Official Journ alof the EuropeanUnion L 255/181
RESOLUTION OF  THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
of 23 
April 2009
with observations forming an integral part of the D ecision
 on discharge in respect of the 
implementation of the bu dget 
of the Eu ropean 
Environment Agency for the financial year 2007
THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT,
—having reg ard to the final annual accounts of the European Environment Agency for the fin ancial year 
2007
(1) OJ C 278, 31.10.2008, p. 4. (1), 
—having 
regard 
to the Court of Auditors’ report on  
the final 
annual 
accounts 
of the European 
Environment 
Agency 
for the fin ancial 
year 2007, tog ether 
with the Ag ency’s 
replies
(2) OJ C 311, 5.12.2008, p. 64. (2), 
—having 
regard 
to the Coun cil’s 
recommen dation 
of 10 February 
2009 (5588/2009 — C6-0060/2009), 
—having 
regard 
to the EC 
Treaty, an d 
in 
particular Article 276 thereof, 
—having
 regard
 to Council
 Regulation
 (EC,
 Euratom)
 No 1605/2002 of 25 June
 2002 on the Fin ancial
 
Regulation 
applicable 
to the general 
budget 
of the European 
Communities
(3) OJ L 248, 16.9.2002, p. 1. (3), and in particular Article 185 
thereof,
 
—having 
regard 
to Council 
Regulation 
(EEC) 
No 1210/90 of 7 May 1990 on  
the establishment 
of the Euro­
pean 
Environment 
Agency 
and 
the European 
Enviro
nmen
t Informa
tion 
and 
Obs
ervation 
Network
(4) OJ L 120, 11.5.1990, p. 1. (4), and 
in 
particular Article 13 thereof, 
—having 
regard 
to Commission  
Regulation 
(EC, 
Euratom) 
No 2343/2002 of 19 Novemb er 
2002 on 
the 
framework Fin ancial
 Regulation
 for the b odies
 referred to in Article 185 of Reg ulation
 (EC,
 Euratom)
 
No 1605/2002
(5) OJ L 357, 31.12.2002, p. 72. (5), and in particular Article 94 thereof, 
—having 
regard 
to Rule 71 of, an d 
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 an d 
Food Safety (A6-0171/2009),
A. whereas the Court of Auditors (E CA) stated that it has ob tained reasonable assurance that the an nual 
accounts 
for the fin ancial 
year 2007 are reliab le, 
and 
the underlying 
transaction s 
are legal 
and 
regular,
B. whereas on 22 April 2008  Parliamen t  granted  the Executive  Director of the European E nvironment  
Agency 
discharge 
in 
respect of the implemen tation 
of the Agency’s 
budget 
for the fin ancial 
year 2006
(6) OJ L 88, 31.3.2009, p. 159. (6), 
and
 in its resolution accompan ying
 the discharge decision ,
 inter
 alia, no
ted from the Ag ency’s
 annual
 
report that on e-third 
of staff were of a sin gle 
nationality, 
as well as the Ag ency’s 
goal 
(stated in 
its annual 
report) 
of improvin g 
the balance 
in, 
and 
diversity of, staff,
1. Considers 
the European 
Environment 
Agency 
(the Agency) 
as a source of importan t 
environmental 
leg­
islation 
for all EU 
institutions 
and 
policymak ing; 
notes 
with satisfaction  
that the E EA 
has been 
able 
to 
coordinate 
the European 
environment 
information 
and 
observation 
networ
k 
and 
to help the in stitutions 
of 
the EU 
and 
Member 
States to improve k nowledge 
of environment 
data and 
inf
ormation;
2. Encourages 
the Agency 
to continue 
its efforts to further develop its commun ication 
methods in  
order to 
attract more media coverag e
 for its fin dings
 and
 thus feed pub lic
 debate
 on importan t
 environmental
 
issues, such as climate chan ge, 
biodiversity 
and 
the management 
of natura
l resources;N E 9 0 0 2 . 9 . 6 2
Official Journ alof the EuropeanUnion 26.9.2009
3. Underlines the fact that the impact of en vironment programmes is often hampered b y the lack of assess­
ment 
of the environmental 
impacts of other Commun ity 
legislation 
and 
programmes; b elieves 
that the 
Agency 
could provide support for policymak ing 
by 
further developin g 
its work 
in 
the field of en viron­
mental 
impact assessmen t;
4. Emphasises 
the role of the Ag ency 
in 
the evaluation  
of the implemen tatio
n 
of EU 
environmental 
legis­
lation 
both 
within 
the EU 
and 
within 
prospective Memb er 
States;
5. Welcomes the Ag ency 
initiative 
to offset the climate impacts of flig hts 
as regards 
Agency 
staff mission s 
and 
participan ts 
in 
its activities;
Recruitment 
procedures
6. Notes 
the ECA’s 
audit results, accordin g 
to which two recruitmen t 
procedures did n ot 
meet the require­
ments 
of transparency 
and 
non-discrimination, 
as candidates 
not 
fulfilling 
the selection  
criteria were con ­
sidered 
for further evaluation  
and 
criteria for in viting 
the best 
candida
tes for in terview 
were not 
documented;
7. Notes 
the Agency’s 
reply that it in cluded 
those candidates 
which came closest to the selection  
criteria in 
order 
to have more can didates 
in 
the competition ; 
urges 
the Agency 
to stick 
to its promise to repub lish 
a 
post when  
similar situation s 
occur in 
the future;
8. Notes the Ag ency’s 
promise to b etter 
document 
the selection  
of short-listed can didates;
Procurement 
procedures
9. Notes 
that the ECA 
found 
two cases, with an  
approximate total value of E UR 26 
000, of the direct award 
of services which did n ot 
comply with the Fin ancial 
Regulation;
10. Considers 
unsatisfactory 
the Agency’s 
reply that these con tracts 
were awarded due to sig nificant 
benefits 
that 
would accrue to the Ag ency, 
and 
that the un ique 
nature 
of these cases was sufficien tly 
documented;
11. Further 
notes 
that the ECA 
reported a case, with an  
approximate value of E UR 215 
000, of a specific con ­
tract 
for services which was n ot 
in 
line 
with the terms of the framework  
contract, 
which called in to 
ques­
tion 
the transparency 
of the procedure;
12. Notes the Ag ency’s 
reply that this case con cerned 
IT 
systems an d 
that the orig inal 
order was exten ded 
when 
an 
increase 
in 
storage 
and 
server capacity b ecame 
necessary; 
notes 
the reply that in  
future sub stan­
tial 
IT 
purchases will b e 
put to ten der;
13. Calls 
on 
the Agency 
to ensure 
full complian ce 
with procuremen t 
rules;
Weaknesses in the management of grant agreements with Eu ropean 
Topic Centres
14. Notes the E CA’s 
remark 
that the Ag ency 
carried out on ly 
limited check s 
concerning 
payments 
made to 
the European 
Topic Cen tres 
on 
the basis 
of grant 
agreements;
15. Is 
satisfied with the Ag ency’s 
reply that it in troduced 
new 
control 
procedures in  
line 
with the E CA’s 
obser­
vations,
 including
 verification visits an d
 other detailed check s
 prior to fin al
 payments;
 notes
 that the 
Agency 
carried out four verification  
visits in 
relation 
to 2007 sub sidies
;N E 2 8 1 / 5 5 2 L
Official Journ alof the EuropeanUnion L 255/183
16. Notes the E CA’s finding that the g rant agreements between the Agency and the European Topic Cen tres 
provide 
for a flat rate of 20 % of direct expen diture 
for their in direct 
expenditure 
(overheads), whereas 
the implemen ting 
rules of the Fin ancial 
Regulation 
limit this rate to 7 %; notes that, accordin g 
to those 
rules, this ceilin g 
can 
only 
be 
exceeded followin g 
a reasoned 
decision 
by 
the Agency; 
notes 
that no 
such 
reasoned 
decision 
was taken 
by 
the Agency;
17. Notes 
that, accordin g 
to the ECA’s 
finding, 
if the 7 % rate had b een 
applied, the amoun t 
paid in 
2007 
would have b een 
EUR 300 
000 less;
18. Notes that the Ag ency
 acknowledges
 it had not taken the n ecessary
 reasoned
 decision,
 but
 that it had 
given 
extended 
consideration 
to the overhead rate b efore 
adoption 
of the agreements, 
and 
that the over­
head rate was explicitly con sidered 
in 
preparing 
the terms of referen ce;
19. Notes 
the Agency’s 
commitmen t 
to ensure 
that such a reason ed 
decision 
is taken 
by 
its Management 
Board 
for future calls con cerning 
European 
Topic Cen tres, 
which are due in  
2009/2010;
Follow-up 
to previou s 
discharge exercises
20. Recalls its request, made in  
the resolution  
accompan ying 
the discharge decision  
concerning 
the financial 
year 
2005
(1) OJ L 187, 15.7.2008, p. 107. (1), that the Ag ency, before 1  January 2010 and every five years thereafter, commission  an inde­
pendent 
external 
evaluation  
of its achievemen ts 
on 
the basis 
of its foun di
ng 
regulation 
and 
the work 
pro­
gramme 
decided upon  
by 
the Management 
Board;
21. Notes that, accordin g 
to information 
provided in  
its annual 
report, the Ag ency 
is awaiting 
the results of 
an 
independent 
external 
evaluation  
of the impact an d 
effectiveness 
of its five-year strateg y 
2004-2008;
22. Invites 
the Agency 
to inform 
the discharg e 
authority of the results of the extern al 
evaluation  
as soon 
as 
they are availab le;
23. Regrets 
that, accordin g 
to the data provided in  
the Agency’s 
annual 
report, the situation  
with regard 
to 
balance 
in, 
and 
diversity of, staff did n ot 
improve sig nificantly 
in 
2007, as on e-third 
of staff are still of a 
single 
nationality;
24. Invites 
the Agency 
to step up its efforts to improve the b alance 
in, 
and 
diversity of, staff;
25. Refers for other ob servations 
accompan ying 
its Decision  
on 
discharge 
which are of a horizon tal 
nature 
to 
its Resolution  
of 23 April 2009 on  
financial 
management 
and 
control 
of EU 
agencies
(2) See page 206 of this Official Journ al. (2).N E 9 0 0 2 . 9 . 6 2