TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Transcription

1 Annex 1 TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS I. INTRODUCTION 1. The European Parliament needs audit reports including an audit opinion on accounts and the eligibility of the Union's funding of political parties at European level and political foundations at European level (hereinafter "parties" or "foundations"). 2. The parties and foundations can apply to the European Parliament and can be awarded funding from the budget of the European Union to cover part of their expenditure. II. APPLICABLE LEGISLATION 3. The legal framework of funding for the financial years 2016 and 2017 is as follows: Regulation (EC) No 2004/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 November 2003 (hereinafter Regulation No 2004/2003 ) on the regulations governing political parties at European level and the rules regarding their funding. 1 Decision of the Bureau of the European Parliament of 29 March 2004 laying down the procedures for implementing Regulation (EC) No 2004/2003 (hereinafter the Bureau Decision of ). 2 Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 966/2012 of 25 October 2012 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union and repealing Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 (hereinafter Financial Regulation ). 3 Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1268/2012 of 29 October 2012 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 966/2012 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union (hereinafter "Rules of Application") The legal framework of funding foreseen for the financial years has been adopted as follows: Regulation (EU, EURATOM) No 1141/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2014 on the statute and funding of European political parties and European political foundations 5 (hereinafter 'Regulation (EU, EURATOM) No 1141/2014') Financial Regulation as amended by the Regulation (EU, EURATOM) No 1142/2014 of 22 October 2014 amending Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 as regards the financing of European political parties 6 Rules of Application of the Financial Regulation may be amended The Bureau Decision of will be adjusted in accordance with the Regulation (EU/EURATOM) No 1141/2014 and the amended Financial Regulation. 1 OJ L 297, , p. 1. as last amended on (OJ L 343, , p. 5) 2 OJ C 155, , p. 1 as last amended on (OJ C 63, , p. 1). 3 OJ L 298, , p OJ L 362 of , p. 1 5 OJ L 317, , p. 1 6 OJ L 317, , p. 28 Specifications - Audit of political parties and foundations - 1/6 - Annex 1 - Technical specifications

2 III. LEGAL BASIS FOR THE PROCUREMENT 5. The Decision of the Bureau of the European Parliament dated states in its Article 6(4) last subparagraph that "the auditor shall be mandated by Parliament, subject to the tender procedures in force under the Financial Regulation. The auditor s fees shall be paid by Parliament". 6. The Regulation (EU, EURATOM) No 1141/2014 (applicable from 2018 funding procedure) states in its Article 23(3) that the independent external bodies or experts referred to in point (b) of paragraph 1 shall be selected, mandated and paid by the European Parliament. They shall be duly authorised to audit accounts under the law applicable in the Member State in which they have their seat or establishment. 7. This tender aims at choosing one auditor for all parties and foundations. IV. AUDITEES 8. More information on the subject of funding of political parties and foundations at European level (auditees) can be found on the following website: a. Current state of the funding procedure is available under the headings: Brief annual reports of the European Parliament (parties) Brief annual reports of the European Parliament (foundations) b. Grant amounts, addresses and websites are available under the headings: Grant amounts (parties) Grant amounts (foundations) c. Audit reports (including financial statements) are available under the heading Final reports of the parties and foundations 9. The structure of the provisional budget to be submitted by the parties and foundations applying for grant is annexed to the Bureau Decision. 10. The model grant award decision is also annexed to the Bureau Decision. 11. In exceptional cases an auditor must provide a specific audit report. For details see section VI. V. SCOPE OF THE FRAMEWORK CONTRACT V.1. Audit objective 12. Firstly, a full-scope statutory (financial) audit has to be conducted in accordance with the International Standards on Auditing and the applicable national rules. The audit should refer to accounts in accordance with the national law concerned and the international accounting standards defined in Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No 1606/ In addition to the full audit, the auditor (tenderer) must take into account regulations applicable to parties/foundations, including the rules applicable to their chosen legal form (e.g. non-profit organisations in Belgium). 7 Regulation (EC) No 1606/2002 of the European Parliament and of the council of 19 July 2002 on the application of international accounting standards (OJ L 243, , p.1) Specifications - Audit of political parties and foundations - 2/6 - Annex 1 - Technical specifications

3 14. Second objective is to verify compliance with national rules and regulations applicable to funding of political parties and foundations at European level, in accordance with the applicable legislation as defined in paragraph II of this document. The auditor must provide an opinion on the compliance of each entity with the applicable rules and regulations, together with a description of each case of non-compliance. V.2. Audit approach 15. Audit approach will be defined by the auditor and is to be assessed as one of the award criteria. 16. Audit must include on-the-spot verifications at least at the location where accounts and supporting documents of the parties/foundations are kept. 17. The auditor must include in the audit approach sufficient time for consultation with the auditee (party or foundation) on the final draft of the report. If the auditee contests the conclusions of the auditor, the position of the auditee with the comments from the auditor should be annexed to the report. 18. By 30 April of the year following the financial year to be audited ("financial year concerned"), the auditor must deliver to the European Parliament for each party and for each foundation the following audit documents, hereinafter referred to as "audit report": the auditor's report on the financial statements of each entity, including his opinion, in accordance with the International Standards on Auditing and applicable national rules a detailed audit report setting out the auditor's opinion on the degree of compliance with applicable specific rules recommendations for improvement (the "management letter"), if applicable 19. The auditor must deliver 2 originals - one for the party/foundation (auditee) and one for the European Parliament. 20. The submission of audit reports must be followed by a presentation of all audit reports to the European Parliament, with a possibility of raising questions. 21. The auditor must clarify any issues raised by the European Parliament on audit findings both during the time preceding approval of the report by the European Parliament and any clarification requests raised afterwards. V.3 Audit scope 22. Audit of financial year concerned and the first quarter of the following year, if a carry-over (from a revenue surplus) was made. 23. Revenue surplus can under certain conditions be transferred to the next year. This transfer can take the form of a carry-over and/or transfer to a specific reserve account. A carry-over has to be used to cover eligible expenditure in the first quarter of the year following the year concerned. The conditions for such an operation have been set in the Financial Regulation (Article 125(6)) and the Bureau Decision of (Article 6a). 24. The number of parties/foundations to be audited is known only at the beginning of the financial year to be audited and is then communicated by the European Parliament to the auditor. 25. For 2016 there are 30 parties/foundations to be audited. The tables below present entities' names, country of registration and their size measured by the 2016 provisional grant awarded. Specifications - Audit of political parties and foundations - 3/6 - Annex 1 - Technical specifications

4 Party Country Grant 2016 [ ]* 1. European People's Party EPP Belgium Party of European Socialists PES Belgium Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists 4. Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party AECR Belgium ALDE Belgium European Green Party EGP Belgium Party of the European Left EL Belgium Mouvement pour une Europe des Nations et des Libertés MENL France Alliance for Direct Democracy in Europe ADDE Belgium European Free Alliance EFA Belgium European Democratic Party PDE Belgium European Christian Political Movement ECPM Netherlands Europeans United for Democracy EUD Denmark Alliance for Peace and Freedom APF Belgium Alliance Européenne des Mouvements Nationaux AEMN France European Alliance for Freedom EAF Malta TOTAL Notes: *provisional grant awarded for 2016 Specifications - Audit of political parties and foundations - 4/6 - Annex 1 - Technical specifications

5 Foundation Affiliated to party Country Grant 2016 [ ]* 16. Martens Centre MC/WMCES EPP Belgium Foundation for European Progressive Studies 18. New Direction - Foundation for European Reform FEPS PES Belgium ND AECR Belgium European Liberal Forum ELF ALDE Belgium Green European Foundation GEF EGP Luxembourg Transform Europe TE EL Belgium** Fondation pour une Europe des Nations et des Libertés 23. Initiative for Direct Democracy in Europe FENL MENL France IDDE ADDE Belgium Institute of European Democrats IED PDE Belgium Christian Political Foundation for Europe CPFE ECPM Netherlands Centrum Maurits Coppieters CMC EFA Belgium Organisation for European Interstate Cooperation 28. Identités & Traditions Européennes OEIC EUD Sweden ITE AEMN Belgium European Foundation for Freedom EFF EAF Malta Europa Terra Nostra ETN APF Germany TOTAL Notes: *provisional grant awarded for 2016; **staff and supporting documents partly in Austria 26. For 2017, the number and location of parties/foundations will be known at the beginning of that year. V.4 Auditor's qualifications 27. The auditor must be entitled, in accordance with the requirements of the Directive 2006/43/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 May 2006 on statutory audits of annual accounts and consolidated accounts, (OJ L 157, , p.87) 8 to carry out the requested audit services in the place where the parties and foundations are located. 28. The auditor must be authorised to conduct the audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing approved by International Auditing and Assurance Standard Board (IAASB) or equivalent. 29. The auditor has to ensure that the managerial staff and those persons responsible for carrying out the service will only be replaced by persons with equivalent qualifications; the European Parliament will be notified in due time about replacement of staff relevant to the contracted services. The same applies to sub-contractors or group of economic operators where applicable. 8 Specifications - Audit of political parties and foundations - 5/6 - Annex 1 - Technical specifications

6 VI. SPECIFIC AUDIT 30. In exceptional cases the auditor must provide a specific audit report if requested by the European Parliament. VI.1 Legal basis 31. Article 6(5) paragraph 3 and Article 10.4 of the Bureau Decision: Art. 6(5) paragraph 3 of the Bureau Decision: "After hearing the representatives of the beneficiary concerned, the Bureau may reject the final report and the final financial statement and call for the submission of a fresh report and a fresh financial statement. The beneficiary shall have 15 days in which to submit a fresh report and a fresh financial statement." Art of the Bureau Decision: "The beneficiary shall facilitate the performance by Parliament, either directly by Parliament staff or by any other external body Parliament has authorised to that effect, of an audit of the way the grant has been used. Such audits may be carried out throughout the lifetime of the grant award decision, up to the date on which the balance is paid, and for a period of five years as from the date on which the balance is paid. If appropriate, the audit findings may give rise to recovery decisions by the Bureau". VI.2 Scope 32. Number and scope of assignments concerning specific audit reports cannot be estimated. A specific audit report may involve the same scope as the usual audit report, or an audit report or opinion on a particular element within the audit objective or audit scope. The European Parliament will agree with the tenderer awarded the framework contract the number of working days required on a case by case basis depending on the complexity of the tasks. VI.3 Procedure 33. The number of man/days for the elaboration of the specific audit report is jointly established in each case between the European Parliament and the tenderer awarded the framework contract. The fee for an assignment for a specific audit report will be the result of the multiplication of the daily rate indicated in annex 9 of the Specifications by the number of working days within this assignment, as agreed. The price of the specific audit report must be justified by its scope in relation to the price of the annual audit. 34. The European Parliament requests the specific audit report through an order form sent by fax and/or registered mail specifying the terms and conditions governing the service operation, including a detailed description thereof, the price and the time limits for performance. 35. The specific audit report shall be delivered within 14 days from the request of the European Parliament. VI.4 Payment 36. The price for the specific audit report will be paid by the European Parliament in addition to the annual fee. Conditions for payment as in article I.4 of the framework contract. Specifications - Audit of political parties and foundations - 6/6 - Annex 1 - Technical specifications