3. At the end of the period referred to in paragraph 2, the verification warning shall be automatically removed.

4. The authorising officer responsible may request renewal of the verification warning where OLAF informs it that the conclusions on investigations referred to in paragraph 1 have not yet been drawn up but that the investigations justify maintaining the verification warning. The authorising officer responsible may also request renewal of the verification warning where the conditions set out under paragraph 1 (b) and (c) are still fulfilled.

5. The authorising officer responsible shall provide the reasons why the renewal is necessary for the protection of the Union's financial interests and image.

6. A renewal shall be regarded as a new request for a verification warning.

Article 12 Exclusion warnings

1. The authorising officer responsible shall request an exclusion warning for the cases referred to in Article 106(1) or 109(1) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012.

2. An exclusion warning shall be removed at the end of the exclusion period.

3. An exclusion warning shall be automatically entered in the CED from the EWS.

Article 13 Information transmitted by OLAF

When OLAF transmits information in accordance with Article 7(6) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 883/2013 in order to assist the authorising officer responsible in deciding to take precautionary measures for protecting the financial interests of the European Union or in accordance with Article 11 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 883/2013, this information shall include:

(a)

the identity of the person concerned;

(b)

a summary of the facts in question and of the risks identified by the investigation. The summary shall be sufficient to allow the person to be effectively heard under Article 16 of this Decision;

(c)

any special measures of confidentiality recommended, in particular in cases entailing the use of investigative measures falling within the competence of a national judicial authority or, in the case of an external investigation, within the competence of a national authority in accordance with the national rules applicable to investigations.