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 3 U.K. PROCEDURAL PROVISIONS FOR REGISTRATION OF A WARNING

Article 14 U.K. Prior consultation of central services for verification warnings

Before deciding to request registration of a verification warning on the basis of the information transmitted by OLAF in accordance with Article 7(6) and Article 11 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 883/2013, the authorising officer responsible shall consult the Directorate-General for Budget (central financial service) and, where appropriate, the Legal Service, in close cooperation with OLAF in line with Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 883/2013.

Article 15 U.K. Assessment of exclusion warnings by central services

Before requesting an exclusion warning for the cases referred to in Article 106(1)(b), (c) and (e) and Article 109(1) proposed by the authorising officer responsible and its appropriate duration a centralised assessment by the Directorate-General for Budget and the Legal Service shall be carried out. Where the exclusion warning proposed by the authorising officer responsible is based on information transmitted by OLAF, this assessment shall be made in close cooperation with OLAF.

Article 16 U.K. Right to be heard

1. Registration of warnings is subject to the following rules:

(a) Whenever the authorising officer responsible envisages requesting registration of an exclusion warning or envisages taking any act that might adversely affect the rights of the person concerned, he/she shall first give the person concerned the opportunity to express his/her views in writing. The authorising officer responsible shall give the person at least 14 calendar days to do so. At the same time, the authorising officer responsible shall inform the person that, failing a response, the warning will be registered.

Where appropriate, the authorising officer responsible shall give to the person the opportunity to express his/views on the basis of the information supplied by the OLAF.

(b) If the person submits comments that do not change the assessment of the authorising officer responsible, the latter will request the accounting officer to activate the warning.

If the person submits comments that, in the view of the authorising officer responsible, render a warning disproportionate or unnecessary, the warning will not be activated and the person will be notified accordingly.

The accounting officer will confirm the registration of the warning in the EWS to the authorising officer responsible, as appropriate.

(c) The authorising officer responsible will notify the person of the activation of the warning and of its duration. However, the notification is not necessary if the person has not replied to the invitation to submit its comments in writing.

2. The authorising officer responsible may request registration of an exclusion warning for the cases referred to in Article 106(1)(e) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 pending the decision on the duration of the exclusion, already before having given the person the opportunity to express his/her views. The authorising officer responsible shall give the person the opportunity to present his/her views on the duration of the exclusion.

3. The authorising officer responsible may request registration of an exclusion warning for the situations referred to in Article 106(1)(a) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 already before having given the person the opportunity to express his/her views if he/she has an official document establishing the situation. The authorising officer responsible shall notify the person of the registration of the exclusion warning.

4. The authorising officer responsible may exceptionally defer the opportunity given to the person to express his/her views in writing before the request for registration of an exclusion warning or before taking any act that might adversely affect the rights of the person concerned, provided that there are compelling legitimate grounds to preserve the confidentiality of the investigation or of the national legal proceedings while still proceeding with the registration of the warning.

5. When OLAF informs the authorising officer responsible in accordance with Article 13, it shall indicate if the confidentiality of the investigation or of a national judicial proceeding needs to be preserved and if the opportunity given to the person to express his/her views needs to be deferred.

6. The person shall be given the opportunity to express his/her views as soon as the grounds for protecting an investigation or national legal proceedings have ceased to exist.

Article 17 U.K. Data protection and rights of data subjects

1. The authorising officer responsible shall inform the data subjects that data concerning them may be included in the EWS and to whom the data may be communicated. This general information shall be communicated in writing, in particular, in the calls for tender, calls for proposals, prize contests and in the absence of calls before awarding contracts or grants.

2. The authorising officer responsible who requests the registration of a warning shall be responsible for the relations with the person whose data are introduced into the EWS. He/she shall respond to requests from a person concerned to rectify inaccurate or incomplete personal data and to any other requests or questions from this person.

3. A person may also request in writing information from the accounting officer on whether he/she is registered in the EWS.

The accounting officer shall provide this information unless the authorising officer responsible, in agreement with OLAF where appropriate decides that restrictions of Article 20(1) of Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 apply.

4. Removed warnings shall be accessible for audit and investigation purposes only and shall not be visible for the users of the EWS.

However, personal data contained in warnings referring to natural persons shall remain accessible for such purposes only for five years after the removal of the warning.

Article 18 U.K. Review of the warning

If the person for whom a warning is registered in the EWS provides new elements demonstrating that the grounds for registration do no longer exist, the authorising officer responsible shall request the removal of the warning.

The person for whom an exclusion warning is registered in the EWS may complain to the Ombudsman and seek judicial review.