Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/887Show full title

CHAPTER 5 U.K. INTERNAL AUDIT

Article 28 U.K. Appointment, powers and duties of the internal auditor

1. The PPP body shall have an internal audit function which shall be performed in compliance with the relevant international standards.

2. The internal audit function shall be performed by the Commission's internal auditor. The internal auditor may be neither authorising officer nor accounting officer.

3. The internal auditor shall advise the PPP body on dealing with risks, by issuing independent opinions on the quality of management and control systems and by issuing recommendations for improving the conditions of implementation of operations and promoting sound financial management.

The internal auditor shall be responsible in particular for:

(a) assessing the suitability and effectiveness of internal management systems and the performance of departments in implementing programmes and actions by reference to the risks associated with them;

(b) assessing the efficiency and effectiveness of the internal control and audit systems applicable to each budget implementation operation.

4. The internal auditor shall perform his or her duties in relation to all the PPP body's activities and departments. The internal auditor shall enjoy full and unlimited access to all information required to perform his or her duties, if necessary on the spot access, including in the Member States and in third countries.

5. The internal auditor shall take note of the consolidated annual activity report of the authorising officer referred to in Article 23 and of any other pieces of information identified.

6. The internal auditor shall report to the governing board and the director on his or her findings and recommendations. The PPP body shall ensure that action is taken with regard to recommendations resulting from audits.

7. The internal auditor shall also report in any of the following cases:

(a) critical risks and recommendations have not been addressed,

(b) there are significant delays in the implementation of the recommendations made in the previous years.

The governing board and the director shall ensure the regular monitoring of the implementation of audit recommendations. The governing board shall examine the information referred to in Article 23 and whether the recommendations have been fully and timely implemented.

Each PPP body shall consider whether the recommendations made in the reports of its internal auditor are suitable for an exchange of best practices with other PPP bodies.

8. The PPP body shall make available the contact details of the internal auditor to any natural or legal person involved in expenditure operations, for the purposes of confidentially contacting the internal auditor.

9. The reports and findings of the internal auditor shall be accessible to the public only after validation by the internal auditor of the action taken for their implementation.

Article 29 U.K. Independence of the internal auditor

1. The internal auditor shall enjoy complete independence in the conduct of his or her audits. Special rules applicable to the internal auditor shall be laid down by the Commission and shall be such as to guarantee that the internal auditor is completely independent in the performance of his or her duties, and to establish the internal auditor's responsibility.

2. The internal auditor may not be given any instructions nor be restricted in any way as regards the performance of the functions which, by virtue of his or her appointment, are assigned to him or her under the Financial Regulation.

Article 30 U.K. Establishment of an internal audit capability

1. The governing board may establish with due regard to cost effectiveness and added value, an internal audit capability which shall perform its duties in compliance with the relevant international standards.

The purpose, authority and responsibility of the internal audit capability shall be provided for in the internal audit charter and shall be subject to the approval of the governing board.

The annual audit plan of an internal audit capability shall be drawn up by the Head of internal audit capability taking into consideration, inter alia, the director's assessment of risk in the PPP body.

The annual audit plan shall be reviewed and approved by the governing board.

The internal audit capability shall report to the governing board and the director on his or her findings and recommendations.

If the internal audit capability of a single PPP body is not cost-effective or is not able to meet international standards, the PPP body may decide to share an internal audit capability with other PPP bodies functioning in the same policy area.

In such cases the governing board of the concerned PPP bodies shall agree on the practical modalities of the shared internal audit capabilities.

The internal audit actors shall cooperate efficiently through exchanging information and audit reports and, where appropriate, establishing joint risk assessments and carrying out joint audits.

2. The governing board and the director shall ensure the regular monitoring of the implementation of the internal audit capability's recommendations.