Financial Regulation: implementation procedure (amend. Regulation (Euratom, ECSC, EC) No 3418/93)

The Commission has adopted the report by Michiel van Hulten (PSE, NL), which recommends changes to the Commission text. The amendments relate to the legal aspects of the procedures for implementing the Financial Regulation and propose, for example, the introduction of ex ante fraud-risk analysis of every initiative or programme proposed for funding from the EU budget, technical improvements and clarified definitions, such as a clear description of the duties of the internal reviser or a better definition of the conflicts of interest that might arise in the context of measures to implement the budget. The main proposed change relates to the increase in the threshold value for compulsory submission of contracts to the Advisory Committee on Procurement and Contracts (ACPC). The parliamentary committee, wishing to recast the Financial Regulation which provides for the dissolution of the ACPS, recommends that the threshold be set at 200 000 euros rather than the 500 000 euros proposed by the Commission. It adds that the Commission and the Court of Auditors should undertake an evaluation of this threshold six months after the entry into force of the new implementation procedures. �