Report on the financial statements and the management of the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions for the financial year ended 31 December 2000, together with the Foundation's replies
Date: 2001-10-10
Institutions: European Court of Auditors
Subjects: Eurofound, activity report, financial control, financial year

28.12.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 372/53

on the financial statements and the management of the European Foundation for the Improvement
of Living and Working Conditions for the financial year ended 31 December 2000, together with
the Foundation’s replies

REPORT

(2001/C 372/07)

CONTENTS

THE COURT’S OPINION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1-4

Paragraph

MAIN OBSERVATIONS CONCERNING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE BUDGET OF THE
EUROPEAN FOUNDATION FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF LIVING AND WORKING CONDI-
TIONS (DUBLIN) FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Implementation of the budget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Financial statements and accounting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Follow-up to previous observations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Budgetary and general accounting systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Imprest account . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Management of human resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Staffing policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Recruitment procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Appraisal of staff performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Description of tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Keeping of staff files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Changes in the Foundation’s staff and activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

5-33

5-8

9

10-13

10-12

13

14-33

14-15

16-17

18

19

20

21-30

31-33

Tables 1 to 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The Foundation’s replies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Page

54

54

54

54

54

54

55

55

55

55

55

55

55

55

56

57

60

C 372/54

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

28.12.2001

THE COURT’S OPINION

1. This report is addressed to the Council and the European Par-
liament, in accordance with Article 16 of Council Regulation
(EEC) No 1365/75 (1), as amended by Article 1(4) of Council
Regulation (EEC) No 1947/93 (2).

2. The Court has examined the financial statements of the
European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and
Working Conditions for the financial year ended 31 Decem-
ber 2000. In accordance with Article 1(16) of Council Regulation
(EEC) No 1949/93 (3) amending Council Regulation (EEC)
No 1417/76 (4), the budget was implemented under the responsi-
bility of the Administrative Board of the Foundation. This respon-
sibility includes the drawing up and presentation of the financial
statements (5), in accordance with the internal financial provisions
provided for under Article 1(52), (54) and (55) of Council Regula-
tion (EEC) No 1949/93 amending Council Regulation (EEC)
No 1417/76. The Court of Auditors is required under Article 248
of the Treaty establishing the European Community to examine
these accounts.

3. The Court undertook its audit in accordance with its audit
policies and standards. These have been adapted from generally
accepted international auditing standards to reflect the specific
characteristics of the Community context. Accordingly, the Court
carried out such tests of the accounting records and other audit
procedures as it deemed necessary in the circumstances. Through
this audit, the Court obtained a reasonable basis for the opinion
expressed below.

this total, 14,4 % million euro was committed of which 3,6 mil-
lion euro was carried over to the financial year 2001 and 0,5 mil-
lion euro was cancelled. The implementation of the budget for the
year 2000 is shown in Table 1.

6.
In 2000, the Foundation again made heavy use of carryovers
of appropriations. By far the largest part was in Title III with
3,2 million euro or 89 % of total carryovers. As was the case last
year for Title III, the appropriations carried over were in excess of
the financial payments for the year.

7. For some budget lines (for example, 1 400 canteen, 2 200
purchases of technical equipment), the cancellations of appropria-
tions made at the end of the year actually exceed the amounts of
transfers which had been made to these lines. The Foundation
should seek to minimise the cancellation of appropriations, par-
ticularly in cases such as these.

8. The continued high level of under-implementation of the
appropriations for the year, as well as the high level of carryovers,
is evidence of weaknesses in the Foundation’s monitoring of its
annual programme, a situation which has shown little improve-
ment compared to the previous year.

Financial statements and accounting

4. This examination has allowed the Court to obtain reasonable
assurance that the accounts for the financial year ended 31 Decem-
ber 2000 are reliable and that the underlying operations are, taken
as a whole, legal and regular.

9. Tables 2 and 3 show, respectively, the revenue and expenditure
account for the financial year 2000 and the balance sheet as at
31 December 2000.

MAIN OBSERVATIONS CONCERNING THE IMPLEMENTATION
OF THE BUDGET OF THE FOUNDATION FOR THE
IMPROVEMENT OF LIVING AND WORKING CONDITIONS
(DUBLIN) FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER
2000

Implementation of the budget

5. The budget for 2000 amounted to 15 million euro as against
14,8 million euro in 1999, representing an increase of 1,4 %. Of

(1) OJ L 139, 30.5.1975, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 181, 23.7.1993, p. 13.
(3) OJ L 181, 23.7.1993, p. 26.
(4) OJ L 164, 24.6.1976, p. 16.
(5) As

required under Article 16 of Council Regulation (EEC)
No 1365/75, as amended by Regulation (EEC) No 1947/93, the
accounts for all the Foundation’s revenue and expenditure for the
financial year 2000 were drawn up on 30 March 2001 and forwarded
to the Foundation’s Management Board, the Commission and the
Court of Auditors. These accounts were received by the Court on
18 May 2001. A summarised version of the financial statements is
presented in the tables attached to this report.

Follow-up to previous observations

Budgetary and general accounting systems

10.
In its 1999 Annual Report (6) on the Foundation, the Court
referred to the weakness of the Foundation’s accounting systems.
In 2000, this shortcoming still exists: the SI2 budgetary account-
ing system has been only partially tested.

11. The general accounts were still kept using a spreadsheet, with
the attendant risks. The introduction in 2000 of the SAGE general
accounting system had to be abandoned as it was unable to handle
the electronic management of bank payments. The replacement
system chosen was still not operational in April 2001.

12. The monitoring of the implementation of the Foundation’s
work programme and of the financial implementation of projects
was hampered throughout the year by an inability to obtain from
the accounts financial data on individual projects.

(6) OJ C 373, 27.12.2000, paragraphs 9 and 10, p. 40.

28.12.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 372/55

Imprest account

approved without consideration being given to this essential means
of comparing employees’ relative merits.

13.
In 2000, the Foundation continued to make excessive use of
the imprest account. Payments represented 18 % of all payments
in 2000 (the equivalent figure in 1999 was 20 %). Of the imprest
payments made, one million euro was on staff, 0,7 million euro
was administrative expenditure and 0,9 million euro was opera-
tional expenditure. A reason for the high use of the imprest
account appears to be the slowness of the normal payment pro-
cedures. However, the Foundation should take measures to address
that issue rather than having recourse to the imprest account,
which should only be used exceptionally.

Description of tasks

19. As laid down in Article 43(a) of the Foundation’s financial
regulation (1), a file identifying the posts and containing a job
description for each category A post was drawn up. The latest ver-
sion of the file was not up to date and included the description of
tasks published in the vacancy notices.

Management of human resources

Keeping of staff files

Staffing policy

14. The Foundation, which was created by Council Regulation
(EEC) No 1365/75 of 26 May 1975, has its own staff regulations.
The Director is the Appointing Authority for all of the Founda-
tion’s staff.

15. Although the Foundation’s staff do not enjoy the status of
officials, its staff regulations provide for open-ended contracts,
which is the case of the majority of the Foundation’s staff (88 %).

Recruitment procedures

16. Article 3 of the Foundation’s staff regulations lays down that
each vacancy must be adequately advertised. In practice, the
Foundation recruits from external sources on the basis of widely
advertised ‘notices of competition’ (published in the Official Jour-
nal).

17. For each recruitment procedure, the Appointing Authority
appoints a selection board which draws up the list of successful
candidates. In the past, these lists were not drawn up on the basis
of candidates’ results; under these circumstances, it is difficult to
evaluate the criteria employed for recruitment. For the sake of
greater transparency, the list of successful candidates should sys-
tematically be drawn up on the basis of candidates’ results; where
this principle is not observed during the recruitment process, a
written explanation should be provided.

20. The organisation and documentation of staff files are very
inconsistent, although files on staff recruited more recently are
more complete and better organised. None of the eight files exam-
ined was complete. Documents providing details of an employee’s
career are also lacking from most files.

Changes in the Foundation’s staff and activities

21. The Foundation’s establishment plan includes only staff on
open-ended contracts (TEs). The number of posts to be filled is
authorised by the budgetary authority each year at the same time
as the budget is drawn up. In addition, the budget may grant
appropriations for the recruitment of seconded national ‘experts’
(SNEs).

22. Table 4 shows changes in the Foundation’s staff and its dis-
tribution since 1996. It indicates that the number of staff has been
virtually stable. The shortage of staff was partly covered by
employment-agency staff for which the budget has been approxi-
mately 1 million euro since 1998. Thus, in 2000, although the
Foundation’s budget authorised a staff of 85 employees, the num-
ber actually employed was only 72; the shortfall was partially cov-
ered by 12 employment-agency staff recruited through a private
company.

23. Since 1996, the Foundation has recruited 36 employees, 30
of whom as TEs and the remainder as SNEs. At the end of 2000,
72 employees were on temporary contracts. On average, recruit-
ment costs amounted to 9 810 euro per recruit.

Appraisal of staff performance

18. Since 1997, the Foundation has not drawn up staff reports
as it is required to do at least every two years and it has still not
produced a ‘Guide to staff reports’. An examination of six staff
files shows that for previous years staff reports are often lacking.
Under these circumstances, promotions for 1999 and 2000 were

24. Staff departures lead to a turnover rate (TEs and SNEs) aver-
aging 8 % per year. This rate is essentially due to the departure of
several translators following the discontinuation of translation
services within the Foundation.

(1) Regulation (EEC) No 1417/76 of 1 June 1976, as amended by Council

Regulation (EEC) No 1949/93 of 30 June 1993.

C 372/56

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

28.12.2001

25. For the purposes of the audit, staff were placed in two cat-
egories:

— staff responsible for support activities (support staff), i.e. activi-
ties which ensure that the Foundation can continue to oper-
ate (e.g. administrative, accounting and secretarial services);

— other, so-called operational, staff who contribute directly to

achieving the Foundation’s objectives.

30. On average, the number of staff has increased more slowly
than the Foundation’s workload. However, the Foundation should
take great care to maintain control of the increase in salary costs
and administrative expenditure which is greater than the increase
in its activities over the 1995-2000 period. This observation is
corroborated by the fact that the growth rate for expenditure
under Titles I and II, Personnel and Administration, is higher than
the rate for expenditure charged to Title III which comprises the
expenditure linked to the attainment of the Foundation’s objec-
tives.

26. On average, 64 % of A-grade staff, i.e. 23 % of all staff, may
be regarded as operational. All other staff, i.e. 77 % of the total,
may be regarded as support staff.

Conclusion

27. Table 5 describes changes in staff-related costs and adminis-
trative expenditure. Over the 1996-2000 period, salary costs
increased more quickly than the number of staff.

28. As regards other staff-related costs, the audit paid particular
attention to professional training (PT) expenditure and adminis-
trative expenditure. PT and administrative expenditure increased
more quickly than the number of staff.

In order to grasp the relationship between the Office’s activi-
29.
ties and the increase in its staff and related costs, the increase in
these items was compared with the increase in the amount of
operating appropriations (Title III) which were actually disbursed
(appropriations for the year and appropriations carried over) in
the course of one year.

31. Even if the Foundation has been unable, since it was set up,
to recruit the number of staff provided for by its budget in the
establishment plan, it has been able to make up the shortfall by
recruiting SNEs and by hiring employment-agency staff.

32.
In order to recruit its permanent employees, in the majority
of cases the Foundation follows an external recruitment model, as
envisaged in its own staff regulations.

33. The Foundation should keep a close eye on changes in its
salary costs and administrative expenditure. It might be preferable
for the Foundation, in the case of posts involving support and
administrative activities which require qualifications of an admin-
istrative nature, to join forces with the Community Institutions
and the other decentralised bodies with a view to recruiting staff
on the broadest possible basis. Furthermore, in general terms it
should improve its staff management and information system.

This report was adopted by the Court of Auditors in Luxembourg at the Court meeting of 10 October 2001.

For the Court of Auditors

Jan. O. KARLSSON

President

28.12.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 372/57

Title

I — Staff

Budget 2000
Carryovers 1999

II — Administration

Budget 2000
Carryovers 1999

III — Operations

Budget 2000
Carryovers 1999

Total

Budget 2000
Carryovers 1999

Total

Total

Total

Total

TABLES 1 TO 5

Table 1

Implementation of the budget

Appropria-
tions

Commitments

Payments

%

Carryovers

Cancellations

%

(Mio EUR)

(c)

7,1
0,0

7,1

1,1
0,2

1,3

2,7
3,3

6,0

10,9
3,5

14,3

(d=c/b)

98 %
24 %

97 %

82 %
85 %

82 %

46 %
97 %

65 %

75 %
96 %

79 %

(f)

0,1

0,1

0,2

0,2

3,2

3,2

3,6

3,6

(g=a-c-f)

(h=g/a)

0,1
0,0

0,1

0,1
0,0

0,2

0,3
0,1

0,4

0,5
0,2

0,7

1 %
76 %

2 %

9 %
15 %

9 %

5 %
3 %

4 %

4 %
4 %

4 %

(a)

7,3
0,1

7,4

1,5
0,2

1,7

6,2
3,4

9,6

15,0
3,6

18,6

(b)

7,2
0,1

7,3

1,4
0,2

1,6

5,9
3,4

9,3

14,4
3,6

18,1

Table 2

Revenue and expenditure account for the financial years 2000 and 1999

(1 000 EUR)

2000

1999

14 700
212
29

Total revenue

14 941

Revenue
Subsidy received from the Commission
Miscellaneous revenue
Revenue from services rendered against payment

Expenditure
Staff expenditure — Title I of the budget
Payments of the year
Appropriations carried over

7 057
146

1 123
248

2 681
3 183

Buildings, equipment and miscellaneous administrative expenditure — Title II of the budget
Payments of the year
Appropriations carried over

Operating expenditure — Title III of the budget
Payments of the year
Appropriations carried over

Total expenditure

14 438

Outturn for the financial year
Balance carried over from previous financial years
Appropriations carried over from the previous financial year which lapse
Exchange-rate differences

503
– 1 859
158
– 14

Balance for the financial year (including outstanding balance 1999)

– 1 212

Source: Prepared by the Court of Auditors on the basis of data compiled by the Foundation.

14 500
107
14

14 621

6 934
56

1 195
180

2 748
3 405

14 518

103
– 2 148
202
– 16

– 1 859

C 372/58

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Official Journal of the European Communities

28.12.2001

Table 3

Balance sheet as at 31 December 2000 and 1999

Assets

2000

1999

Liabilities

2000

1999

(1 000 EUR)

Fixed Assets
Buildings
Furniture and equipment

Current Assets
Stocks
Recoverable VAT
Sums to be recovered from EU bodies
Sundry accounts receivable
Sundry expenditure to be charged
Advances of mission expenses
Miscellaneous advances

Cash accounts
Imprest account
Bank

7 106
1 546

8 652

17
236
1 219
17
10
13
5

1 517

77
2 704

2 781

Subtotal

Subtotal

Subtotal

Fixed Capital
Own Capital
Balance for the financial year 1999
Balance for the financial year 2000

8 668
– 159
– 1 051

9 014
– 1 859

Subtotal

7 458

7 155

Current Liabilities
Appropriations carried over
Sums to be recovered from EU bodies
Salary deductions
VAT
Sundry accounts payable
Payments in progress

3 577
1 219
124
236
17
4

5 177

3 640
1 880
185
242
21
1 101

7 069

Subtotal

7 106
1 879

8 985

29
242
1 880
21
57

8

2 237

68
3 349

3 417

Sums to be reused

315

415

Source: Prepared by the Court of Auditors on the basis of data compiled by the Foundation.

Total assets

12 950

14 639

Total liabilities

12 950

14 639

Table 4

Changes in staff numbers

Establishment plan

Posts filled

Other staff

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

TEs

82

83

83

84

85

Total

82

83

83

84

85

TEs

69

76

76

70

72

Total

SNEs

Total

69

76

76

70

72

3

3

3

3

3

3

3

3

3

3

Total

72

79

79

73

75

TEs: Temporary employees.
SNEs: Seconded national experts.

.

2
8
1
2
2
0
0
1

.

Table 5

Changes in staff numbers and related costs

Salary costs

Total staff

Direct (1)

Indirect (2)

Total

Other
salary-
related
costs (3)

Overall
total (4)

Salary costs/head

Other staff-related costs

Administrative expenditure

Direct

Indirect

Total

PT (5)

PT/head

Recruitment
and
installation

Total

Of which
IT (6)

Total/head

IT/head

(1 000 EUR)

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

70

72

79

79

73

75

3 743,6

3 989,3

4 774,5

4 745,9

4 829,4

5 060,3

255,5

266,1

306,8

323,8

310,9

325,2

3 999,1

719,0

4 718,1

4 255,4

1 064,4

5 319,8

5 081,3

5 069,7

5 140,3

5 385,5

873,4

5 954,7

964,5

6 034,2

986,1

6 126,4

956,9

6 342,4

53,5

55,4

60,4

60,1

66,2

67,5

3,7

3,7

3,9

4,1

4,3

4,3

57,1

59,1

64,3

64,2

70,4

71,8

31,7

37,8

44,7

41,6

48,6

70,1

0,5

0,5

0,6

0,5

0,7

0,9

43,0

49,1

155,7

141,5

358,5

263,5

973,8

1 149,6

1 075,5

925,9

1 311,9

1 275,9

0,0

0,0

0,0

0,0

0,0

0,0

13,9

16,0

13,6

11,7

18,0

17,0

0,0

0,0

0,0

0,0

0,0

0,0

(1) Salaries paid to staff in active employment (all categories taken together).
(2) Social benefits and other salary adjustments.
(3) Overtime and supplementary services.
(4) Expenditure related to salaries under Title I, excluding mission expenses, etc.
(5) PT: Professional training.
(6) IT: Expenditure on informatics.

E
N

O

f
f
i
c
i
a
l

J
o
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r
n
a
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o
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t
h
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u
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o
p
e
a
n
C
o
m
m
u
n
i
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i
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s

C
3
7
2
/
5
9

C 372/60

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

28.12.2001

THE FOUNDATION’S REPLIES

Cancellations

It has not been possible until the delivery of the SI2 system
12.
to produce project costs. This issue is being addressed in the con-
text of the 2001 Budget using the facilities provided by SI2.

7. The Court’s comment is noted. It should be understood, how-
ever, that it is Foundation practice to transfer surpluses arising
towards the end of the financial year to budgetary items where
there is a potential for utilisation, notwithstanding the fact that
usage of these funds is not always possible on all occasions. The
Foundation seeks to minimise any cancellations resulting from
this exercise.

In general monitoring is carried out in a comprehensive and

8.
effective manner.

With regard to the level of carryovers, it should be noted that:

— The nature of Foundation operational activities is essentially
innovative/exploratory and not repetitive. This requires that
relatively complex and time-consuming procedures are neces-
sary for thorough preparation prior to the initiation of research
on a contractual basis. These procedures are an important fac-
tor in the duration of projects, which, in general, spans two
years.

— The level of carryovers in Title 3 is affected by the relation of
the Foundation’s annual budgeting cycle to its operational
cycle (which involves programme design, programme initia-
tion, outline project design, tendering, detailed project design
and implementation).

However, particularly in those cases where contracts are repeti-
tive in nature, steps have been taken to bring forward the timing
of contracting procedures.

Budget Ledger and General Ledger Accounting Systems

Imprest Account

13. Subsequent on delivery of the SI2 system the Foundation is
in contact with the Financial Control with regard to full exploita-
tion of the on-line visa facility. This should further reduce the
level of usage of the Imprest Account. (1997: 40 % of total pay-
ments; 2000: 18 %).

Human Resource Management

18. Where staff reports were not available during the promo-
tions exercise for 2000, the Appointing Authority consulted fully
with managers concerning the performance of eligible staff mem-
bers. On the basis of such consultations, it was decided not to
promote some individuals. Measures in place to ensure comple-
tion of staff reports, in conjunction with an on-going perfor-
mance appraisal scheme, and in consultation with line managers,
should ensure that promotions exercises in the future are con-
ducted in the context of full information.

19. Comment noted.

It is accepted that in certain cases all necessary documenta-
20.
tion is not available on one single file. In that context, the situa-
tion will be reviewed. In the case of older files, it will not be pos-
sible to supply the missing documentation. Measures are being
put in place to ensure that the recruitment checklist specifies all
documentation necessary for files.

10.
In its 1999 Report the Court stated that there was a weak-
ness in relation to the General Ledger accounting system on the
basis that the accounts were maintained manually. However, in its
reply the Foundation stated that it maintained the General Ledger
using an Excel computer programme. This was an interim arrange-
ment and the Foundation has now installed the Exact accounting
system for maintenance of this ledger.

23. Because of its geographical location the Foundation tends to
incur higher travel and installation costs since it recruits largely
from the EU mainland. Access costs to Ireland are high but are a
necessary cost in ensuring that the Foundation continues to have
a multinational workforce that is representative of all Member
States of the Union.

11. During the course of 2000, because the system is used in
other agencies, a full feasibility exercise was conducted in relation
to the usage of the SAGE system. The system was found in general
to be satisfactory but did not have a full EFT (electronic funds
transfer) facility. An alternative approach became possible in rela-
tion to developments concerning the Exact system where an EFT
facility became available for the Irish market in the latter half of
2000. This system is now installed.

25 to 26. Comment noted. Of the B category staff, 14 in all, a
total of 6 (43 %) are involved in operational activities. This includes
4 information liaison officers, an English-language editor and an
information systems officer. For the purposes of this exercise, all
C category staff have been treated as being involved only in sup-
port activities. However, many C category staff are in practice
involved in operational activities and make a direct contribution
to the added value of the Foundation’s output.

28.12.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 372/61

27. When exchange rates, salary table increases and weighting
factors for the years 1996 to 2000 are excluded, there was an
increase in salary costs of only 0.4 % compared to an increase in
staff of 4 %. The actual increases in salary costs are due largely to
the increase in the weighting factor for Ireland from 93,6 in 1996
to 116,5 in 2000. In effect this has resulted in an increase of
24,5 % in salary costs.

30 to 32. Over the period under review there has been a shift in
the role of Research Manager from collecting information to also
playing a key role in disseminating this information. The factors
outlined in regard to point 27 should also be taken into account
in relation to the increase in Title 1 costs.

The breakdown shown in the Foundation’s Activity Based Budget
provides a more rational indication of the relationship between
resources allocated to support and those allocated to operational
activities.

33. See reply under point 30.

Where possible, the Foundation tries to minimise recruitment
costs in regard to generic posts. For instance, the candidates for
the current competition for secretary have been drawn from
Commission reserve lists. It is proposed to fill four positions from
this competition and to establish a reserve list from which future
vacancies will be filled. Due to the fact that the Foundation has its
own Staff Regulation, follows closely the recruitment procedures
of the European Commission and appoints staff members on
indefinite contracts, collaboration with other agencies could be
problematic. The majority of recent competitions have been for
Foundation specific posts, requiring specific skills and experience,
and collaboration with other agencies would not have been appro-
priate.

The Foundation is actively considering the implementation of the
SIC-personnel system in order to improve the quality of its admin-
istrative information. Discussions have already taken place with
DG Admin and a decision on the establishment of a project group
will be taken shortly.