The Court of Auditors shall have the authority to supervise beneficiaries of the Agency’s funding as well as contractors and sub-contractors who have received Union funds through the Agency, on the basis of documents provided to it or using on-the-spot checks.

Without prejudice to paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of this Article, the cooperation agreements concluded by the Agency with third countries or international organisations, contracts and grant agreements concluded by the Agency with third parties, and any financing decision taken by the Agency shall provide expressly that the Court of Auditors and OLAF may carry out checks and investigations in accordance with their respective powers.

The contractual liability of the Agency shall be governed by the law applicable to the contract in question. The Court of Justice shall have jurisdiction to give judgement pursuant to any arbitration clause contained in a contract concluded by the Agency.

In the event of non-contractual liability, the Agency shall, in accordance with the general principles common to the laws of the Member States, make good any damage caused by its departments or by its servants in the performance of their duties.

The Court of Justice shall have jurisdiction in any dispute relating to compensation for damage referred to in paragraph 2.

The personal liability of its servants towards the Agency shall be governed by the provisions laid down in the Staff Regulations or Conditions of employment applicable to them.

The translation services required for the functioning of the Agency shall be provided by the Translation Centre for the bodies of the European Union.

The Administrative Board shall adopt arrangements for implementing Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 within 6 months from the entry into force of this Regulation.

Decisions taken by the Agency in pursuance of Article 8 of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 may be the subject of a complaint to the Ombudsman or an action before the Court of Justice of the European Union, under Articles 228 and 263 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union respectively.

The Agency shall apply the Commission’s security rules regarding the protection of EU classified information.

The Agency may establish, in its internal rules, provisions for the handling of non-classified but sensitive information. Such provisions shall cover, inter alia, the exchange, handling and storage thereof.

Members of the Administrative Board and of the Security Accreditation Board, the Executive Director, as well as seconded national experts and observers, shall make a declaration of commitments and a declaration of interests indicating the absence or existence of any direct or indirect interests which might be considered prejudicial to their independence. Those declarations shall be accurate and complete. They shall be made in writing upon their entry into service and shall be renewed annually. They shall be updated whenever necessary, in particular in the event of relevant changes in the personal circumstances of the persons concerned.

Before any meeting which they are to attend, Members of the Administrative Board and of the Security Accreditation Board, the Executive Director, as well as seconded national experts and observers and external experts participating in ad hoc working groups shall accurately and completely declare the absence or existence of any interest which might be considered prejudicial to their independence in relation to any items on the agenda, and shall abstain from participating in the discussion of and voting upon such points.

The Administrative Board and the Security Accreditation Board shall lay down, in their rules of procedure, the practical arrangements for the rule on declaration of interest referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 and for the prevention and the management of conflict of interest.

The Agency shall be open to the participation of third countries and international organisations. Such participation and the conditions therefor shall be established in an agreement between the Union and that third country or international organisation, in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 218 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

In accordance with the relevant provisions of those agreements, practical arrangements shall be developed for the participation of third countries or international organisations in the work of the Agency, including arrangements relating to their participation in the initiatives undertaken by the Agency, to financial contributions and to staff.