RESOLUTION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT  
of 10 May 2012  
with observations forming an integral part of the decision on discharge in respect of the 
implementation of the European Union general budget for the financial year 2010, Section V — 
Court of Auditors  
THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT,  
— having regard to the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2010 (  1 ), 
— having regard to the annual accounts of the European Union for the financial year 2010 (COM(2011) 
473 – C7-0260/2011) (  2 ), 
— having regard to the Court of Auditors’ annual report to the discharge authority on the internal audits 
carried out in 2010,  
— having regard to the Court of Auditors’ annual report on the implementation of the budget concerning 
the financial year 2010, together with the institutions’ replies (  3 ), 
— having regard to the statement of assurance (  4 ) as to the reliability of the accounts and the legality and 
regularity of the underlying transactions, provided by the Court of Auditors for the financial year 2010 
pursuant to Article 287 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU),  
— having regard to Article 314(10) and Articles 317, 318 and 319 of the TFEU,  
— 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 (  5 ), and in particular Articles 
50, 86, 145, 146 and 147 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 (A7-0091/2012),  
1. Emphasises that the audit of the Court of Auditors’ financial statements for 2010 was carried out by an 
external auditor; notes that, in her report, the independent auditor reached the following conclusion: ‘In 
our opinion, the financial statements give a true and fair view of the financial position of the European 
Court of Auditors as of December 31, 2010, and of its cash flows for the year then ended in 
accordance with Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002, the Commission 
Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2342/2002 of 23 December 2002 laying down detailed rules for the 
implementation of the said Council Regulation, and the Accounting Rules of the European Union.’ (  6 ); 
2. Notes, however, that the audit carried out was of a ‘traditional’ nature, examining ‘(…) whether financial 
operations have been properly recorded and disclosed, legally and regularly executed and managed so as 
to ensure economy, efficiency and effectiveness’ (Independent Auditor’s report, point 1, third indent); 
would like future audits to consider performance indicators and objectives;  
3. Calls for improvements to be made to the summary of the number and type of internal audits carried 
out, the recommendations made and the action taken on those recommendations; calls also for that 
summary to be more informative and relevant;EN 17.10.2012 Official Journal of the European Union L 286/105  
( 1 ) OJ L 64, 12.3.2010.  
( 2 ) OJ C 332, 14.11.2011, p. 1.  
( 3 ) OJ C 326, 10.11.2011, p. 1.  
( 4 ) OJ C 332, 14.11.2011, p. 134.  
( 5 ) OJ L 248, 16.9.2002, p. 1.  
( 6 ) OJ C 267, 9.9.2011, p. 3.
4. Notes that in 2010 the Court of Auditors’ commitment appropriations amounted to a total of EUR 
148 600 000 (EUR 188 000 000 in 2009), and that the implementation rate for those appropriations 
was 93 % (92,1 % in 2009); emphasises that the Court of Auditors’ budget is purely administrative in 
nature, with 80 % of it being spent on persons working within the institution and 20 % on buildings, 
furniture, equipment and miscellaneous operating expenditure;  
5. Notes that the implementation rate for Title 1 (Persons working within the institution) increased from 
87,6 % in 2009 to 92,3 % in 2011, and that 98 % of the appropriations under Title 2 (Buildings, 
furniture, equipment and miscellaneous operating expenditure) were used in 2010;  
6. Welcomes the fact that, following a reorganisation, the Court of Auditors has reduced the annual cost 
of security services by EUR 500 000, while making for more effective delivery of service and better risk 
control;  
7. Asks the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) to speed up the investigation related to allegations of 
irregularities reported by the Court of Auditors to OLAF in 2010;  
8. Welcomes the fact that the Court of Auditors has already revised the Code of Conduct for its Members 
and that the Code now provides for declarations of Members’ financial interests to be published on the 
internet;  
9. Notes that in 2010 the Court of Auditors published two annual reports, 40 special annual reports 
(2009: 37), 14 special reports (2009: 18) and six opinions (2009: 1); strongly suggests that the Court 
of Auditors evaluates the effects and the implementation of its conclusions contained in the special 
reports within a reasonable period of time, informing the Committee on Budgetary Control of its 
findings;  
10. Considers that preventing and identifying conflicts of interest is of high relevance for the efficient and 
correct use of resources as well as for public confidence in the Union institutions; awaits the Court of 
Auditors’ Special Report on conflicts of interest management in the European Aviation Safety Agency, 
the European Chemicals Agency, the European Food Safety Authority and the European Medicines 
Agency, as planned, by the end of June 2012;  
11. Welcomes the professional and courteous cooperation between the Court of Auditors and the 
Committee on Budgetary Control; welcomes, in this connection, the steps taken by the Court of 
Auditors to improve its role in line with Parliament’s request, with a view to having a broader and 
deeper impact so that its opinions and reports are more effective and useful and its systems and 
procedures more reliable, thereby strengthening the synergies between the two institutions;  
12. Commends the good cooperation between the Court of Auditors and the Committee on Budgetary 
Control regarding the 2010 discharge for the Joint Undertakings; invites the Court of Auditors to 
provide the discharge authority with a special report on the effectiveness of the Joint Undertakings’ 
establishment and on their added value for the efficient execution of Union research, technological 
development and demonstration programmes;  
13. Recalls that the Court of Auditors adopted an audit strategy for the 2009-2012 period, setting the 
following objectives: 1) maximising the overall impact of audits, and 2) increasing efficiency by making 
the best use of resources; is pleased to note that the Court of Auditors achieved the following priorities 
in 2010 (  1 ): 
— the target of delivering 12 to 15 performance audit reports per year was met,  
— new products were developed – a paper on risks and challenges for the new Commission (Opinion 
No 1/2010) and a new system to report, from 2012 onwards, on the follow-up given to the Court’s 
recommendations,EN L 286/106 Official Journal of the European Union 17.10.2012  
( 1 ) Annual Activity Report 2010, p. 26.
— the Court’s internal rules were revised in order to streamline decision-making by introducing 
chambers and to strengthen governance,  
— a full set of performance indicators was produced,  
— the approach used for the annual audit of the implementation of the EU budget (statement of 
assurance) was improved in accordance with the recommendations of an internal ‘think-tank’ 
supported by external experts,  
— a number of posts were re-allocated from support services to audit;  
14. Welcomes the fact that the number of posts dedicated to audit tasks increased by 6 % (  1 ); 
15. Notes that in 2010 the Court of Auditors had 889 officials, 48 contract agents and 17 seconded 
national experts; 557 officials were in audit chambers, including 123 in the Members’ private offices; 
would like the annual activity report, in future, to include a comprehensive table of all the human 
resources at the Court’s disposal, broken down by category, grade, gender, participation in professional 
training and nationality;  
16. Considers that for additional optimisation of the Court of Auditors’ activity, an even more substantial 
number of the Court’s officials should be specialised in, and performing exclusively audit tasks; expects 
to see an increase of this proportion in the future;  
17. Also notes that the Court of Auditors undertook a total of 376 audit missions – 351 to Member States 
and 25 elsewhere (France: 52, Germany: 38, United Kingdom: 32, Italy: 30; Spain: 26, Netherlands: 23, 
Sweden: 15, Portugal: 14, Greece: 13, Denmark: 12; Luxembourg: 11, Hungary: 10, Poland: 10);  
18. Requests the Court of Auditors to incorporate into its future work programmes a systematic follow-up 
of specific past audits, following a sufficient time lapse, to assess progress;  
19. Is pleased that the Court of Auditors uses key performance indicators to measure the efficient and 
effective use of resources; takes note of the ongoing progress made; would, however, like the Court of 
Auditors further to step up the presentation of preliminary findings issued on time (enabling it to 
confirm with the auditee the factual accuracy of its main findings) (  2 ); 
20. Notes that the draft future Financial Regulation provides that, after consulting the Court of Auditors, 
agencies can appoint an independent external auditor to check whether their budget implementation 
complies with the provisions of the Financial Regulation; notes that the Court of Auditors would then 
take the external auditor’s report into account in drawing up its opinion; notes that in 2011 the Court 
of Auditors launched a pilot project with Eurofound (the European Foundation for the Improvement of 
Living and Working Conditions);  
21. Follows with interest the pilot project and its outcome; acknowledges the benefits this new procedure 
could generate in streamlining the workload of the Court of Auditors; considers, none the less, that the 
outcome should be mainly evaluated via quality versus time and cost indicators;EN 17.10.2012 Official Journal of the European Union L 286/107  
( 1 ) Annual Activity Report 2010, p. 34.  
( 2 ) Annual Activity Report 2010, p. 30.
22. Encourages the Court of Auditors to perform an in-depth assessment of supervisory and control 
systems in the Council before the end of 2012, as mentioned in Parliament’s resolution on 
discharge for 2009 (  1 ) (paragraph 8);  
23. Awaits with interest the ‘follow-up peer review’ that the Court of Auditors intends to launch in 2012; 
confirms its intention to produce an own-initiative report on improvements that could be suggested to 
the Court of Auditors; would like to be informed about the implementation of the conclusions of the 
last peer review;  
24. Also confirms its intention to propose a revision of the rules on appointing candidates to the Court of 
Auditors, with a view to improving the requirements so that the Court is better equipped to deal with 
current and future challenges.EN L 286/108 Official Journal of the European Union 17.10.2012  
( 1 ) OJ L 250, 27.9.2011, p. 94.