I.   The Audit Board

The Audit Board, established through Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2024/1697 (1) pursuant to Article 36 of Regulation 2024/792 of the European Parliament and the Council (2), shall assist the Commission in assessing the effectiveness of Ukraine’s management and control systems regarding the funds provided under the Ukraine Facility. The Audit Board shall signal any systemic issues or potential weaknesses of those systems.

The Audit Board shall adopt recommendations to Ukraine in all cases where, in its views, the competent Ukrainian authorities have not taken the necessary steps to prevent, detect, correct, investigate and prosecute fraud, corruption, conflicts of interest and irregularities that have affected or seriously risk affecting the sound financial management of the expenditure financed under the Facility.

The Audit Board shall submit reports to the Commission, including its recommendations to Ukraine, with a frequency of at least one report every three months on the basis of a work programme submitted for information to the Commission within 3 months following the date the Board started to operate.

The Audit Board shall consist of three members and shall be based in Brussels. The Commission shall provide the Audit Board members with appropriate logistic support, in particular office space and IT support. The Audit Board shall be assisted by a Secretariat, based in Kyiv, which will get its instructions from the Audit Board Chair, who in turn shall be designated by the Director-General of DG NEAR.

II.   The Audit Board members

The Audit Board shall consist of three members and shall be based in Brussels. The members are appointed as special advisers within the meaning of Article 5 of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union for a term of office until 30 June 2028.

The indicative number of working days per year required to accomplish the tasks described below is as follows:

—	thirty (30) working days to attend meetings in Brussels,

—	thirty (30) working days to carry out preparatory work, which can be carried out remotely.

—	thirty (30) working days to carry out visits to Kyiv.

The Director-General of DG NEAR shall designate one of the members as the Chair of the Audit Board and one as the Deputy Chair. The tasks of the Chair are listed below, while the tasks of the other Audit Board members will be in function of the Chair’s obligations. If the Chair is prevented from attending to his/her duties, they shall be carried out by the Deputy Chair.

The Chair:

—	convenes and chairs the Board’s meetings and organises the work of the Board;

—	organizes, with the help of the Audit Board Secretariat, a minimum of six Board meetings in Brussels every year, which in justified cases can also be held at other locations or online;

—	ensures, circumstances permitting, a minimum of six visits by the Board to Kyiv every year;

—	delegates to each of the Audit Board members and the Head of the Secretariat the power to sign documents on behalf of the Audit Board;

—	is responsible for drawing up, within 6 months after the Audit Board has become operational, the Board’s rules of procedure which will govern the way the Audit Board organises its work;

—	ensures that the Audit Board meetings serve the purpose of discussing the findings of the Secretariat, of providing guidance to the Secretariat’s work and submitting reports to the Commission;

—	ensures that the Audit Board reports to the Commission at least once every three months and immediately shares with the Commission any information it has been made aware of on any identified cases of, or serious concerns in relation to, mismanagement of expenditure under the Ukraine Facility;

—	Ensures the guidance – through the Head of the Secretariat – of the Audit Board Secretariat’s work.

III.   Eligibility criteria

The Board Members shall be chosen from former high-ranking public officials, such as former members of the Court of Auditors, the Court of Justice or former officials who have had at least the rank of Director in an institution of the Union, or former high-level public officials in Member States’ institutions, with extensive experience in the field of auditing, financial control, public procurement, anti-fraud and/or anti-corruption.

In addition, candidates must fulfil the following formal criteria by the closing date for applications:

—	Nationality: be a national of a Member State of the European Union.

—

University degree or diploma: — Have a level of education which corresponds to completed university studies, attested by a diploma, where the normal period of university education is 4 years or more, or — Have a level of education which corresponds to completed university studies, attested by a diploma, and appropriate professional experience of at least 1 year, where the normal period of university education is at least 3 years (this 1 year’s professional experience cannot be included in the postgraduate professional experience required below).

—	Professional experience: have at least 15 years of high-level experience acquired after the qualification referred to above was obtained, out of which 10 years in relevant domains: auditing, financial control, public procurement, anti-fraud and/or anti-corruption.

—	Languages: have a thorough knowledge of one of the official languages of the European Union and an adequate knowledge of at least one other official language.

—	Independence and conflict of interests: he/she will be independent in the performance of his or her duties. He/she will not have a conflict of interests between his or her duties as member of the Audit Board and any other official duties.

IV.   Selection criteria

The Board members will be selected on the basis of:

—	their personal and professional qualities, and

—	their extensive experience in relevant domains (auditing, financial control, public procurement, anti-fraud and/or anti-corruption) and proven competence.

Essential criteria:

—	extensive experience in auditing, including system audits, as well as in financial control, public procurement, anti-fraud and/or anti-corruption.

—	strong conceptual and analytical skills,

—	excellent written and oral communication skills,

—	a solid command of English in order to communicate efficiently and effectively with internal and external stakeholders.

Desirable criteria:

—	thorough knowledge of the EU Financial Regulation,

—	knowledge of the European Commission’s Anti-fraud Strategy,

—	experience in the treatment of cases of fraud and irregularities at Union or national level,

—	professional experience in presenting the results of analyses at conferences, seminars or workshops,

V.   Independence and declaration of interests

The Board Members shall neither seek nor take instructions from the Ukrainian government or any other institution, body, office or agency. The Board Members will be required to submit:

—	a declaration of commitment to act independently in the public interest,

—	a declaration listing all other activities carried out,

—

a declaration in respect of any interests which might be considered prejudicial to their independence. Candidates must confirm their willingness to provide these declarations in their application. The Audit Board members shall be security vetted, or if not already vetted, willing to undergo the security vetting by the Member State of their nationality.

VI.   Terms of appointment

The Board members as well as three substitute members will be appointed following a selection procedure.

Having assessed all applications, the most qualified candidates who are considered to possess the most suitable profile will be called for an interview.

In its selection, the Commission will ensure that the persons selected have complementary professional profiles.

The Chair and deputy Chair will be designated based on professional experience and management skills.

VII.   Equal opportunities

The European Union institutions apply a policy of equal opportunities and accept applications without discrimination on the ground of gender, race, colour, ethnic or social origin, genetic features, language or belief, political or any other opinion, membership of a national minority, property, birth, disability, age or sexual orientation.

VIII.   Conditions of employment

The Audit Board members are appointed as special advisers within the meaning of Article 5 of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union, for a term of office until 30 June 2028. Their contracts as a special adviser of two years will be renewed until the end of his/her mandate.

The Audit Board members will receive a fee for each day of work. The fee will be calculated on the basis of the basic salary of an official of the European Union in grade AD 14, step 1 and will be subject to a tax for the benefit of the European Union.

The Board is based in Brussels (Belgium). The Board members will be entitled to reimbursement of mission expenses on the terms laid down in the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Union and in the implementing provisions adopted by the Commission.

IX.   How to apply

You can apply through: https://ec.europa.eu/dgs/personnel_administration/open_applications/.

To facilitate the selection process, all communication with candidates concerning the selection procedure will be in English. If you require more information, please send an email to NEAR-UFABS@ec.europa.eu.

X.   Deadline

The closing deadline for applications is 9 September 2024 .

The Commission reserves the right to extend the closing date of this call for expression of interest by publication in the Official Journal of the European Union only.

XI.   Protection of personal data

The Commission will ensure that candidates’ personal data are processed as required by Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council (3). This applies in particular to the confidentiality and security of such data.

---

(1)  Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2024/1697 of 12 June 2024 on the establishment of the Ukraine Facility Audit Board (OJ L, 2024/1697, 17.6.2024, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2024/1697/oj).

(2)  Regulation (EU) 2024/792 of the European Parliament and the Council of 29 February 2024 establishing the Ukraine Facility (OJ L, 2024/792, 29.2.2024, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/792/oj).

(3)  Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2018 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 and Decision No 1247/2002/EC (OJ L 295, 21.11.2018, p. 39).