Resolution of the European Parliament containing the comments accompanying the decision on the discharge to the Executive Director of the European Food Safety Authority in respect of the implementation of its budget for the financial year 2003
Date: 2005-04-12
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: European Food Safety Authority, budgetary discharge, financial year, implementation of the budget

27.7.2005

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 196/133

RESOLUTION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

containing the comments accompanying the decision on the discharge to the Executive Director of
the European Food Safety Authority in respect of the implementation of its budget for the financial
year 2003

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT,

— having regard to the Court of Auditors’ report on the annual accounts of the European Food Safety

Authority for the 2003 financial year together with the Authority’s replies (1),

— having regard to the Council’s recommendation of 8 March 2005 (6857/2005 — C6-0066/2005),

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

— having regard to Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002 on the Financial
Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities (2) and in particular Article
185 thereof, and to Regulation (EC) No 1642/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of
22 July 2003 amending Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 laying down the general principles and
requirements of food law, establishing the European Food Safety Authority and laying down procedures
in matters of food safety (3) and in particular Article 44 thereof,

— having regard to Commission Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2343/2002 of 19 November 2002 on the
framework Financial Regulation for the bodies referred to in Article 185 of Council Regulation
(EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the
European Communities (4) and, in particular, Article 94 thereof,

— having regard to Rules 70 and 71 of and Annex V to its Rules of Procedure,

— having regard to the Report of the Committee on Budgetary Control and the opinion of the Committee

on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (A6-0074/2005),

A.

B.

C.

Whereas the European Court of Auditors (ECA) stated, in its abovementioned specific report, that it
obtained reasonable assurance that the annual accounts for the financial year ended 31 December
2003 were reliable and that the underlying transactions, taken as a whole, were legal and regular.

Whereas the European Parliament,
in accordance with Article 185 of the Financial Regulation,
exercises for the first time its competence to give discharge to the Authority’s Director in respect
of the implementation of the Authority’s budget for the financial year 2003.

Whereas in inaugurating this relationship with the Authority, Parliament
its
competent committee received information from the Authority as requested and looks forward to
establishing a relation of close cooperation between its competent committees and the Authority.

is satisfied that

D.

Whereas increasing consumers’ trust in food in general is one of the main objectives of the Authority;

(1) OJ C 324, 30.12.2004, p. 39.
(2) OJ L 248, 16.9.2002, p. 1.
(3) OJ L 245, 29.9.2003, p. 4.
(4) OJ L 357, 31.12.2002, p. 72.

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Official Journal of the European Union

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1.

Notes the following figures for the accounts of European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) for the
financial year 2003:

Revenue and expenditure account for the financial year 2003

Revenue

Commission subsidies

Other revenue

Expenditure
Staff — Title I of the budget

Payments

Appropriations carried over
Administration — Title II of the budget

Payments

Appropriations carried over
Operating expediture — Title III of the budget

Payments

Appropriations carried over

(in EUR 1 000)

2003

10 284

33

Total revenue (a)

10 317

3 567

149

1 092

1 189

1 278

2 895

Exchange rate difference

NB: The totals may include differences due to rounding.
Source: information supplied by the Authority.

Total expenditure (b)

10 171

Outturn for the financial year (a – b)

Balance for the financial year

146

0

146

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Notes the observations of the ECA in relation to problems encountered as regards compliance with
the Financial Regulation (for example, on the lack of segregation of duties between financial actors or
on delays in systems’ validation for supplying accounting information); also notes the ECA’s findings
with regard to deficiencies in the application of the rules concerning the determination of remu-
neration and entitlements of recruited staff;

Notes the Authority’s replies indicating the measures taken in order to comply with the Court’s
observations;

Takes the view that such deficiencies largely related to the fact that the Authority was in its start-up
phase; invites the Authority to take further remedial action, where appropriate, so as to fully comply
with the Court’s observations;

Regrets the absence of an equality plan and expects the Authority to develop a plan shortly in order
to become an equal opportunities employer; expects the Authority not only to consider equality
issues at the stage of recruitment but also to work proactively and on a long-term basis to promote
gender equality;

Expects EFSA to apply the same philosophy concerning the sharing of results of animal testing as is
proposed in REACH, in order to avoid animal suffering;

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7.

8.

9.

Expects the Authority to interpret the wording ‘overriding public interest’ as set out in Articles 1(a),
4(2) and 4(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council (1) on
public access to documents in the broadest possible way when dealing with requests for information
information possible to make their choices as consumers;
to make sure that consumers have all

Welcomes the Authority’s commitment to communicate to key target groups but hopes to see
further measures taken to develop and strengthen its strategies, especially those concerning infor-
mation and communication to the citizens;

Expects the Authority to fully report on progress made in the Annual Activity Report for the
financial year 2004;

General points addressed to the Commission and the Agencies

10.

11.

Recalls its position that while it supported the Commission’s efforts to establish a limited number of
models, at least for future ‘regulatory’ agencies, it took the view that the structure of current and
future agencies merited in-depth consideration at interinstitutional level; also stresses that before the
Commission defines the framework conditions for the use of regulatory agencies an Interinstitutional
Agreement should spell out common guidelines; this should happen before setting up a harmonised
framework for the structure of the agencies;

Notes the Commission’s position (2) with regard to delegating responsibility for the execution of tasks
to bodies, including agencies, other than the Commission’s core administration; takes the view that
this does not answer Parliament’s call for in-depth consideration at interinstitutional
level of the
structure of existing agencies; therefore invites the Commission to provide clarification on this point
and on the future overall Interinstitutional Agreement related to the new arrangements to be set up
within or in parallel with the Financial Perspective (3);

12.

Invites the Commission to organise and perform in the medium term, e.g. on a standard three-year
cycle, a cross-cutting analysis of the evaluations carried out on individual Agencies in order to:

(a) reach conclusions with regard to the coherence of Agency activity with EU policies in general and
as regards the synergies existing or to be developed between the agencies and Commission
departments and the avoidance of overlapping between them;

(b) make an assessment of the broader European added value of the Agencies’ outputs in their
the Agency

the relevance, efficiency and effectiveness of

respective area of activity and of
model in implementing or contributing to EU policies;

13.

14.

(c) determine and enhance the impact of the Agencies’ actions in terms of the proximity, accessibility

and visibility of the EU to its citizens;

Expects such an overall analysis to be available by the end of 2005 so as to cover the three-year
period from the time of the introduction of the new Financial Regulation and the consequent new
framework in the Agencies’ system;

Invites the Agencies to participate actively in such a process and to cooperate with the Commission,
providing the necessary input on matters that they feel are of substance to their functioning, role,
remit and needs, as well as on any matter which could help to improve the whole discharge
procedure, with a view to contributing to the success of such a process and increasing the account-
ability and transparency of the Agencies; invites Agencies to present such input also to its competent
committees;

(1) OJ L 145, 31.5.2001, p. 43.
(2) As set out in Annex 1 to the Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament
the Enlarged Union 2007-2013’,

‘Building our common future, Policy challenges and Budgetary means of
(COM(2004) 0101, p. 38).

(3) See Annex to the Commission’s report on the follow-up to 2002 discharges (COM(2004) 0648, p. 108).

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15.

Calls on the Commission, in parallel with this exercise, to present by the end of 2005 at the latest,
proposals for changes to be made in the existing Agencies’ Constituent Acts with a view, inter alia, to
optimising its relationship with the Agencies; such proposals should aim at:

(a)

increasing communication between the Commission and the Agencies;

(b) establishing or expanding cooperation in defining needs to be covered and objectives, outputs to
be produced and the strategy to achieve them, and in setting standards for monitoring and
evaluation;

(c) enhancing complementary action, better organising the necessary resources and their effective
allocation to produce results, and devising a communication strategy for dissemination of those
results;

Emphasises that, before any decision is taken to propose the creation of a new agency,
the
Commission must undertake a strict evaluation of the need and added value of the function of
this agency, bearing in mind existing structures, the principles of subsidiarity, budgetary austerity and
the simplification of procedures;

Expects the Commission to present swiftly the guidelines concerning staff policy of the Agencies that
Parliament had requested the Commission to present before the end of
the 2005 budgetary
procedure;

16.

17.

General points addressed to the Agencies

18.

19.

20.

21.

22.

23.

Expects to receive from now on, from each of the Agencies, the report summarising information
on the audits carried out by the Internal Auditor, the recommendations made and the action
taken on these recommendations in accordance with Article 72(5) of Regulation (EC, Euratom)
No 2343/2002;

Invites the Agencies to make further efforts to apply correctly the staff regulations and rules
applicable to other civil servants with regard to their staff (recruitment procedures and relevant
decisions taken, personal
files, calculation of remuneration and other entitlements, promotions
policy, percentage of vacant posts, quotas for respecting gender equality, etc.);

Notes that, in general, the respective percentage of male and female employees in the overall staff
composition of the Agencies shows that an imbalance between men and women exists; regrets that
men make up about one third of staff and are over-represented in high grade positions while women
are generally over-represented in low grade positions; expects the Agencies to take immediate and
effective measures to correct this situation;

Calls on the Agencies to ensure that all the relevant provisions of Directive 2002/73/EC of the
European Parliament and of
the Council of 23 September 2002 amending Council Directive
76/207/EEC on the implementation of the principle of equal treatment for men and women as
regards access to employment, vocational training and promotion, and working conditions (1) are
introduced in their respective staff policies;

Expects the Agencies, in response to the relevant observations of the ECA, to comply fully with the
budgetary principles as set out in the Financial Regulation, in particular those of unity and budgetary
accuracy; calls on the Agencies that have not yet done so to fulfil the Financial Regulation’s
requirements on accounting matters and to strengthen further their procedures as regards internal
management and control with the aim of increasing accountability, transparency and European added
value;

Encourages the Agencies, especially those whose activities have points in common with the activities
or missions of other Agencies, to strengthen their cooperation, thus opening up opportunities for
developing synergies; invites them to formalise, where appropriate, such cooperation through specific
agreements (joint declarations, memoranda of understanding, decisions on joint planning and
actions/programmes presenting complementary characteristics) so as to ensure that there is no
duplication of work, that each Agency’s output is clearly identified and that the result of joint
efforts maximises the added value and the impact of their work; expects to be informed regularly
on this issue;

(1) OJ L 269, 5.10.2002, p. 15.

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24.

25.

26.

27.

28.

Calls on the Agencies to pay special attention to procedures for the award and management of
contracts; invites them to take all appropriate measures as regards their administrative structures in
order to strengthen their internal control procedures, channels and management; takes the view that
such measures may include, where necessary or feasible, the setting-up of specialised units entrusted
with the task of advising, on the basis of risk analysis, on how best to prepare contract award
procedures, to ensure monitoring and to carry out follow-up, as required; on this matter, calls on the
Commission and the ECA to strengthen cooperation with the Agencies;
Notes the difficulties to which some Directors, in particular of the ‘newly created’ Agencies, referred
with regard to the Agencies’ compliance with the calendar and deadlines for reporting as set in the
Financial Regulation; invites the Agencies’ Directors, in the perspective of the forthcoming review of
the Financial Regulation to be held in 2005, to inform its Committees on Budgets and Budgetary
Control of the difficulties encountered so far so that these may be considered in the framework of the
review; expects the Directors to make specific proposals for alternative arrangements as to deadlines
that may best suit their functioning requirements while respecting the reporting obligations of the
Agencies as provided for in the Financial Regulation;
Notes the positive response by the Agencies’ Directors to the call by Parliament’s committee
responsible for preparing discharge for the establishment of a more precise system of communi-
cation, in particular as regards the transmission by the Agencies to that committee of documents
relating to the Agencies’ reporting obligations; takes the view that better organisation of such
communication will strengthen its cooperation with the Agencies and enhance democratic control;

Invites the Directors of the Agencies from now on to accompany their annual activity report, which
is presented together with financial and management information, with a declaration of assurance
concerning the legality and regularity of operations, similar to the declarations signed by the
Directors-General of the Commission;

Invites the Agencies to develop a comprehensive strategy of communication addressing the need to
make available, in the appropriate form, the results of their work to the general public beyond the
presentation of such results to the Institutions, Member States’ competent services, specialists,
partners or specific beneficiaries; calls on the Agencies,
in view of the development of such a
strategy,
to intensify their cooperation and exchange information on best practice aimed at
achieving this goal; expects its competent committees to be duly informed by the Agencies, before
the next discharge exercise, on the progress made in devising such a strategy in order to ensure the
effective and timely monitoring of their activities;

General points addressed to the ECA and the Agencies
29. Welcomes the ECA’s initiative to add a table to its specific reports on the Agencies presenting
summary information on the competences, governance, resources available and products/output of
the particular agency; takes the view that this enhances the clarity and transparency of the work of
these Community bodies, while providing a useful basis for comparison, where appropriate, with a
view to helping set up the harmonised framework for the Agencies that Parliament has called for;

30.

31.

Invites the ECA and the Agencies to strengthen their cooperation in order to enhance the procedures
and technical tools to improve the sound management of all the budgetary and finance issues, with
the view to establishing a methodology that prepares the ground for a positive budget discharge from
the start of the process; expects to be informed regularly of the progress made and the implemen-
tation of best practices;

Calls on the ECA and the Agencies to enhance transparency in the procédure contradictoire prior to the
ECA’s final report, so as to avoid any contradiction or ambiguity which could jeopardise the
credibility of the whole exercise; in this respect, invites the ECA and the Commission to propose
a feasible way of updating information on the improvements made and/or the problems found, from
the time when the ECA’s preparatory report is first discussed until the time of the decision as to
whether to grant discharge,
in order to offer the most accurate picture of the situation of the
Agencies.