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DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

of 12 April 2005

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

(2005/543/EC)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT,

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

having regard to the Council's recommendation of 8 March 2005 (6860/2005 — C6-0070/2005),

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 1647/2003 of 18 June 2003 amending Regulation (EEC) No 2309/93 laying down Community procedures for the authorisation and supervision of medicinal products for human and veterinary use and establishing a European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal products (3), and in particular Article 57a 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. 30.

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

(3)OJ L 245, 29.9.2003, p. 19.

(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 Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products 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 Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products concerning the 2003 financial year together with the Agency's replies (1),

having regard to the Council's recommendation of 8 March 2005 (6860/2005 — C6-0070/2005),

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 1647/2003 of 18 June 2003 amending Regulation (EEC) No 2309/93 laying down Community procedures for the authorisation and supervision of medicinal products for human and veterinary use and establishing a European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal products (3), and in particular Article 57a 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 Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products (EMEA) for the financial years 2003 and 2002:

Revenue and expenditure account for the financial years 2003 and 2002

2.   Notes the Agency's efforts in 2004 aimed at strengthening its inventory system and the fact that all its assets are now entered in the new management system in compliance with the Commission's harmonised accounting plan;

3.   Invites the Agency to take further steps aimed at strengthening its internal control system;

4.   Expects the Agency to build on measures already taken in order to respond to the ECA's observation as regards the application of negotiated procedures in procurement;

5.   Notes the clarifications provided by the Agency on the measures it introduced for the purpose of remedying problems identified by the Court with regard to the way selection procedures for staff recruitment were applied; invites the Agency to continue its efforts so that necessary transparency is consolidated;

6.   Welcomes efforts made by the Agency with a view to providing health care to professionals and the general public with useful and meaningful information on medical products and their best use as well as on the results of its work in general; expects to be fully informed on the development of reliable and comprehensive communication strategy by the Agency;

7.   Notes that the European-wide pharmacovigilance reporting system (EudraVigilance database) is still not fully operational; calls on the Agency and the national authorities involved to finalise the work without further delay;

8.   Welcomes the Agency's equal opportunities commitment but 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; encourages it to follow up and evaluate such measures regularly to ensure their implementation;

9.   Notes that EMEA is the only Agency with more women than men in grade A;

10.   Welcomes the Agency's commitment to transparency and measures taken to improve its strategy for information and communication to patients and health professionals;

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. 30.

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

(3)OJ L 245, 29.9.2003, p. 19.

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

(5)OJ L 330, 4.11.2004, p. 20.

(6)  The data for the financial year 2002 have not been reprocessed according to the accounting principles followed for the financial year 2003 (see paragraph 8 of the report).

(7)  The portion of the appropriations carried over which is to be regarded as expenditure for the financial year has been evaluated on an overall basis rather than on the basis of examining individual transactions.

Source: The Agency's data. This table summarises the data provided by the Agency in its own accounts.

(8)  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).

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

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

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