1.   The financial reference amount necessary for implementation of the programme provided for in Article 2 for the period from 1 January 2007 to 31 December 2013 shall be EUR 423 million (7).

2.   The annual appropriations shall be authorised by the budget authority within the limits of the financial framework.

3.   The amount of the appropriations allocated to the programme may be reviewed in the course of the period from 1 January 2007 to 31 December 2013 to take account of the progress made with implementation of the programme and ensure that the programming and allocation of the resources are based on actual payment needs and absorption capacity.

1.   Measures and financial assistance under the programme shall be decided and implemented in accordance with the provisions laid down in Articles 53(2) and 54(2)(c) of the Financial Regulation.

2.   Financial assistance for measures under the programme, or parts thereof, may be made available as a Community contribution to the Bohunice International Decommissioning Support Fund, managed by the EBRD.

3.   Measures under the programme shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 8(2).

1.   The Commission may have an audit of the use made of the assistance carried out either directly by its own staff or by any other qualified outside body of its choice. Such audits may be carried out throughout the lifetime of the agreement between the Community and the EBRD on making Community funds available to the Bohunice International Decommissioning Support Fund and for a period of five years from the date of payment of the balance. Where appropriate, the audit findings may lead to recovery decisions by the Commission.

2.   Commission staff and outside personnel authorised by the Commission shall have appropriate right of access, particularly to the beneficiary’s offices and to all the information, including information in electronic format, needed in order to conduct such audits.

The Court of Auditors shall enjoy the same rights, especially of access, as the Commission.

Furthermore, in order to protect the Community’s financial interests against fraud and other irregularities, the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) may carry out on-the-spot checks and inspections under this programme in accordance with Council Regulation (Euratom, EC) No 2185/96 (8).

3.   For the Community action financed under this Regulation, the term ‘irregularity’ in Article 1(2) of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2988/95 of 18 December 1995 on the protection of the European Communities financial interests (9) shall mean any infringement of a provision of Community law or any breach of a contractual obligation resulting from an act or omission by an economic operator which has, or would have, the effect of prejudicing the general budget of the European Union or budgets managed by it by an unjustified item of expenditure or budgets managed by other international organisations on behalf of the Communities.

4.   The agreements between the Community and the EBRD on making Community funds available to the Bohunice International Decommissioning Support Fund shall provide for appropriate measures to protect the financial interests of the Community against fraud, corruption and other irregularities and to enable the Commission, OLAF and the Court of Auditors to carry out on-the-spot checks.

1.   The Commission shall be assisted by a Committee composed of the representatives of the Member States and chaired by the representative of the Commission.

2.   Where reference is made to this paragraph, the following procedure shall apply:

3.   The committee shall adopt its rules of procedure on the proposal of its chairman, on the basis of standard rules of procedure as published in the Official Journal of the European Union. The committee shall lay down in its rules of procedure special rules on consultation which shall enable the Commission, where necessary, to adopt special measures by an emergency procedure.

The principles and conditions on public access to documents applicable to the Commission shall apply to the committee.

The European Parliament shall be informed by the Commission of committee proceedings on a regular basis. To that end, it shall receive agendas for committee meetings, and the results of voting and summary records of the meetings and lists of the authorities and organisations to which the persons designated by the Member States to represent them belong.