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 Centre for the Development of Vocational 
Training for the financial year 2010  
THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT,  
— having regard to the final annual accounts of the European Centre for the Development of Vocational 
Training for the financial year 2010,  
— having regard to the Court of Auditors’ report on the annual accounts of the European Centre for the 
Development of Vocational Training for the financial year 2010, together with the Centre’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 Regulation (EEC) No 337/75 of the Council of 10 February 1975 establishing a 
European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (  3 ), and in particular Article 12a 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 (A7-0129/2012),  
A. whereas the Court of Auditors has stated that it has obtained reasonable assurances that the annual 
accounts of the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (‘the Centre’) 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 Centre discharge for the implemen ­
tation of its budget for the financial year 2009 (  5 ), and in its resolution accompanying the discharge 
decision, inter alia:  
— called on the Centre to apply more effectively the budgetary principles of specification and trans ­
parency,EN 17.10.2012 Official Journal of the European Union L 286/149  
( 1 ) OJ C 366, 15.12.2011, p. 127.  
( 2 ) OJ L 248, 16.9.2002, p. 1.  
( 3 ) OJ L 39, 13.2.1975, p. 1.  
( 4 ) OJ L 357, 31.12.2002, p. 72.  
( 5 ) OJ L 250, 27.9.2011, p. 130.
— took note that the Centre has carried appropriations forward (31 % of the administrative expen ­
diture — Title II) and cancelled payment appropriations (24 % of total appropriations for operating 
activities),  
— called on the Director of the Centre to provide more specific information on the content of the 15 
recommendations still opened on 31 December 2008 and the 14 new recommendations still 
opened on 31 December 2009, in both cases by the Internal Audit Service (IAS),  
— called on the Centre to inform the discharge authority of the steps taken in respect of the procedure 
for decommitments in order to improve transparency of the inventory assets,  
C. whereas the overall budget of the Centre for the financial year 2010 was EUR 18 300 000, which 
represents a decrease of 1,6 % compared to 2009,  
D. Whereas the contribution of the Union to the budget of the Centre for the financial year 2010 was 
EUR 16 920 000, which represents an increase of 2 % compared with 2009,  
Budget and financial management  
1. Notes from the Centre’s annual accounts for the financial year 2010 (CAA) that in mid-December 2010 
the Centre was granted a supplementary and amending budget to the value of EUR 810 000 to fund 
studies requested by DG Employment in the field of skill need forecasting;  
2. Takes note of the Governing Board’s statement in its opinion on the Centre’s 2010 final Annual 
Account that the 2010 budget financed by the Union contribution has been 99 % implemented;  
3. Notes also from the CAA that the representation expenses and the meeting expenses increased 
respectively by 233 % and 37 % compared with 2009; acknowledges receipt of the justification for 
these increases in such expenses by letter of 23 February 2012; notes in particular that the increase in 
representation expenses was generated by the organisation of a reception for the departure of the 
former Director; invites the Centre to limit representation and meeting expenses to real needs;  
4. Observes that the Centre receives annual contributions from two non-Member States who benefit from 
its work; notes that Norway and Iceland’s contribution to the Centre’s budget for the financial year 
2010 amounted to EUR 421 308; recalls that these funds are managed as assigned revenue, requiring 
them to be committed for specific projects; notes that in 2010 the target for using these funds was not 
met by the Centre; stresses that, for the financial year 2009, the Court of Auditors already commented 
on the Centre’s shortcomings in using these funds; acknowledges receipt of the explanation for this 
situation by letter of 23 February 2012; welcomes in this respect the fact that, in 2011, the target was 
reached and 100 % of the planned budget was executed; takes note of the Centre’s statement that the 
2010 foreseen target was not reached due to the postponement of repairs to the Centre’s buildings; 
notes also the Centre’s commitment to exhaust the previous years’ contributions from Norway and 
Iceland in 2012; calls on the Centre to keep the discharge authority informed of the use of these 
contributions;  
Carryover appropriations  
5. Notes from the CAA that the Centre carried forward from 2010 to 2011 EUR 794 700 of Title I (Staff) 
and Title II (Administrative expenditure) appropriations; recalls that automatic carryovers of appropri ­
ations only concern expenses related to Titles I and II;  
6. Notes also from the CAA that a non-automatic carryover was made to the value of EUR 55 910 
relating to expenditure under Title II;EN L 286/150 Official Journal of the European Union 17.10.2012
7. Notes some improvements as cancelled payment appropriations were down from 24 % in 2009 to 
14 % in 2010; welcomes, in addition, the Centre’s commitment to further reduce its carryovers by 
monitoring through standardised templates of budget execution (commitments, payments) and 
procurement progress;  
8. Calls nevertheless on the Centre to put further efforts into reducing carryover appropriations in order 
to respect the principle of annuality more fully; reminds the Centre that this can be done by improved 
refinements to its programming and monitoring system and by initiating contracting earlier in the 
calendar year;  
Transfers  
9. Welcomes the fact that the Centre was able to assure the discharge authority that it effectively applied 
the principle of transparency by regularly reporting to its Governing Board on all transfers between 
budget lines throughout the year; notes, in particular, that as of 20 September 2011 five transfers of 
commitment appropriations (of a maximum of EUR 35 000) had been made by the Centre between 
budget lines and that the Governing Board was regularly informed of those transfers; calls nevertheless 
on Centre to reduce as much as possible those transfers in order also to apply the principle of 
specification;  
Human resources (HR)  
10. Acknowledges that the Director left the Centre on 15 October 2010 at the end of its mandate to take 
up another position at the Italian agency for vocational education and training, employment, and social 
policy;  
11. Observes from its Annual Activity Report (AAR) that on 31 December 2010 the Centre employed 96 
staff, 5 posts fewer than provided for in its establishment plan; notes that 24 contract staff and 5 
seconded national experts were also added to the total number of staff and the ratio between oper ­
ational and administrative staff distribution was of 90/35;  
12. Takes note of the Governing Board’s statement in its opinion on the Centre’s 2010 final Annual 
Account that the recruitment procedures for all five open posts were in progress or had been 
successfully completed by 31 December 2010;  
13. Welcomes the fact that the Centre finalised an online tool for recruitment RECON — Recruitment 
Online, in 2010, which will help the Centre increase the speed and efficiency of its recruitment;  
Performance  
14. Notes with satisfaction that the Centre made available, as requested by the discharge authority, Gantt 
charts for all key operational activities of 2011; reminds the Centre that these charts outline, in a 
concise way, the amount of time spent by each staff member on a project and encourage an approach 
geared towards achieving results;  
15. Notes from the Centre’s AAR that the performance measurement system (PMS) has been fully imple ­
mented and encourages the Centre to further develop qualitative assessments to supplement the more 
quantitative PMS indicators;  
Internal audit  
16. Takes note from the Centre that it has still to implement certain IAS recommendations made in the 
context of the HR-management 2008 and the Ethics 2009 audits; acknowledges receipt of explanatory 
information by letter of 23 February 2012; welcomes the fact that for the 2008 HR-management audit, 
13 of the 14 recommendations have been implemented; welcomes in addition the fact that for the 
2009 Ethics audit, 16 of the 17 recommendations have been implemented; calls on the Centre to 
inform the discharge authority of the implementation progress of the remaining recommendations;EN 17.10.2012 Official Journal of the European Union L 286/151
17. Notes from the Centre’s AAR that in 2010 the IAS performed a risk assessment of ICT; welcomes the 
implementation of all actions planned by the Centre as at 31 December 2011, following the findings of 
this IT risk assessment;  
18. Also, takes note that in April 2010 the IAS made another audit on the Centre’s AAR and Building 
Block of Assurance within the Centre; acknowledges from the Centre that the IAS final report was 
made available to the Centre on 5 July 2010 and that this report provided reasonable assurance in 
respect of achieving of the annual reporting, including the Director’s declaration of assurance; welcomes 
the information provided by the Centre by letter of 23 February 2012 to the effect that all seven of the 
IAS recommendations have been implemented by end of December 2011;  
19. Observes from its AAR that the Centre has started to implement new Internal Control Standards (ICS) 
in 2009 and baseline requirements were fully met by the end of 2010 with the exceptions of ICS 8 and 
ICS 10; welcomes the information received by letter of 23 February 2012 to the effect that all baseline 
requirements for ICS 8 were fully met by end of 2011; takes note of the Centre’s commitment to meet 
the baseline requirements for ICS 10 during the first semester of 2012;  
Internal Audit Capability (IAC)  
20. Notes from the Centre’s AAR that the IAC audit plan 2010 envisaged several  ex-post  and in process 
audits of procurement procedures, notably for the study of contracts and grant procedures; further 
notes that following an IAC audit of grant procedures the Centre proceeded to recover amounts paid to 
national grant beneficiaries totalling EUR 23 647,67;  
21. Is concerned that the IAC left the Centre on 31 August 2010; is of the view that the IAC’s reports 
could lead to further improvements in the internal control measures for procurement and grant 
procedures;  
22. Acknowledges nevertheless observations from the Centre that the IAC functions are now covered either 
by external contractors (for example, an audit of the Centre’s financial software (FIBUS) was contracted 
out and concluded in 2011) or by internal project groups;  
23. Draws attention to its recommendations from previous discharge reports, as set out in the Annex to 
this resolution;  
24. 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 (*) on the performance, financial management and 
control of the agencies.EN L 286/152 Official Journal of the European Union 17.10.2012  
(*) Texts adopted, P7_TA(2012)0164 (see page 388 of this Official Journal).
ANNEX  
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RECOMMENDATIONS OVER THE PAST YEARS  
European Centre for the 
Development of Vocational 
Training  2006  2007  2008  2009  
Performance  n.a.  Objectives and performance indicators are 
often not measurable → the Centre should 
improve its programming. It should 
establish a clear and consistent link 
between the set objectives and the imple ­
mentation of the budgetary resources 
needed to achieve them  — Calls on the Centre to set SMART 
objectives and RACER indicators, as 
well as to make a Gannt diagram → 
promoting a result-oriented approach 
— Calls on the Centre to set out a 
diachronic analysis of operations 
carried out in this and the previous 
years 
— Calls on Centre and the European 
Training Foundation to publish a 
detailed follow-up report on the 
cooperation agreement in their 2009 
activity report  Calls on the Centre to set out a clear 
comparison of the operations that were 
carried out during the year for which 
discharge is to be granted and during the 
previous financial year  
Budgetary and financial 
management  — The principle of specification was not 
strictly observed: 43 % of the 
commitments were carried over to 
the following financial year. For 
operating activities more than 20 % 
of the payment appropriations were 
cancelled. High number of budget 
transfers 
— Transparency issues in the 
procurement procedures  n.a. Weaknesses in the programming and 
monitoring of differentiated appropriations 
for operating activities: 25 % of the 
payment appropriations were carried 
forward  Calls on the Centre to apply more effectively 
the budgetary principles of specification and 
transparency  
Human resources  Transparency issues: in two cases, the 
Centre did not check correctly the 
necessary professional experience required 
by the vacancy notice during the pre- 
selection phase  n.a. n.a.  Notes that the Centre has introduced 
changes in its recruitment procedures 
following remarks by the Court of 
Auditors in its 2009 report calling on the 
Centre to further improve transparency; 
welcomes, the Centre’s initiative, since June 
2010, in respect of questions in written tests 
and interviews before pre-selectionEN 17.10.2012 Official Journal of the European Union L 286/153
European Centre for the 
Development of Vocational 
Training  2006  2007  2008  2009  
Internal audit  The internal control procedures were not 
complete  n.a. Calls on the Centre to fulfil 15 out of 30 
recommendations made by the IAS: i.e. 
human resources management (staff 
performance, setting personal objectives 
and fixing the roles and responsibilities of 
the Staff Committee)  — Calls on the Director of the Centre to 
provide specific information on the 
content of the 15 recommendations 
made on 31 December 2008 and the 
new 14 recommendations made on 
the 31 December 2009 in both cases 
by the IAS 
— Calls on the Centre to inform the 
discharge authority of the steps taken 
in respect of procedure for decom ­
mitments in order to improve trans ­
parency of the inventory of assets. In 
addition the Centre started to 
document the main control processesEN L 286/154 Official Journal of the European Union 17.10.2012