L 85/12 Official Journal of the European Communities 6.4.2000 (Acts whose publication is not obligatory) COUNCIL DECISION of 27 March 2000 on the establishment of a financial regulation governing the budgetary aspects of the management by the Deputy Secretary-General of the Council, of contracts concluded in his name, on behalf of certain Member States, relating to the installation and the functioning of the communication infrastructure for the Schengen environment, ‘Sisnet’ (2000/265[EC) THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, (4) It is also necessary to set out the rules applicable to the conclusion of these contracts. Having regard to the first sentence of the second subparagraph () This Decision is a development of the Schengen acquis of Article 2(1) of the Protocol annexed to the Treaty on Euro- pean Union and to the Treaty establishing the European Community, integrating the Schengen acquis into the frame- work of the European Union (hereinafter ‘the Schengen Proto- col), Whereas: (1)  The Deputy Secretary-General of the Council was authorised by Decision 1999/870/EC (') to act, in the context of the integration of the Schengen acquis within the European Union, as representative of certain Member States for the purposes of concluding contracts relating to the installation and the functioning of the communication infrastructure for the Schengen environ- ment (hereinafter ‘Sisnet’) and to manage such contracts. (2)  The financial obligations arising under those contracts are not borne by the general budget of the European Union; therefore, the provisions of the Financial Regula- tion of 21 December 1977 applicable to the general budget of the European Communities (3 do not apply. (3) It is therefore necessary to establish specific rules to define the detailed procedures for establishing and implementing the budget required to meet any expenses incurred in the course of concluding the contracts, the obligations arising under those contracts once concluded, for recovering the contributions to be paid by the States concerned and for the presentation and auditing of the accounts. () O] L 337, 30.12.1999, p. 41. (}) OJ L 356, 31.12.1977, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regula- tion (EC) No 26731999 (O] L 326, 18.12.1999, p. 1). within the meaning of the Schengen Protocol, HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS: CHAPTER 1 General principles Article 1 For the purposes of this Financial Regulation, the ‘budget’ is the instrument which sets out forecasts of, and authorises in advance, for each financial year, the revenue and expenditure required to meet the obligations arising under the contracts referred to in Decision 1999/870/EC. Article 2 This Financial Regulation lays down detailed rules for the conclusion of contracts relating to Sisnet and for the establish- ment and implementation of the budget required in relation to such contracts. Article 3 1. The budget shall be subdivided into titles covering the budget relating to the preparatory steps leading to the conclu- sion of the contracts in question, including any costs incurred during the preparation of the call for tenders in respect of Sisnet, the installation budget and the operating budget for the Sisnet. If necessary, each title shall be subdivided into chapters and articles.