Recital 26

(26)Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities ¹¹ (the Financial Regulation) and Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2342/2002, which safeguard the Community financial interests, have to be applied taking into account the principles of simplicity and consistency in the choice of budgetary instruments, a limitation on the number of cases where the Commission retains direct responsibility for implementation and management, and the required proportionality between the level of resources and the administrative burden related to their use.