Changes from plenary report to adopted text

Removed7. The Audit Board shall ensure regular dialogue and cooperation with the European Court of Auditors as well as with the Supreme Audit Institutions of the Western Balkans Countries.

Removed8. In carrying out their duties, the Audit Board, its members and its staff shall neither seek nor take instructions from the Beneficiaries’ governments or any institution, body, office or agency. Strong guarantees of independence shall apply for the selection of its staff, management and budget.

Removed9. The Audit Board shall assist the Commission in fighting mismanagement of Union funding under the Facility and in particular fraud, corruption, conflicts of interest and irregularities incurred in relation to any amount spent to achieve the objectives of the Facility.

Removed10. For that purpose, the Audit Board shall regularly report to the Commission and the relevant committees of the European Parliament and the Council, and transmit to the Commission without delay any information it obtains or is made aware of, on any identified cases of, or serious concerns in relation to, mismanagement of public funding incurred in relation with any amount spent to achieve the objectives of the Facility, including its performance. In accordance with Article 24(1) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1939, the Audit Board shall report to the EPPO any criminal conduct in respect of which the latter could exercise its competence. In addition, the Audit Board shall adopt recommendations to the Beneficiaries on all cases where in its view competent Beneficiaries’ authorities have not taken the steps to prevent, detect and correct fraud, corruption, conflict of interests and irregularities that have affected or seriously risk affecting the sound financial management of the expenditure financed under the Facility and in all cases where it identifies weaknesses affecting the design and functioning of the control system put in place by the Beneficiaries’ authorities. The Beneficiaries shall implement such recommendations, or provide a justification on why it has not done so. The reports of, and information from, the Audit Board shall also be sent to OLAF, and where applicable to the EPPO, and may be shared with the relevant Beneficiaries’ authorities, especially in case they need to take steps to prevent, detect and correct fraud, corruption, conflict of interests and irregularities, including its performance, as well as to investigate and prosecute criminal offences affecting the financial interests of the Union.

Removed11. The Audit Board shall have access to information, databases and registries required to carry out its tasks. The Framework Agreement referred to in Article 9 shall define rules and details for the access to relevant information by the Audit Board and the provision of relevant information by the Beneficiaries to the Audit Board.

Removed12. The Audit Board may assist the Commission in supporting the Beneficiaries with capacity building activities in the field of fight against mismanagement of public funding.

Removed13. The functioning of the Audit Board shall be funded under Article 6 (2)(b), including the funding for the appointed independent external auditor.

Removed1. For the part of the Facility funding paid as financial assistance, channelled directly to the Beneficiaries’ national budgets, the Commission shall rely on existing and improved internal control systems of the Beneficiaries, including the National Audit Authorities and, where applicable, the Anti-Fraud Coordination Services of each Beneficiary established in the framework of the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance as well as on local civilian oversight, facilitated by transparency measures in line with Union standards.

RemovedThe Reform Agendas shall prioritise in the first years of their implementation reforms related to negotiation chapter 32, particularly on public finance management and internal control, as well as on fight against fraud, together with chapters 23 and 24, particularly when it comes to justice, corruption and organised crime and chapter 8, particularly on State aid control.

Removed2. The Beneficiaries shall report any irregularities, including fraud, which have been the subject of a primary administrative or judicial finding, without delay, to the Audit Board and Commission and shall keep the Commission informed of the progress of any administrative and legal proceedings in relation to such irregularities. Such reporting shall be done by electronic means, using the Irregularity Management System, established by the Commission.

Removed3. The entities referred to in paragraph 2 shall maintain regular dialogue with the Audit Board, the European Court of Auditors, OLAF and, where appropriate, the EPPO.

Removed4. The Commission may carry out detailed systems reviews of the national budget implementation based on a risk-assessment and dialogue with National Audit Authorities, and issue recommendations for improvements in the systems after having consulted with the Audit Board.

Removed5. The Commission may adopt recommendations to the Beneficiary on all cases where in its views competent authorities have not taken the necessary steps to prevent, detect and correct fraud, corruption, conflict of interests and irregularities that have affected or seriously risk affecting the sound financial management of the expenditure financed under the Facility and in all cases where it identifies weaknesses affecting the design and functioning of the control system put in place by the authorities. The concerned Beneficiary shall implement such recommendations or provide a justification on why it has not done so.

RemovedMonitoring, reporting and evaluation

Removed1. The Commission shall monitor the implementation of the Facility and assess the achievement of the objectives set out in Article 3. The monitoring of implementation shall be targeted and proportionate to the activities carried out under the Facility. The indicators referred to in Article 13(2) are expected to contribute to the Commission’s monitoring of the Facility.

Removed2. The Framework Agreement referred to in Article 9 shall set out rules and modalities for the Beneficiaries to report to the Commission for the purpose of paragraph 1.

Removed3. The Commission shall provide an annual report to the European Parliament and the Council on progress towards the achievement of the objectives of this Regulation and the adherence to the general principles referred to in Article 4. That report shall include an assessment of the additionality and added value of the Facility, an assessment of synergies and complementarities between support covered under the Facility and Regulation (EU) 2021/1529 for each of the general and specific objectives referred to in Article 3 of this Regulation as well as a description of the arrangements and measures taken by the Commission to avoid double funding, with a view to protecting the Union budget.

Removed4. The Commission shall provide the report referred to in paragraph 3 to the Committee referred to in Article 27.

Removed1. The Commission shall establish a Facility scoreboard (the ‘Scoreboard’), which shall display the progress of the implementation of the reform agendas of the Beneficiaries in each of the objectives referred to in Article 3. The Scoreboard shall constitute the performance reporting system of the Facility.

Removed2. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt a delegated act in accordance with Article 26 to supplement this Regulation by defining the detailed elements of the Scoreboard with a view to displaying the progress of the implementation of the Facility as referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article.

Removed3. The Scoreboard shall be operational by December 2024 and shall be continuously updated by the Commission, as soon as performance information and other essential documents described in Article 24a(4) become available. The Scoreboard shall be made publicly available on a website or internet portal.

Removed4. The Scoreboard shall also present the key documents, such as the Reform Agenda’s, the Commission’s assessments of the Reform Agenda’s, the payment requests from the Beneficiaries, the Commission’s assessment of the fulfilment of payment conditions, the decision of the Reform Agenda’s and the decisions authorising the release of funds.

Removed5. The Scoreboard shall also present information on the final recipients of funds from this Facility.

Removed1. After 31 December 2027, but by 31 December 2031 at the latest, the Commission shall carry out an ex-post evaluation of the Regulation by means of an independent external evaluation. That ex-post evaluation shall assess the Union contribution to the achievement of the objectives of this Regulation. The Commission shall take due account of proposals by the European Parliament or the Council for this independent external evaluation.

Removed2. This ex-post evaluation shall make use of the good practice principles of the OECD Development Assistance Committee, seeking to ascertain whether the objectives have been met and to formulate recommendations with a view to improving future actions.

RemovedThe Commission shall communicate the findings and conclusions of this ex-post evaluation accompanied by its observations and follow-up, to the European Parliament, the Council and the Member States. This ex-post evaluation may be discussed at the request of Member States or the European Parliament. The results shall feed into the preparation of future programmes and actions and resource allocation. This ex-post evaluation and follow-up shall be made publicly available.

RemovedThe Commission shall, to an appropriate extent, associate all relevant stakeholders, including Beneficiaries, social partners, civil society organisations, regional and local authorities in the evaluation process of the Union’s funding provided under this Regulation, and may, where appropriate, seek to undertake joint evaluations with the Member States and other partners with close involvement of the Beneficiaries.

RemovedFinal provisions

Removed1. The power to adopt delegated acts referred to in Articles 13, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21 and 24 shall be conferred on the Commission subject to the conditions laid down in this Article.

Removed2. The power to adopt delegated acts referred to in Article 18 shall be conferred on the Commission for a period of four years from seven days after from the date of entry into force of this Regulation. The Commission shall draw up a report in respect of the delegation of power not later than nine months before the end of the four-year period. The delegation of power shall be tacitly extended for periods of an identical duration, unless the European Parliament or the Council opposes such extension not later than three months before the end of each period.

Removed3. The delegations of power referred to in Article 18 may be revoked at any time by the European Parliament or by the Council. A decision to revoke shall put an end to the delegation of the power specified in that decision. It shall take effect on the day following the publication of the decision in the Official Journal of the European Union or at a later date specified therein. It shall not affect the validity of any delegated acts already in force.

Removed4. Before adopting a delegated act, the Commission shall consult experts designated by each Member State in accordance with the principles laid down in the Interinstitutional Agreement on Better Law-Making of 13 April 2016.

Removed5. As soon as it adopts a delegated act, the Commission shall notify it simultaneously to the European Parliament and to the Council.

Removed6. A delegated act adopted pursuant to Article 18 shall enter into force only if no objection has been expressed either by the European Parliament or by the Council within a period of two months of notification of that act to the European Parliament and the Council or if, before the expiry of that period, the European Parliament and the Council have both informed the Commission that they will not object. That period shall be extended by two months at the initiative of the European Parliament or of the Council.

Removed1. The Commission shall be assisted by a Committee. That Committee shall be a committee within the meaning of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011.

Removed2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Article 5 of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 shall apply.

Removed1. The European Parliament and the Commission shall conduct a regular dialogue in order to ensure parliamentary oversight and scrutiny over the Facility. That dialogue shall be conducted within the framework of the existing high-level geopolitical dialogue on the implementation of the IPA III in order to ensure coherence between both instruments. That dialogue shall allow for exchange with the European Parliament on the state of progress in the implementation of the Facility and the Reform Agendas. The dialogue shall take place at least three times a year at appropriate moments in the implementation cycle. Ahead of each dialogue, the Commission shall provide the Parliament with:

Removeda) the state of progress in the implementation of the Facility, in particular the Reform Agendas and related investments and reforms, as well as the Framework Agreements;

Removedb) the Reform Agendas, the Commission assessment thereof and any amendments of the Reform Agendas;

Removedc) the status of fulfilment of the respective milestones and targets;

Removedd) information on the withholding and suspension of payments as well as the reduction and redistribution of funds, including any observation presented and remedial measures taken by Beneficiaries to ensure a satisfactory fulfilment of the milestones and targets;

Removede) an assessment of complementarities between IPA III and the Facility for each of the measures;

Removedf) the latest detailed financial programming and any other related documents of both the Facility and of IPA III to allow for a coherent scrutiny of both instruments for the Beneficiaries;

Removedg) the main findings of the monitoring activities defined in this Regulation, including the annual report as referred to in Article 24;

Removedh) any other relevant information and documentation in relation to the implementation of the Facility.

Removed2. The European Parliament may express its views in resolutions as regards the matters referred to in paragraph 1.

Removed3. The Commission shall take into account any elements arising from the views expressed through the regular dialogue, including relevant resolutions from the European Parliament.

Removed4. The Scoreboard referred to in Article 24a may serve as a basis for the dialogue.

Removed1. The Commission and delegations of the European Union in the beneficiary countries shall engage in communication activities to ensure the visibility of the Union funding for the financial support envisaged in the Reform Agendas, including through joint communication activities with the Beneficiaries. The Commission shall ensure that support under the Facility is communicated and acknowledged through a funding statement. Actions financed under the Facility shall be subject to requirements set out in the Communication and Visibility Manual for EU External Actions. The Commission shall adopt guidance for Union funded projects on visibility and communication actions for each Beneficiary.

Removed2. The recipients of Union funding, especially governmental and other public institutions, shall actively and transparently acknowledge the origin and ensure the visibility of the Union funding, including, where applicable, by displaying the emblem of the Union and an appropriate funding statement that reads ‘funded by the European Union’, in particular when promoting the actions and their results, by providing coherent, effective and proportionate targeted information to multiple audiences, including the media and the public.

Removed2a. The recipients’ future access to Union funding shall be conditional upon fulfilling the visibility criteria set out in paragraph 2.

Removed3. The Commission shall implement information and communication actions relating to the Facility, to actions taken pursuant to the Facility and to the results obtained. Financial resources allocated to the Facility shall also contribute to the corporate communication of the political priorities of the Union, insofar as they are related to the objectives referred to in Article 3. The Commission shall take measures to strengthen strategic communication and public diplomacy for communicating the values of the Union and highlighting the added value of the Union’s support.

Removed3a. Information, communication and publicity shall be provided in accessible format, in accordance with the UN CRPD Article 9, and Union harmonised legislation, in particular Directive 2019/882 of the European Parliament and of the Council.

RemovedThis Regulation shall enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

RemovedThis Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

RemovedDone at Brussels,

RemovedFor the European Parliament For the Council

RemovedThe President The President

RemovedMethodology on the allocation of global resources per Beneficiary

RemovedEach Beneficiary’s allocation shall be calculated in accordance with the following steps based on data of the reference year: