Report on the annual accounts of the European Union Fundamental Rights Agency for the financial year 2007 together with the Agency's replies
Date: 2008-09-25
Institutions: European Court of Auditors
Subjects: EU office or agency, European Court of Auditors, administration of the Institutions, financial control, fundamental rights, implementation of the budget, powers of the institutions (EU), report

5.12.2008

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 311/7

REPORT

on the annual accounts of the European Union Fundamental Rights
Agency for the financial year 2007 together with the Agency’s replies

(2008/C 311/02)

CONTENTS

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

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

OBSERVATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1-2

3-6

7-9

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

8

8

8

9

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

12

Paragraph

Page

C 311/8

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

5.12.2008

INTRODUCTION

1.
The European Union Fundamental Rights Agency (herein-
after ‘the Agency’), which succeeded to the European Monitoring
Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC) and extended its com-
established by Council Regulation (EC)
petencies, was
No 168/2007 of 15 February 2007 (1). The objective of the
Agency is to provide the relevant institutions and authorities of
the Community and its MemberStates when implementing Com-
munity law with assistance and expertise relating to fundamental
rights in order to support them when they take measures to fully
respect fundamental rights.

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 2007 are shown 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 185(2) of Council
Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 (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.

The Agency’s accounts for the financial year ended
4.
31 December 2007 (3) were drawn up by its Director, pursuant
to Article 21 of Council Regulation (EC) No 168/2007, and sent
to the Court, which is required to provide a statement of assur-
ance on their reliability and on the legality and regularity of the
underlying transactions.

5.
The Court conducted its audit in accordance with the IFAC
and ISSAI (4) International Auditing Standards and Codes of Eth-
ics, in so far 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 2007 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 observations which follow do not call the Court’s State-
ment into question.

OBSERVATIONS

7.
The Agency’s final budget for 2007 amounted to 14,2 mil-
lion euro as compared with 9,3 million euro allocated to the
EUMC the previous year. Almost all the budget was committed
(13,9 million euro) but 7,5 million euro were carried over. The
high level of carry-overs was due to the extension of the mandate
of the Agency in March 2007. This extension delayed the adop-
tion of the Agency’s new work programme and the nomination
of a new director and consequently the implementation of the
activities planned for 2007.

8.
Due to the extension of its mandate the Agency, through
amendments to its budget and various transfers, decreased by
798 000 euro the staff expenditure budget lines, avoiding cancel-
lations of unused appropriations for staff expenditure at the year
end.

9.
With regard to procurement procedures, in one case, the
published financial evaluation method indirectly decreased the
relative importance of the price criterion. This may have deterred
some potential bidders and was not in line with the principle of
sound financial management.

This report was adopted by the Court of Auditors in Luxembourg at its meeting of 24 and
25 September 2008.

For the Court of Auditors
Vítor Manuel da SILVA CALDEIRA
President

(1) OJ L 53, 22.2.2007, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 248, 16.9.2002, p. 1.
(3) These accounts were drawn up on 4 June 2008 and received by the

Court on 11 June 2008.

(4) International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) and International Stan-

dards of Supreme Audit Institutions (ISSAI).

Table 1

European Union Fundamental Rights Agency (Vienna)

Areas of Community
competence deriving from
the Treaty

Competences of the Agency as specified in Council Regulation (EC) No 168/2007

Governance

infor-

Objectives

Tasks

Collection of
mation

The Commission may,
within the limits and
under conditions laid
down by the Council in
accordance with the
this
provisions
Treaty,
any
information and carry
out any checks required
for the performance of
the tasks entrusted to it.

of
collect

(Article 284 of
Treaty)

the

To provide the relevant
institutions, bodies, offices
and agencies of the Com-
munity and its Member-
States when implementing
Community law with assis-
tance and expertise relating
to fundamental rights in
order
them
to support
when they take measures
or formulate courses of
action within their respec-
tive spheres of competence
to fully respect fundamen-
tal rights.

— To collect, analyse and disseminate relevant,
objective, reliable and comparable informa-
tion including results from research and
monitoring communicated to it by Member
States, Union institutions as well as bodies,
offices and agencies of the Community and
the Union, research centres, national bodies,
non-governmental
third
countries and international organisations
and in particular by the competent bodies
of the Council of Europe.

organisations,

— To develop methods to improve the compa-
rability, objectivity and reliability of data at
European level.

— To carry out and to cooperate with or
encourage scientific research and studies
including, where appropriate and compat-
ible with its priorities and its annual work
programme, at the request of the European
Parliament, the Council or the Commission.

— To publish conclusions and opinions on
specific thematic topics, for the Union insti-
tutions and the Member States when imple-
menting Community law, either on its own
initiative or at the request of the European
Parliament, the Council or the Commission.

— To publish an annual report on fundamen-
tal rights issues covered by the areas of the
Agency’s activity and thematic reports as
will as an annual report on its activities.

— To develop a communication strategy and
promote dialogue with civil society, in order
to raise public awareness of fundamental
rights.

Source:

Information supplied by the Agency.

1. Management Board

Composition

One independent person appointed by each Member-
State, one independent person appointed by the Coun-
cil of Europe and two representatives of
the
Commission.

Duties

— To adopt the work programme and the general

annual report.

— To adopt the final budget and the establishment

Resources made available to the
Agency in 2007
(Data for 2006)

Products and services supplied during the
financial year 2007
(Data for 2006)

Final budget

14,2 million euro

(9,3 million euro)

of which the Community subsidy
is 98 % (100 %)

Staff as at 31 December 2007

46 (37) posts in the establishment
plan,

RAXEN network

Number of contributions by the 25
national focal points: 245 (375)

Number of contributions in the context
of the PHARE Croatia/Turkey project: 6

Number of meetings: 1 (2)

Research reports

Number of reports: 4 (9)

plan.

of which posts occupied: 34 (35)

Number of meetings: 6 (5)

— To give an opinion on the final accounts.

2. Executive Board

Composition

+ 11 (10) other staff
(contract
agents, seconded national experts,
employment agency staff)

Annual Reports: 2 (2)

Non-research materials

Total staff: 57 (47)

Various FRA publications: 15 (9)

— Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the Manage-

ment Board.

undertaking the following tasks:

Cooperation with MemberStates and
other institutions

— The person appointed by the Council of Europe
in the Management Board may participate in the
meetings of the Executive Board.

operational: 31 (28)

administrative: 21 (15)

— One representative of the Commission.

mixed: 5 (4)

— Two other members of the Management Board.

3. Director

Appointed by the Management Board on a proposal
from the Commission and after opinions of the Euro-
pean Parliament and of the Council.

4. External audit

Court of Auditors.

5.

Internal control

The Commission’s internal audit service.

6. Discharge authority

Parliament acting on a recommendation of the Coun-
cil.

Member States: 7 (15)

European Commission: 8 (29)

European Parliament: 6 (7)

Committee of the Regions: 1 (2)

European Economic and Social Commit-
tee: 3 (1)

Council of Europe: 4 (10)

OSCE: 5 (4)

Inter-Agency: 2 (4)

United Nations: 2 (1)

Other meetings and round tables: 23 (5)

.

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European Union Fundamental Rights Agency (Vienna) — Implementation of the budget for the financial year 2007

Table 2

Source of revenue

Revenue

Revenue entered in
the final budget for
the financial year

Revenue received

Allocation of expenditure

Expenditure

Final budget appropriations

(1 000 euro)

Appropriations carried over from
previous financial year(s)

entered

committed

paid

carried
over

cancelled

available

paid

cancelled

Community subsidies

14 000

14 000

Other assigned revenue

Phare 2005 (1)

Phare 2006 (1)

0

0

191

240

90

191

Title I
Staff

Title II
Administration

Title III
Operating activities

Phare 2005 (1)

Phare 2006 (1)

4 085

4 012

3 903

109

2 375

2 337

750

1 587

73

38

50

37

283

273

7 540

7 430

1 810

5 620

110

0

191

0

168

0

53

0

138

0

0

942

90

245

881

90

245

Total

14 191

14 521

Total

14 191

13 947

6 516

7 454

221

1 610

1 526

13

10

61

0

0

84

(1) Assigned revenue.
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.

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8

5.12.2008

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 311/11

European Union Fundamental Rights Agency (Vienna) — Economic outturn account for the financial
years 2007 and 2006

Table 3

(1 000 euro)

2007

2006

Operating revenue

Community subsidies

Other revenues

Operating expenses

Staff expenses

Fixed asset related expenses

Other administrative expenses

Operational expenses

14 074

207

Total (a)

14 281

3 532

168

1 538

3 450

8 688

5 593

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

Total (b)

8 609

8

8 617

3 051

52

1 403

3 556

8 061

556

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.

European Union Fundamental Rights Agency (Vienna) — Balance sheet at 31 December 2007 and 2006

Table 4

Non-current assets

Intangible fixed assets

Tangible fixed assets

Current assets

Short-term pre-financing

Short-term receivables

Cash and cash equivalents

Current liabilities

Provisions for risks and charges

Accounts payable

Reserve

Accumulated surplus/deficit

Economic result for the year

(1 000 euro)

2007

2006

109

333

0

291

8 196

8 929

48

1 588

1 636

7 293

1 700

5 593

7 293

Total assets

Total liabilities

Net assets

Net capital

84

388

70

453

2 288

3 282

48

1 535

1 582

1 700

1 143

556

1 700

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.

C 311/12

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

5.12.2008

THE AGENCY’S REPLIES

The Agency has taken all the necessary measures to make up these delays in order to minimise cancel-
7.
lations of carried-over appropriations. The objective to cancel less than 10 % of carry-overs shall be closely
monitored during 2008.

8.
The transfers and the amending budgets were necessary because of the difficulties linked to the exten-
sion of the Agency’s mandate which impaired the implementation of the initially foreseen activities. In the
future, the Agency will continue to improve the programming of its activities.

9.
The method used was fully compliant with the Financial Regulation. However, to ensure that the best
value for money is obtained, the Agency will introduce the evaluation method now proposed by the Com-
mission services.