19.8.2006 Official Journal of the European Union L 2273 COMMISSION REGULATION (EC, EURATOM) No 1248/2006 of 7 August 2006 amending Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2342/2002 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community, Having regard to Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Commu- nities (1), and in particular Article 183 thereof, Having consulted the European Parliament, the Council, the Court of Justice of the European Communities, the Court of Auditors, the European Economic and Social Committee, the Committee of the Regions, the Ombudsman and the European Data Protection Supervisor, Whereas: (1)  The obligation for the Commission to inform the budgetary authority by 15 April of the cancellation of carried over appropriations which have not been committed by 31 March has proven to be too strict and it should therefore be extended by two weeks to 30 April. (2) It should be specified that where the system of provi- sional twelfths is to be applied, the total allotted appro- priations of the previous financial year are to be understood as referring to appropriations for the financial year after adjustment for any transfers made during that financial year. (3) It should be made clear that the rules on the rate of conversion between the euro and another currency set out in Articles 7 and 8 of Commission Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2342/2002 (3) apply only to conversions carried out by authorising officers and not to those (1) OJ L 248, 16.9.2002, p. 1. (®» OJ L 357, 31.12.2002, p. 1. Regulation as amended by Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1261/2005 (O] L 201, 2.8.2005, p. 3). carried out by contractors or beneficiaries, on the basis of the specific rules agreed in contracts or grant agreements. For reasons of efficiency, the Commission’s accounting officer should be authorised to establish the monthly accounting exchange rate of the euro to be used for accounts purposes. In addition, for reasons of trans- parency and equal treatment of Community officials, a specific rule on conversion rates should be established for staff expenditure paid in a currency other than the euro. As regards the principle of sound financial management, the content of the ex ante evaluation should be clarified and the scope of the ex ante, interim or ex post evaluation should be better targeted, having due regard to the principle of proportionality. The priorities of evaluation should thus be redirected in order to focus on proposals with an impact on business and/or citizens and to cover pilot projects and preparatory actions to be continued. In addition, complementarity should be ensured when projects or actions are already subject to evaluation (for example, tasks shared between the Commission and Member States). For the purpose of ex ante verification for the authori- sation of expenditure, a series of similar individual trans- actions relating to routine staff expenditure on salaries, pensions, reimbursement of mission expenses and medical expenses may be considered by the authorising office responsible to constitute a single operation. In that case, the authorising officer responsible, in accordance with his risk assessment, should carry out appropriate ex post verification. It is appropriate to include in the report on negotiated procedures only the cases of the use of negotiated procedures which constitute exceptions to the normal procurement procedures. Following the introduction of accrual accounting on 1 January 2005, and the availability of accounting data at any moment in the informatics system, it is more logical and quicker to draw up the trial balance on the day on which the accounting officer terminates his duty. If he terminates his duty on 31 December, the trial balance could be prepared the same day without waiting for the provisional accounts to be finalised.