COMMISSION DECISION
of 6 January 2012
laying down the rules and procedures related to experts in national accounting assisting the Commission in accordance with Council Regulation (EC) No 479/2009 on the application of the Protocol on the excessive deficit procedure annexed to the Treaty establishing the European Community
(notified under document C(2011) 9973)
(2012/20/EU)
THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 479/2009 of 25 May 2009 on the application of the Protocol on the excessive deficit procedure annexed to the Treaty establishing the European Community (1), and in particular Article 12(1) thereof,
Whereas:
(1)
Regulation (EC) No 479/2009 requires the Commission (Eurostat) to assess the quality of data to be used for the excessive deficit procedure (EDP), including in the form of methodological visits. For the purpose of carrying out such visits, the Commission (Eurostat) could be assisted by experts in national accounting.
(2)
It is necessary to lay down the rules and procedures for selection of the experts, taking into account an appropriate distribution of experts across Member States and an appropriate rotation of experts between Member States, their working arrangements and the financial details,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:
Article 1
The rules and procedures for selection of experts in national accounting to assist the Commission (Eurostat) in visits to the Member States under Article 12(1) of Regulation (EC) No 479/2009, their working arrangements and the sharing of the costs of such visits between the Commission and the experts’ national authority responsible for excessive deficit procedure reporting are set out in the Annex to this Decision.
Article 2
This Decision shall apply to the assistance referred to in Article 12(1) of Regulation (EC) No 479/2009, provided as from 1 January 2012.
Article 3
This Decision is addressed to the Member States.
Done at Brussels, 6 January 2012.