THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Protocol (No 4) on the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank annexed to the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular to Article 27.1 thereof,
Having regard to Recommendation ECB/2014/20 of the European Central Bank of 17 April 2014 to the Council of the European Union on the external auditors of the Central Bank of Malta,
Whereas:
(1)
The accounts of the European Central Bank (ECB) and of the national central banks of the Eurosystem are to be audited by independent external auditors recommended by the Governing Council of the ECB and approved by the Council of the European Union.
(2)
The mandate of the current external auditors of the Bank Ċentrali ta' Malta/Central Bank of Malta expired after the audit for the financial year 2013. It is therefore necessary to appoint external auditors from the financial year 2014.
(3)
The Bank Ċentrali ta' Malta/Central Bank of Malta has selected PricewaterhouseCoopers as its external auditors for the financial years 2014 to 2018.
(4)
The Governing Council of the ECB has recommended that PricewaterhouseCoopers be appointed as the external auditors of the Bank Ċentrali ta' Malta/Central Bank of Malta for the financial years 2014 to 2018.
(5)
It is appropriate to follow the recommendation of the Governing Council of the ECB and to amend Council Decision 1999/70/EC accordingly,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: