Report on the annual accounts of the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency for the financial year 2006 together with the Agency's replies
Date: 2007-09-27
Institutions: European Court of Auditors
Subjects: EU office or agency, European Court of Auditors, administration of the Institutions, audiovisual communications policy, culture, education, financial control, implementation of the budget, powers of the institutions (EU), report

19.12.2007

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 309/13

REPORT

on the annual accounts of the Education, Audiovisual and Culture
Executive Agency for the financial year 2006 together with the Agency’s
replies

(2007/C 309/03)

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

STATEMENT OF ASSURANCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

OBSERVATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1-2

3-6

7

Tables 1 to 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The Agency’s replies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

14

14

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15

17

Paragraph

Page

C 309/14

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

19.12.2007

INTRODUCTION

1.
The Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency
(hereinafter referred to as ‘the Agency’) was set up by Commis-
sion Decision 2005/56/EC of 14 January 2005 (1). The Agency
was established for a period beginning on 1 January 2005 and
ending on 31 December 2008. The Agency’s aim is to manage
programmes to be decided by the Commission in the fields of
education, audiovisual and culture, involving implementation of
technical projects. The Agency became fully autonomous in
2006.

2.
Table 1 summarises the Agency’s competences and activi-
ties. Key data summarised from the financial statements drawn up
by the Agency for the financial year 2006 is presented in Tables 2,
3 and 4 for information purposes.

STATEMENT OF ASSURANCE

3.
This Statement is addressed to the European Parliament
and the Council in accordance with Article 14 of Council Regu-
lation (EC) No 58 of 19 December 2002 (2); it was drawn up fol-
lowing an examination of the Agency’s accounts, as required by
Article 248 of the Treaty establishing the European Community.

4.
The Agency’s accounts for the financial year ended
31 December 2006 (3) were drawn up by its Director, pursuant
to Article 14 of Regulation (EC) No 58/2003, and sent to the
Court, which is required to give a statement of assurance on their
reliability and on the legality and regularity of the underlying
transactions.

The Court conducted its audit in accordance with the IFAC
5.
and INTOSAI International Auditing Standards and Codes of Eth-
ics, insofar as these are applicable in the European Community
context. The audit was planned and performed to obtain reason-
able assurance that the accounts are reliable and that the under-
lying transactions are legal and regular.

The Court has thus obtained a reasonable basis for the

6.
Statement set out below:

Reliability of the accounts

The Agency’s accounts for the financial year ended 31 Decem-
ber 2006 are, in all material respects, reliable.

Legality and regularity of the underlying transactions

The transactions underlying the Agency’s annual accounts,
taken as a whole, are legal and regular.

The observation which follows does not call the Court’s State-
ment into question.

OBSERVATION

7.
The main feature of the budgetary implementation was the
cancellation of nearly 10 % of the appropriations for the year.
Carryovers for administrative expenditure exceed 50 %.

This report was adopted by the Court of Auditors in Luxembourg at
27 September 2007.

its meeting of

For the Court of Auditors
Hubert WEBER
President

(1) OJ L 24, 27.1.2005, p. 35.
(2) OJ L 11, 16.1.2003, p. 5.
(3) These accounts were drawn up on 29 June 2007 and received by the

Court on 17 July 2007.

Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA), Brussels

Table 1

Areas of Community competence
deriving from the Treaty

Competences of the Agency as defined in Commission Decision (2005/56/EC) of
14 January 2005 (*)

Governance

Resources made available to the Agency
in 2006

Products and services supplied in 2006

The Community shall contribute to
the development of quality educa-
tion.

[Article 149(1)]

The Community shall implement a
vocational training policy.

[Article 150(1)]

The Community shall contribute to
the flowering of the cultures of the
Member States.

[Article 151(1)]

The Community and the Member
States shall ensure that the condi-
tions necessary for the competitive-
ness of the Community’s industry
exist.

[Article 157(1)]

Objectives

Tasks

1. Steering Committee

Final budget:

and

industry

In the framework of the education,
culture
policies,
numerous measures have been
taken to promote education, voca-
tional training, audiovisual, culture,
youth and active citizenship in the
European Union. The main objec-
tives of these measures are to rein-
force
cohesion and to
contribute to competitiveness, eco-
nomic growth and a closer union
amongst the people of Europe.

social

These measures include a variety of
Community programmes.

(‘Socrates’,

The Agency is responsible for man-
aging certain strands of these pro-
grammes
‘e-Learning’,
‘Leonardo da Vinci’, ‘Jean Monnet,
Study and research centres’,
‘Eras-
‘Youth’,
mus Mundus’,
‘Citizenship’,
‘Media Training’ and
‘Media Plus’).

‘Culture’,

To manage the specific projects
entrusted to the Agency;

To adopt the instruments of budget
implementation for revenue and
expenditure and to carry out, where
the Commission has empowered it
to do so, the operations necessary
for the management of the Commu-
nity programmes and, in particular,
those linked to the award of grants
and contracts;

To gather, analyse and pass on to
the Commission all the information
needed to guide the implementation
of the Community programmes.

Comprises
members
five
appointed by the European Com-
mission.

It adopts the Agency’s annual
work programme after approval
by the European Commission. In
addition, it adopts the administra-
tive budget of the Agency and its
annual activity report.

2. Director

Appointed by the European Com-
mission.

3. External audit

The European Court of Auditors.

4. Discharge Authority

The European Parliament follow-
ing a recommendation from the
Council.

(1) 310,2 million euro for
the
management of Community pro-
grammes and projects delegated to
the Agency and implemented by the
Agency
the Commission’s
responsibility wholly funded by the
General Budget of the EU).

on

(2) 29,2 million euro for operat-
ing the Agency as an independent
body (100 % subsidy entered in the
General Budget of the European
Communities).

Staff numbers at 31 Decem-
ber 2006

75 posts for temporary staff in the
establishment plan

Posts occupied: 64

Other posts:

(contract and auxiliary staff): 221
contract staff

Posts occupied: 214

Total staff numbers at 31.12.2006:
278

assigned to the following tasks:

— operational: 227

— administrative: 49

— mixed: 2

On 1 January 2006, the Agency took over the man-
agement of certain strands of Community pro-
grammes in the fields of education, vocational
training, culture, audiovisual, citizenship and youth in
accordance with the objectives laid down in the Deci-
sion establishing the Agency, the act of delegation and
its management plan for 2006.

As regards pre-2006 projects, the Agency took over
the management of a total of 10 655 unclosed
projects that had been transferred from the DGs origi-
nally responsible for them (DG EAC and DG INFSO)
and for the most part dating from the years 2002
to 2005, except for the MEDIA programme (2001)
and the Jean Monnet Project (1999 to 2001). As at
31 December 2006, the Agency had carried out the
closure of 3 155 (decommitted) projects dating from
before 2006, i.e. 30 % of all the transferred projects.

During 2006, the Agency made 114 monitoring vis-
its to projects in progress.

The Agency also took over 183 unfinished audits that
had been initiated by DG EAC, and closed 46 of them
in 2006 (25 %).

As regards the projects for 2006, the Agency organ-
ised the selection work, which led to the selection of
4 813 projects, virtually all of which resulted in a con-
tract by the end of 2006.

The Agency drew up an audit plan in 2006 schedul-
ing 99 audits, for which 84 on-the-spot audit visits
were made in 2006.

The Agency drew up and published 20 calls for pro-
posals in 2006.

During the last quarter of 2006, the Agency helped to
draw up and finalise calls for proposals concerning
the new generation of programmes for 2007-2013.

(*) This Decision has been amended by Commission Decision 2007/114/EC of 8 February 2007.
Source:

Information submitted by the Agency.

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Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (Brussels) — Implementation of the budget for the financial year 2006

Table 2

Revenue

Source of revenue

Revenue entered in the final
budget for the financial year

Revenue collected

Allocation of expenditure

Community subsidies (1)

29 199

Total

29 199

Title I
Staff

Title II
Administration

27 749

27 749

(1 000 euro)

Expenditure

Final budget appropriations

entered

committed

paid

carried over

cancelled

17 498

16 311

14 806

1 220

1 472

11 701

Total

29 199

10 371

26 682

4 903

19 709

5 468

6 688

1 330

2 802

(1) Including European Economic Area subsidies.
Source: Data supplied by the Agency. This table summarises the data provided by the Agency in its annual accounts. Revenue collected and payments are estimated on a cash basis.

Table 3

Table 4

Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (Brussels)
— Economic outturn account for the financial year 2006

Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (Brussels)
— Balance sheet at 31 December 2006

Operating revenue

Community subsidies

Operating expenses

Staff expenses (1)

Fixed asset related expenses

Other administrative expenses

(1 000 euro)

2006

26 397

Total (a)

26 397

Non-current assets

Intangible fixed assets

Tangible fixed assets

Current assets

Short-term receivables

Cash and cash equivalents

13 071

57

9 724

Current liabilities

Provisions for risks and charges

Accounts payables

Net assets

Total (b)

22 852

Economic result of the year

Economic result for the year (c = a – b)

3 545

(1) Staff expenses have been less than expected.

Source: Data supplied by the Agency . This table summarises the data provided by the Agency in its annual accounts: these accounts are drawn up on an accrual basis.

(1 000 euro)

2006

159

243

1 253

7 886

9 541

310

5 686

5 996

3 545

3 545

9 541

Total assets

Total liabilities

Total net assets

Total liabilities and net assets

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19.12.2007

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 309/17

THE AGENCY’S REPLIES

When seen against the background of the refunds of
7.
appropriations effected by the Agency during the course of the
year, the cancellation of appropriations as at 31 December 2006
was limited. It can be explained by the large number of Service
Level Agreements and contracts which could not be concluded

before the end of 2006 , entailing a significant carryover of
appropriations to ensure that invoices which had not [yet] been
received could be paid in accordance with Article 9(4) of the
Financial Regulation. This authorises payment of administrative
expenditure up to the end of year N + 1.