Article 28 Functions of the Audit Authority

The Audit Authority of the programme shall ensure that audits are carried out on the management and control systems, on an appropriate sample of projects and on the annual accounts of the programme.

For the purposes of paragraph 1, the COVID-19 pandemic shall constitute a duly justified case that the audit authority may invoke based on their professional judgement to use a non-statistical sampling method for the accounting year from 1 July 2019 to 30 June 2020 .

The Audit Authority shall be assisted by a group of auditors comprising a representative of each participating country in the programme.

Where audits are carried out by a body other than the Audit Authority, the Audit Authority shall ensure that this body has the necessary functional independence.

The Audit Authority shall ensure that the audit work complies with internationally accepted auditing standards.

Within 9 months of the signature of the first financing agreement in accordance with Article 8(2), the Audit Authority shall submit an audit strategy for performance of audits to the Commission. The audit strategy shall set out the audit methodology on the annual accounts and on projects, the sampling method for audits on projects and the planning of audits for the current accounting year and the two subsequent accounting years. The audit strategy shall be updated annually from 2017 until end 2024. Where a common management and control system applies to more than one programme, a single audit strategy may be prepared for the programmes concerned. The updated audit strategy shall be submitted to the Commission together with the programme annual report.

The Audit Authority shall draw up in conformity with Article 68:

Where a common management and control system applies to more than one programme, the information required under point (b) may be covered by a single report.