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1. The Court of Auditors shall, by 1 May, make its observations on the provisional accounts of the Union institutions other than the Commission, and of each of the bodies referred to in Article 247, and, by 15 May, make its observations on the provisional accounts of the Commission and the consolidated provisional accounts of the Union.

2. The accounting officers of the Union institutions other than the Commission and of the bodies referred to in Article 247 shall, by 15 May, send the required accounting information to the accounting officer of the Commission, in the manner and format laid down by the latter, with a view to drawing up the final consolidated accounts. The Union institutions other than the Commission, and each of the bodies referred to in Article 247, shall, by 1 June, send their final accounts to the European Parliament, to the Council, to the Court of Auditors and to the accounting officer of the Commission.

3. The accounting officer of each Union institution and of each body referred to in Article 247 shall send to the Court of Auditors, with a copy to the accounting officer of the Commission, at the same date as the transmission of his or her final accounts, a representation letter covering those final accounts. The final accounts shall be accompanied by a note drawn up by the accounting officer, in which the latter declares that the final accounts were prepared in accordance with this Title and with the applicable accounting principles, rules and methods set out in the notes to the financial statements.

4. The accounting officer of the Commission shall draw up the final consolidated accounts on the basis of the information presented pursuant to paragraph 2 of this Article by the Union institutions other than the Commission, and by the bodies referred to in Article 247. The final consolidated accounts shall be accompanied by a note drawn up by the accounting officer of the Commission, in which the latter declares that the final consolidated accounts were prepared in accordance with this Title and with the applicable accounting principles, rules and methods set out in the notes to the financial statements.

5. After approving the final consolidated accounts and its own final accounts, the Commission shall, by 30 June, send them by electronic means to the European Parliament, to the Council and to the Court of Auditors. By the same date, the accounting officer of the Commission shall transmit a representation letter covering the final consolidated accounts to the Court of Auditors. The Court of Auditors shall adopt its opinion on the reliability of the annual accounts of the Union and the accounts of each of the institutions and bodies referred to in Article 247 by 31 July.

6. The final consolidated accounts shall be published by 15 November in the Official Journal of the European Union together with the statement of assurance given by the Court of Auditors in accordance with Article 287 TFEU and Article 106a of the Euratom Treaty.