Control of the execution of finance laws – Wikipedia

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In France, the Control of the execution of finance laws is organized in three stages: control first ; control in progress; Control in the aftermath .

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It involves many actors:

  • The authorizing officers, the public accountants, the regional and departmental directors of public finances, the corps of inspections operate administrative control;
  • the Court of Auditors with regard to jurisdictional control;
  • Parliamentarians, and more particularly the finance commissions of assemblies through the evaluation and control missions and especially by the assistance of the Court of Auditors in application of the provisions of article 58 of the LOLF.

Article XV of the Declaration of Human and Citizen’s Rights of 1789 provides that “the company has the right to apply for any public agent of its administration”. In addition, controlling the execution of a finance law is a control of legality. Long turned towards regularity control, the control and evaluation of finance laws is increasingly moving towards control of public financial management. Chapter II of the LOLF is called “control” and specifies the role of some of these actors.

Budget control [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

Formerly governed by the law of August 10, 1922, financial control, or budgetary control, was reformed by the decree n O 2005-54 of January 27, 2005 relating to financial control in state administrations . It is now governed by the 2012-1246 decree of November 7, 2012 relating to public budgetary management and accounting.

This control aims to control the execution of finance laws, both in credits and enrollment, and the sustainable nature of multi -year programming and current management, by identifying and prevention of financial risks as well as by analyzing the explanatory factors of the expenditure and cost of public policies [ first ] .

The reasons for an evolution [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

Before , all acts of expenditure were subject to a priori control authorizing their execution. The 2005 reform led to a reduction in these controls in order to better concentrate them on the most important spending acts [ 2 ] , [ 3 ] .

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In addition, financial control was previously carried out in each ministry by a dedicated service. They are now all about the Ministry of the Budget [ 4 ] . This hierarchical independence is part of the search for greater budget transparency [ 2 ] .

Operation [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

Financial control of central administrations is carried out in each ministry by an authority designated and placed under the authority of the Minister responsible for the budget [ 5 ] .

Competent authority [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

It is the ministerial budgetary controller and accounting, at the head of a service made up of two departments and competent both to exercise internal control [ 6 ] , and financial control [ 5 ] . This service is therefore present in all ministries, although it is common to the Ministry of Budget and that of the Economy [ 2 ] .

The controller is an official appointed to this job by detachment. It comes from the body of general economic and financial control, from the corps of public finance administrators, or other bodies if he has held a management position in the financial field [ 7 ] .

Checks carried out [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

For each ministry, the Minister responsible for the budget stops an initial distribution document of credits and jobs [ 8 ] and a forecast document for managing jobs and personal credits [ 9 ] . On this basis, a decree determines the draft acts which are subject to the visa or in the prior opinion of the budget controller and accounting of the ministry. He also specifies the procedures for evaluation The a posteriori control methods of other acts [ ten ] .

The budget and accounting controller aims at the initial distribution document of credits and jobs [ 11 ] and the provisional document management of jobs and personnel credits [ twelfth ] necessarily established by each minister no later than a month before the start of the financial year concerned. He verifies the sincere nature of the expenses of expenses and jobs presented by program managers [ 13 ] .

It aims at the projects to modify the distribution of credits tending to reduce the reserve of credits intended to prevent a deterioration of the balanced budgetary [ 14 ] .

It also aims at the projects of financial acts designated in the decree of article 105 as having the subject of a prior opinion, taking into account the nature of the expense, their amount as well as the quality of the instruments forecasting and follow -up at the disposal of the authorizing officers [ 15 ] .

The budgetary and accounting controller issues a prior opinion on any project tending to reduce the credits allocated to personnel expenses as well as on budgetary proposals and additional credits requests [ 16 ] .

Control procedures [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

The budgetary and accounting controller examines the draft acts subject to it with regard to the imputation of expenditure, the availability of credits and jobs, the accuracy of the evaluation and their impact on public finances .

He makes an opinion or his visa as soon as possible, and at the latest within two weeks. His silence applies acceptance.
Visa’s refusal can only be reached over the authorization of the Minister responsible for the budget seized by the Minister concerned. An unfavorable prior notice does not bind the program manager [ 15 ] .

Reinforced evaluation and control [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

Each year, the budgetary and accounting controller assesses the internal control and audit. If he notes that the financial control is not respected or that budgetary credits are exceeded, he may propose to the Minister to register, in the initial budget programming document of the following year, a strengthening of checks [ 17 ] .

Control of the authorizing officers by the accountants [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

Public accountants are limited to controlling the budgetary regularity of the acts taken by the authorizing officers (main or secondary), but do not appreciate their opportunity or their legality.

Hierarchical control [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

In each department, subordinate controllers (main treasurers, receivers-perceptors, collectors) are controlled by their hierarchical superiors, namely the higher accountants of the General Directorate of Public Finances (DGFIP).

In central administration, the control of the accountants of financial administrations falls under the DGFIP.

In the aftermath , the general finance inspection can carry out a check.

Inspection bodies [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

The main body of inspection which operates an administrative control of the execution of finance laws is the general inspection of finances.

But other bodies also participate in this control:

The Budgetary and Financial Court of Discipline [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

The Court of Budgetary and Financial Discipline ensures the control of the authorizing officers and the executors of the programs of the finance law. It has a repressive jurisdictional mission which can lead it to fix fines which will be published in some cases. This publication plays a deterrent role.

The Court of Auditors [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

Pursuant to the provisions of article 47 of the Constitution, the Court of Auditors assists the government and the Parliament in monitoring the execution of finance laws. This equidistence between executive power and legislative power was consecrated by the case law of the Constitutional Council.

It controls the employment of public funds by state services, national public establishments and public accountants (patents or de facto). This control is carried out by means of jurisdictional control which consists in judging the accounts of public accountants and by means of management control which consists in assessing the management of a public organization.

In addition, the Court certifies state accounts.

Jurisdictional control [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

The Court of Auditors judges the accounts of public accountants. In the event of irregularity, the personal and pecuniary responsibility of the accountant can be engaged. One says
While the accountant is put into a decline.

Management control [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

The Court of Auditors also carry out an administrative control over management:

  • services subject to public accounting;
  • national public establishments;
  • public organizations;
  • organizations benefiting from public financial competitions;
  • Organizations calling on public generosity (Arc, for example).

Recent developments [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

With the LOLF, the Court has been led to develop new missions and new skills and expertise. The certification of state accounts gives it a mission comparable to that of the auditor of a company.

Running: the assessment and control mission [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

At the end of the execution: the regulation law [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

The regulation law allows control in the aftermath of the finance law. Created in 1818 under the name of “law of accounts”, it was at the time the only great opportunity for the Parliament to make a judgment on government policy.

However, the rise in parliamentarism has made it a formality, a rite which has lost its importance.

The LOLF finally allowed him to be reborn by attributing a
new accounting scope and a more formal frame:

  • The bill for the regulation for budgetary financial year N-1 must be filed with the first is June of year N (article 46 of the LOLF);
  • The finance bill for the fiscal year N+1 will therefore be drawn up with regard to the law of settlement for financial year N-1.

The organic law of December 28, 2021 relating to the modernization of public finance management renovates certain provisions relating to the law of settlement, in order to give it more political weight [ 18 ] :

  • The regulations are renowned “laws relating to management results and approving the accounts of the year” in order to highlight the importance of the work related to the evaluation of public policies during their examination [ 19 ] ;
  • The deadline for filing the regulation bill is advanced from June 1 to May 1 in order to give parliamentarians more time to devote themselves to their evaluation and control work within the framework of the “Spring of the Evaluation” [ 20 ] .

This framework will come into force on January 1, 2023.

  1. ↑ Decree n O 2012-1246 of November 7, 2012 relating to public budget management and accounting, art. 87.
  2. ↑ A B and C Michel Bouvier, Marie-Christine Esclassan, Jean-Pierre Lassale, Public finances , Paris, Montchrétien, 2008, p. 230
  3. ↑ Cf. Evolution of financial control and articulation of controls [PDF]
  4. ↑ Decree n O 2005-1429 of November 18, 2005 relating to the missions, organization and jobs of management of the ministerial budgetary and accounting control services, art. 1-2
  5. ↑ a et b Decree n O 2012-1246 of November 7, 2012 relating to public budget management and accounting, art. 88.
  6. ↑ Decree n O 2005-1429 of November 18, 2005 relating to the missions, organization and jobs of management of the ministerial budgetary and accounting control services, art. 3
  7. ↑ Decree n O 2005-1429 of November 18, 2005 relating to the missions, organization and jobs of management of the ministerial budgetary and accounting control services, art. 11.
  8. ↑ Decree n O 2012-1246 of November 7, 2012 relating to public budget management and accounting, art. 67.
  9. ↑ Decree n O 2012-1246 of November 7, 2012 relating to public budget management and accounting, art. 68.
  10. ↑ Decree n O 2012-1246 of November 7, 2012 relating to public budget management and accounting, art. 105.
  11. ↑ Decree n O 2012-1246 of November 7, 2012 relating to public budget management and accounting, art. 91.
  12. ↑ Decree n O 2012-1246 of November 7, 2012 relating to public budget management and accounting, art. 92.
  13. ↑ Decree n O 2012-1246 of November 7, 2012 relating to public budget management and accounting, art. 93.
  14. ↑ Decree n O 2012-1246 of November 7, 2012 relating to public budget management and accounting, art. 96.
  15. ↑ a et b Decree n O 2012-1246 of November 7, 2012 relating to public budget management and accounting, art. 103.
  16. ↑ Decree n O 2012-1246 of November 7, 2012 relating to public budget management and accounting, art. 97.
  17. ↑ Decree n O 2012-1246 of November 7, 2012 relating to public budget management and accounting, art. 171.
  18. ↑ ‘ Organic law of December 28, 2021 relating to the modernization of public finance management » , on Public life.fr (consulted the )
  19. ↑ ‘ Organic law n ° 2021-1836 of December 28, 2021 relating to the modernization of public finance management, art. 2 »
  20. ↑ ‘ Organic law n ° 2021-1836 of December 28, 2021 relating to the modernization of public finance management, art. 20 »

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