RESOLUTION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT  
of 10 May 2012  
with observations forming an integral part of its Decision on discharge in respect of the 
implementation of the budget of the European Network and Information Security Agency for 
the financial year 2010  
THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT,  
— having regard to the final annual accounts of the European Network and Information Security Agency 
for the financial year 2010,  
— having regard to the Court of Auditors’ report on the annual accounts of the European Network and 
Information Security Agency for the financial year 2010, together with the Agency’s replies (  1 ), 
— having regard to the Council’s recommendation of 21 February 2012 (06083/2012 – C7-0051/2012),  
— having regard to Article 319 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,  
— 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,  
— having regard to Regulation (EC) No 460/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 
10 March 2004 establishing the European Network and Information Security Agency (  3 ), and in 
particular Article 17 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 Rule 77 of, and Annex VI to, its Rules of Procedure,  
— having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgetary Control (A7-0136/2012),  
A. whereas the Court of Auditors has stated that it has obtained reasonable assurances that the annual 
accounts of the European Network and Information Security Agency (‘the Agency’) for the financial 
year 2010 are reliable and that the underlying transactions are legal and regular,  
B. whereas on 10 May 2011 Parliament granted the Executive Director of the Agency discharge for the 
implementation of its budget for the financial year 2009 (  5 ), and in its resolution accompanying the 
discharge decision, inter alia:  
— expressed its concern that the Court of Auditors reported appropriations carried forward to the 
following year of 19 % of the total budget of the Agency,  
— urged the Agency to put in place an exhaustive physical inventory list and ensure the correctness of 
the accounting records,EN L 286/222 Official Journal of the European Union 17.10.2012  
( 1 ) OJ C 366, 15.12.2011, p. 15.  
( 2 ) OJ L 248, 16.9.2002, p. 1.  
( 3 ) OJ L 77, 13.3.2004, p. 1.  
( 4 ) OJ L 357, 31.12.2002, p. 72.  
( 5 ) OJ L 250, 27.9.2011, p. 186.
— urged the Agency to:  
— improve the transparency of the estimates and of who has responsibility,  
— strengthen its procurement authorisation at the financing decision and work-programme level,  
— ensure that disclosure of exceptions in its Annual Activity Report (AAR) is made in a compre ­
hensive manner,  
— ensure adequate follow-up of potential irregularities,  
— develop and report on  ex-post  controls,  
C. whereas the overall budget of the Agency for the year 2010 was EUR 8 113 188, which is 0,05 % 
lower than its budget for 2009; whereas for 2010 the initial contribution of the Union to the budget of 
the Agency amounted to EUR 7 288 200 (  1 ) compared with EUR 7 800 000 in 2009,  
Budget and financial management  
1. Recalls that the initial Union contribution to the Agency for 2010 amounted to EUR 7 288 200; notes 
however that EUR 640 000, coming from the recovery of surplus, was added to that amount which, as 
a result, makes a total Union contribution of EUR 7 928 200 for 2010;  
2. Acknowledges from the annual accounts of the Agency for the financial year 2010 that its initial 
budget amounted to EUR 7 928 200; notes, however, that the Management Board amended the budget 
to reflect the contribution of the EFTA countries of EUR 184 988;  
3. Establishes from the annual accounts that appropriations were committed at a rate of 99,95 % 
compared with 94,40 % in 2009, while payments reached the level of 76,46 % of the total appropri ­
ations managed, compared with 75,67 % in 2009;  
Carryovers appropriations  
4. Notes from the annual accounts of the Agency that EUR 1 987 011 of the commitment appropriations 
contracted by the end of 2010 but not yet paid were carried forward to 2011; also notes that the total 
of carried forward appropriations cancelled in 2010 represents EUR 89 185;  
5. Is concerned that, once again, the Court of Auditors reported 52 % of carryovers from the Agency’s 
operational budget (Title III); expresses concern that this situation indicates delays in the implemen ­
tation of the Agency’s activities that are financed from Title III and is at odds with the budgetary 
principle of annuality; once more, urges the Agency to inform the discharge authority of the action 
taken by the Agency to address this deficiency;  
Procurement procedures  
6. Acknowledges that in 2011 the Agency implemented  ex-post  controls in order to improve the internal 
control performance in procurement procedures; urges the Agency nevertheless to, in addition, put in 
place effective  ex-ante  verification measures to prevent deficiencies in procurement; and calls on the 
Court of Auditors to check the effectiveness of those measures;  
7. Is informed by the Agency that it improved transparency both in respect of estimates and of who has 
responsibility for projects; it strengthened its procurement authorisation at financing-decision and 
work-programme level; it ensured that the disclosure of exceptions in its AAR was made in a compre ­
hensive manner; and it ensured adequate follow-up of potential irregularities; calls, nevertheless, on the 
Court of Auditors to assure the discharge authority of the efficiency of these measures;EN 17.10.2012 Official Journal of the European Union L 286/223  
( 1 ) OJ L 64, 12.3.2010, p. 759.
8. Sees from its AAR that the Agency had the following outturn of contracts awarded as a result of 
procurement procedures launched in 2010:  
— contracts: 52, including 20 service contracts and 9 framework service contracts;  
— purchase orders: 233 of which 79 were issued under an existing framework service contract;  
— procurement procedures launched: 36, including 13 open procedures;  
Refund from the tax authorities of the host Member State  
9. Notes, once more, with disappointment, that there has been no progress on the previous year 
concerning the refund of EUR 45 000, which is the amount of VAT paid in advance by the Agency 
to the tax authorities of the host Member State; urges the Agency, therefore, to inform the discharge 
authority when this refund is made by the host Member State;  
Human resources (HR)  
10. Is concerned that, once again, the deficiencies in staff selection procedures still remain and put at risk 
the transparency of the procedures; acknowledges that the Court of Auditors reported that neither the 
thresholds that candidates were required to meet in order to be invited to interview nor those standards 
necessary in order for them to be put on the reserve list were fixed in advance by the selection boards; 
urges, therefore, the Agency to address this situation and inform the discharge authority of the action 
taken; notes also that the measures taken by the Agency until now have been shown to be insufficient 
in this respect; is of the opinion that the discharge authority should no longer accept a recurrence of 
this deficiency;  
11. Observes from its annual accounts that the Agency’s staff at the end of year 2010 comprised of 40 
Temporary Agents (TA) and 11 Contract Agents (CA); notes also that 4 TA and 2 CA posts were 
vacant at the end of 2010 and that the recruitment procedures for 3 TA vacant posts had been 
completed in the fourth quarter of 2010, while the recruitment procedures for CA were launched in 
early 2011;  
12. Notes, in addition, from the AAR that the priorities of the HR section of the Agency for 2010 were:  
— recurrent resource planning (Staff Policy Plan);  
— affirmative measurable measures for staff retention;  
— services through electronic workflows;  
calls, therefore, on the Court of Auditors to confirm to the discharge authority that these priorities were 
effectively implemented;  
Internal control systems  
13. Acknowledges that the Agency is implementing and consolidating its internal procedures and internal 
controls for all financial circuits as provided for in its Work Programme for 2010;  
Internal audit  
14. Acknowledges in addition that the Internal Audit service (IAS) conducted a light-risk assessment for the 
Agency to update the audit priorities and the IAS audit plan for 2010-2012; notes in particular that the 
Agency has an enhanced risk in its planning, accounting, budget execution, IT development and 
management, business continuity, stakeholder relations, external communication, and impact 
assessment and evaluation; urges the Agency, therefore, to promptly establish the necessary 
measures to reduce the risks in the above-mentioned subjects;EN L 286/224 Official Journal of the European Union 17.10.2012
15. Notes that in 2010 the IAS carried out an audit of ‘planning: stakeholders and operations objectives’ in 
order to assess and provide reasonable assurance on the adequacy and effectiveness of the internal 
control system, related to the input and needs of stakeholders, and the effectiveness of allocation of 
resources with respect to priorities in operational activities;  
16. Acknowledges from the Agency that the IAS made 10 recommendations, three of which were rated 
‘very important’ and seven as ‘important’; notes that these ‘very important recommendations’ concern:  
— the development of a map of stakeholders’ expectations;  
— the involvement of stakeholders in project planning;  
— the improvement of the management of stakeholders’ relations through a suitable IT tool;  
17. Urges, therefore, the Agency to further:  
— involve the stakeholders prior/during drafting its provisional Work Programme;  
— develop a multi-annual framework determining main areas of interest and setting priorities;  
— reinforce use of stakeholders’ feedback;  
calls, in addition, on the Agency to inform the discharge authority of the measures taken in this 
respect;  
18. Notes that the four very important recommendations related to the 2009 audit on procurement are 
reported as implemented by the Agency and are currently under IAS review;  
19. Draws attention to its recommendations from previous discharge reports, as set out in the Annex to 
this resolution;  
20. Refers, in respect of the other observations accompanying its Decision on discharge, which are of a 
horizontal nature, to its resolution of 10 May 2012 (  1 ) on the performance, financial management and 
control of the agencies.EN 17.10.2012 Official Journal of the European Union L 286/225  
( 1 ) Texts adopted, P7_TA(2012)0164 (see page 388 of this Official Journal).
ANNEX  
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RECOMMENDATIONS OVER PAST YEARS  
European Network 
Information Security Agency  2006  2007  2008  2009  
Performance  n.a.  n.a.  — Calls on the Agency to set out a 
diachronic analysis of operations 
carried out in this and the previous 
years  n.a. 
Budgetary and financial 
management  — The implementation of the Agency’s 
budget did not strictly observe the 
principles of annuality and specifi ­
cation: in the last quarter of the year 
there was a concentration of trans ­
actions  — Weaknesses in the implementation of 
operational activities: 40 % of 
commitments and more than 50 % of 
payments concerning operational 
activities were executed in November 
and December 
— Weaknesses in the procurement 
procedure (the pre-selection of bids 
was not justified, the evaluation 
documents were not signed by the 
evaluation committee, files were not 
structured and incomplete)  — The ECA found deficiencies in 
procedures: under-estimation of the 
budgets of a framework contract (i.e. 
for a three year framework service 
contract, needs were underestimated 
and the available budget for this 
expenditure for the entire year was 
used within six months) 
— Calls on the Commission to examine 
ways of ensuring that the principle of 
needs-based cash management is 
implemented in full 
— Calls on the Commission to ensure 
that the Agency’s cash reserves are 
kept as low as possible on a long-term 
basis  — Concerned that the Court of Auditors 
reported appropriations carried forward 
to the following year of 19 % of the total 
budget of the Agency  
Internal audit and human 
resources  — Undocumented internal control 
procedures — they should ensure 
transparency and sound financial 
management  n.a. — Accomplishments in the implemen ­
tation of all eight recommendations 
of the Internal Audit Service: i.e. staff 
policy, renewal of contracts ending in 
2008, independence of the selection 
committees, training services and 
transparency in the promotion 
procedure  — Deficiencies in staff selection procedure 
— Calls on the Agency to put in place  ex- 
post controls with the help of a profes ­
sional supplier 
— Urges the Agency to put in place an 
exhaustive physical inventory list & 
ensure the correctness of the accounting 
recordsEN L 286/226 Official Journal of the European Union 17.10.2012
European Network 
Information Security Agency  2006  2007  2008  2009  
Procurement Procedure  n.a.  n.a.  n.a.  — Calls on the Agency to strengthen its 
internal controls in order to make sure 
that contracts & procurement procedures 
are correctly applied 
— Urges the Agency to: 
— Improve transparency in estimates & who 
has responsibility; 
— strengthen its procurement authorisation 
at financing decision & work programme 
level; 
— ensure that disclosure of exceptions in its 
Annual Activity Report is made in a 
comprehensive manner; 
— endure adequate follow up of potential 
irregularities; 
— develop & report an  ex-post  controlsEN 17.10.2012 Official Journal of the European Union L 286/227