CHAPTER V

FINANCING OF EUROPEAN STANDARDISATION

Financing of standardisation organisations by the Union
Article 15
1
The financing by the Union may be granted to the European standardisation organisations for the following standardisation activities:
a
the development and revision of European standards or European standardisation deliverables which is necessary and suitable for the support of Union legislation and policies;
b
the verification of the quality, and conformity to the corresponding Union legislation and policies, of European standards or European standardisation deliverables;
c
the performance of preliminary or ancillary work in connection with European standardisation, including studies, cooperation activities, including international cooperation, seminars, evaluations, comparative analyses, research work, laboratory work, inter-laboratory tests, conformity evaluation work and measures to ensure that the periods for the development and the revision of European standards or European standardisation deliverables are shortened without prejudice to the founding principles, especially the principles of openness, quality, transparency and consensus among all stakeholders;
d
the activities of the central secretariats of the European standardisation organisations, including policy development, the coordination of standardisation activities, the processing of technical work and the provision of information to interested parties;
e
the translation of European standards or European standardisation deliverables used in support of Union legislation and policies into the official Union languages other than the working languages of the European standardisation organisations or, in duly justified cases into languages other than the official Union languages;
f
the drawing up of information to explain, interpret and simplify European standards or European standardisation deliverables, including the drawing up of user guides, abstracts of standards, best practice information and awareness-building actions, strategies and training programmes;
g
activities seeking to carry out programmes of technical assistance, cooperation with third countries and the promotion and enhancement of the European standardisation system and of European standards and European standardisation deliverables among interested parties in the Union and at international level.
2
The financing by the Union may also be granted to:
a
national standardisation bodies for the standardisation activities referred to in paragraph 1, which they jointly undertake with the European standardisation organisations;
b
other bodies which have been entrusted with contributing to the activities referred to in point (a) of paragraph 1, or carrying out the activities referred to in points (c) and (g) of paragraph 1, in cooperation with the European standardisation organisations.

Financing of other European organisations by the Union
Article 16
The financing by the Union may be granted to the European stakeholder organisations meeting the criteria set out in Annex III to this Regulation for the following activities:
1. the functioning of these organisations and of their activities relating to European and international standardisation, including the processing of technical work and the provision of information to members and other interested parties;
2. the provision of legal and technical expertise, including studies, in relation to assessment of the need for, and the development of, European standards and European standardisation deliverables and training of experts;
3. the participation in the technical work with respect to the development and revision of European standards and European standardisation deliverables which is necessary and suitable for the support of Union legislation and policies;
4. the promotion of European standards and European standardisation deliverables, and the information on, and use of, standards among interested parties, including SMEs and consumers.

Financing arrangements
Article 17
1
Financing by the Union shall be provided in the form of:
a
grants without a call for proposals, or contracts after public procurement procedures, to:
1. European standardisation organisations and national standardisation bodies to carry out the activities referred to in Article 15(1);
2. bodies identified by a basic act, within the meaning of Article 49 of Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002, to carry out, in collaboration with the European standardisation organisations the activities referred to in point (c) of Article 15(1) of this Regulation;
b
grants after a call for proposals, or contracts after public procurement procedures, to other bodies referred to in point (b) of Article 15(2):
1. for contributing to the development and revision of European standards or European standardisation deliverables referred to in point (a) of Article 15(1);
2. for carrying out the preliminary or ancillary work referred to in point (c) of Article 15(1);
3. for carrying out the activities referred to in point (g) of Article 15(1);
c
grants after a call for proposals to the European stakeholder organisations meeting the criteria set out in Annex III to this Regulation to carry out the activities referred to in Article 16.
2
The activities of the bodies referred to in paragraph 1 may be financed by:
a
grants for actions;
b
operating grants for the European standardisation organisations and the European stakeholder organisations meeting the criteria set out in Annex III to this Regulation in accordance with the rules set out in Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002. In the event of renewal, operating grants shall not be automatically decreased.
3
The Commission shall decide on the financing arrangements referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2, on the amounts of the grants and, where necessary, on the maximum percentage of financing by type of activity.
4
Except in duly justified cases, grants awarded for the standardisation activities referred to in points (a) and (b) of Article 15(1) shall take the form of lump sums and for the standardisation activities referred to in point (a) of Article 15(1) shall be paid upon fulfilment of the following conditions:
a
European standards or European standardisation deliverables requested by the Commission in accordance with Article 10 are adopted or revised within a period not exceeding the period specified in the request referred to in that Article;
b
SMEs, consumer organisations and environmental and social stakeholders are appropriately represented and can participate in European standardisation activities, as referred to in Article 5(1).
5
The common cooperation objectives and the administrative and financial conditions relating to the grants awarded to European standardisation organisations and the European stakeholder organisations meeting the criteria set out in Annex III to this Regulation shall be defined in the framework partnership agreements between the Commission and those standardisation and stakeholder organisations, in accordance with Regulations (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 and (EC, Euratom) No 2342/2002. The Commission shall inform the European Parliament and the Council of the conclusion of those agreements.

Management
Article 18
The appropriations determined by the budgetary authority for the financing of standardisation activities may also cover the administrative expenses relating to the preparation, monitoring, inspection, auditing and evaluation which are directly necessary for the purposes of implementing Articles 15, 16 and 17, including studies, meetings, information and publication activities, expenses relating to informatics networks for the exchange of information and any other expenditure on administrative and technical assistance which the Commission may use for standardisation activities.

Protection of the financial interests of the Union
Article 19
1
The Commission shall ensure that, when the activities financed under this Regulation are implemented, the financial interests of the Union are protected by the application of preventive measures against fraud, corruption and other illegal activities, by effective checks and by the recovery of amounts unduly paid and, if irregularities are detected, by effective, proportionate and dissuasive penalties, in accordance with Regulations (EC, Euratom) No 2988/95, (Euratom, EC) No 2185/96 and (EC) No 1073/1999.
2
For the Union activities financed pursuant to this Regulation, the notion of irregularity defined in Article 1(2) of Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2988/95 shall mean any infringement of a provision of Union law or any breach of a contractual obligation resulting from an act or omission by an economic operator which has, or would have, the effect of prejudicing the general budget of the Union or budgets managed by it by an unjustified item of expenditure.
3
Any agreements and contracts resulting from this Regulation shall provide for monitoring and financial control by the Commission or any representative which it authorises and for audits by the European Court of Auditors, which if necessary may be conducted on the spot.