Content and submission of accounts

1.   For each accounting year for which payment applications have been submitted, the Member State shall submit to the Commission by 15 February, the following documents (‘the assurance package’) which shall cover the preceding accounting year:
(a)
the accounts in accordance with the template set out in Annex XXIV;
(b)
the management declaration referred to in point (f) of Article 74(1) in accordance with the template set out in Annex XVIII;
(c)
the annual audit opinion referred to in point (a) of Article 77(3) in accordance with the template set out in Annex XIX;
(d)
the annual control report referred to in point (b) of Article 77(3) in accordance with the template set out in Annex XX.
2.   The deadline referred to in paragraph 1 may exceptionally be extended by the Commission to 1 March, upon communication by the Member State concerned.
3.   The accounts shall include at the level of each priority and, where applicable, by fund and by category of region:
(a)
the total amount of eligible expenditure entered into the accounting systems of the body carrying out the accounting function which has been included in the final payment application for the accounting year and the total amount of the corresponding public contribution made or to be made linked to specific objectives for which enabling conditions are fulfilled and operations linked to specific objectives for which enabling conditions are not fulfilled but contribute to the fulfilment of enabling conditions;
(b)
the amounts withdrawn during the accounting year;
(c)
the amounts of public contribution paid to financial instruments;
(d)
for each priority, an explanation on any differences between the amounts declared pursuant to point (a) and the amounts declared in payment applications for the same accounting year.
4.   The assurance package shall not concern the total amount of eligible expenditure incurred by beneficiaries and paid in implementing operations or the corresponding public contribution made or to be made linked to specific objectives for which enabling conditions are not fulfilled with the exception of operations that contribute to the fulfilment of enabling conditions.
5.   The accounts shall not be admissible if Member States have not undertaken the necessary corrections to reduce the residual error rate on the legality and regularity of the expenditure included in the accounts to 2 % or below.
6.   Member States shall in particular deduct from the accounts:
(a)
the irregular expenditure which has been subject to financial corrections in accordance with Article 103;
(b)
the expenditure which is subject to an ongoing assessment of its legality and regularity;
(c)
other amounts as necessary to reduce the residual error rate of the expenditure declared in the accounts to 2 % or below.
The Member State may include expenditure under point (b) of the first subparagraph in a payment application in subsequent accounting years once its legality and regularity is confirmed.
7.   The Member State may correct irregular amounts which it has detected after the submission of the accounts in which the amounts were included by making the corresponding adjustments for the accounting year in which the irregularity is detected, without prejudice to Article 104.
8.   As part of the assurance package, the Member State shall submit for the last accounting year the final performance report referred to in Article 43 or the last annual performance report for the AMIF, the ISF or the BMVI.