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1. The Executive Director shall be responsible for operations and for the day-to-day management of the Competence Centre and shall be its legal representative. The Executive Director shall be accountable to the Governing Board and perform his or her duties with complete independence within the powers assigned to him or her. The Executive Director shall be supported by the staff of the Competence Centre.

2. The Executive Director shall carry out at least the following tasks in an independent manner:

(a) implement the decisions adopted by the Governing Board;

(b) support the Governing Board in its work, provide the secretariat for its meetings and supply all information necessary for the performance of its duties;

(c) after consulting the Governing Board and the Commission and taking into account the input of the national coordination centres and the Community, prepare and submit for adoption to the Governing Board the Agenda, as well as, in accordance with the Agenda, the draft annual work programme and the draft multiannual work programme of the Competence Centre, including the scope of the calls for proposals, calls for expressions of interest and calls for tenders needed to implement the annual work programme and the corresponding expenditure estimates as proposed by the Member States and the Commission;

(d) prepare and submit the draft annual budget to the Governing Board for adoption, including the corresponding establishment plan referred to in point (l) of Article 13(3), indicating the number of temporary posts in each grade and function group and the number of contract staff and seconded national experts, expressed in full-time equivalents;

(e) implement the annual work programme and the multiannual work programme and report to the Governing Board with regard thereto;

(f) prepare the draft annual activity report on the Competence Centre, including the information on corresponding expenditure and the implementation of the Agenda and the multiannual work programme; if necessary, that report shall be accompanied by proposals for the further improvement of the realisation or the reformulation of the strategic goals and priorities;

(g) ensure the implementation of effective monitoring and evaluation procedures in relation to the performance of the Competence Centre;

(h) prepare an action plan that follows up on the conclusions of the implementation report and the evaluation referred to in Article 38(2) and (4) and, every two years, submit reports on progress to the European Parliament and to the Commission;

(i) prepare and conclude agreements with the national coordination centres;

(j) be responsible for administrative, financial and staff matters, including the implementation of the Competence Centre’s budget, taking due account of advice received from the relevant internal audit function, in accordance with the decisions referred to in points (e), (l), (t), (u), (v) and (w) of Article 13(3);

(k) approve and manage the launch of calls for proposals, in accordance with the annual work programme, and administer the resulting grant agreements and decisions;

(l) approve the list of actions selected for funding on the basis of a ranking list established by a panel of independent experts;

(m) approve and manage the launch of calls for tenders, in accordance with the annual work programme, and administer the resulting contracts;

(n) approve the tenders selected for funding;

(o) submit the draft annual accounts and balance sheet to the relevant internal audit function, and subsequently to the Governing Board;

(p) ensure that risk assessments and risk management are performed;

(q) sign individual grant agreements, decisions and contracts;

(r) sign procurement contracts;

(s) prepare an action plan that follows up on the conclusions of internal or external audit reports, as well as investigations by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) established with Commission Decision 1999/352/EC, ECSC, Euratom and report on progress twice a year to the Commission and regularly to the Governing Board;

(t) prepare draft financial rules applicable to the Competence Centre;

(u) establish and ensure the functioning of an effective and efficient internal control system and report any significant change to it to the Governing Board;

(v) ensure effective communication with the Union’s institutions and report, when invited, to the European Parliament and to the Council;

(w) take any other measures needed to assess the Competence Centre’s fulfilment of its mission and objectives;

(x) perform any other tasks entrusted or delegated to him or her by the Governing Board.