Article 16 Financial and staffing matters

1.   CERT-EU shall be integrated into the administrative structure of a directorate-general of the Commission in order to benefit from the Commission’s administrative, financial management and accounting support structures, while maintaining its status as an autonomous interinstitutional service provider for all Union entities. The Commission shall inform the IICB of the administrative location of CERT-EU and any changes thereto. The Commission shall review the administrative arrangements related to CERT-EU on a regular basis and in any event before the establishment of any multiannual financial framework pursuant to Article 312 TFEU, in order to allow for appropriate action to be taken. The review shall include the possibility of establishing CERT-EU as a Union office.

2.   For the application of administrative and financial procedures, the Head of CERT-EU shall act under the authority of the Commission and under the supervision of the IICB.

3.   CERT-EU’s tasks and activities, including services provided by CERT-EU pursuant to Article 13(3), (4), (5) and (7) and Article 14(1) to Union entities financed from the heading of the multiannual financial framework dedicated to European public administration, shall be funded by means of a distinct budget line of the Commission budget. The posts earmarked for CERT-EU shall be detailed in a footnote to the Commission establishment plan.

4.   Union entities other than those referred to in paragraph 3 of this Article shall make an annual financial contribution to CERT-EU to cover the services provided by CERT-EU pursuant to that paragraph. The contributions shall be based on orientations given by the IICB and agreed between each Union entity and CERT-EU in service level agreements. The contributions shall represent a fair and proportionate share of the total costs of services provided. They shall be received by the distinct budget line referred to in paragraph 3 of this Article, as internal assigned revenue, as provided for in Article 21(3), point (c), of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046.

5.   The costs of the services provided for in Article 13(6) shall be recovered from the Union entities receiving CERT-EU services. The revenues shall be assigned to the budget lines supporting the costs.