CHAPTER VGENERAL PROVISIONS
Article 21Legal status
1.
Eurofound shall be a Union agency. It shall have legal personality.
2.
In each of the Member States Eurofound shall enjoy the most extensive legal capacity accorded to legal persons under national law. It may, in particular, acquire and dispose of movable and immovable property and be party to legal proceedings.
3.
Eurofound shall have its seat in Dublin.
4.
Eurofound may establish a liaison office in Brussels to further its cooperation with the relevant Union institutions in accordance with Article 11(6).
Article 22Privileges and immunities
Protocol No 7 on the Privileges and Immunities of the European Union shall apply to Eurofound and its staff.
Article 23Language arrangements
1.
2.
The translation services required for Eurofound's functioning shall be provided by the Translation Centre.
Article 24Transparency and data protection
1.
Eurofound shall carry out its activities with a high level of transparency.
2.
3.
The Management Board shall, within six months of the date of its first meeting, adopt the detailed rules for applying Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001.
4.
Article 25Combating fraud
1.
2.
The Court of Auditors shall have the power of audit, on the basis of documents and of on-the-spot inspections, over all grant beneficiaries, contractors and subcontractors who have received Union funds from Eurofound.
3.
4.
Without prejudice to paragraphs 1, 2 and 3, cooperation agreements with third countries and international organisations, contracts, grant agreements and grant decisions of Eurofound shall contain provisions expressly empowering the Court of Auditors and OLAF to conduct such audits and investigations, in accordance with their respective competences.
Article 26Security rules on the protection of classified and sensitive non-classified information
Eurofound shall adopt security rules equivalent to the Commission's security rules for protecting European Union Classified Information (EUCI) and sensitive non-classified information, set out in Decisions (EU, Euratom) 2015/443 and 2015/444, where required. Eurofound's security rules shall cover, inter alia, and where appropriate, provisions for the exchange, processing and storage of such information.
Article 27Liability
1.
Eurofound's contractual liability shall be governed by the law applicable to the contract in question.
2.
The Court of Justice of the European Union (Court of Justice) shall have jurisdiction to give judgment pursuant to any arbitration clause contained in a contract concluded by Eurofound.
3.
In the case of non-contractual liability, Eurofound 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 staff in the performance of their duties.
4.
The Court of Justice shall have jurisdiction relating to compensation for damage as referred to in paragraph 3.
5.
The personal liability of its staff towards Eurofound shall be governed by the provisions laid down in the Staff Regulations and in the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants.
Article 28Evaluation
1.
In accordance with Article 29(5) of Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1271/2013, Eurofound shall carry out ex-ante and ex-post evaluations of those programmes and activities that entail significant spending.
2.
By 21 February 2024, and every five years thereafter, the Commission shall ensure that an evaluation is carried out in accordance with the Commission guidelines to assess Eurofound's performance in relation to its objectives, mandate and tasks. The Commission shall consult members of the Management Board and the other main stakeholders during its evaluation. The evaluation shall, in particular, address the possible need to amend the mandate of Eurofound, and the financial implications of any such amendments.
3.
The Commission shall report to the European Parliament, the Council and the Management Board on the findings of the evaluation. The findings of the evaluation shall be made public.
Article 29Administrative inquiries
The activities of Eurofound shall be subject to the inquiries by the European Ombudsman in accordance with Article 228 TFEU.
Article 30Cooperation with third countries and international organisations
1.
In so far as is necessary in order to achieve the objectives set out in this Regulation, and without prejudice to the respective competences of the Member States and of the Union institutions, Eurofound may cooperate with the competent authorities of third countries and with international organisations.
To that end, Eurofound may, subject to the authorisation of the Management Board and after the approval of the Commission, establish working arrangements with the competent authorities of third countries and with international organisations. Those arrangements shall not create legal obligations incumbent on the Union or the Member States.
2.
Eurofound shall be open to the participation of third countries that have entered into agreements with the Union to that effect.
Under the relevant provisions of the agreements referred to in the first subparagraph, arrangements shall be developed specifying, in particular, the nature, extent and manner in which the third countries concerned are to participate in the work of Eurofound, including provisions relating to participation in the initiatives carried out by Eurofound, financial contributions and staff. As regards staff matters, those arrangements shall, in any event, comply with the Staff Regulations.
3.
The Management Board shall adopt a strategy for relations with third countries and international organisations concerning matters for which Eurofound is competent.
Article 31Headquarters Agreement and operating conditions
1.
The necessary arrangements concerning the accommodation to be provided for Eurofound in the host Member State and the facilities to be made available by that Member State together with the specific rules applicable in the host Member State to the Executive Director, members of the Management Board, staff and members of their families shall be laid down in a Headquarters Agreement between Eurofound and Member State where the seat is located.
2.
Eurofound's host Member State shall provide the necessary conditions to ensure Eurofound's functioning, including multilingual, European-oriented schooling and appropriate transport connections.