This empowerment should therefore be strengthened by the removal of centralised prior controls and in particular ending the advance approval of revenue and expenditure operations by the financial controller and the check by the accounting officer that payment constitutes valid discharge.

1. Each Member State shall communicate to the Secretary-General of the Council such amendments as it wishes to make to the CCI concerning Part III of Annex 1 thereto, Schedule A of Annex 2 thereto (with the exception of the visa requirements relating to the countries mentioned in that Schedule which must be the subject of prior consultation) and Schedule B of Annex 2, Part II of Annex 3, and to Annexes 4, 5, 7 and 9 thereto, to the manual of documents to which a visa may be affixed, to the manual concerning the issuance of Schengen visas in third States where all the Schengen States are not represented, and to Annexes 6 and 9 of the Sche ...[+++]ngen Consultation Network (Technical Specifications).

'Prior approval may be given on the basis of a spot check; this shall be carried out under a system which identifies risk sectors, in which there is a high probability that the conditions set out in the second paragraph will not be fulfilled.

Payment orders are sent for prior approval to the financial controller, the purpose being to establish, among other things, that the payment order agrees with the commitment of expenditure and that the amount is correct. After approval, the order is forwarded to the accounting officer.

'Without prejudice to the provisions of Article 23, payment orders shall be sent for prior approval to the financial controller'.

2. The competent authorizing officer shall draw up, in respect of every debt identified as being a tangible and valid obligation to pay, a proposal that the debt be established and a recovery order, which shall be sent with supporting documents to the financial controller for his prior approval.