Article 104 Functions of the certifying authority

The certifying authority of a cross-border programme shall be responsible in particular for:

1. (a)

   drawing up and submitting to the Commission certified statements of expenditure and applications for payment;

2. (b)

   certifying that:

   1. (i)

      the statement of expenditure is accurate, results from reliable accounting systems and is based on verifiable supporting documents;

   2. (ii)

      the expenditure declared complies with applicable Community and national rules and has been incurred in respect of operations selected for funding in accordance with the criteria applicable to the programme and complying with Community and national rules;

3. (c)

   ensuring for the purposes of certification that it has received adequate information from the managing authority on the procedures and verifications carried out in relation to expenditure included in statements of expenditure;

4. (d)

   taking account for certification purposes of the results of all audits carried out by or under the responsibility of the audit authority;

5. (e)

   maintaining accounting records in computerised form of expenditure declared to the Commission. The managing authorities and the audit authorities shall have access to this information. At the written request of the Commission, the certifying authority shall provide the Commission with this information, within ten working days of receipt of the request or any other agreed period for the purpose of carrying out documentary and on the spot checks;

6. (f)

   keeping an account of amounts recoverable and of amounts withdrawn following cancellation of all or part of the contribution for an operation. Amounts recovered shall be repaid to the general budget of the European Union prior to the closure of the cross-border programme by deducting them from the next statement of expenditure;

7. (g)

   F1sending the Commission, by 31 March each year, a statement identifying the following for each priority axis of the cross-border programme:

   1. (i)

      the amounts withdrawn from statements of expenditure submitted during the preceding year following cancellation of all or part of the public contribution for an operation;

   2. (ii)

      the amounts recovered which have been deducted from statements of expenditure submitted during the preceding year;

   3. (iii)

      a statement of amounts to be recovered as at 31 December of the preceding year classified by the year in which recovery orders were issued;

   4. (iv)

      a list of amounts for which it was established during the preceding year that they cannot be recovered or which are not expected to be recovered, classified by the year in which the recovery orders were issued.

   For the purposes of points (i), (ii) and (iii), aggregate amounts related to irregularities reported to the Commission under Article 28 of Regulation (EC) No 1828/2006, in accordance with Article 138(2) of this Regulation, shall be provided for each priority axis.

   For the purposes of point (iv), any amount related to an irregularity reported to the Commission under Article 28 of Regulation (EC) No 1828/2006, in accordance with Article 138(2) of this Regulation, shall be identified by the reference number of that irregularity or by any other adequate method.

   For each amount referred to in point (iv), the certifying authority shall indicate whether it requests the Community share to be borne by the general budget of the European Union.

   If, within one year from the date of the submission of the statement, the Commission does not request information for the purposes of Article 114(2) of this Regulation, inform the participating countries in writing about its intention to open an enquiry in respect of that amount or request that the participating countries continue the recovery procedure, the Community share shall be borne by the general budget of the European Union.

   The time limit of one year shall not apply in cases of suspected or established fraud.