2002/451/EC: Decision of the European Parliament of 10 April 2002 concerning discharge to the Management Board of the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training in respect of the implementation of its budget for the 2000 financial year
Date: 2002-04-10
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: Cedefop, board of directors, budgetary discharge, implementation of the budget

17.6.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 158/59

DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

of 10 April 2002

concerning discharge to the Management Board of the European Centre for the Development of
Vocational Training in respect of the implementation of its budget for the 2000 financial year

(2002/451/EC)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT,

— Having regard to the report of the Court of Auditors on the financial statements and management
of the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training for the financial year ended
31 December 2000 (1) (C5-0127/2002),

— Having regard to the Council Recommendation of 5 March 2002 (C5-0121/2002),

— Having regard to Article 276 of the EC Treaty,

— Having regard to Rule 93 of and Annex V to its Rules of Procedure,

— Having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgetary Control (A5-0101/2002),

A. Whereas the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Thessaloniki Centre,
Cedefop) pursues its mission of promotion and development of vocational education and training
at Community level by compiling and disseminating documentation, conducting research and
providing a discussion forum;

B. Whereas the conclusions of the Lisbon European Council in March 2000 gave education and
training further impetus and recognised the development of a learning society as the means to
achieve the strategic goal of a competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy which combines
employment, economic growth and social cohesion;

C. Whereas, on the basis of the Code of Conduct of 14 July 1998, the Committee on Employment
and Social Affairs is responsible for monitoring the Thessaloniki Centre, which in 2000 received a
subsidy of EUR 13 600 000;

D. Whereas the European Parliament, in its discharge of Cedefop for 1999, called for the presentation

of an Action Plan in the light of the external evaluation before the end of 2001;

E. Whereas, in the 1999 discharge (2), Parliament expressed the fear that the activities of the European
Centre for the Development of Vocational Training may duplicate those of the European Training
Foundation (Turin) and called for an analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of a merger
between the two agencies;

F. Whereas the Court of Auditors has obtained reasonable assurance that the annual accounts for the
financial year ended 31 December 2000 are reliable and the underlying transactions are, taken as a
whole, legal and regular;

(1) OJ C 372, 28.12.2001, p. 37.
(2) OJ L 160, 15.6.2001, p. 35.

L 158/60

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

17.6.2002

1. Notes the following figures for the accounts of the European Centre for the Development of

Vocational Training:

2000 financial year

(a)

Revenue

1.

Subsidy from the Commission

2. Miscellaneous revenue

3.

Earmarked revenue

(b)

Expenditure

Title I — Staff expenditure

1.

2.

Payments for the year

Appropriations carried over

Title II — Administrative expenditure

1.

2.

Payments for the year

Appropriations carried over

Title III — Operating expenditure

1.

2.

Payments for the year

Appropriations carried over

Balance for the year

Outturn for the year

Balance carried over from the previous year

Appropriations carried over from the previous year which lapsed

Exchange differences for the year

EUR thousand

13 993

13 667

122

204

13 152

6 881

282

781

201

3 021

2 238

- 228

841

- 520

182

- 34

Thessaloniki Centre

2.

Regrets the fact that Cedefop has failed to take full account of the observations made by the Court
of Auditors in its 1999 annual report and to honour its own undertakings regarding the procedures
it itself decided to implement in connection with the award of contracts, in particular for informatics-
related projects in the area of electronic communication;

3. Welcomes the decision taken by the Greek authorities on 16 May 2001 to transfer to Cedefop

ownership of the building and site in Thessaloniki;

4. Welcomes the external evaluation report of Cedefop which provides a comprehensive view of the
performance of the Centre since the last evaluation in 1995; notes that the final evaluation report
assesses positively the effectiveness and impact of the work of the Centre since 1995 and its
cooperation with other organisations;

5. Welcomes the Action Plan drafted by the Management Board on 29 November 2001 as a follow-up
to the final report of the external evaluation of Cedefop; notes that the Action Plan takes into
account
the Commission’s position paper and assesses the validity of all conclusions and
recommendations formulated in the evaluation report;

17.6.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 158/61

6. Welcomes the fact that Cedefop promises to implement the Action Plan in conformity with the
objectives and time-schedule indicated; welcomes the proposal that the Director will report on
progress annually (November meetings) to the Management Board, which will forward the results to
the European Parliament;

Cooperation with the European Training Foundation (ETF) — Turin

7. Notes that the evaluation concludes that cooperation between the two Agencies is satisfactory and

that, at present, ETF makes appropriate use of Cedefop as a resource centre;

8. Welcomes the fact that, at the request of the Commission, the two Agencies have drawn up a
cooperation framework which was agreed by the Cedefop and ETF Boards in March and June 2001
respectively; welcomes that this joint framework paper sets out the overall objectives of this new
cooperation, namely the preparation of the applicant countries for full participation in Cedefop at a
time of accession and the means of facilitating the participation and involvement of applicant
countries in the policy development of the Community during the transition period;

9.

Insists that the Centre should ensure that this new cooperation framework with the EFT is now fully
implemented, in particular by making full and frequent use of the joint working group that has been
set up for that purpose;

European Parliament

10. Calls on its committees responsible to monitor closely the activities and results of the Thessaloniki
Centre and the Turin Foundation with a view to assessing the effectiveness of the framework
agreement concluded in 2001;

Discharge decision

11. Gives discharge to the Management Board of the European Centre for the Development for
Vocational Training in respect of the implementation of its budget for the 2000 financial year, on
the basis of the report of the Court of Auditors;

12.

Instructs its President to forward this decision to the Management Board of the European Centre for
the Development for Vocational Training, the Council, the Commission and the Court of Auditors
and to have it published in the Official Journal (L series).

The Secretary-General

Julian PRIESTLEY

The President

Pat COX