HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"L 6/10
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
10.1.2012
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,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European
Article 1
Union,
The rules and procedures for selection of experts in national
accounting to assist the Commission (Eurostat) in visits to the
Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 479/2009 of
Member States under Article 12(1) of Regulation (EC)
25 May 2009 on the application of the Protocol on the
No 479/2009, their working arrangements and the sharing of
excessive deficit procedure annexed to the Treaty establishing
the costs of such visits between the Commission and the
the European Community (
experts’ national authority responsible for excessive deficit

1 ), and in particular Article 12(1)
thereof,
procedure reporting are set out in the Annex to this Decision.
Whereas:
Article 2

This Decision shall apply to the assistance referred to in
Article 12(1) of Regulation (EC) No 479/2009, provided as
(1) Regulation
(EC)
No
479/2009
requires
the
Commission from 1 January 2012.
(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
Article 3
such visits, the Commission (Eurostat) could be assisted
by experts in national accounting.
This Decision is addressed to the Member States.
(2) It
is
necessary
to
lay
down
the
rules
and
procedures
for Done at Brussels, 6 January 2012.
selection of the experts, taking into account an appro
priate distribution of experts across Member States and
For the Commission
an appropriate rotation of experts between Member
States, their working arrangements and the financial
Algirdas EMETA
details,
Member of the Commission
( 1 ) OJ L 145, 10.6.2009, p. 1.

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EN
10.1.2012 Official
Journal
of
the
European
Union
L
6/11
ANNEX
1. List of experts in national accounting
The Commission (Eurostat) shall maintain the list of experts in national accounting on the basis of proposals sent to it by
the national authorities responsible for excessive deficit procedure (EDP) reporting. The list shall be updated on a regular
basis.
2. Definition of experts in national accounting
Experts in national accounting shall be specialised in EDP reporting and statistics. They shall support the Commission
EDP experts carrying out visits to a Member State. In this capacity, the experts in national accounting shall provide
independent expertise and shall not represent the points of view of their Member State.
3. Selection of experts
The Commission (Eurostat) shall select, for the exceptional visits where it is deemed appropriate, one or more national
experts to accompany its own experts on the visit. The experts shall be selected from the list in such a manner that the
same expert shall not be chosen to carry out a visit more than three times every three years.
4. Reimbursement of costs to the national authority responsible for EDP reporting
The amount to be paid to reimburse travel expenses, the daily accommodation allowance and the daily flat-rate allowance
shall be calculated in accordance with the Commission Decision of 5 December 2007 on the rules on the reimbursement
of expenses incurred by people from outside the Commission invited to attend meetings in an expert capacity ( 1 ).
5. Confidentiality
Prior to the visit, the accompanying expert shall be required to sign a confidentiality statement concerning the content,
timing and practical organisation of the visit.
( 1 ) C(2007) 5858.

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