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DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

of 12 April 2005

on the discharge to the Executive Director of the European Environment Agency in respect of the implementation of its budget for the financial year 2003

(2005/541/EC)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT,

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

having regard to the Council's Recommendation of 8 March 2005 (6852/2005 — C6-0073/2005),

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 Regulation (EC) No 1641/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 July 2003 amending Council Regulation (EEC) No 1210/90 on the establishment of the European Environment Agency and the European Environment Information and Observation Network (3) and in particular article 13 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 and the opinion of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (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. 23.

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

(3)OJ L 245, 29.9.2003, p. 1.

(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 Executive Director of the European Environment Agency 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 European Environment Agency for the 2003 financial year together with the Agency's replies (1),

having regard to the Council's recommendation of 8 March 2005 (6852/2005 — C6-0073/2005),

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 Regulation (EC) No 1641/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 July 2003 amending Council Regulation (EEC) No 1210/90 on the establishment of the European Environment Agency and the European Environment Information and Observation Network (3) and in particular article 13 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 and the opinion of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (A6-0074/2005),

1.   Notes the following figures for the accounts of the European Environment Agency (EEA) for the financial years 2003 and 2002:

Revenue and expenditure account for the financial years 2003 and 2002

2.   Notes the ECA's observation relating to the non-systematic issuing of recovery orders by the Agency when claims are established, and the Agency's reply to that observation, expects the Agency from now on to abide strictly by the rules provided for in the Financial Regulation in this respect;

3.   Welcomes the measures taken by the Agency to strengthen its capability in the handling of financial operations including its preparation in view of applying accrual-based accounting; expects to be fully informed of the results obtained by the Agency on the occasion of the presentation of the Director's annual activity report for the financial year 2004;

4.   Welcomes the Agency's equality policy and mainstreaming of activities and encourages it to follow up and evaluate such policies regularly to ensure their implementation;

5.   Regrets that the Agency's breakdown of the staff by gender, category, nationality and grade did not permit the European Parliament to evaluate the balance between women and men within and between category and grade; demands that this be made available in the future as it is a vital tool for the evaluation of equality plans and gender balance within an organisation;

6.   Considers the EEA as a source of important environmental information for all EU institutions and policy-making; notes with satisfaction that the Agency has been able to transform some complicated technical data into user-friendly information and communicate its conclusions to the public;

7.   Welcomes the EEA's strategy for communication with citizens and encourages the Agency to develop and evaluate it continuously;

8.   Underlines the fact that the impact of environment programmes is often hampered by the lack of assessment of environmental impacts of other Community legislation and programmes; believes that the EEA could provide support for policy-making by further developing its work in the field of environmental impact assessment;

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. 23.

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

(3)OJ L 245, 29.9.2003, p. 1.

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

(5)OJ L 330, 4.11.2004, p. 14.

(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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