1.On the basis of a proposal by the administrator and after informing the Special Committee, the Secretary-General of the Council shall appoint an internal auditor of the Athena mechanism, and at least one deputy internal auditor, for a period of four years, renewable up to a total period not exceeding 8 years; internal auditors must have the necessary professional qualifications and offer sufficient guarantees of security and independence. The internal auditor may not be either an authorising officer or accounting officer; he or she may not take part in the preparation of financial statements.
2.The internal auditor shall report to the administrator on dealing with risks, by issuing independent opinions on the quality of management and control systems and by issuing recommendations for improving the internal audit in operations and promoting sound financial management. He or she shall be responsible in particular for assessing the suitability and effectiveness of internal management systems and the performance of departments in implementing policies and reaching objectives by reference to the risks associated with them.
3.The internal auditor shall perform his or her duties on all departments involved in the collection of Athena's revenue or the implementation of expenditure financed through Athena.
4.The internal auditor shall perform one or more audits during the financial year as appropriate. He or she shall report to the administrator and inform the operation commander of his or her findings and recommendations. The operation commander and the administrator shall ensure that action is taken on recommendations resulting from the audits.
5.The administrator shall submit a report each year to the Special Committee on the internal audit work done, indicating the number and type of internal audits carried out, observations made, recommendations put forward and how those recommendations were followed up.
6.Furthermore, each operation commander shall give the internal auditor full access to the operation which he or she commands. The internal auditor shall check that the financial and budgetary systems and procedures function correctly, and shall ensure that robust and effective internal audit systems are in operation.
7.The proceedings and reports of the internal auditor shall be made available to the College of Auditors along with all supporting documents relating thereto.