RESOLUTION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT  
of 17 April 2013  
with observations forming an integral part of its Decision on discharge in respect of the 
implementation of the budget of the Artemis Joint Undertaking for the financial year 2011  
THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT,  
— having regard to the final annual accounts of the Artemis for the financial year 2011,  
— having regard to the Court of Auditors’ report on the annual accounts of the Artemis for the financial 
year 2011, together with the replies of the Joint Undertaking (  1 ), 
— having regard to the Council’s recommendation of 12 February 2013 (05755/2013 – C7-0040/2013),  
— 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 (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council 
of 25 October 2012 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union and repealing 
Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 (  3 ), and in particular Article 208 thereof,  
— having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 74/2008 of 20 December 2007 on the establishment of 
the ‘Artemis Joint Undertaking’ to implement a Joint Technology Initiative in Embedded Computing 
Systems (  4 ), and in particular Article 11(4) 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 (  5 ), 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 (A7-0087/2013),  
A. whereas the Artemis Joint Undertaking (‘the Joint Undertaking’) was set up in December 2007 for a 
period of 10 years to define and implement a ‘Research Agenda’ for the development of key tech ­
nologies for embedded computing systems across different application areas in order to strengthen 
European competitiveness and sustainability, and allow the emergence of new markets and societal 
applications,  
B. whereas the Joint Undertaking started to work autonomously in October 2009,EN 16.11.2013 Official Journal of the European Union L 308/335  
( 1 ) OJ C 6, 10.1.2013, p. 1.  
( 2 ) OJ L 248, 16.9.2002, p. 1.  
( 3 ) OJ L 298, 26.10.2012, p. 1.  
( 4 ) OJ L 30, 4.2.2008, p. 52.  
( 5 ) OJ L 357, 31.12.2002, p. 72.
C. whereas the Court of Auditors states that it has obtained reasonable assurances that the annual 
accounts of the Joint Undertaking for the financial year 2011 are reliable;  
D. whereas the Court of Auditors has delivered a qualified opinion on the legality and the regularity of the 
transactions underlying the Joint Undertaking’s accounts;  
E. whereas the maximum contribution for the period of 10 years from the Union to the Joint Undertaking 
is EUR 420 000 000 to be paid from the budget of the Seventh Research Framework Programme,  
Budgetary and Financial Management  
1. Notes that the initial 2011 budget included operational appropriations amounting to EUR 46,6 million 
and that an amending budget was adopted reducing operational appropriations to EUR 18 600 000; 
notes, furthermore, that the utilisation rate for operational commitment appropriations was 100 %, as a 
result of the reduction of the operational appropriations to EUR 18 600 000, while the rate for 
payment appropriations was 51 %;  
2. Is concerned that the Joint Undertaking annual accounts received a qualified opinion from the Court of 
Auditors on the legality and the regularity of the transactions underlying those accounts on the grounds 
that the Joint Undertaking was not in a position to assess whether the  ex post  audit strategy provides 
sufficient assurance with respect to the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions; invites the 
Joint Undertaking to provide the discharge authority with an action plan to overcome that potential 
lack of assurance; expects that the Court of Auditors, through its independent audits, will be in position 
to provide the discharge authority with its own opinion on the effectiveness of the Joint Undertaking’s  
ex post  audit strategy;  
3. Recalls that the Joint Undertaking adopted an  ex post  audit strategy in 2010 that is a key tool in 
assessing the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions and that its implementation started in 
2011; notes that the audit of project cost claims has been delegated to the National Funding Auth ­
orities (NFAs) of the Member States however the administrative agreements signed with the NFAs do 
not include the practical arrangements for those audits; further notes from the Joint Undertaking that 
the various financing schemes and national rules in place in the different Member States imply that  ex- 
post audit is only feasible on completed projects and request to be informed of the results of the audits 
performed; reiterates that the Joint Undertaking should reinforce without delay the quality of its  ex-ante  
controls in particular for the grant management, requests that the discharge authority is informed of 
the results of the following  ex-post  audit processes conducted by the Joint Undertaking;  
4. Takes note that contrary to the Joint Undertaking’s Financial Rules, the 2011 budget of the Joint 
Undertaking does not reflect differentiated payment appropriations for operational expenditure;  
5. Regrets the relatively low implementation rate for operational payment appropriations standing at 
86 %, 53 % and 18 % for the 2008, 2009 and 2010 call for proposals; notes the delays at Member 
State level in signing the national grant agreements; is concerned about the low implementation rate of 
the budget and, moreover, about the underlying activities of the Joint Undertaking; calls for a detailed 
progress report on these shortcomings which makes specific proposals for a gradual improvement in 
the implementation rate;EN L 308/336 Official Journal of the European Union 16.11.2013
6. Condemns the fact that Greece is using Union Structural Funds to cover its national contributions to 
the Greek beneficiaries of the Artemis projects instead of providing national funding and that the Joint 
Undertaking acknowledged the continuation of Greek participation in Artemis projects but provides no 
funding to the Greek beneficiaries as an expenditure co-financed by Union Structural Funds shall not 
receive assistance from another Union financial instrument in accordance with Council Regulation (EC) 
No 1083/2006 (  1 ); requests the Commission to inform the discharge authority on the legality of this 
situation as soon as possible;  
7. Notes the Court of Auditors’ finding that the Joint Undertaking is using non-automatic carryover of 
payment appropriations to the next financial year, however without a decision of the Governing Board 
as required by Article 10(1) of the Financial Rules and that no distinction is made between payment 
appropriations carried over from previous years and payment appropriations of the current year;  
Calls for Proposals  
8. Takes note that the actual implementation and the foreseen value of the calls for proposals represents 
only EUR 244 000 000, or 58 % of the EUR 420 000 000 envisaged budget to cover operational 
expenditure;  
Internal control systems  
9. Acknowledges that in 2011, the Joint Undertaking intensified its efforts to establish and implement 
effective financial, accounting and management control procedures; notes that the Accounting Officer 
validated the financial and accounting systems used, but has not yet validated the underlying business 
processes which provide financial information, in particular, the one providing financial information 
about the validation and payment of the cost claims received from the national authorities; recalls that 
further work is needed in particular regarding the internal control standards and that the Joint Under ­
taking started to work autonomously in October 2009;  
Internal Audit  
10. Takes note that at the end of 2011, the Joint Undertaking’s internal audit capability had not yet been 
set up; recalls that the Commission’s Internal Audit Service is the Internal Auditor of the Joint Under ­
taking since 2010 and that carried out a risk assessment exercise and a strategic audit plan for 2012- 
2014 was presented to the Governing Board of the Joint Undertaking; acknowledges that taking into 
account the size of the Joint Undertaking will perform also the role of the Internal Audit Capability;  
11. Notes that the Joint Undertaking’s Financial Rules have not yet been formally amended to include the 
provision referring to the powers of the Commission’s internal auditor regarding the general budget as 
a whole;  
Annual activity report  
12. Takes note that the annual activity report provides information on the results of the operations of the 
Joint Undertaking; however it does not include an assessment of the efficiency and effectiveness of the 
internal control system and contains the following weaknesses:  
— Lack of information on the implementation of the  ex post  audit strategy, which is not sufficient to 
conclude whether this key control is functioning effectively, and should have led to a reservation;  
— No information on the partial validation of the financial and accounting systems by the accounting 
officer is provided;  
— There are unexplained differences between the budgetary implementation figures included in the 
Outturn on payments appropriations of the annual activity report and the budgetary implemen ­
tation figures included in the Final Accounts;EN 16.11.2013 Official Journal of the European Union L 308/337  
( 1 ) OJ L 210, 31.7.2006, p. 25.
Other management matters  
13. Notes that in 2011, the Joint Undertaking set up a Business Continuity Plan and made progress on the 
formalisation of the IT security policies but further work is required to finalise the Disaster Recovery 
Plan;  
14. Regrets that contrary to the Joint Undertaking’s Financial Rules, the National Funding Authorities have 
not yet declared any bank interest generated on pre-financing payments;  
15. Welcomes the fact that the Host State Agreement between the Joint Undertaking and the Belgian 
authorities concerning office accommodation, privileges and immunities and other support to be 
provided was signed on 3 February 2012;  
Other issues  
Possible merger with ENIAC  
16. Considers that cost-benefit analysis of a merger with ENIAC should be undertaken and that the 
European Parliament should be notified about the results of this assessment. This report should 
highlight the possible advantages and disadvantages of such a merger;  
17. Reiterates its invitation for the Court of Auditors to provide, within a reasonable deadline, a special 
report to Parliament on common issues which occur due to the nature of the joint undertakings, and 
which should be addressed by the joint undertakings together with their partners in order to ensure 
their added value and efficient execution of Union research, technological development and demon ­
stration programmes; notes, furthermore, that that report should include an assessment of the effec ­
tiveness of the joint undertakings’ establishment and structure.EN L 308/338 Official Journal of the European Union 16.11.2013