Functioning of the internal control system

• Author: Court of Justice of the European Union
• Pages: 56-59

IV. FUNCTIONING

OF THE INTERNAL CONTROL SYSTEM

A. OVERALL ASSESSMENT OF THE COSTS AND BENEFITS

OF CONTROLS

t is impor tant to point out that the eective and e cient functioning of the internal control s ystem is a

priorit y of the Court. This interna l control system is based in p articular on the followin g pillars:

XX

an internal control framework based on the application of internal control stand ards adapted in 2014

fol low ing the u pda tin g of t he  nst itu tio ns i nte rna l na nci al ru les . n 2018, a ne w ver sio n of t he i nter nal

control framework , based on the 2013 COSO benchmark

11

and int end ed to be a ppli ed f rom 2019, was

prepared;

XXthe existenc e of a centralised ex ante veric ation service, integra ted within the DBFM, which c arries

out the ex ante control of all nancial operations at the Court, as well as verifying agents within several

authorising se rvices who carr y out an initial review of the mer its of each item of expendit ure;

XX

a highly eective integrated account and budget management system which facilitates the control

and monitoring of o perations, the proper func tioning of which is ensured by the D BFM;

XXassistance and adv ice provided by the DBFM in respect of questions relating to the application of the

Fin anc ial Regu lat ion and, in p art icu lar, i n re spe ct o f que sti ons rela tin g to publ ic p roc urem ent , he lpin g

to reduce the risk of ir regularities and/or error s in managing appropriations;

XX

continuit y in risk analysis and management exercises for the whole Court, which provide an overview

of the risks to be de alt with;

XXthe per formance of ex pos t controls by the DBFM, on the b asis of an annual pr ogramme approved

by the authoris ing ocer by delegation;

XXan internal audit department, which is completely independent in the conduct of its audits, provides

the nstitut ion with assurance on the degree of control over operations carrie d out to implement the

budget and provides it w ith advice to improve the conditio ns for carry ing out these operations, as

well as to promote soun d nancial management.

11| This is the nt ernal Control -  ntegrated Fram ework of the Comm ittee of Spons oring Organis ations of the Tread way Commission

(COSO), an organi sation created in 1985 i n the United States by pr ofessional ass ociations in the el ds of accounting and aud iting

to develop gu idelines for ris k management, in ternal control an d fraud prevent ion.

56 Annual manage ment report - 2018