Article 21 Management and financial control
United Kingdom
Without prejudice to the Commission's responsibility for implementing the general budget of the Union, Member States shall take responsibility in the first instance for the management of actions supported by the EGF and the financial control of the actions. To that end, the measures they take shall include:
verifying that management and control arrangements have been set up and are being implemented in such a way as to ensure that Union funds are being used efficiently and correctly, in accordance with the principles of sound financial management;
verifying that the financed actions have been properly carried out;
ensuring that expenditure funded is based on verifiable supporting documents, and is legal and regular;
preventing, detecting and correcting irregularities as defined in Article 122 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1303/2013 and recovering amounts unduly paid together with interest on late payments where appropriate. The Member States shall notify any such irregularities to the Commission and keep the Commission informed of the progress of any resulting administrative and legal proceedings.
Member States shall designate bodies to be responsible for the management and control of the actions supported by the EGF in accordance with F1Article 63(3) of the Financial Regulation and with the criteria and procedures laid down in Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1303/2013. Those designated bodies shall provide the Commission with the information set out in Article 63(5) of the Financial Regulation on the implementation of the financial contribution when submitting the final report referred to in Article 18 of this Regulation.
Member States shall make the financial corrections required where an irregularity is ascertained. The corrections made by the Member States shall consist in cancelling all or part of the financial contribution. The Member States shall recover any amount unduly paid as a result of an irregularity detected, repay it to the Commission and, where the amount is not repaid by the relevant Member State in the time allowed, default interest shall be due.
The Commission, in its responsibility for the implementation of the general budget of the Union, shall take every step necessary to verify that the actions financed are carried out in accordance with the principles of sound and efficient financial management. It is the responsibility of the applicant Member State to ensure that it has smoothly functioning management and control systems. The Commission shall satisfy itself that such systems are in place.
To that end, without prejudice to the powers of the Court of Auditors or the checks carried out by the Member State in accordance with national laws, regulations and administrative provisions, Commission officials or servants may carry out on-the-spot checks, including sample checks, on the actions financed by the EGF with a minimum of one working day's notice. The Commission shall give notice to the applicant Member State with a view to obtaining all the assistance necessary. Officials or servants of the Member State concerned may take part in such checks.
Member States shall ensure that all supporting documents regarding expenditure incurred are kept available for the Commission and the Court of Auditors for a period of three years following the winding-up of a financial contribution received from the EGF.