Article 104 Responsibilities of the Executive Director

1.The Executive Director shall manage the Agency. The Executive Director shall be accountable to the Management Board. Without prejudice to the powers of the Commission and of the Management Board, the Executive Director shall be independent in the performance of his or her duties and shall neither seek nor take instructions from any government or from any other body.

2.The Executive Director shall report to the European Parliament on the performance of his or her duties when invited to do so. The Council may invite the Executive Director to report on the performance of those duties.

3.The Executive Director shall be responsible for the implementation of the tasks assigned to the Agency by this Regulation or other Union acts. In particular, the Executive Director shall be responsible for:

(a)approving the measures of the Agency as defined in Article 76 within the limits specified by this Regulation and by the delegated and implementing acts adopted on the basis thereof;

(b)deciding on investigations, inspections, and other monitoring activities as provided for in Articles 83 and 85;

(c)deciding on allocation of tasks to qualified entities in accordance with Articles 69(1) and on the conduct of investigations on behalf of the Agency by national competent authorities or qualified entities in accordance with Article 83(1);

(d)taking the necessary measures concerning the activities of the Agency related to international cooperation in accordance with Article 90;

(e)taking all necessary steps, including the adoption of internal administrative instructions and the publication of notices, to ensure the proper functioning of the Agency in accordance with this Regulation;

(f)implementing decisions adopted by the Management Board;

(g)preparing the consolidated annual report on the Agency's activities and submitting it to the Management Board for adoption;

(h)preparing the Agency's draft statement of estimates of revenue and expenditure pursuant to Article 120, and implementing its budget pursuant to Article 121;

(i)delegating the powers of the Executive Director to other members of the Agency's staff. The Commission shall adopt implementing acts laying down the rules applicable to such delegations. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the advisory procedure referred to in Article 127(2);

(j)preparing the programming document referred to in Article 117(1), and submitting it to the Management Board for adoption, after obtaining the opinion of the Commission;

(k)implementing the programming document referred to in Article 117(1), and report to the Management Board on its implementation;

(l)preparing an action plan following up conclusions of internal or external audit reports and evaluations, as well as investigations by OLAF, and reporting on progress twice a year to the Commission and regularly to the Management Board;

(m)protecting the financial interests of the Union by applying preventive measures against fraud, corruption and any other illegal activities, by effective checks and, if irregularities are detected, by recovering amounts wrongly paid and, where appropriate, by imposing effective, proportionate and dissuasive administrative and financial penalties;

(n)preparing an anti-fraud strategy for the Agency and present it to the Management Board for adoption;

(o)preparing draft financial rules applicable to the Agency;

(p)preparing the European Plan for Aviation Safety and its subsequent updates, and submitting them to the Management Board for adoption;

(q)reporting to the Management Board on the implementation of the European Plan for Aviation Safety;

(r)responding to requests for assistance from the Commission made in accordance with this Regulation;

(s)accepting the reallocation of responsibilities to the Agency in accordance with Articles 64 and 65;

(t)the day-to-day administration of the Agency;

(u)taking all decisions on the establishment of the internal structures of the Agency and, where necessary, on any changes to them, except for those at directors' level, which will be approved by the Management Board;

(v)adopting rules for the prevention and management of conflicts of interest in respect of participants in working groups and groups of experts, and other members of staff not covered by the Staff Regulations, which shall include provisions on declarations of interest and, where appropriate, post-employment occupational activities.

4.The Executive Director shall also be responsible for deciding whether it is necessary for the purpose of carrying out the Agency's tasks in an efficient and effective manner to establish one or more local offices in one or more Member States or to co-locate staff in Union delegations in third countries subject to the appropriate agreements with the European External Action Service. That decision requires the prior consent of the Commission, the Management Board and, where applicable, the Member State where the local office is to be established. That decision shall specify the scope of the activities to be carried out at that local office or by that co-located staff in a manner that avoids unnecessary costs and duplication of administrative functions of the Agency.