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DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

of 12 April 2005

on the discharge to the Director of the Translation Centre for the bodies of the European Union in respect of the implementation of its budget for the financial year 2003

(2005/544/EC)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT,

having regard to the Court of Auditors' report on the annual accounts of the Translation Centre for the bodies of the European Union for the 2003 financial year together with the Centre's replies (1),

having regard to the Council's recommendation of 8 March 2005 (6859/2005 — C6-0068/2005),

having regard to the EC Treaty, and in particular Article 276 thereof,

having regard to Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities (2) and in particular Article 185 thereof, and to Council Regulation (EC) No 1645/2003 of 18 June 2003 amending Regulation (EC) No 2965/94 setting up a Translation Centre for the bodies of the European Union (3) and in particular Article 14 thereof,

having regard to Commission Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2343/2002 of 19 November 2002 on the framework Financial Regulation for the bodies referred to in Article 185 of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities (4) and, in particular, Article 94 thereof,

having regard to Rules 70 and 71 of and Annex V to its Rules of Procedure,

having regard to the Report of the Committee on Budgetary Control (A6-0074/2005),

The President

Josep BORRELL FONTELLES

The Secretary-General

Julian PRIESTLEY

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(1)OJ C 324, 30.12.2004, p. 46.

(2)OJ L 248, 16.9.2002, p. 1.

(3)OJ L 245, 29.9.2003, p. 13.

(4)OJ L 357, 31.12.2002, p. 72.

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RESOLUTION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

containing the comments accompanying the decision on the discharge to the Director of the Translation Centre for the bodies of the European Union in respect of the implementation of its budget for the financial year 2003

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT,

having regard to the Court of Auditors' report on the annual accounts of the Translation Centre for the bodies of the European Union for the 2003 financial year together with the Centre's replies (1),

having regard to the Council's recommendation of 8 March 2005 (6859/2005 — C6-0068/2005),

having regard to the EC Treaty, and in particular Article 276 thereof,

having regard to Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities (2) and in particular Article 185 thereof, and to Council Regulation (EC) No 1645/2003 of 18 June 2003 amending Regulation (EC) No 2965/94 setting up a Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union (3) and in particular Article 14 thereof,

having regard to Commission Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2343/2002 of 19 November 2002 on the framework Financial Regulation for the bodies referred to in Article 185 of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities (4) and, in particular, Article 94 thereof,

having regard to Rules 70 and 71 of and Annex V to its Rules of Procedure,

having regard to the Report of the Committee on Budgetary Control (A6-0074/2005),

1.   Notes the following figures for the accounts of the Translation Centre for the bodies of the European Union for the financial years 2003 and 2002:

Revenue and expenditure account for the financial years 2003 and 2002

2.   Invites the Centre and the Commission to make further efforts with a view to reaching a satisfactory solution on the question of pension contributions in respect of the Centre's staff;

3.   Invites the Centre and the Commission to keep Parliament informed of the outcome of its attempts to find a solution to the question of pension contributions for the Centre's employees;

4.   Welcomes the signing in 2004 of a Memorandum of Understanding by the Centre and the Luxembourg authorities resolving the problem of the costs related to the Centre's use of the New Hemicycle Building; expects full information on this issue to be provided in the Annual Activity Report of the Director for 2004;

5.   Notes the concern expressed by the Centre as to the calendar as set out in Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2343/2002 in accordance with which the ECA is to make its observations on the provisional accounts of the Agencies (Article 83(1) thereof) by 15 June and the Directors are to send the final accounts to the Commission's accounting officer (Article 83(3)) by 1 July together with the opinion of the Management Board; is aware of the difficulty that this entails, namely that of obtaining the opinion of the Agency's Management Board between these two dates;

6.   Notes and regrets the absence of an equality plan and expects the Agency to develop a plan shortly in order to become an equal opportunities employer; expects the Agency not only to consider equality issues at the stage of recruitment but also to work proactively and on a long-term basis to promote gender equality;

7.   Welcomes the Centre's commitment to communicating information on its activities to citizens and hopes to see further measures to develop and strengthen the Agency's strategy for information and communication;

8.   Notes, after exchanging information with the Centre, that the price per page set in the 2003 budget, and invoiced by the Centre is EUR 77,50, which includes all the costs of the Centre (staff, buildings, IT, equipment, freelance translations, provisions for pensions and social conditions), as well as in-house linguistic quality-checking, formatting and updating, and all the necessary administrative costs of outsourcing; calls on the Commission to evaluate the performance and added value of the different translation services together with the cost-benefit ratio;

9.   Notes that for reasons of security, confidentiality, speed and special qualifications in-house translation is necessary; notes also that where the required quality criteria are met, the Centre does work in partnership with external translators, and that in 2003, 40 % of its total production was outsourced;

General points addressed to the Commission and the Agencies

General points addressed to the Agencies

General points addressed to the ECA and the Agencies

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(1)OJ C 324, 30.12.2004, p. 46.

(2)OJ L 248, 16.9.2002, p. 1.

(3)OJ L 245, 29.9.2003, p. 13.

(4)OJ L 357, 31.12.2002, p. 72.

(5)OJ L 330, 4.11.2004, p. 27.

(6)  As set out in Annex 1 to the Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament ‘Building our common future, policy challenges and budgetary means of the enlarged Union 2007-2013’, (COM(2004) 0101, p. 38).

(7)  See Annex to the Commission's report on the follow-up to 2002 Discharges (COM(2004) 0648, p. 108).

(8)OJ L 269, 5.10.2002, p. 15.

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