Court of Auditors — Annual Report concerning the financial year 2003 - Report on the activities of the sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth European Development Funds (EDFs), together with the institutions' replies
Date: 2004-10-07
Institutions: European Court of Auditors
Subjects: European Court of Auditors, European Development Fund, activity report, financial year

30.11.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 293/315

REPORT ON THE ACTIVITIES OF THE SIXTH,
SEVENTH, EIGHTH AND NINTH EUROPEAN
DEVELOPMENT FUNDS (EDFs)

30.11.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 293/317

REPORT ON THE ACTIVITIES FUNDED BY THE SIXTH, SEVENTH, EIGHT AND
NINTH EUROPEAN DEVELOPMENT FUNDS (EDFs)

CONTENTS

Introduction

Chapter I — Implementation of the sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth EDFs

New-style financial management report could be improved still further

Further remarks concerning the content of the report

Conclusions

Chapter II — Statement of Assurance by the Court of Auditors concerning the EDFs

Statement of Assurance by the Court of Auditors concerning the sixth, seventh, eighth
and ninth European Development Funds (EDFs) for the financial year 2003

Information in support of the Statement of Assurance

Reliability of the accounts

Legality and regularity of the underlying transactions

Changes in the performance of the supervisory systems and controls

Chapter III — Follow-up to previous observation s

Including the EDF in the general budget

Summary of previous observations

Development of the situation

Paragraph

1-8

9-19

9-14

15-17

18-19

20-56

I-III

20-56

20-23

24-55

56

57-68

57-58

57

58

Participation in auditing the EDF by the ACP States’ Supreme Audit Institutions

59-60

Summary of previous observations

Development of the situation

Monitoring of Stabex funds

Summary of previous observations

Development of the situation

Chapter IV — Main observations set out in special reports published by the Court since
the last discharge procedure

Special Report No 15/2003 concerning the audit of microproject programmes financed
by the EDF

59

60

61-68

61-62

63-68

69-71

69-71

C 293/318

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Official Journal of the European Union

30.11.2004

THE COURT’S OBSERVATIONS

THE COMMISSION’S REPLIES

INTRODUCTION

1. The European Development Funds (EDFs) are the result of
international conventions or agreements (1) between the Member
States of the European Union and certain African, Caribbean and
Pacific (ACP) States, and of Council Decisions on the association of
20 overseas countries and territories (OCT). Since May 2003, the
State of East Timor has been a signatory to the Cotonou Agreement,
bringing the number of ACP States to 78.

2. The Commission has responsibility for and takes charge of the
management of the EDFs, in association with the ACP States, with-
out prejudice to the implementation of certain financial instruments
that have so far been entrusted to the European Investment Bank
(EIB). The new Financial Regulation of 27 March 2003 ushered in
a major change as regards the management of the ninth EDF. The
EIB assumed full responsibility for implementing the investment
facility and, although the Commission consolidates this area of
management in the EDF accounts, account is no longer taken of
these operations for the Court’s Statement of Assurance or the
European Parliament’s discharge procedure (2) (3). The Court none-
theless retains overall responsibility for the EDF audit. In the case of
the operations under EIB management, it performs this task as pro-
vided for in a tripartite agreement between the EIB, the Commis-
sion and the Court (Article 112 of the Regulation referred to above).

3. The EDF implementation period remains very long (see
Table 1).

(1) The Yaoundé I Convention dates back to 1964. The most recent agree-

ment (Cotonou) dates from 23 June 2000.

3. The overall duration of EDFs is long because, in the past, unused
amounts could be recommitted under the same EDF. Following the entry
into force of the Cotonou Agreement, all decommitted balances will be
reused under the 9th EDF, which will speed up the closure of the preceding
EDFs. Nonetheless, the implementation period for projects and pro-
grammes within the EDFs is comparable to other Community development
aid programmes and those of Member States or the major donors.

(2) Articles 96, 103 and 112 of

Financial Regulation of
27 March 2003 applicable to the ninth EDF: in its Opinion No 12/2002
on this proposal for a regulation, the Court had drawn attention to the
implications of these articles, which reduce the European Parliament’s
powers of control.

the

(3) Thus, under the ninth EDF, the Commission is responsible for managing
13 200 million euro, while the EIB is responsible for 2 200 million
euro.

30.11.2004

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Official Journal of the European Union

C 293/319

Table 1 — Duration of the ACP-EU Conventions and Agreements and the EDFs

ACP-EU Convention or Agreement

EDFs

Official duration

Actual duration of implementation as
at 31 December 2003

Third Lomé Convention (OJ L 86, 31.3.1986)

Sixth EDF

Not closed (1)

5 years beginning 1 March 1985 (Article 291)

5 years beginning 1 March 1985 (Article 194)

17 years beginning 24 March 1986 (2)

Fourth Lomé Convention (OJ L 229, 17.8.1991)
revised in Mauritius on 4 November 1995 (OJ
L 156, 29.5.1998)

Seventh EDF

Not closed (1)

5 years beginning 1 March 1990 (Financial
protocol, Article 1)

12 years beginning 1 September 1991 (2)

10 years beginning 1 March 1990 (Article 366(1))

Eighth EDF

Not closed (1)

5 years beginning 1 March 1995 (Second
financial protocol, Article 1)

5 years beginning 1 June 1998 (2)

ACP-EU Partnership Agreement signed at
Cotonou (OJ L 317, 15.12.2000)

Ninth EDF

Implementation began on 1 April 2003 (2)

20 years beginning 1 March 2000 (Article 95)

5 years beginning 1 March 2000 (Financial
protocol, Article 1)

(1) The ACP-EU Conventions instituting the EDFs contain a safeguard Article that states that ‘any balance remaining from the Fund that has not been committed or disbursed
by the end of the last year of the application (…) shall be utilised until it has been exhausted, in accordance with the same conditions as those laid down in this Convention’
(Article 216 of the third Lomé Convention, Article 284(2) of the fourth Lomé Convention, Article 4 of the Second financial protocol to the fourth Lomé Convention (revised).

(2) Date of entry into force of the Convention or Agreement.

4. The ninth EDF entered into force on 1 April 2003, on the same
date as the Cotonou Agreement, which was signed in June 2000.

4. The 9th EDF could not enter into force until it had been ratified by
all the Member States and by two-thirds of the ACP States.

5. The financial allocation for each of the four EDFs being imple-
mented in 2003, with the exception of the instruments now under
the EIB’s sole management, is mainly assigned to:

a)

programmable aid (4)
development projects (roughly half of the total allocations);

intended for the implementation of

b) programmable aid (4) intended to provide direct budget sup-
port for the beneficiary States (almost a quarter of the total allo-
cations);

c)

non-programmable aid intended for specific fields of coopera-
tion such as support for export products (Stabex and Sysmin
or FLEX) or financial contributions such as venture capital (5)
and aid for debt relief (just over a quarter of the total alloca-
tions).

(4) Programmable aid is defined within the framework of national and
regional indicative programmes (NIPs and RIPs) concluded with the ACP
States.

(5) As regards the sixth, seventh and eighth EDFs, these operations continue
to be implemented by the EIB under the Commission’s responsibility.

C 293/320

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

30.11.2004

THE COURT’S OBSERVATIONS

THE COMMISSION’S REPLIES

In principle, once programming is complete,

6.
the EDFs’
resources are mobilised in two stages, as required under a proce-
dure involving the Commission and the ACP beneficiary States.
When a request is received from an ACP State, the Commission, as
chief authorising officer, takes financing decisions (shown in the
accounts as financial commitments (6)) after receiving the assent of
the EDF Committee (7), which is composed of representatives of the
Member States. Then, within the framework of financing agree-
ments, the Commission and the ACP State lay down the rules for
the implementation of these decisions by the national authorising
officer (8) of the country concerned. The latter concludes contracts
(shown in the accounts as individual legal commitments (9)) and
authorises payments, which will be checked and executed by the
Commission in accordance with the procedures for implementing
the EDFs and with the financial channels that have been thus
created.

7. Direct budget support, which accounts for an increasing share
of EDF financing — some 800 million euro in commitments for
2003 (24 % of the total) — is not subject to this system of shared
management. The Commission remains the sole authorising officer
and, as in the case of external aid financed from the Union’s general
budget, ‘financing agreements in the field of (…) budgetary support
which constitute legal commitments may give rise to payments
without the conclusion of other legal commitments’ (10). Once it
has checked that the conditions of the Cotonou Agreement and the
financing agreement have been met, the Commission makes an ini-
tial transfer of funds, on the basis of its signature alone, to the bud-
gets of the beneficiary countries. Once they have been transferred,
these funds become part of the resources of the ACP States and are
incorporated into their budgets. From a legal and accounting point
of view, they are used and audited in accordance with the laws and
procedures obtaining in the beneficiary States. The Commission and
the other main international donors assess both the improvements
made to the management of public finances in these countries and
the results in terms of poverty reduction. Before disbursing further
tranches, the Commission checks that the improvements given as
conditions of the financing agreement have been executed.

(6) Previously known as primary commitments.
(7) For amounts below two million euro, the Committee’s assent is not nec-

(8)

essary.
In general, the national authorising officer’s powers are vested in the
Finance Ministers of the ACP States.

(9) Previously known as secondary commitments.
(10) Article 91(1), second subparagraph, of the rules for implementing the

Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget.

30.11.2004

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Official Journal of the European Union

C 293/321

THE COURT’S OBSERVATIONS

THE COMMISSION’S REPLIES

8. A final feature of 2003 was the intensive reorganisation of the
Commission services with responsibility for implementing the
EDFs. In the context of its reform of external aid (11), and in order
to improve the speed and quality of the management of such aid,
the Commission devolved a sizeable proportion of its functions and
resources to its Delegations in the ACP States (as at the end of 2003,
16 Delegations were fully devolved and 11 were well on the way
towards devolution, while the remaining 17 Delegations were to be
devolved before July 2004).

CHAPTER I — IMPLEMENTATION OF THE SIXTH, SEVENTH,
EIGHTH AND NINTH EDFS (12)

New-style financial management report could be improved still further

9. The financial management report for the financial year 2003
concerning the sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth EDFs, which the
Commission forwarded to the Court on 22 June 2004, after the
31 May deadline laid down in Articles 102 and 135 of the Finan-
cial Regulation applicable to the ninth EDF, appears in a revised
form. It contains a greater variety of information, which is both
more comprehensive and more detailed. Of particular note are the
comparison between objectives and achievements and the
follow-up of the discharge authorities’ and Court of Auditors’ rec-
ommendations. The report conveys the main features of EDF man-
agement during the financial year 2003. It shows that, compared
with previous years, there was an increase in the volume of finan-
cial commitments, legal commitments and payments in all areas of
Commission and EIB management (see Tables 2 and 3).

(11) Communication of 16 May 2000 (SEC(2000) 814/5).
(12) This chapter summarises the results of a limited review by the Court of

the financial management report for the financial year 2003.

C 293/322

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

30.11.2004

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30.11.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 293/323

Table 3 -— Budgetary implementation in the financial years 2000 to 2003 inclusive

1. Financial commitments

2. Individual legal commitments

3. Payments

Source: Court of Auditors.

(million euro)

2000

2001

2002

2003

3 757,4

2 296,2

1 547,7

1 554,2

2 263,4

2 067,9

1 768,4

2 142,9

1 852,7

3 761,8

2 882,7

2 374,5

10. Nonetheless, in a number of important areas the report could
be made still clearer and more precise, and its informative value
would be greater if certain facts were placed more clearly in con-
text:

10. As in the past, the Commission will take account of the comments
of the Court when drawing up its forthcoming reports on financial man-
agement;

(a)

(b)

as regards the high level of financial commitments, it would
have been useful to point out that, given that the Cotonou
Agreement was signed in June 2000, programming for the
ninth EDF was able to commence long before it entered into
force in April 2003. It was all but inevitable that this long
preparation period would mean a high volume of financial and
legal commitments;

as for the high volume of legal commitments, this was partly
obtained by virtue of the rapid disbursement instruments
(Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative, direct bud-
get support, etc.) — a point which is not made explicit in the
explanatory table on page 3 of the report.

(a) The Commission has taken transitional measures to remedy the delay
in ratifying the Cotonou Agreements. It is true, however, that EDFs
are implemented cyclically, as the amounts committed are always
higher at the start of an EDF. Fully integrating cooperation with the
ACP countries into the general EU budget would solve the problem.

(b) The increased recourse to sectoral support and budgetary aid, where
the conditions are met, has been part of the agreed EC development
policy since 2000 (see paragraph 25 of the Statement by the Coun-
cil and the Commission on EC Development Policy, December 2000,
COM(2000) 0212). Moreover, other
showed greater
increases over the forecasts (for instance, commitments for social and
human development were above target).

sectors

11. As presented, the financial information now makes it impos-
sible to compare the sums channelled into projects, budget support
and non-programmable aid (13) under the ninth EDF with those
under earlier EDFs.

11. The 9th EDF no longer includes the instrument concept that was
present in earlier EDFs or certain presentations. Nevertheless, as regards the
9th EDF, the revenue and expenditure accounts give the information con-
cerned separately. The report on financial management gives details of the
budget support.

(13) As a result, the Court is no longer able to produce Table 2 in the same

detail as in previous years or to attach comments.

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12. At a time when preparations for the tenth EDF are getting
under way, there have still been no financing decisions in respect of
75 % of the allocations for the ninth EDF, and four separate EDFs
are now in force — each one with its own rules. These facts, com-
bined with the transitional problems that the Court has already
highlighted (see paragraph 57), should be given consideration dur-
ing debate on the possibility of including the EDFs in the budget.

12. The Commission fully agrees with the Court on this point and has
set out the advantages of including EDFs in the budget in its communica-
tion (COM(2003) 590 of 8 October 2003) (see also the Commission’s
reply to paragraph 57).

The Commission plans to commit all the 9th EDF funds before the end of
2007. If EDFs are not included in the budget, a new EDF will be needed
for commitments in 2008. Meanwhile, preparations for the 10th EDF
have started so that the necessary negotiations with the ACP States and the
Council can take place in good time.

13. The fact that the initial objective of committing 2 500 mil-
lion euro in 2003 was exceeded by 49 % can be attributed to an
over-cautious estimate that failed to take sufficient account of a
number of factors (see paragraph 10). In addition, there is still too
little information in the financial management report on the setting
of quantitative objectives.

13. The uncertainty surrounding the ratification of the Cotonou Agree-
ments and the entry into force of the 9th EDF justified a certain amount of
caution in forecasting commitments. The objective was already some 20 %
higher than actual commitments in 2002.

The information available for setting objectives, which is extensive and
originates in particular from meetings with Heads of Delegations as well
as a reporting system, will be reflected in the forthcoming report on finan-
cial management.

14. Three States (France, Portugal and Sweden) did not pay their
contributions in full at the end of the fourth quarter of 2003 (a
shortfall of 96 million euro). Given this resources deficit and the
decision to pay 170 million euro into the Global Health Fund, the
Commission was compelled to defer payments amounting to some
270 million euro to the end of January 2004. It would have been
helpful if more information had been provided on the reason for
these deficiencies and the arrangements for regularising them at the
beginning of 2004.

14. The estimates of expenditure for the following year have to be made
in September. The Cotonou Agreements introduced innovations as regards
calls for funds from Member States. The estimate of expenditure for the fol-
lowing year, which is made in September, is approved by the Council ACP
Group. Although the machinery for increasing contributions exists, it is
often difficult to implement as it alters Member States’ estimates of expen-
diture. The payment by Member States of their contributions to the EDFs,
within the time limits, is a legal requirement.

At the end of 2003, the Commission committed and paid in full a con-
tribution to the Global Health Fund (EUR 170 million) which was not
included in the estimates. The led temporarily to a shortfall in EDF cash-
flow which was repaired at the end of January 2004 with the payment of
the first instalment of the contributions from Member States.

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Further remarks concerning the content of the report

15.
In its presentation of its objectives and priorities for the finan-
cial year 2003, the Commission explained what it had done (estab-
lishment of a quality support process and implementation guide-
lines) to improve the quality of projects and programmes. Of
particular note was a detailed presentation of its action to increase
budget support (807,6 million euro was committed under this
heading in 2003) — with, however, certain conditions (some coun-
tries did not benefit from this type of funding, while for others it
was delayed because of problems brought to light by the Commis-
sion). The Commission made a detailed presentation of the tools
that were developed in 2002/2003 to evaluate and monitor the
management of public finances in the countries receiving support
of this kind (a comprehensive review aimed at drawing up an initial
analysis, annual reviews to assess progress, annual reports by the
Delegations in the form of monitoring charts, and performance
indicators with which to monitor the results of management in the
health, education and public finance fields).

15. The Commission confirms that the award of budget support is indeed
subject to certain conditions and depends in particular on the commitment
of the beneficiary State to improving the management of its public finances.
The Commission’s principal objective in monitoring public finances is to
make best use of the tools developed in 2002 to 2003 (follow-up reports
and monitoring charts).

The Commission actively participates with the World Bank and several
Member States in measures to identify, in agreement with the partner coun-
tries, indicators in the management of public finances.

16. The Court has taken note of the considerable effort made to
reduce the volume of unjustified outstanding commitments (OCs),
in particular by reviewing them in the course of seminars organised
on a regional basis. The Commission presented the broad lines of
its reform aimed at devolving management resources to the Delega-
tions in the ACP States. In this respect, 2003 was a pivotal year in
which the two management systems existed side-by-side, without
the expected results of devolution being immediately apparent in
the budgetary implementation.

16. The first results of decentralisation, e.g. faster implementation, are
already evident in the Delegations where decentralisation has been applied.
Owing to the dual management system (decentralised and not decentra-
lised) in 2003, it is true that it is difficult to see whether decentralisation
has had a definite impact on the overall implementation of EDFs at this
stage.

Reports on decentralisation were sent regularly to the budgetary authority.

17. At a time when the Union’s general budget is being structured
by activity so as to permit an overview of the administrative costs
of each of the Union’s operating objectives, the Court notes that the
Commission has not devoted part of its financial management
report to this theme. It recommends that, in future, this report pro-
vide an overview of the EDF management costs that are charged to
the Union’s general budget, if possible by main activity headings,
given that this information should be available insofar as it can be
isolated from the very comprehensive information included under
Title 2-1 of the general budget.

17. The Commission will study the Court’s suggestion. The incorpora-
tion of EDFs in the budget will enable such steps to be taken in future.

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Conclusions

18. The Court notes that:

18.

(a)

(b)

the new-style financial management report marks an effort to
improve the quality of information concerning the year’s man-
agement. In terms of its readability and precision, however, it
could be further improved;

(a) The Commission will take account of the remarks of the Court in its

forthcoming reports on financial management.

the volume of EDF commitments in 2003 needs to be placed
in context. This entails taking account of the long period
devoted to programming pending the entry into force of the
ninth EDF, as well as the amount of budget support awarded
and the volume of available funds;

(b) The Commission stresses the importance for ACP countries of the
increase of some 75 % in commitments. The Commission’s manage-
ment reflects the priorities that were identified in cooperation with the
beneficiary countries and peoples and the Member States and defined
in the Cotonou Agreement. The Commission has made every effort
to speed up implementation of the 9th EDF.

(c)

the execution of payments was affected by a shortfall in finan-
cial resources (270 million euro);

(c) A one-month period at the end of the year was identified for certain

payments following a temporary cashflow problem.

(d)

in order to round off its report, the Commission should set out
and comment on the EDF management costs.

(d) The Commission will study the Court’s suggestion with a view to
identifying this information within Title 21 of the general budget.

19. The Court stresses that it attaches importance to the quality
of public finance management. All initiatives to promote budget
support presuppose that the relinquishment of EDF shared manage-
ment procedures in favour of the ACP States’ national procedures
will be accompanied by careful monitoring to ensure compliance
with all the conditions imposed. Given that the Union is prepared
to take on a high, but carefully-evaluated, level of risk in this area,
the detailed information on the follow-up of aid measures is very
necessary for this reason.

19. The Commission agrees with the Court on the paramount impor-
tance of public finance management, especially in the context of budget
support. It will continue to supply the Court and the EU budgetary author-
ity with detailed information on the follow-up of its aid measures.

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CHAPTER II — STATEMENT OF ASSURANCE BY THE COURT OF AUDITORS CONCERNING THE EDFs

Statement of Assurance by the Court of Auditors concerning the sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth European Development Funds (EDFs) for the finan-
cial year 2003

I. The European Court of Auditors (the Court) has examined the accounts of the sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth EDFs and the
underlying transactions for the financial year ending 31 December 2003. These accounts comprise the financial statements, the
reports on financial implementation, and the financial statements and information supplied by the European Investment Bank
(EIB) (14). Pursuant to the financial regulations the Court is required to provide the European Parliament and the Council with a State-
ment of Assurance as to the reliability of the accounts and the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions in respect of the
part of the EDF resources for whose financial management the Commission is responsible (15). The Court carried out the audit in
accordance with its auditing policies and standards. These are based on generally accepted international audit standards that have
been adapted to the context of the EDFs. The Court thus obtained a reasonable basis for the opinions expressed below.

II. Reliability of the accounts

Except for the effects of the problems concerning:

a) amounts payable to the EDFs and not included as assets in the balance sheet at 31 December 2003 (27,5 million euro in recov-
ery orders issued); in the absence of effective internal control procedures the Court cannot give assurance that these amounts
are complete (16) (see paragraph 21);

(b) advances (400 million euro); as the Commission has not indicated the total value of the amounts to be recovered, the Court can-

not ascertain what fraction is to be added when establishing the debt (see paragraph 21(b));

(c) Stabex funds; the Commission can only very partially establish the ACP States’ use of the funds (this information was still incom-

plete at the end of 2003) (see paragraph 23);

(d) the lack of an entry in the balance sheet for the funds transferred to the EIB and not utilised (209 million euro) (see paragraph 22);

the Court is of the opinion that the reports on financial implementation for the financial year 2003 and the financial statements at
31 December 2003 reliably reflect the revenue and expenditure relating to the sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth EDFs for the finan-
cial year and their financial situation at the end of the year.

(14) Pursuant to the provisions of Articles 96(1), 100, 101 and 125(2) of the Financial Regulation applicable to the ninth EDF; in practice, this refers,
firstly, to the balance sheets and associated statements prepared by the accounting officer and, secondly, to the management accounts comprising
the tables prepared by the principal authorising officer in consultation with the accountant. These financial statements are presented for each of
the four EDFs and in a comprehensive, consolidated form. The financial statements and information supplied by the EIB are not covered by this
Statement (see footnote 15).

(15) Pursuant to Article 103(3) of the abovementioned Financial Regulation; taken together with Article 1 of the same Regulation, this means that the
statement does not extend to the part of the ninth EDF resources that is managed by the EIB and for which it is responsible (for the amounts in
question, see Chapter 1, Table 2, note 5).
In his declaration, the Director-General for Budgets expressed two reservations in respect of the EDF accounting system: the first concerned the
difficulties of modernising the presentation of assets owing to the system’s obsolete design, while the second concerned the management of the
accounts (see also paragraph 1.8 of Chapter 1, General budget, section).

(16)

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III. Legality and regularity of the underlying transactions

Analysis of the supervisory systems and controls

As in the case of the 2002 financial year, when the Court drew attention to deficiencies regarding audits of EDF projects and the
insufficiency of key controls on compliance with contracts and the reality of the works, supplies and services invoiced, the Court
was not able to rely fully on the Commission’s supervisory systems and controls in 2003 for the following reasons:

(a) in 2003, the Commission continued with the implementation in its central services of the internal control standards adopted in
2001 (17). However, their effect is limited because their implementation at Delegation level is tied to the devolution process,
which will not be complete until the end of 2004, and there is a lack of coordination in the measures implemented (see para-
graphs 25 to 31);

(b) the action plans that were introduced at the time of the 2002 annual activity report or adopted in 2003 have been effective as
regards the structure of external audits, follow-up of audit conclusions, analysis of the risks linked to external aid and processing
of recoveries. By continuing with these action plans and implementing them fully, the Commission should obtain an effective
future framework, particularly at the level of the Delegations (see paragraphs 32 to 36);

(c) in the Delegations and ACP States the supervisory systems and controls covering contracts and payments are generally well-

designed. However, their implementation could be further improved (see paragraphs 37 to 43).

Audit of transactions

The audit of transactions was based on the documentation available at the Commission in Brussels and, where appropriate, in the
Delegations in ACP States, and was also based on on-the-spot audits carried out in six ACP States in order to verify the reality of
works, supplies and services. It should be noted that the Court’s audit of the legality and regularity of budget support expenditure
stopped at the stage where the aid was paid to the beneficiary countries’ budgets (see paragraphs 7, 19 and 46). The audit did not
bring any major problems to light.

Conclusions regarding the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions

These conclusions are based on analysis of the supervisory systems and controls, audit of a number of transactions, and analysis of
the annual activity report and declaration of the Director-General of the EuropeAid Cooperation Office. On that basis, the Court is
of the opinion that the problems encountered are not material and that the revenue entered in the accounts, the EDF allocations,
the commitments and the payments of the financial year are, taken as a whole, legal and regular.

6 and 7 Octobre 2004
Juan Manuel FABRA VALLÉS
President

European Court of Auditors
12, rue Alcide De Gasperi, L-1615 Luxembourg

(17) SEC(2001) 875 adopted by the Commission on 27 June 2001.

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THE COMMISSION’S REPLIES

Information in support of the Statement of Assurance

Reliability of the accounts

20. The provisional
forwarded late, on
accounts were
22 June 2004 (18). On that date they were incomplete (19). The
final accounts must be produced by 15 October 2004 at the lat-
est (20). These accounts, accompanied by a financial management
report (21), have for the first time to be published in the Official Jour-
nal of the European Union. The observations in paragraph II of the
Statement of Assurance are based on the following findings.

21. The sum of 27,5 million euro for recovery orders issued and
not yet collected at the end of 2003 does not represent the total
value of receivables.

21.

(

a) Claims arising from projects (advances to be recovered, ineli-
gible expenditure, etc.) are not all registered by the Commis-
sion’s central services or by the Delegations. Often, the latter
simply enter as revenue (negative payments) sums which third
party debtors have, in fact, repaid. Moreover, as there are no
procedures for monitoring claims outside the accounts, the
Commission cannot quantify the amount of actual debts to be
established against projects at the end of 2003 (22).

b) Among the 400 million euro of advances outstanding for
more than 18 months that it has registered, the Commission
has not indicated the total value of unjustified amounts which
are to be recovered or cleared. The Court cannot establish what
fraction of the advances is, therefore, to be recovered and
included in the debt.

(a) Advances to be recovered are monitored, and this matter is the sub-
ject of a chapter in the management report. Careful analysis and
monitoring of advances in 2003 enabled EUR 56.2 million to be
recovered.

From 1 January 2005, accruals-based accounting will make it pos-
sible to establish provisions for potential recovery orders.(

(b) The Commission would underline the efforts made in 2003. A con-
siderable amount of work was directed towards identifying recoveries
of advances and there is very close monitoring of the action to be
taken as regards the recoveries.

(18) Instead of 30 April 2004, in accordance with Articles 102 and 135 of
the abovementioned Financial Regulation. However, a preliminary draft
was sent on 28 May 2004.

(19) The Commission did not forward to the Court the changes in the allo-
cations over the financial year, nor the totals for commitments and pay-
ments, by country, for the EDF resources managed by the EIB, as referred
to in Articles 96 and 125(2) of the Financial Regulation applicable to
the ninth EDF. The EIB did not submit these additional items of infor-
mation until 24 August 2004.

(20) In accordance with Articles 103(2) and 135 of the abovementioned
Financial Regulation. However, a version of the accounts that was in
principle a final version was informally sent to the Court on 14 Sep-
tember 2004.

(21) In accordance with Article 96(2) of the abovementioned Financial

Regulation.

(22) In his declaration, the Director-General for Budgets expressed two res-
ervations in respect of the EDF accounting system: the first concerned
the limits placed by the obsolete design of the system on the possibility
of an up-to-date presentation of assets, while the second concerned the
management of the accounts. (See also paragraph 1.8 of Chapter 1,
General budget, section.)

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22.
Funds transferred to the EIB in 2003 (209 million euro) and
to other international institutions in previous years, which have not
yet been fully utilised by those bodies, do not appear in the assets
on the balance sheet.

22. The Commission considers that these movements reflect payments to
external agents acting on behalf of the Commission. As such, the Com-
mission considers them to be genuine payments and not mere internal trea-
sury movements between accounts controlled by the EDF Accounting
Officer. The Commission would also point out that details of the amounts
outstanding on these transactions at 31 December 2003 are shown in
Table 4.2.3 in the Financial Implementation Report.

From 2005 onwards, following the introduction of accruals-based account-
ing, such transactions (pre-financing paid to intermediaries) will be shown
as an asset in the balance sheet, in accordance with the provisions of
Article 135(3) of the 9th EDF Financial Regulation.

23.
Following the Court’s earlier observations the Commission, in
2003, carried out an inventory of the use of the Stabex funds trans-
ferred to the local accounts of beneficiary countries. Local disburse-
ments from these accounts are still subject to Delegation approval
(see paragraphs 63-68). As at the end of 2003, the information
obtained by the Commission from the ACP States concerned was
still incomplete. The Court considers that even if the results are
incomplete, the Commission should include the results of this
inventory in its report on financial management and give the details
in the annex to the reports on financial implementation.

23. The Commission has collected data for 80 % of the countries con-
cerned, covering 97 % of the total amount of Stabex funds in the 7th and
8th EDFs.

The Commission intends to include the relevant information related to the
Stabex local account in an inventory. The local accounts, although the
Commission must co-sign in order to use them, are not the Commission’s
property. This detailed inventory is therefore to be included in the ‘Report
on Financial Management’. Following the recommendation of the Court, a
note on this issue is included in the balance sheet for the financial year
2003.

Legality and regularity of the underlying transactions

24. The observations expressed in paragraph III of the Statement
of Assurance are based on an analysis of the EDF supervisory sys-
tems and controls, examination of a sample of underlying transac-
tions, analysis of the annual activity report, and the declaration by
the Director-General of EuropeAid. The main conclusions are given
below.

Analysis of supervisory systems and controls

Improvement in supervisory systems and controls at Commission
level

Implementation of internal control standards

25. During 2003, EuropeAid, which is responsible for imple-
menting the EDF, has continued to introduce the various internal
control standards adopted by the Commission in 2001. The internal
control standards are being implemented simultaneously by the
Delegations and by headquarters, in parallel with the devolution
process, which will not be complete until the end of 2004. At the
level of the central services, the Court is able to draw the following
conclusions, which are principally based on the results of the analy-
sis of internal control standards carried out by the various Commis-
sion departments.

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26.
Each directorate-general was to introduce appropriate supervi-
sory measures, and in particular, where necessary, an ex-post review
of a sample of transactions. An ex-post financial management con-
trol unit was set up in 2003 at EuropeAid level. Its principal tasks
are to detect recurrent errors in the financial management and inter-
nal control systems and to propose measures to correct the weak-
nesses found. Accordingly, some 1 800 risk transactions underwent
a thorough ex-post review. The review concerned recovery orders,
outstanding amounts to be recovered, uncleared advances, guaran-
tees and sureties. The significant conclusions reached by the ex-post
review unit included observations on the checks on outstanding
advances and recoveries. More than 400 million euro of advances
outstanding for more than 18 months was registered in connection
with EDF projects. Furthermore, the various departments respon-
sible have been requested to deal with 27,5 million euro that are
still to be recovered.

27. The supervisory measures are supplemented by an ex-ante
control unit, set up as an interim precautionary measure. The unit
is not in itself required by the internal control standards. It began
work in June 2003 in the authorising directorate of the EDF and has
examined 540 out of a total of 5 261 transactions (both commit-
ments and payments). No significant errors have been detected
under the ex-ante procedure.

28.
In addition to these two units, there are other activities related
to the supervision of transactions, such as the production of check-
lists for commitments and payments, inter-unit meetings and audit
visits to Delegations. Generally speaking, supervision is more
extensive than it was, but it has still not been harmonised. To make
it more efficient, coordination is needed, in order to determine
which type of check covers which aspect of the legality and regu-
larity of the underlying transactions.

26. Advance payments are a normal and regular means of ensuring the
effective implementation of many aid projects and are monitored.

28.
EuropeAid continues to work towards strengthening and rationalis-
ing the measures already put in place. To that end, harmonisation (finan-
cial guide, centralised ex-post checks, checklists, etc.) was carried out in
2004.

29.
In accordance with the internal control standards, EuropeAid
has also developed an internal audit capability. As a result and as
regards the EDF, in 2003 the workloads of the Delegations (one
audit visit to Mali) and of headquarters were evaluated in the con-
text of devolution, as also, for the authorising directorate, the
progress made in implementing the internal control standards. In
addition, some essential work was done, thus making it possible to
identify the main risks and weaknesses of EuropeAid’s supervisory
systems and controls. In its Annual Report for 2002 the Court
emphasised some of those risks and weaknesses, in particular those
relating to checks on the reality of services, work and supplies paid
for by the EDF.

29. The Commission is aware that the management of EDF credits
involves some risks. Setting up improved control and monitoring systems
as well as regular audits helps to minimise those risks.

In the context of the annual declaration by the Director-General, none of
the weaknesses identified was regarded as material.

As the Commission stated in its reply to point 30 of the Court’s annual
report for 2002, it considers that the set of control systems set up for the
EDFs ensures the legality and regularity of the underlying operations. This
system allows any weaknesses at local authority level to be remedied.

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30. As regards ad hoc information concerning management, the exter-
nal aid management reports (EAMRs) devised at the end of 2002 (23)
were introduced in 2003. They are a periodic information resource
which enables the devolved Delegations to send to headquarters the
most important information on implementation, payments and
external audits relating to the largest projects. A standardised for-
mat has been sent out and is used by these Delegations. However,
as at March 2004 the Commission had still not received the full
complement of EAMRs, although these had been due by 31 Janu-
ary 2004. As well as providing the central services with occasional
information on management, the EAMRs are one of the basic ele-
ments for the preparation of the Director-General’s annual report
and declaration.

30.
External Assistance Management Reports are one of the informa-
tion tools used in the management of external aid that devolved delega-
tions send to the EuropeAid Directors responsible (authorising officers by
subdelegation) and to the Directorates-General for External Relations and
for Development. They constitute one of the information sources used by
the Directors to draw up their activity reports for the Director-General. The
EAMRs are not, however, used to prepare the annual report and declara-
tion of the Director-General. The instructions given to the delegations state
very clearly that producing an EAMR does not relieve a head of delegation
from the responsibility for informing the Director concerned in good time
of any problems or specific matters for which the Director is responsible as
the authorising officer for the appropriations managed by the Delegation.

31. As regards the reporting of irregularities, which is one of the
internal control standards, information concerning three cases of
alleged fraud linked to the EDF (Sierra Leone, Papua New Guinea
and the Dominican Republic) was sent to OLAF in 2003. The Del-
egations, which are closer to the beneficiaries, are more exposed
than the central services to cases of irregularity (and better informed
about them). The Commission must therefore continue to improve
staff awareness about these matters.

31.
In accordance with the internal control standards, delegations are
informed of the procedure to be followed when detecting irregularities or
suspected fraud, including the contacts to be made with OLAF. All new
members of staff, and those about to be seconded to a delegation, attend
compulsory courses to make them aware of the fight against irregularities.
This course is also open to all other officials.

33. Apart from the headquarters audit plan, altogether the plans of the
delegations for 2003 covered 192 audits at 1 July 2004.

Furthermore, the CRIS audit system was set up in 2004 for the EDFs.
There is, however, already a system for reporting audits which includes the
information on the audit (terms of reference, order form, mission, draft
report, etc.) and the main findings of the auditors.

Implementation of action plans

32.
In addition to the implementation of the internal control stan-
dards, the Court also examined the action plans for strengthening the
supervisory systems and controls. The action plans were introduced
following the 2002 annual activity report by the Director-General
of EuropeAid or were decided upon in view of the requirements
observed in 2003.

33. As regards external audits, headquarters units provide ad hoc
support for the Delegations and operational directorates. They have
drafted standard terms of reference so as to harmonise the audits
carried out by outside firms in respect of the vast majority of the
projects financed. The 2003 audit programme for headquarters thus
made provision for around 30 audits concerning the EDFs (these
were entrusted to external auditors), a relatively large figure when
compared with previous years. A new IT tool (CRIS Audit) was
introduced at the end of 2003, but was still only partially opera-
tional; it enables the Commission to monitor the planning and
implementation of external audits. However, as the tool is not
linked to the financial information system, the coverage of the
audits cannot be evaluated. Ultimately, CRIS Audit will be extended
to the audit activities of all the Delegations.

(23) Note AIDCO/HCS D(2002) 37709.

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34.
In spite of all these resources it is still difficult to establish the
level of additional assurance which external audits provide as
regards the legality and regularity of the transactions underlying the
EDF. The fact is that the follow-up of audit findings is still not very
effective owing to the wide range of uses to which the findings are
put by the various parties involved. Following the progress made in
standardising the terms of reference, an effort is now required to
ensure that audit findings are more adequately followed up.

34. The level of programming and follow-up of audits corresponds to
that of the management of the project that is to be audited, which gives a
better yield in terms of exploitation of results.

The Commission agrees that progress is needed in following up the con-
clusions of audits which is why it introduced a follow-up reporting system
in 2004.

35. Measure 2, which appears in the synthesis of the annual activ-
ity reports and declarations of the Directors-General for 2001, pro-
vided for an analysis of the risks associated with external aid. A working
document describing these risks was drafted by the Commission in
2003 (24). The analysis and measures it recommends take account
of the various ways in which external aid is implemented, i.e. on a
centralised, devolved or joint basis. This valid approach to risk
analysis and management must now be applied to each aid instru-
ment and type of project in order to help strengthen the supervi-
sory systems and controls.

36. The unit responsible for the ex-post control of financial man-
agement implemented a specific action plan in 2003 to reduce the
outstanding recoveries of 27,5 million euro accumulated in respect of
projects and owed to the EDF by third parties. This measure enabled
responsibility for initiating recoveries in this area to be divided
between the authorising officer and the accounting officer of the
EDF. It highlights the lack of coordination between the authorising
officer and the accounting officer of the EDF, as well as the Com-
mission’s difficulties in applying the provisions governing debts and
recoveries. Furthermore, no operational procedure was adopted for
clearing the new recovery orders which will arise in respect of
projects for the financial year 2003 and subsequent years.

35. The Commission will take account of the Court’s comments.

36.
In 2003, following the adoption of the specific plan, the services of
the authorising officer and the EDF accountant set up a system for follow-
ing up recovery orders which enabled considerable progress to be made
despite the particular difficulties affecting recovery under the EDF, due in
particular to the legal requirements and to the functioning of the OLAS
computer system. With better coordination and cooperation between the
two services, progress was also made with creating new operating proce-
dures for OLAS to facilitate the follow-up and settlement of recovery orders.

The setting-up in 2004 of an ex-post transaction control system within
EuropeAid will allow the problems of recovery orders to be dealt with in a
broader, integrated context of controls that supplement the regular recov-
ery activities carried out by authorising officers by subdelegation.

The devolution process, which brings management closer to the work in the
field, should also make the management of recovery orders more efficient.

(24) Document SEC(2004) 318.

C 293/334

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Official Journal of the European Union

30.11.2004

THE COURT’S OBSERVATIONS

THE COMMISSION’S REPLIES

Supervisory systems and controls in the ACP States generally
well-designed

37. The supervisory systems and controls of the EDF are based on
a partnership between the ACP States and the European Commis-
sion. In the case of contracts and payments the main partners are
the national authorising officer (the Minister for Finance or the Min-
ister for Foreign Affairs) and the Head of Delegation, who rely on
the checks carried out by other parties, including the technical min-
istries of the ACP States, programme management units, inspection
visits funded by projects, and technical assistants and outside
experts such as private-sector engineering consultants and auditors.

38. The Court carried out audits on the spot in six ACP States
(Kenya, Mali, Mauritania, Senegal, Papua New Guinea and the
Solomon Islands) so as to examine the EDF’s supervisory systems
and controls. As regards Stabex, the Court also examined on the
spot a sample of final payments from the local account which
received the funds to the beneficiaries of the Stabex programmes.

39. The supervisory systems and controls for contracts and pay-
ments in the ACP States visited were mostly well-designed. Very few
examples of applicable legislation not being observed were noted.

40. As regards the performance of the supervisory systems and
controls for payments, the national authorising officers responsible
under the Cotonou Agreement for authorising and clearing EDF
expenditure did not always verify that key controls in respect of
invoices had been correctly carried out by themselves or by other
parties. Consequently, some key controls were not carried out, e.g.
to ensure that the work, supplies or services provided complied
with the relevant contracts and that the financial clauses of the con-
tracts were observed (as regards price adjustments, the adequacy of
guarantees, the application of correct exchange rates, the payment
of part of a contract in euro rather than in local currency, etc.). The
Heads of Delegation, who are responsible for approving payment
authorisations, are therefore urged to rectify the shortcomings of
the national authorising officers. In some cases, however, they did
not check the reliability of these key controls, inter alia as regards
the beneficiaries’ utilisation of Stabex funds.

40.
In most ACP countries, the EDF finances the implementation of
support programmes for national authorising officers in order significantly
to increase their monitoring control capacity.

As part of the devolution process, the delegations have been strengthened
to allow them to shoulder their full responsibilities.

30.11.2004

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Official Journal of the European Union

C 293/335

THE COURT’S OBSERVATIONS

THE COMMISSION’S REPLIES

41. One positive step is that the devolved Delegations now use
checklists when authorising their payments. Checks are occasion-
ally listed as carried out and without anomaly where this is not the
case (e.g. a contractor who does not have a valid bank guarantee).

41. The use of checklists was set up and formalised in 2002. The Com-
mission is working on controlling the quality of use of the checklists, whilst
inspection visits and training for officials have been organised.

42. The follow-up to the conclusions and recommendations of
external audits of projects is varied and limited due to chronic delays
in audit reports and the administrative purpose often attributed to
them by the Delegations: all too often, audit reports simply serve as
supporting documents for the closure of a project or for further
payments into an imprest account, but do not lead to the necessary
adjustments being made.

42. The Commission would point out that:

(1) A large number of financial audits relating to programme estimates
are in fact carried out at the end of an action as they are a prerequisite
for the final payment.

(2) The financial audits of grant contracts are ordered by the beneficiary
of the contract in accordance with the detailed rules set out in the con-
tracts (see also reply to point 34).

43. As regards Stabex, the Commission has put itself in a situa-
tion where it is not possible for it to check the total use of the funds
as it has tolerated the national authorising officers’ failure to account
for their use, contrary to the requirement of Article 212 of the
revised Lomé Convention. Similarly, audit visits by the Court con-
firmed that local bank accounts into which Stabex funds were paid
had been used without the authorisation of the Head of Delegation
(Kenya and Mauritania) or that the Head of Delegation had autho-
rised movements of funds even though he was not on the (out of
date) list of authorised signatories used by the bank (Senegal).

Conclusion regarding supervisory systems and controls

44. The supervisory systems and controls for the EDF cover a
wide range of mechanisms and objectives. Renovation of these sys-
tems and controls began during the financial year 2003. It will be
necessary to wait until they have been consolidated, in order to
assess their actual contribution to the legality and regularity of the
underlying transactions. At the current stage, nevertheless, more
coordination is required so as to ensure that controls are not dupli-
cated and that significant risk areas are covered, particularly those
that take the form of anomalies noted by the Court. This will involve
applying the controls and conclusions of the Commission’s various
inspectors fully at Delegation level. Flows of Stabex funds must also
be subject to the appropriate level of internal control.

43. Article 212 provides for a report by the national authorising officer
on the use of funds by beneficiary countries. The flow of data received by
the Commission was not uniform. For that reason, and on the basis of the
Court’s recommendations, a comprehensive inventory was launched in
2003 in order to carry out a complete survey of these funds.

Following these inventories, the Commission is drafting more spe-
44.
cific and more detailed guidelines for the utilisation of the Stabex funds in
order to ensure better monitoring of the use by beneficiary countries of the
funds still available.

C 293/336

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Official Journal of the European Union

30.11.2004

THE COURT’S OBSERVATIONS

THE COMMISSION’S REPLIES

Audit of transactions

45. A sample of 49 payments was examined on the basis of the
documentation available at the Commission in Brussels and, where
appropriate, at the Delegations in the ACP States. In addition, 37
other payments, including the corresponding global and individual
commitments, were examined on the spot in the six ACP States
selected so as to establish how the supervisory systems and controls
performed, especially as regards the reality of the work, supplies or
services covered by the documentation.

46. As far as direct budget support is concerned (see para-
graph 19), the legal framework of the EDFs offers considerable
scope for interpretation and exemptions. Furthermore, the checks
in respect of the legality and regularity of the underlying transac-
tions merely verify that the relevant conditions have been appro-
priately assessed. The initial assessments that are performed when
the financial commitments are adopted are not sufficiently forma-
lised in terms of each of the criteria listed in Article 61(2) of the
Cotonou Agreement. Formalisation of this kind is essential, espe-
cially as regards the transparency, reliability and effectiveness of the
management of public finances, otherwise it will subsequently not
be possible to judge whether that management has improved, a pre-
requisite for further aid. The criteria for releasing further funds
largely consist of macroeconomic indicators, which provide only
part of the information about the management of public finances.

46. As regards the adoption of financial commitments, the Commission
proposals for financing submitted to the Member States systematically
include an assessment of the macroeconomic situation and public finances
which, based on the most recent data, analyses the themes and the issue
concerned by the criteria in Article 61, paragraph 2. It is designed in prin-
ciple to provide the information listed in paragraph 3.4 of the Guide for
budget support issued in March 2002.

It is also useful to restate the major principles governing the release of
tranches of budget support:

— for fixed tranches, a macroeconomic balance must prevail, verified by

the existence of a programme with the Bretton Woods Institutions;

— for performance or variable tranches, the indicators are different:

in-
dicators linked to results (reflecting the implementation of poverty
reduction strategies), general budget performance indicators (imple-
mentation rates, payment periods, etc.); process indicators linked to
sectoral reforms or the management of public finances.

The Commission shares the Court’s view of the importance of in-depth, rig-
orous monitoring of public finances in the countries benefiting from bud-
get support. The public finance analysis framework, comprising 28 indi-
cators and developed with other donors under the Public Expenditure and
Financial Accountability project, was tested in a number of ACP countries
in 2004 with a view to becoming operational in 2005. Lastly, since
2003, the headquarters of EuropeAid has developed a template for moni-
toring the management of public finances which allows the Delegations to
present quarterly reports on this subject.

30.11.2004

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Official Journal of the European Union

C 293/337

THE COURT’S OBSERVATIONS

THE COMMISSION’S REPLIES

Financial commitments

47. According to Article 17(2) of Annex IV to the Cotonou
Agreement, the financing agreement between the Commission and
the ACP State or States must be drawn up within 60 days of the
decision by the Community’s decision-making body. As far as the
Court is concerned, the only evidence that a financing agreement
has been drawn up is that it has been signed by both parties. Out of
a sample of more than a hundred new commitments in 2003, i.e.
nearly all of the financial commitments charged to the financial
year, 82 % were covered by a financing agreement signed within 60
days of the decision. Of the remaining 18 %, 3 % (25) were signed
more than 120 days after the initial decision. This situation is an
improvement over previous years. Nevertheless, the Commission
must indicate how it intends to ensure that future agreements are
drawn up within the 60-day time limit.

47. Drawing up a financing agreement in 60 days does not mean that
the agreement has been signed. However, the Commission acknowledges
that by virtue of this rule diligence is required in implementing a financing
decision. This in fact occurs in a large majority of cases, as the percentages
quoted by the Court indicate.

Some 99 % of financing agreements are signed by the Commission within
60 days. The rare exceptions are cases (involving in particular direct bud-
get support) where it emerges after the decision is taken that the conditions
for concluding the agreement are no longer fulfilled, so that to maintain
sound financial management it is necessary to wait until they have been
re-established before continuing with signing.

Individual legal commitments

48. The few isolated and unimportant errors regarding individual
legal commitments were as follows:

48.

(a)

guarantees in support of contracts are characterised by
repeated irregularities: some are not provided and others are
incomplete or are provided after the deadline has expired;

(a) The Commission has taken steps to improve the monitoring of bank
guarantees; a specific module relating to bank guarantees in OLAS
has been developed and instructions sent to the delegations.

The Commission would point out that the Court has not identified any
negative financial impact due to that finding.

(b)

(c)

there are still cases where significant further changes to con-
tracts have resulted in the actual final amount exceeding the
statutory limits on changes;

some Delegations follow the practice of signing contracts with-
out dating them or without requiring the contractors and the
national authorising officer to date the contracts that they
approve. This anomaly makes it difficult for the Delegations to
ensure that the regulations are applied when the latter depend
directly on the date on which the contracts have been signed
(e.g. to verify that the national authorising officer did not
approve the contract until the contractor had provided a per-
formance guarantee).

(c) The Commission notes that the signature of a delegation endorses a
contract. The date of the endorsement therefore does not have the
same contractual value as that of the signature of the contractors.

(25) These agreements account for a little less than 1 % of the total sum

approved.

C 293/338

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

30.11.2004

THE COURT’S OBSERVATIONS

THE COMMISSION’S REPLIES

Payments

49. The few isolated and unimportant errors regarding individual
legal commitments concerned:

(a) payments not in line with contractual stipulations (in terms of
price, methods of payment, and the type and quantity of
articles);

(b)

reimbursement of expenditure which was ineligible because
there was no provision for it in the contract;(

c)

reimbursement of expenditure for which the supporting docu-
ments explicitly required by the contract were not provided by
the applicant;(

d) payments for work, articles or services the reality of which was

not confirmed by reasonable prior assurance.

50. Other, more frequent, errors were noted regarding the imple-
mentation of procedures; however, their potential impact on the
actual substance of the payments is difficult to assess (e.g. the scope
for interest on arrears where suppliers’ payments are late).

50. The Commission considers that considerable progress has been made
in the last few years in reducing payment delays. It believes that the efforts
should be continued and the Court’s recommendations adopted.

51. The production of reports after contractually stipulated dead-
lines is a frequent procedural irregularity. Where these reports con-
cern the implementation of the projects, the delay is often indica-
tive of a weakness in the financial management of the projects. In
the case of audit contracts, the late production of audit reports sig-
nificantly reduces the possibility of the authorising officer’s taking
effective corrective action and follow-up. In general, further pay-
ments should be conditional upon these reports.

51. As regards the submission of contract reports, it is for the contrac-
tors to supply them. The Commission makes every effort to receive them in
time. The question of audit reports has already been dealt with in para-
graph 42.

30.11.2004

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Official Journal of the European Union

C 293/339

THE COURT’S OBSERVATIONS

THE COMMISSION’S REPLIES

52.
Some further anomalies affecting the handling of certain pay-
ments or revenue complete the list of areas of EDF internal control
to be strengthened as a matter of priority:

52.

(a) payments from local Stabex bank accounts, which do not
appear in the Commission’s accounts, must nevertheless be
jointly authorised by the local Delegation and the national
authorising officer. However, some of these payments were
not signed by the Delegation;

(b)

the bank interest generated by some projects’ cash accounts is
not entered in the accounts, even though it is supposed to be
allocated to the resources of the corresponding projects. This
anomaly could be remedied by means of appropriate bank rec-
onciliation checks.

Annual activity report and declaration by the Director-General of EuropeAid

53. The annual activity report and the declaration cover activities
financed from the general budget as well as those of the EDF, even
though each of these areas is subject to a different financial regula-
tion. The report cites the EDF on some points but says nothing
about others, which makes it difficult to decide how far the point
or reservation concerned may or may not affect the EDF (e.g. the
250 million euro in contracts affected by the reservation about
NGO associations). To make future reports easier to read, the Court
would like to see the information and observations about the EDF
presented more clearly in the annual report and in the declaration
itself.

(b)

In the case of a programme estimate, it is for the project accountant
to enter bank interest in the accounts. External audits allow the Com-
mission to check that accounts are being kept properly in this respect.

53. The reserve does not affect the EDF inasmuch as all the actions cov-
ered by the food aid instrument are financed from resources coming from
the Community budget.

The annual activity report covers all the activities managed by the autho-
rising officer by delegation and is not intended to provide a breakdown of
those data by source of programme financing. The data and the assess-
ment of the control system, as well as the declaration, concern the func-
tioning of the system overall without distinguishing between the budget and
the EDF. The report focuses rather on the concept of Activity (ABB) which
goes beyond the strict Budget/EDF demarcation. Thus the Activity ‘Rela-
tions with the ACP States and the OCT’ covers operations financed by
funds from the Budget and the EDF. It should also be noted that a break-
down of data by ABB Activity is provided in a specific section of the Report.

The Commission will take account of the wishes of the Court, within the
limits of the aims and the format of Annual Activity Reports.

C 293/340

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Official Journal of the European Union

30.11.2004

THE COURT’S OBSERVATIONS

THE COMMISSION’S REPLIES

54. The debts still to be established and the correct use of the Sta-
bex funds correspond to an amount which is, in all likelihood,
material as regards the quality of the financial information. The
Director-General should therefore have made a reservation to this
effect (see paragraph 21).

54. Once transferred to the beneficiary countries, Stabex funds belong to
them and have officially left EDF accounts. The subsequent use made of the
funds by the beneficiary country therefore has no formal impact on EDF
accounts.

55. Owing to the incomplete nature of the results of the Stabex
inventory (see paragraph 23), the Director-General did not at that
time have all the information he needed to conclude in his declara-
tion on the use of resources for the specified purposes in accor-
dance with the principle of sound financial management, and on
the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions.

Stabex was an instrument for the rapid disbursement of funds and
55.
was designed to offset reductions in the export revenues from key agricul-
tural products in the ACP countries. It disappeared with the entry into force
of the Cotonou Agreements in April 2003. Thus the last transfers to be
carried out concern funds which it had been decided in preceding years to
transfer to the beneficiary countries that satisfied the eligibility criteria. No
Stabex transfers took place in 2003. The annual declaration by the
Director-General concerns 2003.

The EDF accounts did not contain any information on the use made of Sta-
bex funds by beneficiary States as, once the funds are transferred to the ben-
eficiaries under the ‘Transfer Agreements’, they belong to those countries
and have officially left the EDF accounts.

Beneficiary States are required (see reply to paragraph 43) to report to the
Commission on the use of these funds; it is then possible for the Commis-
sion, after informing the EC-ACP Council of Ministers, to defer the appli-
cation of decisions on further transfers if the information supplied by the
beneficiary State is not deemed satisfactory. On the basis of the informa-
tion received from the beneficiaries in the past, the Commission has never
actually done this. However, as there is no harmonised reporting system to
ensure the uniformity of information received by the delegations, the Com-
mission launched an inventory of the funds in 2003 in order to monitor
the funds outside the accountings and consolidate all the information avail-
able.

Changes in the performance of the supervisory systems and
controls

56. All the above observations are to be included in a table of
indicators, so that changes in the performance of supervisory sys-
tems and controls can be evaluated (see Table 4).

30.11.2004

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Official Journal of the European Union

C 293/341

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C 293/342

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

30.11.2004

THE COURT’S OBSERVATIONS

THE COMMISSION’S REPLIES

CHAPTER III — FOLLOW-UP TO PREVIOUS OBSERVATIONS

Including the EDF in the general budget

Summary of previous observations

57. On several occasions, the Court has made observations con-
cerning the complications and difficulties of implementing succes-
sive EDFs and has considered, as a possible solution, that they be
included in the budget (26). The Commission undertook to submit
a communication in 2003 on the advantages and drawbacks of
including the EDF in the budget (26). For the Commission, includ-
ing it in the budget, which the European Parliament has also been
recommending for a long time, would provide a solution to the
recurrent
transitional problems that are associated with the
setting-up of new EDFs; it would also permit uninterrupted imple-
mentation of the agreements reached with ACP States.

Development of the situation

58. On 8 October 2003, the Commission adopted a communi-
cation to the Council and the Parliament entitled ‘Towards the full
integration of cooperation with ACP States in the EU budget’, in
which it develops its reasoning in favour of integration. All the par-
ties concerned (and the ACP States in particular) are giving careful
consideration to this question. The European Parliament has already
spoken in favour of the rapid ‘budgetisation’ of the EDFs (see para-
graph 42 of the 2002 discharge report).

Participation in auditing the EDF by the ACP States’ Supreme Audit
Institutions

Summary of previous observations

59.
In the context of earlier examinations of EDF manage-
ment (27), the Court, the Parliament and the Council stressed how
important the establishment and support of strong, effective and
independent Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) could be in improv-
ing the quality of public finance management in the ACP States,
especially the audit of operations financed by the EDF.

(26) Most recently in the Annual Report on the activities of the sixth, sev-
enth and eighth EDFs concerning the financial year 2002 (paragraph 10
and the corresponding reply).

(27) In particular in the course of the examination of the Court’s Annual
Reports on the activities of the sixth, seventh and eighth EDFs concern-
ing the financial years 1999 (paragraphs 46-47), 2001 (paragraphs
46-47) and 2002 (paragraphs 39-43).

57. The Commission does indeed consider that including EDFs in the
budget would be a solution to the problems of transition between EDFs but
points out that this is not the sole argument in its favour (standard pro-
cedures, budgetary transparency, dropping of the negotiation and ratifica-
tion process, and all the time that takes). See the Commission reply to
point 12.

58. The Commission has suggested that EDFs be included in the budget
on several occasions. In view of the enlargement of the EU and the deci-
sions to be taken on the financial perspective 2007-2013, it would be par-
ticularly desirable to incorporate EDFs in the budget from 2007/2008.

59-60. Direct support for the Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) takes
the form of projects not covered by the budget support financing agreements
and also of one-off technical assistance operations financed from budget
resources for institutional support (budget lines managed in accordance
with EDF procedures) which, in each budget support financing agreement,
supplement the funds allocated. The Commission has updated the infor-
mation contained in Annex 6 and included the one-off operations referred
to above. Direct support operations, irrespective of financing source, are
ongoing in nine countries and being studied in seven others.

30.11.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 293/343

THE COURT’S OBSERVATIONS

THE COMMISSION’S REPLIES

— where direct support for an SAI is not provided by the Commission, it
is often supplied by another donor following consultations in which
the Commission is involved.

— support for SAIs can also take an indirect form through the incorpo-
ration in the financing agreements on the budget support of condi-
tions and/or process indicators to strengthen the status and resources
of such institutions,

— the Commission also intends, wherever possible, to involve SAIs in the

public finance assessments.

The Commission intends to present a proposal to systematise and better
structure its support for SAIs. It would be delivered under the action plans
stemming from the public finance reform programmes running in each
ACP country and operated jointly with all the partners involved in the bud-
get support, especially the Member States.

Development of the situation

60. While indicating that it shared this view and was working
towards the same end, the Commission made it known that, since
for it this was a new and politically sensitive field, it was adopting a
gradualist approach (28). In response to the Parliament’s request for
information on EDF financing for the SAIs (29), the Commission set
out, in Annex 5 to its financial management report for the financial
year 2003, a list of 14 projects that included support for public
audit bodies in particular. The Court has taken note of the clear
value of these projects, which are essentially concerned with
strengthening ministries of finance, and on occasion strengthening
their internal control structure. However, only one or two aim
chiefly at strengthening the SAIs.

(28) Paragraph 41 of the Commission’s reply to the above-mentioned report

concerning the financial year 2002.

(29) Paragraph 23 of the discharge report for the financial year 2002.

C 293/344

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

30.11.2004

THE COURT’S OBSERVATIONS

THE COMMISSION’S REPLIES

Monitoring of Stabex funds

Summary of previous observations

61. The Court of Auditors has published observations regarding
Stabex funds on several occasions (30). In all these observations it
emphasised that there was no appropriate monitoring of accounts
to make it possible to determine when and how these funds had
finally been used.

61. As soon as Stabex funds are first transferred to the recipient coun-
tries, they become the property of those countries and are no longer included
in the EDF accounts, although the Delegations continue to monitor their
use closely. In 2003 the Commission produced an inventory of the funds
in order to monitor them by a non-accounting procedure.

Stabex has not existed since the 9th EDF and, as the FLEX instrument pro-
vided for in the Cotonou Agreement is fully compatible with the standar-
dised EDF system, the problems identified by the Court will not occur again
in the future (see Commission reply to point 68).

62. The EuropeAid Cooperation Office recently reiterated that the
ACP States could only use Stabex funds after specific conditions had
been met and with the Commission’s agreement, and that it would
take steps to monitor and report on the situation (31).

62. On the basis of the analysis of the inventories on the use of Stabex
funds at 31 December 2003 sent by the Delegations, more detailed and
precise standard procedures and formats will be introduced before the end
of the 2004 accounting year and will be fully operational by 2005.

63. On the basis of the information supplied (at 1 July 2004) by 80 %
of the countries concerned which covers 97 % of total Stabex funds in the
seventh and eighth EDFs, there was some EUR 700 million still to be
committed by the beneficiary countries at 31 December 2003.

64.
In general, the bulk of Stabex resources were allocated to the target
rural populations. In the case of Kenya and the last transfer of EUR 50 mil-
lion earmarked for targeted budget aid, the measures are specifically aimed
at the geographic areas affected by the fall in revenue that is the reason for
the Stabex funds in question.

Development of the situation

63.
In 2003, the Commission made an inventory of all the Sta-
bex funds that had hitherto been transferred to the ACP States and
that remained partially unused in bank accounts at the end of 2002.
By means of this information, which was still incomplete when the
final accounts for 2003 were presented, the Commission was able
for the first time in years to provide an estimate of the amount that
had not yet been utilised by the beneficiary countries — around
700 million euro.

64. Although they have been transferred to the beneficiary coun-
tries and have formally left the EDF accounts, the Commission con-
tinues to share responsibility for these funds and retains control
over their proper use through the requirement that its agents sign
final payments. When preparing the Statement of Assurance, the
Court examined this specific aspect of Commission management.
Stabex funds are normally assigned to productive investment
projects in the field affected by the decline in export earnings that
underlies the transfer decision (32), yet they are sometimes used by
common agreement to support operations with no obvious link to
the field in question (for example, 50 million euro in targeted bud-
get aid for Kenya, assigned to meet, amongst other things, teachers’
salary payments, was funded from compensation for the fall in rev-
enue from the country’s coffee exports).

(30) In particular, in Special Report No 2/95 (OJ C 167, 3.7.1995) and, most
recently, in the Annual Reports on the activities of the sixth, seventh and
eighth EDFs concerning the financial years 2001 (paragraph 19) and
2002 (paragraphs 49-51).

(31) Report by the Director-General of the EuropeAid Cooperation Office for

2003.

(32) Article 186(2) of the fourth Lomé Convention.

30.11.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 293/345

THE COURT’S OBSERVATIONS

THE COMMISSION’S REPLIES

65. Broadly speaking, there is very little rigour in the management
of Stabex funds and the monitoring of the funds via the accounts,
which goes a long way towards explaining why the Commission
had such difficulty in regaining control of the accounting informa-
tion on the funds. For example, the interest revenue generated by
the funds is sometimes irregularly accounted for and utilised (cf. in
particular in Papua-New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, where
interest revenue was not included in the accounts and was used for
expenditure that was wholly unexplained).

65.
Following the inventories completed in 2003, the Comission is
drafting new, more precise and detailed guidelines for the utilisation of Sta-
bex funds in order to improve monitoring and the use of unused funds.

As regards the Court’s comment on Papua-New Guinea and the Solomon
Islands, the Commission has initiated an audit.

66.
Since the outset, in fact, the Commission has paid too little
attention to the need for a minimum framework for monitoring the
proper use of Stabex funds. The Commission’s Delegations have
had no reference framework and no guidelines for monitoring the
funds. The only obligation placed upon the partners, which was that
they report on the use of Stabex funds — a requirement not always
heeded in practice — rapidly proved to be inadequate in this respect.

66. The comment of the Court of Auditors should be viewed in the con-
text of the original purpose of Stabex and its totally decentralised manage-
ment of funds as soon as they have been transferred to the countries. The
initial aim of Stabex was to set up a rapid payment mechanism and a flex-
ible system for directly compensating small producers for income lost in the
preceding farm year. Although the reference framework was not always very
exact in the case of Stabex funds owing to its very specific nature, it was
always clear that the rules and procedures of the seventh and eighth EDFs
also applied to Stabex. A number of Delegations and national Authoris-
ing Officers managed to use the instrument successfully.

67.
It is crucial, now that the Commission is starting to regain
control over these operations, which in some cases got under way
more than a decade ago, that it adopt a general strategy with its
partners to clear unused funds once and for all. Having agreed on
an appropriate legal framework, it could envisage using funds in
such a way as to supplement the budget support that it grants to
beneficiary States in other ways.

67. The Commission will make every effort to ensure that all the funds
are committed in respect of the beneficiary countries by the end of 2005;
budget support will constitute a valuable means of achieving this wherever
conditions allow.

68. The Commission will need in any case to ensure that similar
operations provided for under the Cotonou agreements (FLEX) are
correctly managed and monitored in such a way that it can prove
within a reasonable period of time that the funds in question have
been put to appropriate use.

68. The FLEX arrangements provide either for budget aid or, failing
that, for additional resources for the programmable part (envelope A) of the
9th EDF. In both cases expenditure is included in the standardised account-
ing system of the 9th EDF and follows the relevant rules. The problems
experienced with Stabex should not arise with FLEX.

C 293/346

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

30.11.2004

THE COURT’S OBSERVATIONS

THE COMMISSION’S REPLIES

CHAPTER IV — MAIN OBSERVATIONS SET OUT IN SPECIAL
REPORTS PUBLISHED BY THE COURT SINCE THE LAST
DISCHARGE PROCEDURE

Special Report No 15/2003 concerning the audit of microproject
programmes financed by the EDF

69.
Some 2 % of EDF aid takes the form of multiannual micro-
project programmes which finance small-scale infrastructure
projects. The Court examined the management and control by the
Commission’s central services and, in six ACP States (Ghana, Mada-
gascar, Malawi, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe), by its Delegations.
The Court also checked whether the aims of the programmes had
been achieved.

70. The main observations concern the formulation of the pro-
grammes, their implementation and the concrete results achieved in
the countries selected. The Court gave a positive opinion of the
microproject programmes, noting nonetheless that:

(a)

the Commission’s central services have insufficient informa-
tion about these programmes and did not provide the Delega-
tions with appropriate guidelines. The legal status of the units
that manage the programmes in the ACP States is not always
clear. Implementation of the programmes by means of ‘pro-
gramme estimates’ can be confused or slow. Although the pro-
cedures for management and control are, on the whole, satis-
factory, deficiencies remain and the information systems are
often poorly designed or applied;

70. The Commission welcomes the positive view taken by the Court of
the multiannual microproject programmes.

(a) Although in the past the central services have encountered difficulties
in monitoring microprojects more closely, they are endeavouring to
play an increasingly important role in terms of thematic support and
dissemination of good practice and are currently drawing up a gen-
eral guide for microprojects.

Whilst the legal status of the management units is not always clear,
their main relations with the national Authorising Officer are none-
theless laid down in protocols or contracts.

Projects requiring lengthy preparations can be slow as regards imple-
mentation and disbursement of funds but have the advantage of fos-
tering better understanding of projects by local authorities, which then
have a better insight into the spirit of the projects.

The 9th EDF now includes adequate provisions for improving the reli-
ability and effectiveness of the management of the ‘programme esti-
mates’.

The EuropeAid Cooperation Office has now finished drawing up a
register of ongoing microprojects and those completed since January
2003.

(b)

although the difficulties of precisely measuring impact are
under-estimated, the fact that microprojects are useful to the
communities concerned is widely attested and verifiable. The
conditions that impact on the sustainability of projects appear
to have been satisfied, but they may be affected by the weak-
nesses of local authorities.

(b) The Commission attaches considerable importance to strengthening
institutional capacities at all levels with a view to promoting the sus-
tainability of results. Local administrations and municipalities are
encouraged as much as possible to support the process of ownership
and the sustainability of results.

30.11.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 293/347

THE COURT’S OBSERVATIONS

THE COMMISSION’S REPLIES

Following its audit, the Court recommends that the Commis-

71.
sion:

71.
In its replies, the Commission agrees with the greater part of the
Court’s observations and recommendations and explains how it intends to
implement the Court’s main recommendations.

The EuropeAid Cooperation Office plans to:

(a)

improve the organisation of its central services in order to
exploit this form of cooperation more fully;

(a)

play a greater support role;

(b) provide the Delegations with precise and consistent guidelines
that are appropriate for microprojects, exercise greater control
over the management system and provide it with a better legal
framework, so that programme implementation can be moni-
tored more easily;

(b)

translate best practice into a detailed guide and ensure that pro-
gramme management is more reliable and effective;

(c)

(d)

ensure that implementation of the programmes allows the
project cycle to be monitored and time limits respected in
accordance with the priority expectations of the communities
concerned;

(c)

as far as possible, involve local authorities and municipalities in
projects in order to improve efficiency and ensure that results are sus-
tainable. The provisions of the Cotonou Agreement enable the decen-
tralised stakeholders to play a more important role in this area;

adopt realistic methods of measuring results, examine in
greater depth ways of securing the medium-term sustainabil-
ity of microprojects in ACP States, particularly with respect to
the role of local authorities, and encourage appraisals that deal
with more than one country.

(d)

launch a cross-section evaluation of microprojects in 2004.

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C 293/349

Chart illustrating the consolidated sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth EDFs as at 31 December 2003

(1) The total resources in the revenue and expenditure accounts (43 408,6 million euro) differ by 24,1 million euro from the total resources in the consolidated
balance sheet (43 432,7 million euro) since the revenue and expenditure accounts do not include the capitalised interest related to Stabex (27 million euro),
other operations of minor importance (0,3 million euro) and provisions for loss in value of investments (– 3,2 million euro).

Source: Court of Auditors, from the 2003 annual EDFrevenue and expenditure accounts and accounting balance.

ANNEXES

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III

ANNEX I

Financial Information

CONTENTS

PRELIMINARY NOTES

Sources of financial data

Monetary unit

Abbreviations and symbols

BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON THE BUDGET

1. Origin of the budget

2. Legal basis

3. Main budgetary principles laid down in the Treaties and the Financial Regulation

4. Content and structure of the budget

5.

Financing of the budget (budgetary revenue)

6. Types of budget appropriation

7.

Implementation of the budget

7.1. Responsibility for implementation

7.2. Implementation of revenue

7.3. Implementation of expenditure

7.4. The consolidated statements of budgetary implementation and determination of the

balance of the financial year

8. Presentation of the accounts

9. External audit

10. Discharge and follow-up

DIAGRAMS

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SOURCES OF FINANCIAL DATA

PRELIMINARY NOTES

The financial data contained in this Annex have been drawn from the annual accounts of the European Communi-
ties (1) and from other financial records provided by the Commission. The geographical distribution is in accordance
with the country codes in the Commission’s system of accounting information (Sincom 2). As the Commission points
out, all the figures given by Member State — for both revenue and expenditure — are the result of arithmetic that
gives an incomplete view of the benefits that each State derives from the Union. They must therefore be interpreted
with circumspection.

MONETARY UNIT

All the financial data are presented in millions of euro. The totals are rounded from each exact value and will not
therefore necessarily represent the sum of the rounded-off figures.

ABBREVIATIONS AND SYMBOLS

Appropriations for commitment
AFC
Appropriations for payment
AFP
Austria
AT
Belgium
BE
Commitment appropriations
CA
Budgetary chapter
Ch.
European Coal and Steel Community
CS
Germany
DE
Diagram referred to within other diagrams (e.g. DIA III)
DIA
Differentiated appropriations
DA
Denmark
DK
Danish crown (krone)
DKK
EAEC or EA European Atomic Energy Community
EC
EEC
EFTA
EL
ES
EU
EUR 15
FR
FR
FI
GBP
GNI
IE
IT
LU
NDA

European Community(ies)
European Economic Community
European Free Trade Association
Greece
Spain
European Union
Total of the 15 Member States of the European Union
France
Financial Regulation of 25 June 2002
Finland
Pound sterling
Gross National Income
Ireland
Italy
Luxembourg
Non-differentiated appropriations

(1) In the case of the 2003 financial year: final annual accounts relating to operations under the 2003 budget (SEC(2004) 1181).

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V

NL
OJ
P
PA
S.
S
SEK
Ss.
T.
UK
VAT
0,0
—
%

Netherlands
Official Journal of the European Union
Portugal
Payment appropriations
Budgetary section
Sweden
Swedish crown (krona)
Budgetary subsection
Budgetary title
United Kingdom
Value-added tax
Data between zero and 0,05
Lack of data
Percentage

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BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON THE BUDGET

1. ORIGIN OF THE BUDGET

The budget comprises the expenditure of the European Economic Community and the European Atomic Energy
Community (Euratom). It also includes administrative expenditure on cooperation in the fields of ‘justice and home
affairs’ and the common foreign and security policy, as well as all other expenditure that the Council considers should
be borne by the budget for the purpose of implementing these policies.

2.

LEGAL BASIS

The budget is governed by the financial provisions of the Treaty of Rome (2) (3) (Articles 268 to 280 EC and Articles
171 to 183 Euratom) and by the Financial Regulations (4).

3. MAIN BUDGETARY PRINCIPLES LAID DOWN IN THE TREATIES AND THE FINANCIAL REGULATION

All items of Community revenue and expenditure are to be included in a single budget (unity and accuracy). The bud-
get is authorised for one financial year only (annuality). Budgetary revenue and expenditure must balance (equilib-
rium). The accounts are established, implemented and presented in euro (unit of account). Revenue is to be used with-
out distinction to finance all expenditure and, like the expenditure, is to be entered in full in the budget and
subsequently in the financial statements without any adjustment of one item against another (universality). The appro-
priations are specialised by titles and chapters; the chapters are subdivided into articles and items (speciality). The bud-
getary appropriations are used in accordance with the principles of sound financial management, i.e. in accordance
with the principles of economy, efficiency and effectiveness (sound financial management). The budget is established
and implemented and the accounts are presented in observance of the principle of transparency (transparency). There
are some exceptions to these general principles.

4. CONTENT AND STRUCTURE OF THE BUDGET

The budget consists of a ‘Summary statement of revenue and expenditure’ and sections divided into ‘Statements of
revenue and expenditure’ for each institution. The eight sections are: (I) Parliament; (II) Council; (III) Commission, (IV)
Court of Justice; (V) Court of Auditors; (VI) Economic and Social Committee; (VII) Committee of the Regions; (VIII)
European Ombudsman and European Data Protection Officer.

Within each section, items of revenue and expenditure are classified under budget headings (titles, chapters, articles
and, where applicable, items) according to their type or the use to which they are to be applied.

(2) Treaty of Rome (25 March 1957): Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (EEC).
(3) Treaty of Rome (25 March 1957): Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom).
(4) Mainly the Financial Regulation (FR) of 25 June 2002 (OJ L 248, 16.9.2002).

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5.

FINANCING OF THE BUDGET (BUDGETARY REVENUE)

The budget is mainly financed from the Communities’ own resources: agricultural duties, sugar and isoglucose levies;
customs duties; own resources accruing from VAT and GNI-based own resources (5).

Besides own resources, there are other, marginal items of revenue; (See Diagram I).

6. TYPES OF BUDGET APPROPRIATION

To cover estimated expenditure, the following types of budget appropriation are distinguished in the budget:

a) differentiated appropriations (DA) are used to finance multiannual activities in certain budgetary areas. They com-

prise commitment appropriations (CA) and payment appropriations (PA):

— commitment appropriations make it possible to enter into legal obligations during the financial year for

activities whose implementation extends over several financial years;

— payment appropriations make it possible to cover expenditure arising from commitments entered into dur-

ing current and preceding financial years.

b) non-differentiated appropriations (NDA) make it possible to ensure the commitment and payment of expendi-

ture relating to annual activities during each financial year.

It is thus important to establish the following two totals for each financial year:

a)

the total of appropriations for commitments (AFC) (6) = non-differentiated appropriations (NDA) + commit-
ment appropriations (CA) (6);

b)

the total of appropriations for payments (AFP) (6) = non-differentiated appropriations (NDA) + payment appro-
priations (PA) (6).

(5) Principal legal acts relating to own resources: Council Decision 2000/597/EC, Euratom of 29 September 2000 (OJ L 253,
7.10.2000); Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1150/2000 of 22 May 2000 (OJ L 130, 31.5.2000); Council Regulation
(EEC, Euratom) No 1553/89 of 29 May 1989 (OJ L 155, 7.6.1989); Sixth Council Directive of 17 May 1977, common system
of VAT: uniform assessment basis (OJ L 145, 13.6.1977); Council Directive 89/130/EEC, Euratom of 13 February 1989 on the
harmonisation of the compilation of GNI (OJ L 49, 21.2.1989), Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1287/2003 of 15 July
2003 on the harmonisation of gross national income at market prices (OJ L 181, 19.7.2003).

(6) It is important to note the differences between ‘appropriations for commitments’ and ‘commitment appropriations’ and
between ‘appropriations for payments’ and ‘payment appropriations’. The two terms ‘commitment appropriations’ and ‘pay-
ment appropriations’ are used exclusively in the context of differentiated appropriations.

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Revenue raised in the budget is intended to cover the total appropriations for payments. Commitment appropria-
tions do not need to be covered by revenue.

The following simplified presentation (with illustrative amounts) shows the impact of these types of appropriations
in each budget year.

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7.

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE BUDGET

7.1. Responsibility for implementation

The Commission implements the budget under its own responsibility in accordance with the Financial Regulation
and within the limits of the allotted appropriations; it also confers upon the other institutions the requisite powers
for the implementation of the sections of the budget relating to them (7). The Financial Regulation lays down the
implementation procedures and, in particular, the responsibilities of the authorising officers, accounting officers,
administrators of imprest accounts and internal auditors of the institutions. In two main specific areas (EAGGF-
Guarantee and Structural Funds) the management of Community funds is shared with the Member States.

7.2.

Implementation of revenue

The estimated revenue is entered in the budget subject to changes deriving from amending budgets.

The budgetary implementation of revenue consists of establishing the entitlements and recovering the revenue due
to the Communities (own resources and other revenue). It is governed by certain special provisions (8). The actual
revenue of a financial year is defined as the total of sums collected against entitlements established during the current
financial year and sums collected against entitlements still to be recovered from previous financial years.

7.3.

Implementation of expenditure

The estimated expenditure is entered in the budget.

The budgetary implementation of expenditure, i.e. the evolution and utilisation of appropriations, may be sum-
marised as follows:

(a) appropriations for commitments:

(i)

evolution of appropriations: the total appropriations for commitments available in a financial year are made up
as follows: initial budget (NDA and CA) + amending budgets + assigned revenue + transfers + commitment
appropriations carried over from the preceding financial year + non-automatic carry-overs from the preced-
ing financial year not yet committed + released commitment appropriations from preceding financial years
which have been made available again;

(ii) utilisation of appropriations: the final appropriations for commitments are available in the financial year for
use in the form of commitments entered into (appropriations for commitments utilised = amount of com-
mitments entered into);

(iii) carry-overs of appropriations from one financial year to the next financial year: appropriations belonging to the finan-
cial year which have not been utilised may be carried over to the next financial year following a decision by
the institution concerned. Appropriations available as assigned revenue are automatically carried over;

(iv) cancellation of appropriations: the balance is cancelled;

(7) See Articles 274 of the EC Treaty, 179 of the Euratom Treaty and 50 of the FR.
(8) See Articles 69 to 74 of the FR and Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1150/2000 of 22 May 2000 (OJ L 130, 31.5.2000).

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(b) appropriations for payment:

(i)

evolution of appropriations: the total appropriations for payments available in a financial year are made up as
follows: initial budget (NDA and PA) + amending budgets + assigned revenue + transfers + appropriations
carried over from the previous financial year in the form of automatic carry-overs or non-automatic
carry-overs;

(ii) utilisation of appropriations of the financial year: the appropriations for payment of the financial year are avail-
able in the financial year for use as payments. They do not include appropriations carried over from the pre-
vious financial year (utilised appropriations for payments = amount of payments made from the appropria-
tions of the financial year);

(iii) carry-overs of appropriations from one financial year to the next financial year: unutilised appropriations of the finan-
cial year may be carried over to the next financial year following a decision by the institution concerned.
Appropriations available as assigned revenue are automatically carried over;

(iv) cancellation of appropriations: the balance is cancelled;

(v)

total payments during the financial year: payments against appropriations for payments of the financial year plus
payments against appropriations for payments carried over from the preceding financial year;

(vi) actual expenditure charged to a financial year: expenditure in the consolidated statements on budgetary imple-
mentation (see paragraph 7.4) = payments against appropriations for payments of the financial year plus
appropriations for payments of the financial year carried over to the following financial year.

7.4. The consolidated statements of budgetary implementation and determination of the balance of the financial year

The consolidated statements of budgetary implementation are drawn up after the closure of each financial year. They
determine the balance of the year which is entered in the budget of the next financial year through an amending
budget.

8.

PRESENTATION OF THE ACCOUNTS

The accounts for a given financial year are forwarded not later than 1 May of the following financial year to the Par-
liament, the Council and the Court of Auditors; these accounts comprise financial statements and statements on bud-
getary implementation, together with a report on the budgetary and financial management.

9.

EXTERNAL AUDIT

Since 1977 the external audit of the budget has been carried out by the Court of Auditors of the European Commu-
nities (9). The Court of Auditors examines the accounts of all revenue and expenditure of the budget. It must provide
the European Parliament and the Council with a statement of assurance as to the reliability of the accounts and the
legality and regularity of the underlying transactions. It also considers whether revenue has been received and expen-
diture incurred in a lawful and regular manner, and whether the financial management has been sound. The audits
may be carried out before the closure of the financial year in question and are performed on the basis of records and,
where necessary, on the spot in the institutions of the Communities, in the Member States and in third countries.
The Court of Auditors draws up an annual report for each financial year and may also, at any time, submit its obser-
vations on specific questions and deliver opinions at the request of any of the institutions of the Communities.

(9) See Articles 246, 247 and 248 of the EC Treaty, 160a, 160b and 160c of the Euratom Treaty and Articles 139 to 147 of

the FR.

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10. DISCHARGE AND FOLLOW-UP

Since 1977 the following provisions have been applicable (10): Parliament, on the recommendation of the Council,
gives, before 30 April of the second year following the financial year in question, discharge to the Commission in
respect of its implementation of the budget. To this end, the Council and Parliament in turn examine the accounts
presented by the Commission and the annual report and special reports of the Court of Auditors. The institutions
must take appropriate action in response to the comments appearing in the decisions giving discharge and report on
the measures taken.

DIAGRAMS

BUDGET FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR 2003 AND BUDGETARY IMPLEMENTATION DURING THE
FINANCIAL YEAR 2003

DIA I

Budget 2003 — Estimated revenue and final appropriations for payment

DIA II

Budget 2003 — Appropriations for commitment

DIA III

Appropriations for commitment available in 2003 and utilisation thereof, by financial perspective heading

DIA IV

Appropriations for payment available in 2003 and utilisation thereof, by financial perspective heading

DIA V

Own resources in 2003 — Actual revenue by Member State

DIA VI

Payments made in 2003, in each Member State

HISTORICAL DATA IN RESPECT OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE BUDGET (1999 to 2003)

DIA VII

Evolution and utilisation of appropriations for payment for the period 1999 to 2003, by financial
perspective heading

(10) See Articles 276 of the EC Treaty and 180b of the Euratom Treaty.

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Budget 2003 — Estimated revenue and final appropriations for payment
(for revenue criteria, see ‘Background information on the budget’, paragraph 7.2; for expenditure criteria, see ‘Background information on the budget’, para-

graph 7.3 and for more detailed information, see Diagram IV, column (a))

Diagram I

(1) After amending budgets.
(2) Revenue from participation by outside bodies.

(3) After amending budgets and transfers between budget headings.
(4) Assigned revenue and appropriations made available again, appropriations

carried over and appropriations.

(5) EFTA expenditure.

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Diagram II
Budget 2003 — Appropriations for commitment
(after amending budgets: for more detailed information, see Diagram III, column (b))

Note:

The total appropriations for commitment are not balanced by the bud-
getary revenue of 2003 as the commitment appropriations also include
amounts to be financed by budgetary revenue from subsequent years.

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Diagram III
Appropriations for commitment available in 2003 and utilisation thereof, by financial
perspective heading

Financial perspective headings and sectors (the sections (S.),
subsections (Ss.), titles (T.), and chapters (Ch.)
corresponding to the 2003
budgetary nomenclature)

1.

Common agricultural policy
Markets

Fruit and vegetables (Ch. B1-15)

1.1 Arable crops (Ch. B1-10)
1.2
Sugar (Ch. B1-11)
1.3 Oils and fats and protein plants (Ch. B1-12 and 13)
1.4
1.5 Wine (Ch. B1-16)
1.6
Tobacco (Ch. B1-17)
1.7 Milk products (Ch. B1-20)
1.8 Meat, eggs, poultry (Ch. B1-21 to 24)
1.9 Various markets (Ch. B1-14 and 18)
1.10 Other operations (Ch. B1-25 to 39)

1.11 Rural development and accompanying measures

2.

(T. B1-4 and 5)
Structural operations
Structural funds
2.1 Objective 1 (Ch. B2-10)
2.2 Objective 2 (Ch. B2-11)
2.3 Objective 3 (Ch. B2-12)
2.4 Other structural measures (Ch. B2-13)
2.5 Community initiatives (Ch. B2-14)
2.6

Innovatory measures and technical assistance
(Ch. B2-16)

2.7 Other specific structural operations (T. B2-2)

Internal policies

2.8 Cohesion Fund (T. B2-3)
3.
3.1 Research and technological development (Ss. B6)
3.2 Other structural measures (T. B2-4 to 9)
3.3
3.4
3.5 Consumers, internal market, indsutry and networks

Training, youth and social operations (Ss. B3)
Energy, Euratom and environment (Ss. B4)

(Ss. B5)
External action
Food aid (T. B7-2)

4.
4.1
4.2 Cooperation (T. B7-3 to 5)
4.3 Other cooperation measures (T. B7-6)
Initiative for democracy and human rights (T. B7-7)
4.4
External aspects of Community policies (T. B7-8)
4.5
4.6 Reserve for administrative expenditure — Heading 4

4.7

(Ch. B7-96)
Pre-accession strategy for the Mediterranean countries
(Ch. B7-04 and 05)

Administrative expenditure
Parliament (S. I)

4.8 Common foreign and security policy (Ss. B8)
5.
5.1
5.2 Council (S. II)
5.3 Commission (S. III)
5.4 Court of Justice (S. IV)
5.5 Court of Auditors (S. V)
5.6
5.7 Committee of the Regions (S. VII)
5.8

Economic and Social Committee (S. VI)

European Ombudsman and European Data Protection
Supervisor (S. VIII)
Reserves

6.
6.1 Guarantee reserve (Ch. B0-23 and 24)
6.2
7.
7.1
7.2
7.3
8.

Emergency aid reserve (Ch. B7-91)
Pre-accession aid
SAPARD (Ch. B7-01)
ISPA (Ch. B7-02)
PHARE (preaccession) (Ch. B7-03)
Reserves and provisions (T. B0-4)

(million euro and %)

Final Appropriations

Utilisation of appropriations

Financial
pers-
pective

Amount (1)

Rate
(%)

Commit-
ments
made in
2003

Utili-
sation
rate (%)

Carry-
overs
2004 (2)

(a)

(b)

(b)/(a)

(c)

(c)/(d)

(d)

Cancel-
lations

Rate
(%)

(e) =
(b) - (c) - (d)

(e)/(b)

47 378

33 968

6 796

4 972

5 211

434

3 386

44 864,5
40 117,2
16 815,0
1 278,0
2 737,0
1 559,0
1 244,0
973,0
2 801,0
10 425,5
1 242,0
1 042,7

4 747,3
34 012,5
31 130,4
21 577,1
3 651,8
3 718,9
171,9
1 866,4

144,3
12,0

2 870,1
7 744,1
4 597,5
284,5
1 177,8
318,3

1 366,1
5 219,1
1 030,0
3 067,9
488,4
107,8
284,9

0,1

186,3
53,7
5 615,8
1 154,3
453,7
3 639,7
152,5
77,5
84,2
49,6

4,4
327,8
225,8
102,0
3 449,0
564,0
1 129,0
1 755,9
—

94,7

100,1
(1)

114,0
(1)
(3)

105,0
(1)

107,8
(1)

75,5

101,9
(1)

44 462,0
39 782,4
16 809,4
1 277,4
2 734,9
1 532,2
1 213,0
960,2
2 796,2
10 344,3
1 221,2
893,5

4 679,6
33 987,0
31 109,7
21 576,9
3 651,8
3 718,9
171,9
1 853,7

136,4
12,0

2 865,3
7 172,7
4 280,7
261,9
1 076,1
283,6

1 270,4
5 066,7
1 024,8
2 961,2
473,5
105,9
261,8

—

185,9
53,6
5 545,3
1 137,0
443,2
3 605,1
150,6
74,8
82,3
48,3

4,1
147,9
147,9
—
3 393,3
560,1
1 129,0
1 704,2
—

99,1
99,2
100,0
100,0
99,9
98,3
97,5
98,7
99,8
99,2
98,3
85,7

98,6
99,9
99,9
100,0
100,0
100,0
100,0
99,3

94,5
100,0

99,8
92,6
93,1
92,1
91,4
89,1

93,0
97,1
99,5
96,5
97,0
98,2
91,9

—

99,8
99,8
98,7
98,5
97,7
99,0
98,8
96,5
97,7
97,5

91,3
45,1
65,5
—
98,4
99,3
100,0
97,1
—
98,6
92,1

41,4
0,2
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
0,2

41,2
3,7
0,3
0,0
—
—
—
—

0,3
—

3,4
430,0
311,4
3,3
62,5
17,6

35,2
93,5
0,4
84,1
3,6
1,8
3,5

—

0,0
0,0
39,4
5,2
7,5
25,3
0,7
0,2
0,4
0,1

—
—
—
—
42,8
3,9
0,0
38,9
—
650,8
2 246,0

361,2
334,7
5,6
0,6
2,1
26,8
31,0
12,8
4,8
81,2
20,8
149,1

26,5
21,9
20,5
0,2
—
—
—
12,7

7,6
—

1,4
141,4
5,3
19,3
39,3
17,1

60,5
58,9
4,8
22,6
11,3
0,1
19,6

0,8
0,8
0,0
0,0
0,1
1,7
2,5
1,3
0,2
0,8
1,7
14,3

0,6
0,1
0,1
0,0
—
—
—
0,7

5,2
—

0,0
1,8
0,1
6,8
3,3
5,4

4,4
1,1
0,5
0,7
2,3
0,1
6,9

0,1

100,0

0,3
0,1
31,1
12,1
3,0
9,4
1,1
2,4
1,6
1,2

0,4
179,9
77,9
102,0
12,9
0,0
0,1
12,9
—
807,2
5 535,2

0,2
0,1
0,6
1,0
0,7
0,3
0,7
3,2
1,8
2,3

8,7
54,9
34,5
100,0
0,4
0,0
0,0
0,7
—
0,8
5,6

Grand total appropriations for commitment
Grand total appropriations for payment

102 145
102 767

101 232,9
98 338,7

99,1
95,7

99 774,8
90 557,5

(1) Budgetary appropriations amended after taking account of CAs carried over from 2002, appropriations corresponding to assigned revenue, transfers between
budget headings, EFTA appropriations and financing from the EU Solidarity Fund. As a consequence the ceiling for some financial perspective headings is
exceeded by the available appropriations.
Including appropriations corresponding to assigned revenue or similar.
Including the section of the EU Solidarity Fund destined for the Member States.

(2)
(3)

30.11.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

XV

Diagram IV
Appropriations for payment available in 2003 and utilisation thereof, by financial
perspective heading

Final
appro-
priations (1)

Utilisation of appropriations

(million euro and %)

Payments
made in 2003

Utilisation rate
(%)

Carry-overs
2004

Cancellations

Rate (%)

(a)

(b)

(b)/(a)

(c)

(d) =
(a) – (b) – (c)

(d)/(a)

Financial perspective headings and sectors (the sections
(S.), subsections (Ss.), titles (T.) and chapters (Ch.)
corresponding to the 2003 budgetary nomenclature)

1.

Common agricultural policy
Markets

1.1 Arable crops (Ch. B1-10)
1.2 Sugar (Ch. B1-11)
1.3 Oils and fats and protein plants (Ch. B1-12 and 13)
1.4 Fruit and vegetables (Ch. B1-15)
1.5 Wine (Ch. B1-16)
1.6 Tobacco (Ch. B1-17)
1.7 Milk products (Ch. B1-20)
1.8 Meat, eggs and poultry (Ch. B1-21 to 24)
1.9 Various markets (Ch. B1-14 and 18)
1.10 Other operations (Ch. B1-25 to 39)

1.11 Rural development and accompanying measures

2.

(T. B1-4 and 5)
Structural operations
Structural funds

2.1 Objective 1 (Ch. B2-10)
2.2 Objective 2 (Ch. B2-11)
2.3 Objective 3 (Ch. B2-12)
2.4 Other structural measures (Ch. B2-13)
2.5 Community initiatives (B2-14)
2.6 Innovatory measures and technical assistance

(Ch. B2-16)

2.7 Other specific structural operations (T. B2-2)

Internal policies

2.8 Cohesion Fund (T. B2-3)
3.
3.1 Research and technological development (Ss. B6)
3.2 Other structural measures (T. B2-4 to 9)
3.3 Training, youth and social operations (Ss. B3)
3.4 Energy, Euratom and environment (Ss. B4)
3.5 Consumers, internal market, industry and networks

(Ss. B5)
4.
External action
4.1 Food aid (T. B7-2)
4.2 Cooperation (T. B7-3 to 5)
4.3 Other cooperation measures (T. B7-6)
4.4 Initiatives for democracy and human rights (T. B7-7)
4.5 External aspects of certain Community policies

(T. B7-8)

4.6 Reserve for administrative expenditure — Heading 4

(Ch. B7-96)

4.7 Preaccession strategy for the mediterranean

countries (Ch. B7-04 and 05)

Administrative expenditure

4.8 Common foreign and security policy (Ss. B8)
5.
5.1 Parliament (S. I)
5.2 Council (S. II)
5.3 Commission (Sec. III)
5.4 Court of Justice (S. IV)
5.5 Court of Auditors (S. V)
5.6 Economic and Social Committee (S. VI)
5.7 Committee of the Regions (S. VII)
5.8 European Ombudsman and European Data

Protection Supervisor (S. VIII)
Reserves

6.
6.1 Guarantee reserve (Ch. B0-23 and 24)
6.2 Emergency aid reserve (Ch. B7-91)
7.
Pre-accession aid
7.1 SAPARD (Ch. B7-01)
7.2 ISPA (Ch. B7-02)
7.3 PHARE (pre-accession) (Ch. B7-03)
8.

Reserves and provisions (T. B0-4)

45 095,7
40 348,4
16 815,0
1 278,5
2 737,0
1 559,0
1 244,0
981,2
2 801,0
10 425,5
1 242,0
1 265,2

4 747,3
31 837,8
29 553,6
20 035,7
3 950,0
3 427,1
293,4
1 685,6

161,7
89,0

2 195,2
7 256,8
4 157,1

299,2 (2)

1 161,1
293,5

1 345,9
4 898,9
1 011,2
2 929,6
433,5
109,3

296,4

5,0

63,6
50,4
6 087,1
1 254,6
511,4
3 920,9
159,2
94,0
89,2
53,1

4,9
363,8
225,8
138,0
2 798,5
432,9
717,5
1 648,1
—

44 379,2
39 699,6
16 809,4
1 277,4
2 734,9
1 532,2
1 213,0
957,5
2 796,2
10 344,3
1 221,2
813,5

4 679,6
28 527,6
26 243,5
18 986,0
3 587,0
2 548,3
175,9
801,0

145,4
89,0

2 195,1
5 671,8
3 279,6
158,0
943,3
211,7

1 079,2
4 285,8
959,5
2 544,5
359,9
99,4

234,0

—

57,6
31,0
5 305,2
985,3
410,0
3 547,1
147,9
84,0
80,7
46,2

3,9
147,9
147,9
—
2 239,8
263,5
429,0
1 547,4
—

98,4
98,4
100,0
99,9
99,9
98,3
97,5
97,6
99,8
99,2
98,3
64,3

98,6
89,6
88,8
94,8
90,8
74,4
59,9
47,5

89,9
100,0

100,0
78,2
78,9
52,8
81,2
72,1

80,2
87,5
94,9
86,9
83,0
90,9

78,9

—

90,6
61,5
87,2
78,5
80,2
90,5
92,9
89,4
90,6
87,0

80,5
40,7
65,5
—
80,0
60,9
59,8
93,9
—
92,1

331,4
290,2
—
—
—
—
—
9,5
—
—
—
280,7

41,2
176,5
176,5
89,1
—
—
86,8
0,5

0,0
—

—
920,4
647,8
68,5
147,6
22,3

34,3
112,7
43,3
54,9
3,5
1,8

3,8

—

0,0
5,4
650,1
245,1
75,2
302,2
9,6
5,8
6,4
5,2

0,5
—
—
—
54,9
—
1,0
53,9
—
2 246,0

385,0
358,5
5,6
1,1
2,1
26,8
31,0
14,2
4,8
81,2
20,8
171,0

26,5
3 133,8
3 133,7
960,7
363,1
878,9
30,7
884,1

16,3
—

0,1
664,6
229,7
72,7
70,2
59,5

232,4
500,4
8,4
330,3
70,0
8,1

58,6

5,0

5,9
14,0
131,8
24,1
26,2
71,5
1,7
4,1
2,0
1,7

0,4
215,9
77,9
138,0
503,8
169,4
287,5
46,8
—
5 535,2

0,9
0,9
0,0
0,1
0,1
1,7
2,5
1,4
0,2
0,8
1,7
13,5

0,6
9,8
10,6
4,8
9,2
25,6
10,5
52,4

10,1
—

0,0
9,2
5,5
24,3
6,0
20,3

17,3
10,2
0,8
11,3
16,1
7,4

19,8

100,0

9,3
27,9
2,2
1,9
5,1
1,8
1,1
4,4
2,3
3,2

9,2
59,3
34,5
100,0
18,0
39,1
40,1
2,8
—
5,6

(1) Budget appropriations amended after taking account of transfers between budget headings, appropriations relating to assigned revenue or similar and appro-

priations carried over from the previous financial year.
Including the section of the EU Solidarity Fund destined for the Member States.

(2)

Grand total

98 338,7

90 557,5

XVI

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

30.11.2004

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EN

Official Journal of the European Union

30.11.2004

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30.11.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

XIX

Reports and opinions adopted by the Court of Auditors during the last five years

ANNEX II

The Court of Auditors is required by the terms of the Trea-
ties to produce an annual report. It is also required, by the
Treaties and other legislation at present in force, to produce
special annual reports on certain Community bodies and
activities. The treaties also give the Court the power to sub-

mit observations on specific questions and to deliver opin-
ions at the request of one of the institutions. The reports
and opinions adopted by the Court during the last five
years are listed below.

Title

Publication

Annual Reports and Statements of Assurance

Twenty-second annual report concerning the financial year 1998:
— Report and Statement of Assurance on the activities financed from the general budget
— Report and Statement of Assurance on the activities of the sixth, seventh and eighth EDFs

OJ C 349, 3.12.1999

Twenty-third annual report concerning the financial year 1999:
— Report and Statement of Assurance on the activities financed from the general budget
— Report and Statement of Assurance on the activities of the sixth, seventh and eighth EDFs

OJ C 342, 1.12.2000

Twenty-fourth annual report concerning the financial year 2000:
— Report and Statement of Assurance on the activities financed from the general budget
— Report and Statement of Assurance on the activities of the sixth, seventh and eighth EDFs

OJ C 359, 15.12.2001,
OJ C 92, 17.4.2002 and
OJ C 36, 15.2.2003

Twenty-fifth annual report concerning the financial year 2001:
— Report and Statement of Assurance on the activities financed from the general budget
— Report and Statement of Assurance on the activities of the sixth, seventh and eighth EDFs

OJ C 295, 28.11.2002

Twenty-sixth annual report concerning the financial year 2002:
— Report and Statement of Assurance on the activities financed from the general budget
— Report and Statement of Assurance on the activities of the sixth, seventh and eighth EDFs

OJ C 286, 28.11.2003

Twenty-seventh annual report concerning the financial year 2003
— Report and Statement of Assurance on the activities financed from the general budget
— Report and Statement of Assurance on the activities of the sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth

Published in this OJ

EDFs

http: //www.eca.eu.int

XX

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

30.11.2004

Title

Publication

Special Reports

Own resources

— Special Report No 8/99 on securities and guarantees provided for in the Community Customs

OJ C 70, 10.3.2000

Code to protect the collection of traditional own resources

— Special Report No 17/2000 on the Commission’s control of the reliability and comparability

OJ C 336, 27.11.2000

of the Member States’ GNP data

— Special Report No 23/2000 concerning valuation of imported goods for customs purposes

(customs valuation)

Common agricultural policy

OJ C 84, 14.3.2001

— Special Report No 1/99 concerning the aid for the use of skimmed milk and skimmed-milk

OJ C 147, 27.5.1999

powder as animal feed

— Special Report No 2/99 on the effects of the CAP reform in the cereals sector

OJ C 192, 8.7.1999

— Special Report No 1/2000 on classical swine fever

OJ C 85, 23.3.2000

— Special Report No 8/2000 on the Community measures for the disposal of butterfat

OJ C 132, 12.5.2000

— Special Report No 11/2000 on the support scheme for olive oil

OJ C 215, 27.7.2000

— Special Report No 14/2000 on ‘Greening the CAP’

OJ C 353, 8.12.2000

— Special Report No 20/2000 concerning the management of the common organisation of the

OJ C 50, 15.2.2001

market for sugar

— Special Report No 22/2000 on evaluation of the reformed clearance of accounts procedure

OJ C 69, 2.3.2001

— Special Report No 4/2001 on the audit of the EAGGF, Guarantee section, the implementation

OJ C 214, 31.7.2001

of the Integrated Administration and Control System (IACS)

— Special Report No 6/2001 on milk quotas

OJ C 305, 30.10.2001

— Special Report No 7/2001 concerning export refunds - destination and placing on the market OJ C 314, 8.11.2001

— Special Report No 8/2001 concerning refunds for the production of potato and cereal starch

OJ C 294, 19.10.2001

and potato starch aid

— Special Report No 14/2001 — Follow-up to Special Report No 19/98 on BSE

OJ C 324, 20.11.2001

— Special Report No 5/2002 on extensification premium and payment schemes in the common

OJ C 290, 25.11.2002

organisation of the market for beef and veal

— Special Report No 6/2002 on the audit of the Commission’s management of the EU oilseeds

OJ C 254, 22.10.2002

support scheme

— Special Report No 7/2002 on the sound financial management of the common organisation of

OJ C 294, 28.11.2002

markets in the banana sector

http: //www.eca.eu.int

30.11.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

XXI

Title

Publication

— Special Report No 1/2003 concerning the prefinancing of export refunds

OJ C 98, 24.4.2003

— Special Report No 4/2003 concerning rural development: support for less-favoured areas

OJ C 151, 27.6.2003

— Special Report No 9/2003 concerning the system for setting the rates of subsidy on exports of

OJ C 211, 5.9.2003

agricultural products (export refunds)

— Special Report No 12/2003 on the sound financial management of the common organisation

OJ C 298, 9.12.2003

of the market in dried fodder

— Special Report No 13/2003 on production aid for cotton

OJ C 298, 9.12.2003

— Special Report No 14/2003 on the measurement of farm incomes by the Commission

OJ C 45, 20.2.2004

(Article 33(1)(b) of the EC Treaty)

— Special Report No 2/2004 concerning pre-accession aid — Has SAPARD been well managed? OJ C 295, 30.11.2004

— Special Report No 3/2004 concerning the recovery of irregular payments under the Common

OJ C 269, 4.11.2004

agricultural policy

— Special Report No 6/2004 concerning the organisation of the system for the identification and

Being published

registration of bovine animals in the European Union

— Special Report No 7/2004 concerning the common organisation of the market in raw tobacco Being published

— Special Report No 8/2004 on the Commission’s management and supervision of the measures

Being published

to control foot-and-mouth disease and of the related expenditure

Structural measures

— Special Report No 6/99 concerning the principle of additionality

OJ C 68, 9.3.2000

— Special Report No 7/99 concerning the development of industrial sites

OJ C 68, 9.3.2000

— Special Report No 3/2000 on the European Social Fund and the European Agricultural Guid-
ance and Guarantee Fund (Guidance section) — Measures to assist the employment of young
persons)

OJ C 100, 7.4.2000

— Special report No 7/2000 on the International Fund for Ireland and the Special Support Pro-
gramme for peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland and the border counties of Ireland
(1995 to 1999)

OJ C 146, 25.5.2000

— Special Report No 15/2000 on the Cohesion Fund

OJ C 279, 2.10.2000

— Special Report No 1/2001 concerning the URBAN Community Initiative

OJ C 124, 25.4.2001

— Special Report No 10/2001 concerning the financial control of the Structural Funds, Commis-

OJ C 314, 8.11.2001

sion Regulations (EC) No 2064/97 and (EC) No 1681/94

— Special Report No 12/2001 concerning certain structural measures to improve the employ-
ment situation: the impact of ERDF aid on employment and ESF measures to combat long-
term unemployment

OJ C 334, 28.11.2001

— Special Report No 3/2002 concerning the Community Initiative Employment — Integra

OJ C 263, 29.10.2002

— Special Report No 4/2002 on local actions for employment

OJ C 263, 29.10.2002

http: //www.eca.eu.int

XXII

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

30.11.2004

Title

Publication

— Special Report No 7/2003 on the implementation of assistance programming for the period

OJ C 174, 23.7.2003

2000 to 2006 within the framework of the Structural Funds

— Special Report No 4/2004 on the programming of the Community Initiative concerning trans-

Being published

European cooperation — Interreg III

Internal policies

— Special Report No 9/99 concerning research activities in the field of agriculture and fisheries

OJ C 92, 30.3.2000

(FAIR programme — Fisheries, agriculture and agro-industrial research)

— Special Report No 9/2000 concerning trans-European-networks (TEN) — telecommunications OJ C 166, 15.6.2000

— Special Report No 10/2000 on the public contracts awarded by the Joint Research Centre

OJ C 172, 21.6.2000

— Special Report No 9/2001 on the training and mobility of researchers programme

OJ C 349, 10.12.2001

— Special Report No 2/2002 on the Socrates and Youth for Europe Community action pro-

OJ C 136, 7.6.2002

grammes

— Special Report No 11/2003 concerning the Financial Instrument for the Environment (LIFE)

OJ C 292, 2.12.2003

— Special Report No 1/2004 on the management of indirect RTD actions under the fifth frame-

OJ C 99, 23.4.2004

work programme (FP5) for research and technological development (1998 to 2002)

External action

— Special Report No 4/99 concerning financial aid to the overseas countries and territories under

OJ C 276, 29.9.1999

the sixth and seventh EDFs

— Special Report No 5/99 concerning Phare cross-border cooperation (1994 to 1998)

OJ C 48, 21.2.2000

— Special Report No 2/2000 on aid given by the European Union to Bosnia-Herzegovina with a

OJ C 85, 23.3.2000

view to restoring peace and the rule of law

— Special Report No 4/2000 on rehabilitation actions for ACP countries as an instrument to pre-

OJ C 113, 19.4.2000

pare for normal development aid

— Special Report No 12/2000 on the management by the Commission of the European Union

OJ C 230, 10.8.2000

support for the development of human rights and democracy in third countries

— Special Report No 16/2000 on tendering procedures for service contracts under the Phare and

OJ C 350, 6.12.2000

Tacis programmes

http: //www.eca.eu.int

30.11.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

XXIII

Title

Publication

— Special Report No 18/2000 concerning the programme to supply agricultural products to the

OJ C 25, 25.1.2001

Russian Federation

— Special Report No 19/2000 on the management by the Commission of the programme of assis-

OJ C 32, 31.1.2001

tance to Palestinian society

— Special Report No 21/2000 on the management of the Commission’s external aid programmes
(in particular on country programming, project preparation and the role of Delegations)

OJ C 57, 22.2.2001

— Special Report No 2/2001 concerning the management of emergency humanitarian aid for the

victims of the Kosovo crisis (ECHO)

OJ C 168, 12.6.2001 and
OJ C 159, 3.7.2002

— Special Report No 3/2001 concerning the Commission’s management of the International Fish-

OJ C 210, 27.7.2001

eries Agreements

— Special Report No 5/2001 on counterpart funds from structural adjustment support earmarked

OJ C 257, 14.9.2001

for budget aid (seventh and eighth EDFs)

— Special Report No 11/2001 concerning the Tacis cross-border cooperation programme

OJ C 329, 23.11.2001

— Special Report No 13/2001 on the management of the common foreign and security policy

OJ C 338, 30.11.2001

(CFSP)

— Special Report No 1/2002 concerning macrofinancial assistance (MFA) to third countries and

OJ C 121, 23.5.2002

structural adjustment facilities (SAF) in the Mediterranean countries

— Special Report No 2/2003 on the implementation of the food security policy in developing

OJ C 93, 17.4.2003

countries financed by the general budget of the European Union

— Special Report No 5/2003 concerning PHARE and ISPA funding of environmental projects in

OJ C 167, 17.7.2003

the candidate countries

— Special Report No 6/2003 concerning twinning as the main instrument to support institution-

OJ C 167, 17.7.2003

building in candidate countries

— Special Report No 8/2003 concerning the execution of infrastructure work financed by the EDF OJ C 181, 31.7.2003

— Special Report No 10/2003 concerning the effectiveness of the Commission’s management of

OJ C 211, 5.9.2003

development assistance to India in targeting the poor and ensuring sustainable benefits

— Special Report No 15/2003 concerning the audit of microproject programmes financed by the

OJ C 63, 11.3.2004

EDF

— Special Report No 5/2004 concerning Phare support to prepare Candidate Countries for man-

Being published

aging the Structural Funds

Administrative expenditure

— Special Report No 5/2000 on the Court of Justice’s expenditure on buildings (annex buildings

OJ C 109, 14.4.2000

Erasmus, Thomas More and Annex C)

— Special Report No 13/2000 on the expenditure of the European Parliament’s political groups OJ C 181, 28.6.2000

— Special Report No 3/2003 on the invalidity pensions scheme of the European institutions

OJ C 109, 7.5.2003

http: //www.eca.eu.int

XXIV

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

30.11.2004

Title

Publication

Financial instruments and banking activities

— Special Report No 3/99 on the management and control of interest rate subsidies by the Com-

OJ C 217, 29.7.1999

mission

— Special Report No 6/2000 concerning the granting by the Community of interest subsidies on
loans by the European Investment Bank to small and medium-sized enterprises, through its
temporary lending facility

OJ C 152, 31.5.2000

Special Annual Reports

Financial statements of the ECSC

— Report on the financial statements of the ECSC at 31 December 1998

OJ C 240, 25.8.1999

— Report on the financial statements of the ECSC at 31 December 1999

OJ C 281, 4.10.2000

— Report on the financial statements of the ECSC at 31 December 2000

OJ C 185, 30.6.2001 and
OJ C 363, 19.12.2001

— Report on the financial statements of the ECSC at 31 December 2001

OJ C 158, 3.7.2002

— Report on the financial statements of the ECSC at 23 July 2002

OJ C 127, 29.5.2003

ECSC Annual Report

— Annual Report on the ECSC for the financial year 1998

— Annual Report on the ECSC for the financial year 1999

— Annual Report on the ECSC for the financial year 2000

OJ C 338, 25.11.1999

OJ C 347, 4.12.2000

OJ C 366, 20.12.2001

— Annual Report and Statement of Assurance concerning the ECSC for the financial year 2001 OJ C 302, 5.12.2002

— Annual Report and Statement of Assurance concerning the ECSC for the financial year ended

OJ C 224, 19.9.2003

23 July 2002

Euratom Supply Agency

— Report on the 1998 accounts of the Euratom Supply Agency

Not published in OJ

— Report on the financial statements of the Euratom Supply Agency for the financial year 1999 Not published in OJ

— Report on the financial statements of the Euratom Supply Agency for the financial year ended

Not published in OJ

31 December 2000

— Report on the financial statements of the Euratom Supply Agency for the financial year 2001 Not published in OJ

— Report on the financial statements of the Euratom Supply Agency for the financial year 2002 Not published in OJ

— Report on the annual accounts of the Euratom Supply Agency for the financial year 2003

Not published in OJ

http: //www.eca.eu.int

30.11.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

XXV

Title

Publication

Joint European Torus (JET)

— Report on the 1998 JET financial statements

Not published in OJ

— Report on the 1999 accounts of the JET joint undertaking

Not published in OJ

— Report on the 2000 accounts of the JET joint undertaking

Not published in OJ

— Report on the 2001 accounts of the JET joint undertaking

Not published in OJ

European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Dublin Foundation)

— Report on the financial statements of the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living
and Working Conditions (Dublin Foundation) for the financial year ended 31 December 1998

OJ C 372, 22.12.1999

— Report on the financial statements of the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living
and Working Conditions (Dublin Foundation) for the financial year ended 31 December 1999

OJ C 373, 27.12.2000

— Report on the financial statements of the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living
and Working Conditions (Dublin Foundation) for the financial year ended 31 December 2000

OJ C 372, 28.12.2001

— Report on the financial statements of the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living

OJ C 326, 27.12.2002

and Working Conditions for the financial year 2001

— Report on the financial statements of the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living

OJ C 319, 30.12.2003

and Working Conditions for the financial year 2002

— Report on the annual accounts of the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and

Being published

Working Conditions for the financial year 2003

European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop, Thessaloniki)

— Report on the financial statements of the European Centre for the Development of Vocational

OJ C 372, 22.12.1999

Training (Cedefop, Thessaloniki) for the financial year ended 31 December 1998

— Report on the financial statements of the European Centre for the Development of Vocational

OJ C 373, 27.12.2000

Training (Cedefop, Thessaloniki) for the financial year ended 31 December 1999

— Report on the financial statements of the European Centre for the Development of Vocational

OJ C 372, 28.12.2001

Training (Cedefop, Thessaloniki) for the financial year ended 31 December 2000

— Report on the financial statements of the European Centre for the Development of Vocational

OJ C 326, 27.12.2002

Training for the financial year 2001

— Report on the financial statements of the European Centre for the Development of Vocational

OJ C 319, 30.12.2003

Training for the financial year 2002

— Report on the financial statements of the European Centre for the Development of Vocational

Being published

Training for the financial year 2003

http: //www.eca.eu.int

XXVI

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

30.11.2004

Title

Publication

European Schools

— Report on the accounts of the European School for the financial year 1998

Not published in OJ

— Report on the financial statements of the European Schools for the financial year ended

Not published in OJ

31 December 1999

— Report on the financial statements of the European Schools for the financial year ended

Not published in OJ

31 December 2000

— Report on the financial statements of the European Schools for the financial year 2001

Not published in OJ

— Report on the financial statements of the European Schools for the financial year 2002

Not published in OJ

— Report on the annual accounts of the European Schools for the financial year 2003

Not published in OJ

European Monetary Institute and European Central Bank

— Report on the operational efficiency of the management of the European Monetary Institute and

OJ C 133, 12.5.2000

the European Central Bank for the financial year 1998

— Report on the audit of the operational efficiency of the management of the European Central

OJ C 47, 13.2.2001

Bank for the financial year 1999

— Report on the audit of the operational efficiency of the management of the European Central

OJ C 341, 4.12.2001

Bank for the financial year 2000

— Report on the audit of the operational efficiency of the management of the European Central

OJ C 259, 25.10.2002

Bank for the financial year 2001

— Report on the audit of the operational efficiency of the management of the European Central

OJ C 45, 20.2.2004

Bank for the financial year 2002

— Report on the audit of the operational efficiency of the management of the European Central

OJ C 286, 23.11.2004

Bank for the financial year 2003

Management of the ‘Schengen contracts’

— Special Annual Report on the financial statements relating to the management by the Secretary-
General/High Representative of the Council of contracts concluded by him on behalf of certain
Member States and concerning the installation and functioning of the help desk server of the
Management Unit and of the Sirene network Phase II (Schengen contracts) for the period 3 May
to 31 December 1999

Not published in OJ

— Special Annual Report on the financial statements relating to the management by the Secretary-
General/High Representative of the Council of contracts concluded by him on behalf of certain
Member States and concerning the installation and functioning of the help desk server of the
Management Unit and of the Sirene Network Phase II (Schengen contracts) for the financial year
ended 31 December 2000

Not published in OJ

— Special Annual Report on the financial statements relating to the management by the Secretary-
General/High Representative of the Council of contracts concluded by him on behalf of certain
Member States and concerning the installation and functioning of the help desk server of the
management unit and of the Sirene Network Phase II (Schengen contracts) for the financial year
ended 31 December 2001

Not published in OJ

— Special Annual Report on the 2002 financial statements relating to the ‘Schengen contracts’

Not published in OJ

http: //www.eca.eu.int

30.11.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

XXVII

Title

Publication

Management of ‘Sisnet contracts’

— Special Annual Report on the financial statements in respect of the management, by the Deputy
Secretary-General of the Council, of contracts concluded in his name on behalf of certain Mem-
ber States, relating to the installation and the functioning of the communication infrastructure
for the Schengen environment, known as ‘Sisnet’, for the financial year ended 31 Decem-
ber 2000

Not published in OJ

— Special Annual Report on the financial statements in respect of the management, by the Deputy
Secretary-General of the Council, of contracts concluded in his name on behalf of certain Mem-
ber States, relating to the installation and the functioning of the communication infrastructure
for the Schengen environment, known as ‘Sisnet’, for the financial year ended 31 Decem-
ber 2001

Not published in OJ

— Special Annual Report on the 2002 financial statements relating to ‘Sisnet’

Not published in OJ

— Special Annual Report on the 2003 financial statements relating to ‘Sisnet’

Not published in OJ

Community Plant Variety Office (CPVO, Angers)

— Report on the financial statements of the Community Plant Variety Office (CPVO-Angers) for

OJ C 372, 22.12.1999

the financial year ended 31 December 1998

— Report on the financial statements of the Community Plant Variety Office (CPVO-Angers) for

OJ C 373, 27.12.2000

the financial year ended 31 December 1999

— Report on the financial statements of the Community Plant Variety Office (CPVO-Angers) for

OJ C 372, 28.12.2001

the financial year ended 31 December 2000

— Report on the financial statements of the Community Plant Variety Office for the financial year

OJ C 326, 27.12.2002

2001

— Report on the financial statements of the Community Plant Variety Office for the financial year

OJ C 319, 30.12.2003

2002

— Report on the annual accounts of the Community Plant Variety Office for the financial

Being published

year 2003

Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM-Alicante)

— Report on the financial statements of the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market

OJ C 372, 22.12.1999

(OHIM-Alicante) for the financial year ended 31 December 1998

— Report on the financial statements of the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market

OJ C 373, 27.12.2000

(OHIM-Alicante) for the financial year ended 31 December 1999

— Report on the financial statements of the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market

OJ C 372, 28.12.2001

(OHIM-Alicante) for the financial year ended 31 December 2000

— Report on the financial statements of the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market for

OJ C 326, 27.12.2002

the financial year 2001

— Report on the financial statements of the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market for

OJ C 319, 30.12.2003

the financial year 2002

— Report on the annual accounts of the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market for the

Being published

financial year 2003

http: //www.eca.eu.int

XXVIII

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

30.11.2004

Title

Publication

European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EASH-Bilbao)

— Report on the financial statements of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work

OJ C 372, 22.12.1999

(EASH-Bilbao) for the financial year ended 31 December 1998

— Report on the financial statements of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work

OJ C 373, 27.12.2000

(EASH-Bilbao) for the financial year ended 31 December 1999

— Report on the financial statements of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work

OJ C 372, 28.12.2001

(EASH-Bilbao) for the financial year ended 31 December 2000

— Report on the financial statements of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work for

OJ C 326, 27.12.2002

the financial year 2001

— Report on the financial statements of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work for

OJ C 319, 30.12.2003

the financial year 2002

— Report on the annual accounts of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work for the

Being published

financial year 2003

European Environment Agency (EEA, Copenhagen)

— Report on the financial statements of the European Environment Agency (EEA-Copenhagen)

OJ C 372, 22.12.1999

for the financial year ended 31 December 1998

— Report on the financial statements of the European Environment Agency (EEA-Copenhagen)

OJ C 373, 27.12.2000

for the financial year ended 31 December 1999

— Report on the financial statements of the European Environment Agency (EEA-Copenhagen)

OJ C 372, 28.12.2001

for the financial year ended 31 December 2000

— Report on the financial statements of the European Environment Agency for the financial year

OJ C 326, 27.12.2002

2001

— Report on the financial statements of the European Environment Agency for the financial year

OJ C 319, 30.12.2003

2002

— Report on the annual accounts of the European Environment Agency for the financial

Being published

year 2003

European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA-Lisbon)

— Report on the financial statements of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug

OJ C 372, 22.12.1999

Addiction (EMCDDA-Lisbon) for the financial year ended 31 December 1998

— Report on the financial statements of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug

OJ C 373, 27.12.2000

Addiction (EMCDDA-Lisbon) for the financial year ended 31 December 1999

— Report on the financial statements of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug

OJ C 372, 28.12.2001

Addiction (EMCDDA-Lisbon) for the financial year ended 31 December 2000

— Report on the financial statements of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug

OJ C 326, 27.12.2002

Addiction for the financial year 2001

— Report on the financial statements of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug

OJ C 319, 30.12.2003

Addiction for the financial year 2002

— Report on the annual accounts of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addic-

Being published

tion for the financial year 2003

http: //www.eca.eu.int

30.11.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

XXIX

Title

Publication

European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products (EAEMP-London)

— Report on the financial statements of the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal

OJ C 372, 22.12.1999

Products (EAEMP-London) for the financial year ended 31 December 1998

— Report on the financial statements of the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal

OJ C 373, 27.12.2000

Products (EAEMP-London) for the financial year ended 31 December 1999

— Report on the financial statements of the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal

OJ C 372, 28.12.2001

Products (EAEMP)-London) for the financial year ended 31 December 2000

— Report on the financial statements of the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal

OJ C 326, 27.12.2002

Products concerning the financial year 2001

— Report on the financial statements of the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal

OJ C 319, 30.12.2003

Products concerning the financial year 2002

— Report on the annual accounts of the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Prod-

Being published

ucts concerning the financial year 2003

Translation Centre for Bodies of the European Union (TCBEU-Luxembourg)

— Report on the financial statements of the Translation Centre for Bodies of the European Union

OJ C 372, 22.12.1999

(TCBEU-Luxembourg) for the financial year ended 31 December 1998

— Report on the financial statements of the Translation Centre for Bodies of the European Union

OJ C 373, 27.12.2000

(TCBEU-Luxembourg) for the financial year ended 31 December 1999

— Report on the financial statements of the Translation Centre for Bodies of the European Union

OJ C 372, 28.12.2001

(TCBEU-Luxembourg) for the financial year ended 31 December 2000

— Report on the financial statements of the Translation Centre for Bodies of the European Union

OJ C 326, 27.12.2002

for the financial year 2001

— Report on the financial statements of the Translation Centre for Bodies of the European Union

OJ C 319, 30.12.2003

for the financial year 2002

— Report on the annual accounts of the Translation Centre for Bodies of the European Union for

Being published

the financial year 2003

European Training Foundation (ETF-Turin)

— Report on the financial statements of the European Training Foundation (ETF-Turin) for the

OJ C 372, 22.12.1999

financial year ended 31 December 1998

— Report on the financial statements of the European Training Foundation (ETF-Turin) for the

OJ C 373, 27.12.2000

financial year ended 31 December 1999

— Report on the financial statements of the European Training Foundation (ETF-Turin) for the

OJ C 372, 28.12.2001

financial year ended 31 December 2000

— Report on the financial statements of the European Training Foundation for the financial

OJ C 326, 27.12.2002

year 2001

— Report on the financial statements of the European Training Foundation for the financial

OJ C 319, 30.12.2003

year 2002

— Report on the annual accounts of the European Training Foundation for the financial

Being published

year 2003

http: //www.eca.eu.int

XXX

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

30.11.2004

Title

Publication

European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (Vienna)

— Report on the financial statements of the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xeno-

OJ C 372, 22.12.1999

phobia (Vienna) for the period from 1 May to 31 December 1998

— Report on the financial statements of the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xeno-

OJ C 373, 27.12.2000

phobia (Vienna) for the financial year ended 31 December 1999

— Report on the financial statements of the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xeno-

OJ C 372, 28.12.2001

phobia (Vienna) for the financial year ended 31 December 2000

— Report on the financial statements of the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xeno-

OJ C 326, 27.12.2002

phobia for the financial year 2001

— Report on the financial statements of the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xeno-

OJ C 319, 30.12.2003

phobia for the financial year 2002

— Report on the annual accounts of the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia

Being published

for the financial year 2003

European Agency for Reconstruction (Thessaloniki)

— Report on the financial accounts of the European Agency for Reconstruction and the imple-

OJ C 355, 13.12.2001

mentation of aid for Kosovo for the year 2000

— Report on the financial statements of the European Agency for Reconstruction for the financial

OJ C 326, 27.12.2002

year 2001

— Report on the financial statements of the European Agency for Reconstruction for the financial

OJ C 319, 30.12.2003

year 2002

European Maritime Safety Agency

— Report on the annual accounts of the European Maritime Safety Agency for the financial

Being published

year 2003

European Aviation Safety Agency

— Report on the annual accounts of the European Aviation Safety Agency for the financial

Being published

year 2003

European Food Safety Authority

— Report on the annual accounts of the European Food Safety Authority for the financial

Being published

year 2003

http: //www.eca.eu.int

30.11.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

XXXI

Title

Publication

Eurojust

— Report on the financial statements of Eurojust for the financial year 2002

OJ C 319, 30.12.2003

— Report on the annual accounts of Eurojust for the financial year 2003

Being published

Convention

— Report on the accounts drawn up by the Secretary-General of the Convention on the future of
the European Union for the financial year 2002 (started on 21 February and ended on
31 December 2002)

OJ C 122, 22.5.2003

— Report on the accounts drawn up by the Secretary-General of the Convention on the future of

OJ C 157, 14.6.2004

the European Union for the financial year ended 31 December 2003

Galileo Joint Undertaking

— Report on the accounts of the Galileo Joint Undertaking for the financial year ended 31 Decem-

Not published in OJ

ber 2003

Opinions

— Opinion No 1/99 on a proposal for an amendment of the Financial Regulation of the Euro-

Not published in OJ

pean Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA-Lisbon)

— Opinion No 2/99 on the amended proposal for a Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) concern-

OJ C 154, 1.6.1999

ing investigations conducted by the Fraud Office

— Opinion No 3/99 on an amended proposal for a Council regulation (EC, ECSC, Euratom)
amending the Financial Regulation of 21 December 1977 applicable to the general budget of
the European Communities (proposal presented by the Commission in document COM(1998)
676 final of 20 November 1998)

OJ C 154, 1.6.1999

— Opinion No 4/99 on a proposal for an amendment to the Financial Regulation of the Euro-

Not published in OJ

pean Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EASH-Bilbao)

— Opinion No 5/99 on the additional voluntary pension scheme and fund for Members of the

Not published in OJ

European Parliament

— Opinion No 6/99 concerning the draft amendment of the Obnova Regulation with a view to

Not published in OJ

the creation of an agency for the reconstruction of Kosovo

— Opinion No 7/99 concerning a proposal to amend the Financial regulation of the Translation

Not published in OJ

Centre for bodies of the European Union (TCBEU-Luxembourg)

— Opinion No 8/99 on a Council proposal for a decision concerning the European Union’s sys-

OJ C 310, 28.10.1999

tem of own resources

— Opinion No 9/99 on a proposal for a Council Regulation (EC) on budgetary discipline

OJ C 334, 23.11.1999

http: //www.eca.eu.int

XXXII

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

30.11.2004

Title

Publication

— Opinion No 1/2000 on a proposal for a Council regulation amending the Financial Regulation
of 21 December 1977 and separating the internal audit function from the ex ante financial
control function

OJ C 327, 17.11.2000

— Opinion No 2/2000 on a proposal to amend the Financial regulation of the Community Plant

Not published in OJ

Variety Office (CPVO-Angers)

— Opinion No 1/2001 on a proposal for a Council Regulation amending Council regulation (EC)
No 1258/1999 on the financing of the common agricultural policy as well as various other
regulations relating to the common agricultural policy

OJ C 55, 21.2.2001

— Opinion No 2/2001 on a proposal for a Council Regulation on the Financial Regulation appli-

OJ C 162, 5.6.2001

cable to the general budget of the European Communities

— Opinion No 3/2001 on a proposal for a Council Regulation introducing special measures to
terminate the service of officials of the Commission of the European Communities as part of
the reform of the Commission

OJ C 162, 5.6.2001

— Opinion No 4/2001 on a proposal for a Council Regulation amending Regulation (Euratom,
ECSC, EEC) No 549/69 determining the categories of officials and other servants of the Euro-
pean Communities to whom the provisions of Article 12, the second paragraph of Article 13
and Article 14 of the Protocol on the Privileges and Immunities of the Communities apply (pur-
pose: taxation of those entitled to the allowance provided for in the event of termination of ser-
vice)

OJ C 162, 5.6.2001

— Opinion No 5/2001 on a proposal to amend the Financial regulation of the Office for Harmo-

Not published in OJ

nization in the Internal Market (OHIM-Alicante)

— Opinion No 6/2001 concerning a draft Commission Regulation (Euratom, ECSC, EC) amend-
ing Commission Regulation No 3418/93 of 9 December 1993 laying down detailed rules for
the implementation of certain provisions of the Financial Regulation of 21 December 1977

Not published in OJ

— Opinion No 7/2001 on a proposal for a Council regulation amending Regulation (EEC, Eura-
tom, ECSC) No 259/68 laying down the Staff Regulations of officials and the Conditions of
employment of other servants of the European Communities

Not published in OJ

— Opinion No 8/2001 on a proposal for a Council Regulation laying down the statute for execu-
tive agencies to be entrusted with certain tasks in the management of Community programmes

OJ C 345, 6.12.2001

— Opinion No 9/2001 on a proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Coun-
cil on the criminal-law protection of the Community’s financial interests (ref. 2001/0115 (COD
— COM (2001) 272 final)

OJ C 14, 17.1.2002

— Opinion No 1/2002 on a proposal to amend the financial regulation of the Office for Harmo-

Not published in OJ

nization in the Internal Market (OHIM-Alicante)

— Opinion No 2/2002 on an amended proposal for a Council Regulation on the Financial Regu-

OJ C 92, 17.4.2002

lation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities

http: //www.eca.eu.int

30.11.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

XXXIII

Title

Publication

— Opinion No 3/2002 concerning a proposal for the Financial Regulation applicable to the bud-

Not published in OJ

get of Eurojust

— Opinion No 4/2002 on an amended proposal for a Council Regulation amending regulation
(Euratom, ECSC, EC) No 549/69 determining the categories of officials and other servants of
the European Communities to whom the provisions of Article 12, the second paragraph of
Article 13 and Article 14 of the Protocol on the Privileges and Immunities of the Communities
apply

OJ C 225, 20.9.2002

— Opinion No 5/2002 on a proposal for a Council Regulation introducing special measures to
terminate the service of officials of the Commission of the European Communities as part of
the reform of the Commission

OJ C 236, 1.10.2002

— Opinion No 6/2002 on a proposal for a Council Regulation introducing special measures to
terminate the service of officials of the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union

OJ C 236, 1.10.2002

— Opinion No 7/2002 on an amended proposal for a Council Regulation introducing special
measures to terminate the service of European Parliament officials and temporary staff work-
ing in the political groups

OJ C 236, 1.10.2002

— Opinion No 8/2002 concerning a proposal for a revised Financial Regulation applicable to the

Not published in OJ

budget of the European Agency for Reconstruction

— Opinion No 9/2002 concerning the financing of the common agricultural policy

OJ C 285, 21.11.2002

— Opinion No 10/2002 on a Commission proposal for amendment of the constituent acts of

OJ C 285, 21.11.2002

Community bodies following the adoption of the new Financial Regulation

— Opinion No 11/2002 on a proposal for a Commission regulation 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

OJ C 12, 17.1.2003

— Opinion No 12/2002 on the proposal for a Council regulation on a Financial Regulation appli-
cable to the ninth European Development Fund under the ACP/EU Partnership Agreement
signed at Cotonou on 23 June 2000

OJ C 12, 17.1.2003

— Opinion No 13/2002 concerning a draft Commission Regulation laying down detailed rules for
the implementation of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002 on
the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities

OJ C 12, 17.1.2003

— Opinion No 14/2002 on a proposal for a Council Regulation amending the Staff Regulations
of officials and the Conditions of employment of other servants of the European Communities

OJ C 21, 28.1.2003

— Opinion No 1/2003 on a proposal for a regulation for the Budget Committee of the Office for
Harmonization in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) Laying down the financial
provisions applicable to the Office (Financial Regulation)

Not published in OJ

— Opinion No 2/2003 on a proposal for a regulation of the Administrative Council of the Com-
munity Plant Variety Office laying down the financial provisions applicable to the Office (Finan-
cial Regulation)

Not published in OJ

— Opinion No 3/2003 concerning the draft financial regulation of the European Food Safety

Not published in OJ

Authority

— Opinion No 4/2003 concerning a draft financial regulation applicable to the Translation Cen-

Not published in OJ

tre for bodies of the European Union

http: //www.eca.eu.int

XXXIV

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

30.11.2004

Title

— Opinion No 5/2003 on a proposal for a Council Regulation introducing, on the occasion of
the accession of Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland,
Slovakia and Slovenia, special temporary measures for recruitment of officials of the European
Communities

Publication

OJ C 224, 19.9.2003

— Opinion No 6/2003 concerning the draft financial regulation of the European Agency for the

Not published in OJ

Evaluation of Medicinal Products

— Opinion No 7/2003 on a proposal for a Council regulation amending Regulation (EC, Eura-
tom) No 1150/2000 implementing Decision 2000/597/EC, Euratom on the system of the
Communities’ own resources

OJ C 318, 30.12.2003

— Opinion No 8/2003 on a proposal for a decision of the European Parliament and of the Coun-
cil establishing a Community action programme to promote activities in the field of the pro-
tection of the Community’s financial interests

OJ C 318, 30.12.2003

— Opinion No 9/2003 on a draft Commission regulation on a standard financial regulation for
the executive agencies pursuant to Council Regulation (EC) No 58/2003 laying down the stat-
ute for executive agencies to be entrusted with certain tasks in the management of Community
programmes

OJ C 19, 23.1.2004

— Opinion No 10/2003 on a proposal for a Council regulation amending Regulation (EC, Eura-

OJ C 19, 23.1.2004

tom) No 2728/94 establishing a Guarantee Fund for external actions

— Opinion No 1/2004 on an amended proposal for a Council Regulation amending the Staff
Regulations of officials and the Conditions of Employment of other servants of the European
Communities

OJ C 75, 24.3.2004

— Opinion No 2/2004 on the ‘single audit’ model (and a proposal for a Community internal con-

OJ C 107, 30.4.2004

trol framework)

http: //www.eca.eu.int