Certification bodies

1.   The certification body shall be a public or private audit body designated by the Member State for a period of at least three years, without prejudice to national law. Where it is a private audit body and where the applicable Union or national law so requires, it shall be selected by the Member State by means of a public tendering procedure.
A Member State that designates more than one certification body may appoint a public certification body at national level to be responsible for coordination.
2.   For the purposes of Article 63(7), first subparagraph, of the Financial Regulation, the certification body shall issue an opinion, drawn up in accordance with internationally accepted audit standards, which shall establish whether:
(a)
the accounts give a true and fair view;
(b)
the Member States’ governance systems put in place function properly, in particular:
(i)
the governance bodies referred to in Articles 9 and 10 of this Regulation and Article 123 of Regulation (EU) 2021/2115,
(ii)
the basic Union requirements,
(iii)
the reporting system put in place for the purposes of the annual performance report referred to in Article 134 of Regulation (EU) 2021/2115;
(c)
the performance reporting on output indicators for the purposes of the annual performance clearance referred to in Article 54 of this Regulation and the performance reporting on result indicators for the multiannual performance monitoring referred to in Article 128 of Regulation (EU) 2021/2115, demonstrating that Article 37 of this Regulation is complied with, is correct;
(d)
the expenditure for the measures laid down in Regulations (EU) No 228/2013, (EU) No 229/2013 and (EU) No 1308/2013 and in Regulation (EU) No 1144/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council
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for which reimbursement has been requested from the Commission is legal and regular.
That opinion shall also state whether the examination calls into question the assertions made in the management declaration referred to in Article 9(3), first subparagraph, point (d). The examination shall also cover the analysis of the nature and extent of errors and weaknesses identified in governance systems by audit and controls, as well as corrective action taken or planned by the paying agency, referred to in Article 9(3), first subparagraph, point (c).
Where support is provided through a financial instrument which is implemented by the EIB or another international financial institution in which a Member State is a shareholder, the certification body shall rely on the annual audit report drawn up by the external auditors of those institutions. Those institutions shall provide the Member States with the annual audit report.
3.   The certification body shall have the necessary technical expertise, as well as knowledge of the CAP. It shall be operationally independent from the paying agency and the coordinating body concerned as well as from the competent authority which has accredited that paying agency and the bodies responsible for the implementation and the monitoring of the CAP.
4.   The Commission shall adopt implementing acts laying down rules on the functioning of the certification bodies, including the checks to be carried out and the bodies subject to those checks, and on the certificates and the reports, together with the documents accompanying them, to be drawn up by those bodies.
The implementing acts shall also set out:
(a)
the audit principles on which the opinions of the certification bodies are based, including an assessment of the risks, internal controls and the level of audit evidence required;
(b)
the audit methods to be used by the certification bodies, having regard to international standards on auditing, to deliver their opinions.
Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 103(3).