European Parliament resolution containing the comments accompanying the decision on the discharge to the Director of the Translation Centre for the bodies of the European Union in respect of the implementation of its budget for the financial year 2001
Date: 2003-11-06
Institutions: Committee on Budgetary Control, European Parliament
Subjects: Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union, budgetary discharge, financial year, implementation of the budget

L 333/66

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Official Journal of the European Union

20.12.2003

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION

containing the comments accompanying the decision on the discharge to the Director of the
Translation Centre for the bodies of the European Union in respect of the implementation of its
budget for the financial year 2001

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT,

— having regard to the Court of Auditors' report on the financial statements of the Translation Centre for
the bodies of the European Union for the financial year 2001, together with the Centre's replies (1) (C5-
0100/2003),

— having regard to the Council's recommendation of 7 March 2003 (C5-0101/2003),

— having regard to the EC Treaty, and in particular Article 276 thereof,

— 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 Commission Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2343/2002 of 23 December 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 (3) and, in particular, Article 94 thereof,

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

— having regard to its decision of 8 April 2003 on the postponement of the decision concerning

discharge and its resolution containing the comments accompanying that decision (4),

— having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgetary Control (A5–0360/2003),

A. whereas in its abovementioned resolution, Parliament

— welcomed the fact that it is henceforth the competent authority for giving discharge to the Com-

munity bodies referred to in Article 185(1) of the new Financial Regulation, and

— stressed that in order to fulfil its new responsibilities in this respect it expected to receive all relevant
and necessary information from these bodies in reply to questions that it would have forwarded to
them;

B. whereas its competent committee has received answers to such questions,

C. whereas the Agency's answers to the abovementioned questions, in many respects, provided Parliament
with updated information; such information is supplementary to the observations contained in the
Court of Auditors' report on the financial statements of the Translation Centre for the bodies of the
European Union (CdT) for 2001 and to the Agency's replies to these observations;

D. whereas the condition that Parliament takes a decision on discharge after it has been adequately

informed was thus met;

1. Notes the following figures for the accounts of the Translation Centre for the bodies of the European

Union for the financial years 2001 and 2000;

(1) OJ C 326, 27.12.2002, p. 35.
(2) OJ L 248, 16.9.2002, p. 1.
(3) OJ L 357, 31.12.2002, p. 72.
(4) OJ L 148, 16.6.2003, pp. 16 and 18.

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Revenue and expenditure account for the financial years 2001 and 2000

Revenue collected for the financial year

Commission subsidies

Miscellaneous revenue

Financial revenue

2001

2000

(EUR 1 000)

20 182

5

458

21 264

263

Total revenue (a)

20 646

21 527

Budgetary expenditure for the financial year

Staff — Title I of the budget

Payments

Appropriations carried over

Operational activities — Title II of the budget

Payments

Appropriations carried over

13 861

891

1 090

929

Total expenditure (b)

16 772

Outturn for the financial year (a-b) (1)

Balance carried over from the previous financial year

Appropriations carried over from the previous financial
year which lapsed

Refund to Europol

Contingency reserve

Exchange-rate differences

3 873

4 977

240

—

– 1 221

6

Balance for the financial year

7 875

12 640

881

849

1 512

15 882

5 645

1 854

358

– 217

– 2 653

– 10

4 977

Any discrepancies in totals are due to the effects of rounding.

NB:
Source: Data compiled by the Centre — These tables summarise the data provided by the Centre in its own financial statements.
(1) Calculation based on the principles laid down in Article 15 of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom No 1150/2000 of 22 May 2000

(OJ L 130, 31.5.2000, p. 8).

Financial statements/CdT premises

2. Acknowledges the efforts made by the Centre, in line with the Court of Auditors' observations, in
seeking a suitable solution with regard to the premises it occupies, which were made available by the
Luxembourg authorities pending a permanent solution;

3. Recalls that the Court of Auditors has made repeated comments with regard to the issue of premises;
notes that in general, as regards buildings policy, and based on a cost/benefit analysis, the institutions
see purchase as a better solution than renting;

4. Calls on the Centre to step up, together with the Luxembourg authorities, its efforts with a view to

finding a permanent solution to the problem of premises which suit its needs;

5. Recalls that with respect to any building project likely to have significant financial implications for the
Centre's budget, Article 179 of the new Financial Regulation applies; therefore invites the Centre, if such
a project is planned, to submit to the budgetary authority, before Parliament's second reading of the
2004 budget, an analysis of the different options available as regards finding a solution to the problem
concerning its premises;

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Evaluation of tenders

6. Takes the view that, concerning the evaluation of tenders for the purchase of goods and services other
than external translations, there is scope for further improvement in the definition and application by
the Centre of quality assessment criteria with a view to enhancing comparability of tenders and ensuring
better management;

Cooperation with the Institutions and other Community bodies

7. Notes

the Centre's active participation in the Interinstitutional Translation and Interpretation
Committee, which seeks to define and apply evaluation rules and criteria, laid down jointly by the insti-
tutions, on the quality of translation work;

8. Encourages the Centre to continue such action ensuring better cooperation between institutions, espe-
cially with a view to finding the best way to meet the needs in this field in the light of the forthcoming
enlargement;

General points concerning the Agencies

Operational tasks

9. Reiterates,

in the light of the fact that,

in the case of many agencies, administrative expenditure
exceeds operational expenditure, there is scope for these agencies to be entrusted with more opera-
tional tasks; takes the view that they could, for example, be entrusted with implementing Community
programmes in the field of education or health, thus helping to avoid the unnecessary creation of
further executive agencies by the Commission; regrets that the Commission did not comply with
Parliament's request (1) to make proposals in this respect by 30 June 2003; invites the agencies to iden-
tify areas where they could take over implementation of Community programmes currently managed
by the Commission and to make proposals in this respect by the end of 2003;

10. Welcomes, in this context, the proposal from the European Training Foundation (ETF) to take up
possible further tasks; invites the Commission to use the ETF's expertise in a wider geographical area
than at present and for providing technical assistance to programmes such as Tempus and Erasmus
Mundus;

Adapting the financial rules to the new Financial Regulation

11. Expects the agencies to complete their procedures for bringing into line their internal financial rules
with the requirements of the new framework Financial Regulation as soon as possible and in any event
by the end of the year at the latest; recalls that such internal financial rules may not depart from the
framework Financial Regulation except where the specific operating needs of an agency so require and
with the Commission's prior consent; calls on the agencies once they have completed such a process
to inform Parliament's competent committees; asks the Court of Auditors to give an opinion on all
financial provisions adopted by the agencies which depart from the framework Financial Regulation;

12. Reiterates its call to the agencies to ensure a strict segregation of duties between authorising officer(s)

and accounting officer(s); recalls the enhanced role of the latter in

(a) laying down and validating the accounting systems;

(b) keeping the accounts;

(c) validating systems laid down by the authorising officer to supply accounting information;

(d) cooperating with the Commission's accounting officer;

(e) preparing and presenting the financial statements and the reports on implementation of the

budget.

(1) See paragraph 14 of Parliament's resolution containing the comments accompanying the decision concerning
discharge to the Management Board of the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training for in
respect of the implementation of its budget for the financial year 2001 (OJ L 148 of 16.6.2003, p. 83).

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Stresses, furthermore, that accounting officers must be appointed by the management boards of the
agencies on the grounds of adequate competence and professional experience; also expects compu-
terised systems put in place to guarantee the existence of a complete audit trail for each operation in
order to ensure transparency;

13. Reminds the agencies that they should fully respect public procurement procedures as laid down in
the Financial Regulation; stresses that open calls for tender must be used as much as possible in order
to enhance transparency and to ensure equal treatment of potential tenderers; emphasises that non-
respect of public procurement rules is not only potentially detrimental to the financial interests of the
agencies but can also be a criminal offence under the law of Member States;

Internal audit and control

14. Recalls that among the important features of the new Financial Regulation are the increased responsi-
bility of authorising officers and the setting-up of the internal audit capabilities in order to counter the
risk of irregularities and mismanagement; therefore invites:

— the Court of Auditors to increase the number of checks carried out by its auditors,

— the agencies to thoroughly review their procedures for implementing their budgets in line with the

newly created framework,

— the Commission to cooperate closely with the agencies, especially in the areas of accounting,

internal audit and management and control procedures,

in order for appropriate and harmonised solutions to be put into practice.

15. Invites the Commission to propose a change to Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2343/2002 on the
framework Financial Regulation governing the Agencies in order to give the agencies' respective
internal auditors real powers of scrutiny instead of merely an advisory role, as is currently the case;

16. Is extremely concerned that the Commission's Internal Audit Service (IAS) does not carry out any
checks on the agencies; stresses that this implies that Articles 71 and 72 of Regulation (EC, Euratom)
No 2343/2002 are not being adhered to and that, in practice, an outside control of the quality of
management and control systems of the agencies is left to be carried out in the context of the Court
of Auditors control; calls, therefore, on the Commission to ensure that the necessary resources are
made available so that the IAS is in a position to fulfil its tasks with regard to the internal control
systems in the agencies;

Cooperation with OLAF

17. Invites the Court of Auditors to report by the end of the year on whether the Community bodies duly
cooperate with the European Anti-fraud Office (OLAF) and apply the corresponding Interinstitutional
Agreement of 25 May 1999 (1) unreservedly; also asks the Court of Auditors to evaluate the effective-
ness of this cooperation on the basis of the cases processed so far;

Preparing the Agencies for enlargement

18. Invites the Commission, with a view to accelerating the efforts towards preparing the integration of
the future Member States, to make the appropriate proposals, before the adoption of the 2004 budget,
aimed at:

— fostering better functioning of these Community bodies,

— ensuring better value for money through a cost/benefit analysis,

— avoiding any unnecessary creation of new agencies.

Stresses that the further expansion, on the occasion of enlargement, of the administrative boards of
the Agencies, which, as a general rule, are already very ponderous, would not be acceptable, on
grounds of both efficiency and cost; considers that enlargement offers a good opportunity to thor-
oughly reconsider the composition and working methods of these administrative boards;

(1) OJ L 136, 31.5.1999, p. 15.

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19. Calls, therefore, on the Commission, in making such proposals, to consider, inter alia:

— entrusting the agencies with further operational tasks such as the carrying out of programmes,

where appropriate;

— setting up joint boards for more agencies, especially for those with similar tasks;

— the possibility of mergers of agencies in case of overlapping of activities;

recalls, with regard to the latter, that the Commission has indicated a possible overlap between the
European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop) and the European Training
Foundation, and between the Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions and
the Agency for Safety and Health at Work;

20. Furthermore, invites the Commission, in line with its proposal on European Governance (aimed at
concentrating its activity on the core tasks), to include in its action programme for 2004 the appro-
priate proposals with a view to avoiding the duplication of work, either between agencies with similar
activities, or between the activities of the agencies and those of the Commission;

21. Reiterates its call on the Commission to submit a proposal for an amendment to the constituent acts
of the agencies to ensure that their directors may in future be appointed only with the assent of Parlia-
ment; awaits proposals from the Commission to this effect, to be submitted by 1 December 2003 at
the latest.