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 Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union 
for the financial year 2011  
THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT,  
— having regard to the final annual accounts of the Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European 
Union for the financial year 2011,  
— having regard to the Court of Auditors’ report on the annual accounts of the Translation Centre for the 
Bodies of the European Union for the financial year 2011, together with the Centre’s replies (  1 ), 
— having regard to the Council’s recommendation of 12 February 2013 (05753/2013 – C7-0041/2013),  
— 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 (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 2965/94 of 28 November 1994 setting up a Translation 
Centre for bodies of the European Union (  4 ), 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 (  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 (A7-0069/2013),  
A. whereas the Court of Auditors stated that it has obtained reasonable assurances that the annual 
accounts of the Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union (‘the Centre’) for the 
financial year 2011 are reliable and that the underlying transactions are legal and regular,  
B. whereas on 10 May 2012, Parliament granted the Director of the Centre discharge for implementation 
of the Centre’s budget for the financial year 2010 (  6 ), and in its resolution accompanying the discharge 
decision, inter alia:  
— called on the Centre to ensure compliance with Article 60 of its Financial Regulation by establishing 
financing decisions for operational expenditure; asked the Centre, in particular, to establish stronger 
controls in the procurement planning process,EN L 308/170 Official Journal of the European Union 16.11.2013  
( 1 ) OJ C 388, 15.12.2012, p. 12.  
( 2 ) OJ L 248, 16.9.2002, p. 1.  
( 3 ) OJ L 298, 26.10.2012, p. 1.  
( 4 ) OJ L 314, 7.12.1994, p. 1.  
( 5 ) OJ L 357, 31.12.2002, p. 72.  
( 6 ) OJ L 286, 17.10.2012, p. 141.
— called on the Centre to analyse the data flow and tools used for budget planning and establish 
controls; noted, in that respect, that the Centre’s budget planning is based on Excel tools and 
manual or system-based controls of data which could result in calculation errors and wrong 
expenditure planning and ultimately have a negative impact on the Centre’s pricing,  
— noted that out of the 12 ‘very important’ recommendations from the Internal Audit Service (IAS), 
the Centre rejected the recommendation on financial reporting; called on the Centre to inform the 
discharge authority about the reasons for that decision,  
C. whereas the Centre’s final budget for 2011 was EUR 51 299 000, compared to EUR 55 928 077 in 
2010, which represents a decrease of 8,27 %,  
Budgetary and financial management  
1. Notes that the Centre’s budget includes revenue comprising payments made by the bodies for which the 
Centre works and by Union institutions and bodies with which collaboration has been agreed in return 
for work performed, including inter-institutional activities, and any other revenue;  
2. Recalls that the Centre’s 2011 budget amounted to EUR 51 299 000 and that the 2011 budget outturn 
decreased to EUR 1 201 339,13 in 2011, as compared to EUR 8 319 397,02 in 2010, which 
represents a decrease of 85,56 %; notes, moreover, from the Court of Auditors’ report that the 
decrease mainly resulted from a 15 % decrease in revenues, reflecting the Centre’s new pricing 
policy, which aims to align the prices of products with their costs;  
3. Acknowledges from the Court of Auditors’ report that the accumulated budget surplus decreased from 
EUR 9 231 709,81 in 2010 to EUR 2 973 348,94 in 2011 and that that reduction is the net effect of 
the 2011 budget surplus and allocations to reserves for pricing stability and for exceptional invest ­
ments;  
4. Notes from the Centre’s Annual Activity Report (AAR) that in its original budget for 2011, EUR 
46 956 800 was the subject of an amending budget, adopted by the Management Board on 13 October 
2011; acknowledges, in particular, that the purpose of the amending budget was twofold:  
— to include the budgetary surplus from previous years, namely EUR 9 231 709,81, and to use that 
surplus to create two exceptional reserves, one for the development of a more effective translation 
demand management tool (E-CdT programme) (EUR 4 325 709,81) and the other reserve to allow 
the Centre to keep prices stable in 2012 and 2013 (EUR 4 906 000),  
— to rebalance the budget following a significant decrease in client forecasts;  
5. Notes, moreover, that the amount of the reserve for stability pricing was lower than the one proposed 
because EUR 1,8 million of the surplus had to be used to compensate the fall in revenue from clients 
already in 2011, and therefore the final amount of the reserve was only EUR 7,4 million;  
Commitments  
6. Establishes from the AAR that the total commitments under Title I reached 95,12 % for 2011, which 
represents a significant improvement compared to 2010, when only 91,5 % of the budget was 
consumed (85 % in 2009); notes, moreover, that the carry-overs are limited, representing only 
1,32 % of commitments;  
7. Acknowledges from the AAR that the total commitments under Title II reached 94,44 % for 2011, 
which represents a considerable improvement compared to 2010, when only 86,30 % of the budget 
was committed (88 % in 2009);EN 16.11.2013 Official Journal of the European Union L 308/171
8. Takes note from the AAR that for Title III, 99,4 % of the budget was committed by the year end 2011, 
compared to 80,5 % in 2010, that high level of budget execution being the result of cuts made in the 
amending budget;  
Human resources  
9. Acknowledges from the AAR that by the end of 2011, 205 posts of the establishment plan had been 
filled, which represents 91,1 % of the anticipated total number; notes, moreover, that in line with the 
Centre’s continuous efforts to optimise working methods and reduce costs, a new screening of all the 
Centre’s posts was performed in 2011 which led to a reduction of five posts as of 2012 (by considering 
that reduction, the establishment plan would be 93,18 % filled);  
10. Observes that during the year, four staff members used the opportunity of internal staff mobility and 
changed jobs at the Centre;  
Data protection  
11. Takes note that in 2011, in order to increase the independence of the function, the Centre appointed a 
new Data Protection Officer; notes that the number of prior check notifications made to the European 
Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) in 2011 was four, namely video surveillance, the disciplinary 
procedure, anti-harassment policy and the certification procedure; notes, moreover, that for video 
surveillance, the case was closed with a favourable opinion, for the disciplinary and anti-harassment 
procedures, complementary information was sent to the EDPS at his request and for certification, the 
EDPS feedback is still pending; calls on the Centre to keep the discharge authority informed about the 
state of play of the notifications;  
Procurement procedures  
12. Takes note that in compliance with Article 60 of its Financial Regulation, in 2010 the Centre estab ­
lished the Procurement Plan 2011 which serves as the Financing Decision of the Centre’s Management 
Board; notes, moreover, that the plan is an integral part of the Centre’s Work Programme 2011, which 
was approved by the Management Board on 27 October 2010;  
Accounting system  
13. Acknowledges that in May 2012, accrual-based accounting, the accounting system used by the 
Commission for budgetary accounting, has been implemented in the Centre and that the Accountant 
will finalise the validation of accounting system in the first quarter of 2013; calls on the Centre to 
inform the discharge authority of the state of play of the validation of the accounting system;  
14. Refers, in respect of the other observations accompanying its Decision on discharge, which are of a 
horizontal nature, to its Resolution of 17 April 2013 (  1 ) on the performance, financial management and 
control of the agencies.EN L 308/172 Official Journal of the European Union 16.11.2013  
( 1 ) Texts adopted, P7_TA(2013)0134 (see page 374 of this Official Journal).