Chapter X – Financial provisions (Art. 41-42)

1. The Union shall finance the following activities in relation to the application of this Regulation:
   1. performance of the tasks of the Consumer Safety Network;
   2. the development and operation of the Safety Gate Rapid Alert System, including the development of electronic interoperability solutions for the exchange of data:
      1. between the Safety Gate Rapid Alert System and the national market surveillance systems;
      2. between the Safety Gate Rapid Alert System and customs systems;
      3. with other relevant restricted systems used by market surveillance authorities for their enforcement purposes;
   3. the development and maintenance of the Safety Gate Portal and the Safety Business Gateway, including a public non-restricted software interface for data exchange with platforms and third parties.
2. The Union may finance the following activities in relation to the application of this Regulation:
   1. the development of instruments of international cooperation referred to in Article 40;
   2. the drawing up and updating of contributions to guidelines on market surveillance and product safety;
   3. the making available to the Commission of technical or scientific expertise for the purpose of assisting the Commission in its implementation of market surveillance administrative cooperation;
   4. the performance of preliminary or ancillary work in connection with the implementation of market surveillance activities linked to the application of this Regulation such as studies, programmes, evaluations, guidelines, comparative analyses, mutual joint visits and visit programmes, exchange of personnel, research work, the development and maintenance of databases, training activities, laboratory work, proficiency testing, inter-laboratory tests and conformity assessment work;
   5. Union market surveillance campaigns and associated activities, including resources and equipment, IT tools and training;
   6. activities carried out under programmes of technical assistance, cooperation with third countries and the promotion and enhancement of Union market surveillance policies and systems among interested parties at Union and international levels, including activities carried out by consumer organisations for the enhancement of consumer information.
3. The Union’s financial assistance to the activities under this Regulation shall be implemented in accordance with Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046 of the European Parliament and of the Council⁽³¹⁾, either directly, or indirectly by delegating budget implementation tasks to the entities listed in Article 62(1), point (c) of that Regulation.
4. The appropriations allocated to activities referred to in this Regulation shall be determined each year by the European Parliament and the Council within the limits of the financial framework in force.
5. The appropriations determined by the European Parliament and the Council for the financing of market surveillance activities may also cover expenses pertaining to preparatory, monitoring, control, audit and evaluation activities which are required for the management of the activities pursuant to this Regulation and the achievement of their objectives; in particular, studies, meetings of experts, information and communication actions, including corporate communication of the political priorities of the Union insofar as they are related to the general objectives of market surveillance activities, expenses linked to information technology networks focusing on information processing and exchange, together with all other technical and administrative assistance expenses incurred by the Commission for the management of the activities pursuant to this Regulation.

^{(31) Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 July 2018 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union, amending Regulations (EU) No 1296/2013, (EU) No 1301/2013, (EU) No 1303/2013, (EU) No 1304/2013, (EU) No 1309/2013, (EU) No 1316/2013, (EU) No 223/2014, (EU) No 283/2014, and Decision No 541/2014/EU and repealing Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 (OJ L 193, 30.7.2018, p. 1).}

1. The Commission shall take appropriate measures to ensure that, when actions financed under this Regulation are implemented, the financial interests of the Union are protected by the application of preventive measures against fraud, corruption and any other illegal activities, by effective checks and, if irregularities are detected, by the recovery of the amounts wrongly paid and, where appropriate, by effective, proportionate and dissuasive administrative and financial penalties.
2. The Commission or its representatives and the Court of Auditors shall have the power of audit, on the basis of documents and of on-the-spot inspections, over all grant beneficiaries, contractors and subcontractors who have received Union funds under the Single Market Programme and its successor in accordance with the provisions and procedures laid down in Council Regulation (Euratom, EC) No 2185/96⁽³²⁾.
3. OLAF may carry out investigations, including on-the-spot checks and inspections, in accordance with the provisions and procedures laid down in Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 883/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council⁽³³⁾ and Regulation (Euratom, EC) No 2185/96, with a view to establishing whether there has been fraud, corruption or any other illegal activity affecting the financial interests of the Union in connection with a grant agreement or grant decision or a contract funded under the programme.
4. Without prejudice to paragraphs 1, 2 and 3, cooperation agreements with third countries and with international organisations, contracts, grant agreements and grant decisions resulting from the implementation of this Regulation shall contain provisions expressly empowering the Commission, the Court of Auditors and OLAF to conduct such audits and investigations, in accordance with their respective competences.

^{(32) Council Regulation (Euratom, EC) No 2185/96 of 11 November 1996 concerning on-the-spot checks and inspections carried out by the Commission in order to protect the European Communities’ financial interests against fraud and other irregularities (OJ L 292, 15.11.1996, p. 2).
(33) Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 883/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 September 2013 concerning investigations conducted by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1073/1999 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Council Regulation (Euratom) No 1074/1999 (OJ L 248, 18.9.2013, p. 1).}