CHAPTER 8

IMPLEMENTATION OF EXPENDITURE

Principles
Article 32
1
Athena's appropriations shall be used in accordance with the principles of sound financial management, i.e. economy, effectiveness and efficiency.
2
Authorising officers shall be responsible for implementing Athena's revenue and expenditure in accordance with the principles of sound financial management and for ensuring that the requirements of legality and regularity are complied with. To implement expenditure, the authorising officers shall make budgetary commitments and legal commitments, shall validate expenditure and authorise payments and shall undertake the preliminaries for the implementation of appropriations. An authorising officer may delegate his or her duties by a decision determining:
a
staff at an appropriate level for such delegation;
b
the extent of the conferred powers;
c
the scope for beneficiaries to subdelegate their powers.
3
The implementation of appropriations according to the principle of the segregation of the authorising officer and the accounting officer shall be ensured. The duties of authorising officer and accounting officer shall be mutually incompatible. Any payment made from funds administered by Athena shall require the joint signature of an authorising officer and an accounting officer.
4
Without prejudice to this Decision, when the implementation of common expenditure is entrusted to a Member State, a Union institution or, as appropriate, an international organisation, that State, institution or organisation shall apply the rules applicable to the implementation of its own expenditure. When the administrator implements expenditure directly, it shall comply with the rules applicable to the implementation of the ‘Council’ section of the general budget of the Union.
5
However, the administrator may provide the Presidency with elements for proposal to the Council or the Special Committee on rules for the implementation of common expenditure.
6
The Special Committee may approve rules for the implementation of common expenditure which depart from paragraph 4.

Common costs incurred in preparation for, or further to, operations, or not linked directly to a specific operation
Article 33
The administrator shall perform the duties of authorising officer for expenditure covering the common costs incurred in preparation for, or further to, operations, as well as common costs which cannot be linked directly to a specific operation.

Operational common costs
Article 34
1
The operation commander shall carry out the duties of authorising officer for expenditure covering the operational common costs of the operation he or she commands. However, the administrator shall carry out the duties of authorising officer for expenditure covering the operational common costs incurred during the preparatory phase of a specific operation, which are implemented directly by Athena, or related to the operation after the end of its active phase.
2
The sums required for the implementation of expenditure on an operation shall be transferred by the administrator from Athena's bank account to the operation commander, upon his or her request, into the bank account opened on behalf of Athena, of which the operation commander has provided the details.
3
By way of derogation from Article 18(5), the adoption of a reference amount shall activate the right of the administrator and the operation commander, each in his or her area of competence, to commit and pay expenses for the operation concerned up to the percentage of the reference amount approved as provided for in Article 25(1), unless the Council decides on a higher level for commitments.
The Special Committee, on the basis of a proposal from the administrator or the operation commander and taking into account the operational necessity and urgency, may decide that additional expenditure may be committed and, as appropriate, paid. The Special Committee may decide to refer the question to the competent preparatory bodies at the Council through the Presidency unless operational circumstances dictate otherwise. This derogation shall not be applied as from the date of adoption of a budget for the operation concerned.
4
During the period prior to the adoption of a budget for an operation, the administrator and the operation commander or his or her representative shall report to the Special Committee every month, each reporting on the matters concerning him or her, as regards the expenses which are eligible as common costs for that operation. The Special Committee, on the basis of a proposal by the administrator, the operation commander or a Member State, may issue directives on the implementation of expenditure during that period.
5
By way of derogation from Article 18(5), in the case of imminent danger to the lives of personnel involved in a Union military operation, the operation commander for that operation may implement the necessary expenditure to save the lives of those personnel, in excess of the appropriations entered in the budget. He or she shall inform the administrator and the Special Committee as soon as possible. In such a case, the administrator shall, liaising with the operation commander, propose the transfers needed to finance this unexpected expenditure. If it is not possible to ensure sufficient funding for such expenditure by means of a transfer, the administrator shall propose an amending budget.