THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
Having regard to Regulation (EU) No 514/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 April 2014 laying down general provisions on the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund and on the instrument for financial support for police cooperation, preventing and combating crime, and crisis management, and in particular Article 27(5) thereof,
Whereas:
(1)
Responsible Authorities are responsible for the management and control of expenditure under Regulation (EU) No 514/2014. For that purpose they are to carry out administrative and on-the-spot controls.
(2)
Efficient administrative controls carried out by Responsible Authorities should firstly consist in analysing financial declarations sent by beneficiaries. More detailed checking of individual supporting documents should only be carried out when that analysis reveals inconsistencies or irregularities. In order to ensure a sufficient level of assurance while reducing the administrative burden, it is also important to clarify the circumstances under which the Responsible Authority can rely on an audit certificate.
(3)
On-the-spot controls should cover both financial and operational aspects and may need to be performed at different stages of a project. It is therefore necessary to define the scope of each type of on-the-spot control, in order to ensure that they are carried out in the most efficient way.
(4)
Operational on-the-spot controls should take place while projects are being implemented, so that timely corrective measures can be taken. Such controls should apply both to a sample of projects that are still in progress on the first day of the relevant financial year and to projects that start during that financial year.
(5)
With the aim of ensuring a sufficient level of assurance while reducing the administrative burden, the circumstances should be defined in which the risk of error is considered immaterial and as a consequence the number of financial on-the-spot controls can be reduced. However, it is also necessary to specify the action to be taken where there is a material error rate, in order to obtain sufficient assurance about the legality and regularity of the Union expenditure.
(6)
The main elements of financial on-the-spot controls should be clarified. In particular, Responsible Authorities must verify the non-profit nature of the projects supported by the national programmes. They should check that those projects do not receive double financing of expenditure under the national programmes and other Union programmes, in respect of all programming periods, including funding provided by agencies.
(7)
Supporting documents should be kept for a specified period after the completion of each project, in order to allow the Responsible Authorities, the Commission (including OLAF) and the European Court of Auditors to carry out their controls.
(8)
In order to allow for the application of this Regulation as soon as the national programmes are approved, this Regulation should enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
(9)
The United Kingdom and Ireland are bound by Regulation (EU) No 514/2014 and are as a consequence bound by this Regulation.
(10)
Without prejudice to Recital 47 of Regulation (EU) No 514/2014, Denmark is not bound by Regulation (EU) No 514/2014 or by this Regulation.
(11)
The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the ‘Asylum, Migration and Integration and Internal Security Funds’ Committee,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: