Right to carry out audits. The Agency or the Commission may — during the implementation of the action or afterwards — carry out audits on the proper implementation of the action and compliance with the obligations under the Agreement. Audits may be started up to two years after the payment of the balance. They will be formally notified to the beneficiary and will be considered to have started on the date of the formal notification. If the audit is carried out on a third party (see Articles 10 to 16), the beneficiary must inform the third party. The Agency or the Commission may carry out audits directly (using its own staff) or indirectly (using external persons or bodies appointed to do so). It will inform the beneficiary of the identity of the external persons or bodies. It has the right to object to the appointment on grounds of commercial confidentiality. The beneficiary must provide — within the deadline requested — any information (including complete accounts, individual salary statements or other personal data) to verify compliance with the Agreement. The Agency or the Commission may request the beneficiary to provide such information to it directly. For on-the-spot audits, the beneficiary must allow access to its sites and premises, including to external persons or bodies, and must ensure that information requested is readily available. Information provided must be accurate, precise and complete and in the format requested, including electronic format. On the basis of the audit findings, a ‘draft audit report’ will be drawn up. The Agency or the Commission will formally notify the draft audit report to the beneficiary, which has 30 days to formally notify observations (‘contradictory audit procedure’). This period may be extended by the Agency or the Commission in justified cases. The ‘final audit report’ will take into account observations by the beneficiary. The report will be formally notified to it. Audits (including audit reports) are in the language of the Agreement. The Agency or the Commission may also access the beneficiary’ statutory records for the periodical assessment of unit costs or flat-rate amounts [or lump sums].
