CHAPTER 9EXTERNAL AUDIT AND COMBATTING FRAUD

Article 46External audit

The PPP body shall be subject to an independent external audit, performed in accordance with internationally accepted auditing standards by an independent audit body. The opinion of the external auditor shall establish whether the accounts give a true and fair view, whether the control systems put in place function properly, and whether the underlying transactions are legal and regular. The opinion shall also state whether the audit work puts in doubt the assertions made in the management declaration referred to in Article 20. The opinion shall be submitted to the governing board. It shall be transmitted to the Commission together with the final accounts of the PPP body by 15 March at the latest.

Article 47Examination of the accounts by the Court of Auditors

1.

Unless otherwise provided for in the constituent instrument of the PPP body, the Court of Auditors shall scrutinise the accounts of the PPP body in accordance with Article 287 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. In its examination, the Court of Auditors may consider the audit work performed by the independent external auditor referred to in Article 46 of this Regulation and the action taken in response to his or her findings.

2.

The scrutiny carried out by the Court of Auditors shall be governed by Articles 158 to 163 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012.

Article 48On-the-spot checks by the Commission, the Court of Auditors and OLAF

1.

Without prejudice to Article 47(1), the PPP body shall grant Commission staff and other persons authorised by it, as well as the Court of Auditors, access to its sites and premises and to all the information, including information in electronic format, needed in order to conduct their audits.

2.

OLAF may carry out investigations, including on-the-spot checks and inspections, in accordance with the provisions and procedures laid down in Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 883/20136 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Council Regulation (Euratom, EC) No 2185/967 with a view to establishing whether there has been fraud, corruption or any other illegal activity affecting the financial interests of the Union in connection with a grant or contract funded by the PPP body.

3.

Without prejudice to paragraphs 1 and 2, contracts, agreements and decisions of the PPP body shall contain provisions expressly empowering the European Court of Auditors and OLAF to conduct such audits and investigations, according to their respective competences.