Report on the annual accounts of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control for the financial year 2009, together with the Centre’s replies
Date: 2010-09-16
Institutions: European Court of Auditors
Subjects: European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, European Court of Auditors, administration of the Institutions, competence of the institution, financial control, implementation of the budget, report








C_2010338EN.01012401.xml










14.12.2010   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 338/124





REPORT
on the annual accounts of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control for the financial year 2009, together with the Centre’s replies
2010/C 338/22

CONTENTS








 



Paragraph




Page





INTRODUCTION …


1-2


125




STATEMENT OF ASSURANCE …


3-12


125




COMMENTS ON THE BUDGETARY AND FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT …


13


126




Table …


127





The Centre’s replies …


129





INTRODUCTION







1.


The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (hereinafter ‘the Centre’), which is located in Stockholm, was set up by Regulation (EC) No 851/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 April 2004 (1). Its main tasks are to collect and disseminate data on the prevention and control of human diseases and to provide scientific opinions on this subject. It is also required to coordinate the European network of bodies operating in this field (2).










2.


The Centre’s 2009 budget amounted to 51 million euro, compared with 40,6 million euro the previous year. The number of staff employed by the Centre at the end of the year was 199, as compared with 154 the previous year.



























































































































12.


The comments which follow do not call the Court’s opinions into question.





COMMENTS ON THE BUDGETARY AND FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT







13.


As in previous years, the high level of carry-overs has had a negative impact on the implementation of the budget. Appropriations carried forward from 2008, amounting to 2,2 million euro, had to be cancelled. In 2009, appropriations carried forward represented 42 % of Title II — Administrative expenditure and 63 % of Title III — Operational expenditure. This situation may compromise the 2010 budget implementation and is at odds with the principle of annuality.





This Report was adopted by Chamber IV, headed by Mr Igors LUDBORŽS, Member of the Court of Auditors, in Luxembourg at its meeting of 14 and 16 September 2010.


For the Court of Auditors

Vítor Manuel da SILVA CALDEIRA

President





Table


European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (Stockholm)











Areas of Union competence deriving from the Treaty


Competences of the Centre as specified in Council Regulation (EC) No 851/2004


Governance


Resources made available to the Centre In 2009

(Data for 2008)



Products and services supplied in 2009




A high level of human health protection shall be ensured in the definition and implementation of all Union policies and activities.
Union action, which shall complement national policies, shall be directed towards improving public health, preventing physical and mental illness and diseases, and obviating sources of danger to physical and mental health. Such action shall cover the fight against the major health scourges, by promoting research into their causes, their transmission and their prevention, as well as health information and education, and monitoring, early warning of and combating serious cross-border threats to health.

(Article 168 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union)




Objectives







—


Strengthen Europe’s defences against infectious diseases; specifically, to identify, assess and communicate current and emerging threats to human health from communicable diseases.










—


Therefore the Centre shall operate dedicated surveillance networks, provide scientific opinions, operate the early warning and response system (EWRS) and provide scientific and technical assistance and training.







Tasks







—


Operate dedicated disease surveillance networks and enhance networking activities. The Centre has a specific role in data collection, validation, analysis and dissemination.










—


Provide authoritative expert advice and scientific opinions and studies on communicable diseases.










—


Operate the Early Warning and Response System. Develop procedures for identifying emerging health threats.










—


Strengthen Member States’ capacity in preparedness planning and in training.










—


Inform the general public and interested parties of its work.







1.   Management Board


Composition

One member designated by each Member State, two members designated by the European Parliament and three representatives of the Commission.

Tasks

The Board adopts the Centre's annual programme and budget and monitors their implementation.

2.   Director

Appointed by the Management Board on the basis of a list of candidates proposed by the Commission.

3.   Advisory Forum


Composition

A representative of each Member State and three non-voting representatives of the Commission.

Tasks

The Forum is to assure the scientific excellence of the work and the independence of the activities and opinions of the Centre.

4.   External audit

Court of Auditors.

5.   Discharge Authority

Parliament, acting on recommendation from the Council.



Budget

51 million euro (40,7 million euro)


Staff at 31 December 2009

Authorised: 170 (130)

Occupied: 129 (101)

Other posts: 70 (53)

TOTAL: 199 (154)

assigned to the following duties:

Allocated to:







—


operational tasks: 120 (91)











—


administrative and support tasks: 79 (63)













—


A (H1N1) pandemic; risk assessment and support for Member States.










—


191 threats monitored using the Threat Tracking Tool (TTT).










—


52 weekly threat reports on communicable diseases.










—


Provision of support to epidemic intelligence for five large mass-gathering events.










—


Preparation of 25 original threat assessments and six threat updates.










—


Conducted two simulation exercises.










—


78 fellows coached in the European Programme for Intervention Epidemiology Training (EPIET).










—


346 public health experts from 30 EU-EEA countries participated in ECDC short training modules.










—


Launch of the new ECDC web portal.










—


43 scientific publications published.










—


Second European Antibiotic Awareness Day organised, with participation of 34 countries.










—


Enhanced surveillance; further integration of the dedicated surveillance networks.










—


Annual Epidemiological Report published.










—


Tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS annual reports published.










—


28 weekly influenza bulletins/weekly influenza surveillance overviews for 2009.










—


More than 50 scientific opinions produced.










—


Organisation of the third European Scientific Conference on Applied Infectious Disease Epidemiology (ESCAIDE) in October 2009 in Stockholm, with more than 500 participants.










—


Competent bodies meeting in Uppsala in October 2009, with 270 participants.









Source: Information supplied by the Centre.






THE CENTRE’S REPLIES






13.


The Centre is conscious of the problem mentioned by the Court and is considering measures to improve budget implementation in particular through improved estimates and enhanced planning in order to better comply with the annuality principle. This should also be facilitated by the fact that the Centre reached maturity in 2010.







(1)  OJ L 142, 30.4.2004, p. 1.

(2)  The Table summarises the Centre's competences and activities. It is presented for information purposes.

(3)  These accounts are accompanied by a report on the budgetary and financial management during the year which gives, inter alia, an account of the rate of implementation of the appropriations, with summary information on transfers of appropriations among the various budget items.

(4)  The financial statements include the balance sheet and the economic outturn account, the cash-flow table, the statement of changes in capital and the annex to the financial statements, which includes a description of the main accounting policies and other explanatory information.

(5)  The budget implementation reports comprise the budget outturn account and its annex.

(6)  OJ L 248, 16.9.2002, p. 1.

(7)  Article 33 of Commission Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2343/2002 of 19 November 2002 (OJ L 357, 31.12.2002, p. 72).

(8)  Article 38 of Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2343/2002.

(9)  The rules concerning the presentation of the accounts and the accounting by the Agencies are laid down in Chapter 1 of Title VII of Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2343/2002 as last amended by Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 652/2008 of 9 July 2008 (OJ L 181, 10.7.2008, p. 23) and are integrated as such into the Financial Regulation of the Centre.

(10)  International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) and International Standards of Supreme Audit Institutions (ISSAI).

(11)  The Final Annual Accounts were drawn up on 26 March 2010 and received by the Court on 28 June 2010. The Final Annual Accounts, consolidated with those of the Commission, are published in the Official Journal of the European Union by 15 November of the following year. These can be found on the following website http://eca.europa.eu or http://ecdc.europa.eu/en/aboutus/Pages/AboutUs_KeyDocuments.aspx