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 Agency for Safety and Health at Work for the 
financial year 2010  
THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT,  
— having regard to the final annual accounts of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work for 
the financial year 2010,  
— having regard to the Court of Auditors’ report on the annual accounts of the European Agency for 
Safety and Health at Work 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 Council Regulation (EC) No 2062/94 of 18 July 1994 establishing a European Agency 
for Safety and Health at Work (  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 Rule 77 of, and Annex VI to, its Rules of Procedure,  
— having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgetary Control and the opinion of the Committee 
on Employment and Social Affairs (A7-0117/2012),  
A. whereas the Court of Auditors stated that it has obtained reasonable assurances that the annual 
accounts 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 Director of the European Agency for Safety and 
Health at Work discharge for implementation of the Agency’s budget for the financial year 2009 (  5 ), 
and in its resolution accompanying the discharge decision, inter alia:  
— called on the Agency to reduce the increased cancellation rate and inform the discharge authority of 
the actions taken,EN 17.10.2012 Official Journal of the European Union L 286/247  
( 1 ) OJ C 366, 15.12.2011, p. 45.  
( 2 ) OJ L 248, 16.9.2002, p. 1.  
( 3 ) OJ L 216, 20.8.1994, p. 1.  
( 4 ) OJ L 357, 31.12.2002, p. 72.  
( 5 ) OJ L 250, 27.9.2011, p. 201.
— called on the accounting officer of the Agency to describe the methodology used in the validation 
of its accounting system, supports the idea of developing cooperation within the existing Inter 
Agency Accountants Networks in order to come up with common requirements and develop a 
common methodology for validation of the accounting systems agencies,  
— stressed that the carry-forward of EUR 3 500 000 (47 % of the Agency’s operation appropriations) 
relating to operational activities delays the implementation of the Agency’s activities and is at odds 
with the budgetary principle of annuality, which is partly because of the multi-annuality of the 
important projects,  
C. whereas the overall budget of the Agency for the financial year 2010 was EUR 15 500 000, which 
represents an increase of 3,3 % over the financial year 2009; whereas the initial Union contribution to 
the budget of the Agency for 2010 was EUR 13 743 434 compared to EUR 13 800 000 in 2009 (  1 ), 
which represents a decrease of 0,41 %,  
Budget and financial management  
1. Recalls that the initial Union contribution to the budget of Agency for 2010 amounted to EUR 
13 743 434; notes, however, that EUR 506 566, arising from the recovery of surplus, was added to 
this which, as a result, makes a total Union contribution of EUR 14 250 000 for 2010;  
2. Establishes from the annual accounts that the original budget of the Agency for 2010 has been 
amended twice and that transfers have taken place; calls on the Agency to provide the discharge 
authority with information on the reasons behind these changes;  
3. Acknowledges from the Agency’s Annual Activity Report (AAR) that of the budget available in 2010, 
96,1 % was committed by the end of the year;  
Carry-over appropriations  
4. Notes an improvement in the Agency’s carry-over appropriations over the years; notes in particular, 
that in 2010 it reduced its cancellation rate to 11 % from 19 % in 2009; calls, nevertheless, on the 
Agency to further improve the situation by avoiding delay in the implementation of its activities;  
Human resources  
5. Observes from the Agency’s AAR that the total number of staff as of 31 December 2010 stood at 66; 
notes, in addition, that the staffing is comprised of 44 temporary agents (TA), 21 contract agents (CA) 
and 1 CA post situated in Networking and Coordination funded from the IPAC2 programme;  
6. Calls on the Agency to inform the discharge authority about the measures the Agency took to fulfil the 
below objectives set out in its Work Annual Programme:  
— organising and monitoring selection procedures for TA and CA,  
— managing and administering the human resources function in an effective and timely manner,  
— getting the necessary qualified staff for the Agency to meet the Agency’s strategy and objectives to 
implement its annual management plans;  
Performance  
7. Acknowledges from its AAR that the Agency detailed data comparing one year to another so as to 
enable the discharge authority to assess more effectively the Agency’s performance; considers this a best 
practice to be followed by the other agencies;EN L 286/248 Official Journal of the European Union 17.10.2012  
( 1 ) OJ L 64, 12.3.2010, p. 507.
8. Welcomes the Agency’s initiative of launching ‘foresight’ on the health and safety impact of tech ­
nological innovations in ‘green jobs’ by 2020; notes that the dissemination of the results of these 
projects to their target audiences has now started at the World Congress and in a seminar series; would 
therefore appreciate receiving the feedback of these initiatives from the Agency;  
Internal audit  
9. Welcomes the Agency’s initiative of automatically providing to the discharge authority the Internal 
Audit Service (IAS)’s Annual Internal Audit Report on the Agency; considers this to be an indication of 
transparency and an example of best practice to be followed by all other agencies; considers that the 
IAS’s audit reports often help further developed processes and measures mitigating/controlling the 
Agency’s risks;  
10. Acknowledges from the Agency that the IAS undertook a follow-up on the open recommendations of 
past audits; welcomes in particular that in relation to the follow-up of earlier recommendations from 
the IAS, the internal auditor assessed that all very important recommendations are adequately imple ­
mented and closed except the one on validation of accounting systems, which was downgraded to 
‘important’ due to partial implementation; calls, therefore, on the Agency to fully implement this 
recommendation in addition and to inform the discharge authority on the measures taken;  
11. Notes, in addition, that the IAS performed an audit on website and external communication in 
November 2010; notes in particular that on this audit the IAS raised seven recommendations, none 
of them were rated as ‘critical’ but two were considered as ‘very important’ and were related to:  
— the service level agreement documentation,  
— the adoption and implementation of a security policy,  
calls therefore on the Agency to promptly implement these two recommendations and to inform the 
discharge authority on the measures taken;  
12. Draws attention to its recommendations from previous discharge reports, as set out in the Annex to 
this resolution;  
13. 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 286/249  
( 1 ) Texts adopted, P7_TA(2012)0164 (see page 388 of this Official Journal).
ANNEX  
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RECOMMENDATIONS OVER PAST YEARS  
European Agency for 
Safety and Health at Work  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 
— Congratulates the Agency on having 
significantly improved its financial 
management over the last three years; 
encourages it to continue to strive for 
the highest standards in budgetary 
planning, implementation and control  Calls on the Agency to set out in a table 
annexed to the Court of Auditors next 
report a comparison of the operations that 
were carried out during the year for which 
discharge is to be granted and during the 
previous financial year so as to enable the 
discharge authority to assess more effectively 
the Agency’s performance from one year to 
the next  
Governance of the 
Agency  n.a. n.a.  — The Agency’s governance costs are not 
insignificant (84-member Governing 
Board and employs 64 staff)  
Operating appropri ­
ations carried over  The budgetary principle of specification 
was not strictly observed. (The Director 
signed 19 decisions for approximately 
EUR 880 000 authorising budgetary 
transfers from article to article within 
chapters. Contrary to the Financial Regu ­
lation, the Governing Board did not 
receive the required information)  n.a. — Calls in the interests of sound financial 
management, for the budget forecasts 
to be adjusted to reflect actual needs 
(the state of affairs was at odds with 
the principle of annuality)  — Acknowledges that the Agency carried 
forward EUR 3 500 000 (47 % of its 
operation appropriations) in respect of 
the operational activities. Stresses that 
this situation delays in the implemen ­
tation of the Agency’s activities and is 
at odds with the budgetary principle of 
annuality, which is partly because of the 
multiannuality of important projects 
— Calls on the Agency to reduce the 
increased cancellation rate and inform 
the discharge authority of the actions 
taken  
Procurement 
procedures  n.a. n.a.  Calls on the Agency to resolve the problem 
of using public procurement framework 
contract beyond its maximum value, in 
order to give effect to European 
budgetary lawEN L 286/250 Official Journal of the European Union 17.10.2012
European Agency for 
Safety and Health at Work  2006  2007  2008  2009  
Human resources and 
internal audit  n.a. n.a.  Calls on the Agency to take steps to fulfil 
14 out of 33 recommendations made by 
the Internal Audit Service, notes that six of 
them are considered to be very important: 
i.e. management of the stakeholders’ expec ­
tations and the implementation of certain 
internal control standards, namely dealing 
with individual file problems, the annual 
report on internal control and promoting 
internal control procedures  — Calls on the accounting officer of the 
Agency to describe the methodology 
used in the validation of its accounting 
system, supports the idea of developing 
cooperation within the existing Inter 
Agency Accountants Networks in order 
to come up with common requirements 
and develop a common methodology 
for validation of the accounting 
systems in agencies 
— Encourages the Agency to revise the 
checklists to match the specifications 
of different financial transactions and 
to make them available to all staff 
— Calls on the Agency to finalise its docu ­
mentation procedures 
— Calls on the Agency to produce an 
exhaustive list of the main processes 
to be matched with required procedures 
and for this list to be systematically 
updatedEN 17.10.2012 Official Journal of the European Union L 286/251