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 ENIAC Joint Undertaking for the financial year 2010  
THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT,  
— having regard to the final annual accounts of the ENIAC Joint Undertaking for the financial year 2010,  
— having regard to the Court of Auditors’ report on the annual accounts of the ENIAC 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 72/2008 of 20 December 2007 setting up the ENIAC Joint 
Undertaking (  3 ), 
— 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 (A7-0112/2012),  
A. whereas the ENIAC Joint Undertaking (‘the Joint Undertaking’) was set up in 20 December 2007 for a 
period of 10 years to define and implement a ‘research agenda’ for the development of key competences 
for nanoelectronics across different application areas,  
B. whereas the Joint Undertaking was granted its financial autonomy in July 2010,  
C. whereas the Joint Undertaking is in a start-up phase and had not yet fully established its internal control 
and financial reporting systems by the end of 2010,  
D. whereas the Court of Auditors in its reports on the annual accounts of the Joint Undertaking for the 
financial year 2010, qualified its opinion with regard to the reliability of the accounts on the grounds 
that the Joint Undertaking has not included in the accounts the Budgetary Outturn Account and its 
reconciliation to the Economic Outturn Account,  
E. whereas the Court of Auditors in its reports on the annual accounts of the Joint Undertaking for the 
financial year 2010 states that it has obtained reasonable assurance that the underlying transactions are 
legal and regular,EN 17.10.2012 Official Journal of the European Union L 286/321  
( 1 ) OJ C 368, 16.12.2011, p. 48.  
( 2 ) OJ L 248, 16.9.2002, p. 1.  
( 3 ) OJ L 30, 4.2.2008, p. 21.  
( 4 ) OJ L 357, 31.12.2002, p. 72.
F. whereas the maximum contribution for the period of 10 years from the Union to the Joint Undertaking 
is EUR 450 000 000 to be paid from the budget of the seventh research framework programme,  
G. whereas the budget of the Joint Undertaking for the financial year 2010 amounted to EUR 38 440 000,  
Reliability of the Joint Undertaking’s accounts  
1. Is concerned that the Joint Undertaking received a qualified opinion from the Court of Auditors on the 
reliability of the accounts, on the grounds that it has not included in the accounts the Budgetary 
Outturn Account and its reconciliation to the Economic Outturn Account as required by EC 
Accounting Rule 16 ‘Presentation of budget information in the annual accounts’;  
2. Notes from the Joint Undertaking that the qualified opinion is due to the fact that the Joint Undertaking 
and the Court of Auditors referred to different dates to establish when the Joint Undertaking started to 
work autonomously;  
Budget and financial management  
3. Acknowledges that the Joint Undertaking’s budget was managed by DG INFSO from 1 January 2010 to 
4 May 2010; notes that the administrative appropriations were transferred to the Joint Undertaking in 
May 2010 but that the operational budget lines were not transferred and remained inaccessible in the 
accounting system until the Joint Undertaking was officially granted financial autonomy on 26 July 
2010; highlights that the Joint Undertaking acquired the capacity to implement its own budget from 
22 September 2010 with the transfer of appropriations for the operational activities;  
4. Notes from the Joint Undertaking that the final budget included commitment and payment appropri ­
ations amounting to EUR 38 440 000, of which EUR 36 168 000 is devoted to the Call 2010;  
5. Acknowledges that the utilisation rates for the available commitment and payment appropriations were 
99 % and 24 % respectively; is concerned about the low implementation rate of the payments’ budget 
and, moreover, about the underlying activities of the Joint Undertaking; underlines that the cash balance 
stood at EUR 20 000 000 at the end of the year representing 53 % of the available payment appropri ­
ations for 2010;  
6. Remarks that the low implementation of the payment appropriations is the result of the delayed 
transfer of the operational activities and the corresponding funding from the Commission to the 
Joint Undertaking;  
7. Notes from comments of the Joint Undertaking that a Manual of Procedures ensuring segregation of 
duties has been elaborated and has enabled the identification of the five following exceptions that 
happened in the initial phase of implementing the own budget:  
— three contracts signed while the ABAC transactions were still progressing towards completion, 
because the duration of the ABAC procedure had been underestimated,  
— one contract linked to an existing commitment has been signed prior to determining that it 
required a new commitment,  
— one missing contract has been discovered during the handover at autonomy and has been signed 
after the first payments were approved,  
takes note that the corrective actions have been implemented and no further exceptions were recorded;EN L 286/322 Official Journal of the European Union 17.10.2012
Internal control systems  
8. Urges the Joint Undertaking to complete its internal controls and financial information systems; calls on 
the Joint Undertaking in particular, to establish and document important elements of its internal 
control system, such as accounting procedures and controls relating to the closure of the accounts 
and to the recognition and measurement of the operational expenditure;  
9. Notes the Court of Auditors’ finding that control weaknesses were detected in the area of  ex-ante  
financial verification of pre-financing payments, in particular regarding the calculation and validation 
of the amounts paid; underlines that full reliance was placed on the certificates received from the 
National Funding Authorities for pre-financing payments and for acceptance of costs and that no other 
checks were performed to ensure the legality and regularity of the expenses declared;  
10. Notes that the  ex-post  audit of cost claims related to the projects has been fully delegated to the Member 
States; finds it important, nevertheless, that the Joint Undertaking ensures that the financial interests of 
its members are adequately protected and that the underlying transactions are legal and regular; is 
therefore of the opinion that the Joint Undertaking will have difficulties in ensuring that the financial 
interests of its members are adequately protected and that the underlying transactions are legal and 
regular; calls on the Joint Undertaking to reconsider its strategy of  ex-post  audit of cost claims and to 
inform the discharge authority of the mechanism implemented to ensure compliance with Article 12 of 
its Founding Regulation (EC) No 72/2008;  
11. Takes note that the Accounting Officer of the Joint Undertaking validated the financial and accounting 
systems (ABAC and SAP); notes however that the underlying business processes were not validated, in 
particular the one providing financial information about the validation and payment of the cost claims 
received from the national authorities; asks the Joint Undertaking to inform the discharge authority 
about the state of validation of the underlying business processes;  
12. 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 IT strategic planning cycle, the data 
classification according to confidentiality and integrity requirements and Disaster Recovery Plan is 
lagging behind; calls on the Joint Undertaking to remedy the situation and provide the discharge 
authority with an up-to-date report on the matter;  
Internal audit  
13. Takes note that the Joint Undertaking’s financial rules have not yet been amended to include the 
provision referring to the powers of the Commission’s internal auditor regarding the general budget 
as a whole;  
14. Notes, however, that the mission charter of the Commission’s Internal Audit Service was adopted by the 
Governing Board of the Joint Undertaking;  
Delayed financial autonomy  
15. Reiterates that the Joint Undertaking was set up in February 2008 but started to work autonomously in 
July 2010; expresses its great concern that the Joint Undertaking has used one quarter of its envisaged 
duration, up to 31 December 2017, to achieve financial autonomy; notes that it was just after 
September 2010, when the cash transfer from the Commission to the Joint Undertaking covering 
the operational appropriations was made, that the Joint Undertaking was able to make operational 
payments; insists that these delays should not, however, cause a prolongation of the 10-year period of 
its existence but should embolden the management of the Joint Undertaking to address all short ­
comings and reach its objectives within the envisaged 10-year period;EN 17.10.2012 Official Journal of the European Union L 286/323
Call for proposals and project management  
Call 2010  
16. Notes from the Joint Undertaking that the response to Call 3 for proposals has been strong; takes note 
that 10 proposals have been selected for funding but that 11 projects above threshold could not be 
funded because the available budget had been exhausted;  
Calls 2008 and 2009  
17. Is deeply concerned by the slow progression of the projects under Call 1 (2008) and Call 2 (2009);  
18. Notes from the Joint Undertaking’s 2010 Annual Activity Report (AAR) that for Call 1 the situation at 
year-end 2010 is as follows:  
— of the total 166 partners, six partners (3,6 %) did not have an National Grants Agreements mainly 
due to paperwork in progress after changes,  
— 15,1 % of the partners (25, mainly Italian partners) have closed a National Grants Agreements but 
did not sign the Accession Form;  
19. Acknowledges from comments of the Joint Undertaking that the contracts progressed even slower for 
the projects arising from Call 2 for which only six Joint Undertaking Grant agreements could be signed 
before the end of 2010 while the remaining five projects have been delayed for the following reasons:  
— three projects have Italian project coordinators who are still waiting for the national decree and did 
not agree to be replaced by partners from other countries,  
— the SMART project has been redefined after France cancelled funding due to budgetary cuts several 
months after the Public Authorities Board funding decision,  
— Mirandela was ready for signature but had a last minute change in the responsible person authorised 
to sign;  
20. Establishes from the AAR that since the inception of the programme until the end of 2010, the Joint 
Undertaking executed more than 300 grant payments for a total of EUR 9 800 000; notes that the 
Joint Undertaking considers the situation of contracts and payments unacceptable and decided to take 
actions to:  
— make sure that the entities involved in the process are knowledgeable on the procedures,  
— clarify the sequence of events and the exchanges that must take place with the National Funding 
Authorities,  
— define steps to be taken and accelerate the procedures,  
— follow up on the progress through visits to the national entities to review status or clarify 
procedures;  
21. Calls on the Joint Undertaking to provide the discharge authority with:  
— an up-to-date report on the current situation regarding projects under Calls 1 and 2 in terms of 
progression of contract settlement and grant payments,  
— an evaluation report on the measures undertaken to speed-up the contracting and payment process 
and the progress achieved through their implementation,  
— an up-to-date report on the current situation regarding the projects under Call 3 both in terms of 
contracting and payment;EN L 286/324 Official Journal of the European Union 17.10.2012
Performance  
22. Notes from the AAR that the Commission’s report on the first interim evaluation of the Artemis and 
ENIAC Joint Technology Initiatives was adopted on 16 December 2010;  
23. Underlines that the interim evaluation formulated three recommendations to the Joint Undertaking:  
— to solve the ‘free riding’ problem, the Joint Undertaking should establish a system where each non- 
member beneficiary pays a percentage of its Union contribution as a fee to the costs of the Joint 
Undertaking,  
— the evaluation and selection processes should be modified to improve the match of the portfolio of 
supported projects to the strategic European aims of the programme,  
— Member States and the Industrial Associations should work together to establish processes whereby 
potential proposers can be given early, constructive feedback on their prospects for support,  
asks the Joint Undertaking to inform the discharge authority about the measures introduced following 
the results of this first interim evaluation;  
24. Notes that the Joint Undertaking considers the underspending of its operational budget as the most 
important issue affecting its ability to fulfil its mission; notes that as a consequence the Joint Under ­
taking engaged in 2010 in identifying action items that would induce a positive evolution of the 
situation, including:  
— the stimulation of the definition of strategically relevant projects,  
— the identification of national programmes that would benefit from being elevated in a European 
context,  
— the engagement of additional national funding entities,  
— the optimisation of the funding split between Eureka cluster Catrene and the Joint Undertaking,  
calls on the Joint Undertaking to inform the discharge authority of the state of implementation of these 
action items and on the results achieved;  
25. Takes note of the Commission’s proposal establishing the Specific Programme Implementing Horizon 
2020 — The Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (2014-2020) — where the 
Commission raises a possibility of combining Artemis and ENIAC into one initiative and the possibility 
to set up new Joint Undertakings in the context of implementing the ‘Societal challenges’ part of 
Horizon 2020; calls on the Commission to keep the discharge authority informed on this matter;  
Lack of host State agreement  
26. 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 72/2008;EN 17.10.2012 Official Journal of the European Union L 286/325
Horizontal observations on the Joint Undertakings  
27. 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;  
28. Notes that the total indicative resources deemed necessary for the Joint Undertakings for their period of 
existence amounts to EUR 21 793 000 000;  
29. Notes that the total Union contribution deemed necessary for the Joint Undertakings for their period of 
existence amounts to EUR 11 489 000 000;  
30. Notes that, for the financial year 2010, the overall Union contribution to the budget of the Joint 
Undertakings amounted to EUR 505 000 000;  
31. Calls on the 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;  
32. 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;  
33. 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 on the verification mechanisms which exist in their 
respective structures to enable a proper management and prevention of conflicts of interest;  
34. 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;  
35. 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;  
36. 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 286/326 Official Journal of the European Union 17.10.2012