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 Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking for the financial 
year 2010  
THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT,  
— having regard to the final annual accounts of the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking for the 
financial year 2010,  
— having regard to the Court of Auditors’ report on the annual accounts of the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen 
Joint Undertaking for the financial year 2010, together with the replies of the Joint Undertaking (  1 ), 
— having regard to the Council’s recommendation of 21 February 2012 (06086/2012 - C7-0050/2012),  
— 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 521/2008 of 30 May 2008 setting up the Fuel Cells and 
Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (  3 ), 
— having regard to Council Regulation (EU) No 1183/2011 of 14 November 2011 amending Regulation 
(EC) No 521/2008 setting up the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (  4 ), 
— 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 (A7-0110/2012,  
A. whereas the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (‘the Joint Undertaking’) was set up in May 2008 
for a period until 31 December 2017 to focus on developing market applications and hence facilitating 
additional industrial efforts towards a rapid deployment of fuel cells and hydrogen technologies,  
B. whereas the Joint Undertaking enjoyed financial autonomy only from November 2010,  
C. whereas the Court of Auditors states that it has obtained reasonable assurances that the Joint Under ­
taking’s annual accounts for the financial year 2010 are reliable and that the underlying transactions are 
legal and regular,EN 17.10.2012 Official Journal of the European Union L 286/329  
( 1 ) OJ C 368, 16.12.2011, p. 40.  
( 2 ) OJ L 248, 16.9.2002, p. 1.  
( 3 ) OJ L 153, 12.6.2008, p. 1.  
( 4 ) OJ L 302, 19.11.2011, p. 3.  
( 5 ) OJ L 357, 31.12.2002, p. 72.
D. whereas the Founding Members of the Joint Undertaking are the Union represented by the Commission, 
and the European Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Joint Technology Initiative Industry Grouping (Industry 
Grouping),  
E. whereas the maximum contribution for the entire period from the Union to the Joint Undertaking is 
EUR 470 000 000 to be paid from the budget of the Seventh Research Framework Programme,  
F. whereas the budget of the Joint Undertaking for the financial year 2010 amounted to EUR 97 400 000,  
Budget and Financial Management  
1. Notes from the final annual accounts of the Joint Undertaking for the financial year 2010 that the its 
budget was managed by DG RTD from 1 January 2010 to 14 November 2010; takes note that the 
Joint Undertaking became autonomous on 15 November 2010;  
2. Acknowledges from the final annual accounts that during the year 2010 the Joint Undertaking has 
carried out two budget amendments; acknowledges in particular that:  
— the first budget amendment aimed at restructuring the expenditure lines according to the needs of 
the Joint Undertaking and at redistributing the revenue taking into account the late autonomy of 
the Joint Undertaking in 2010;  
— the second budget amendment merged two income lines based on a request from the Commission;  
3. Establishes from the final annual accounts that in 2010 the Executive Director authorised three budget 
transfers representing a total of 0,11 % of the payment appropriations for 2010;  
4. Notes from the final annual accounts that for 2010 the Joint Undertaking had a budget execution rate 
of 99,01 % in terms of commitment appropriations and of 88,7 % in terms of payment appropriations; 
takes note in particular of:  
— the low execution rate on Staff appropriations both in terms of commitment and payment appro ­
priations, i.e. 19,14 % and 13,63 % respectively, which is mainly due to delays in recruitment;  
— the low execution rate on Infrastructure payment appropriations, i.e. 15,39 %, related to the late 
autonomy of the Joint Undertaking;  
asks the Joint Undertaking to explain to the discharge authority the delays in recruitment; urges the 
Joint Undertaking, moreover, to inform the discharge authority about the measures adopted and 
implemented to redress the situation and enable a greater execution rate of its budget both in terms 
of commitments and payments;  
5. Notes that all the 2010 operational payments to beneficiaries were made during the last six weeks of 
2010;  
Internal Control Systems  
6. Calls on the Joint Undertaking and in particular its Accounting Officer to formalise and validate the 
underlying business processes as required by its financial rules;EN L 286/330 Official Journal of the European Union 17.10.2012
7. Notes the Court of Auditors’ finding that the Joint Undertaking has an adequate level of IT governance 
and practice for its size and mission; stresses, however, that the formalisation of policies and procedures 
in strategic IT planning cycle, data classification according to confidentiality and integrity requirements 
and Business Continuity Plan and Disaster Recovery Plan is lagging behind; calls on the Joint Under ­
taking to remedy the situation and provide the discharge authority with an up-to-date report on the 
matter;  
8. Reiterates that the Joint Undertaking was set up in May 2008 but started to work autonomously on 
November 2010; expresses its concern that the methodology for evaluating contributions in-kind, in 
compliance with its financial rules and based on the Rules for Participation of the Seventh Research 
Framework Programme, has not yet been developed; notes from the Joint Undertaking’s reply to the 
Court of Auditors that it has drafted a methodology in the second quarter of 2011 and that it was 
submitted to the Governing Board for adoption in November 2011; calls on the Joint Undertaking to 
update the discharge authority about the latest developments concerning the adoption and implemen ­
tation of the methodology;  
Internal Audit  
9. Takes note that the Joint Undertaking’s financial rules have not yet been amended to include a 
provision referring to the powers of the Commission’s internal auditor regarding the general budget 
as a whole;  
10. Notes, however, that the Commission and the Joint Undertaking have taken action to ensure that the 
respective operational roles of the Commission’s Internal Audit Service and the Joint Undertaking’s 
internal auditing function are clearly defined;  
Call for Proposals and Project Management  
11. Notes from the Joint Undertaking’s Annual Activity Report (AAR) that during 2009 the Joint Under ­
taking finalised the selection process for the Call for Proposals 2009 by signing Grant Agreement for 
28 projects and that first payments were made, for all project consortia but one, by year-end 2010;  
12. Establishes from the AAR that the Call for Proposals 2010 was published on 18 June 2010 and that 
the Joint Undertaking’s financial contribution to the Call was EUR 89 100 000; takes note that 71 
proposals were submitted by the deadline of which 43 passed the evaluation thresholds and that the 
contract negotiations took place in 2011;  
13. Asks the Joint Undertaking to provide the discharge authority with:  
— an up-to-date report on the current situation regarding projects under Calls for Proposals 2009 in 
terms of payments and preliminary results;  
— an up-to-date report on the current situation regarding the projects under Call for Proposals 2010 
both in terms of contracting and payment;  
14. Acknowledges that the evaluation of the Call for Proposal 2010 was carried out by 32 independent 
experts and a chairperson, and that two independent observers monitored that the evaluation procedure 
was carried out in a fair, impartial and confidential manner; calls on the Joint Undertaking to inform 
the discharge authority on the verification mechanisms that it implements to ensure the full inde ­
pendence of experts and observers and therefore to mitigate the risks of conflicts of interests during the 
evaluation of tenders;EN 17.10.2012 Official Journal of the European Union L 286/331
Lack of host State agreement  
15. Reiterates that the Joint Undertaking should rapidly conclude a host agreement with Belgium 
concerning office accommodation, privileges and immunities and other support to be provided by 
Belgium to it as provided by its Founding Regulation (EC) No 521/2008;  
Horizontal observations on the Joint Undertakings  
16. Underlines that seven Joint Undertakings have so far been established by the Commission under 
Article 187 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union; notes that six Joint Undertakings 
(IMI, Artemis, ENIAC, Clean Sky, FCH and ITER-F4E) are in the research area under the Commission’s 
DGs RTD and INFSO and one is charged with developing the new air traffic management system 
(SESAR) in the transport domain whose activities are supervised by DG MOVE;  
17. Notes that the total indicative resources deemed necessary for the Joint Undertakings for their period of 
existence amounts to EUR 21 793 000 000;  
18. Notes that the total Union contribution deemed necessary for the Joint Undertakings for their period of 
existence amounts to EUR 11 489 000 000;  
19. Notes that, for the financial year 2010, the overall Union contribution to the budget of the Joint 
Undertakings amounted to EUR 505 000 000;  
20. Calls on the European Commission to provide the discharge authority annually with consolidated 
information on the total annual funding per Joint Undertaking made from the general budget of the 
Union in order to ensure transparency and clarity on the use of the Union’s funds and restore trust 
among the European taxpayers;  
21. Welcomes the initiative of Artemis to include information in its AAR on the monitoring and review of 
its ongoing projects; believes this is a practice that should be followed by the other Joint Undertakings;  
22. Recalls that Joint Undertakings are public-private partnerships and that as a consequence public and 
private interests are intertwined; is of the opinion that under the circumstances the likelihood of 
conflicts of interest should not be dismissed but addressed properly; calls therefore on the Joint 
Undertakings to inform the discharge authority about the verification mechanisms which exist in 
their respective structures to enable a proper management and prevention of conflicts of interest;  
23. Notes, with the notable exception of the Joint Undertaking for ITER and the Development of Fusion 
Energy, that Joint Undertakings are relatively small structures and geographically-concentrated; believes 
therefore that they should pool their resources where possible;  
24. Calls on the Court of Auditors to provide the discharge authority with a follow-up on the comments it 
has made for each of the Joint Undertakings in their respective report on the annual accounts for the 
financial year 2011;  
25. Invites the Court of Auditors to provide, within a reasonable deadline, a special report to Parliament, on 
the added value of the establishment of the Joint Undertakings for the efficient execution of Union 
research, technological development and demonstration programmes; further notes that the same report 
should include an assessment of the effectiveness of the Joint Undertakings’ establishment.EN L 286/332 Official Journal of the European Union 17.10.2012