Report on the annual accounts of the European Fundamental Rights Agency for the financial year 2010 together with the Agency’s reply
Date: 2011-09-06
Institutions: European Court of Auditors
Subjects: European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, administration of the Institutions, auditing, budgetary control, financial control, powers of the institutions (EU)








C_2011366EN.01000901.xml










15.12.2011   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 366/9





REPORT
on the annual accounts of the European Fundamental Rights Agency for the financial year 2010 together with the Agency’s reply
2011/C 366/03

INTRODUCTION







1.


The European Union Fundamental Rights Agency (hereinafter ‘the Agency’), which is located in Vienna, was established by Council Regulation (EC) No 168/2007 of 15 February 2007 (1). The objective of the Agency is to provide the relevant authorities of the Union and its Member States with assistance and expertise when implementing Union law relating to fundamental rights (2).










2.


The Agency’s 2010 budget amounted to 20,2 million euro, compared with 17,2 million euro the previous year. The number of staff employed by the Agency at the end of the year was 90, as compared with 77 the previous year.





STATEMENT OF ASSURANCE







3.


Pursuant to the provisions of Article 287(1), second subparagraph, of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the Court has audited the annual accounts (3) of the Agency, which comprise the ‘financial statements’ (4) and the ‘reports on the implementation of the budget’ (5) for the financial year ended 31 December 2010, and the legality and regularity of the transactions underlying those accounts.










4.


This statement of assurance is addressed to the European Parliament and the Council in accordance with Article 185(2) of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 (6).





The Director’s responsibility







5.


As authorising officer, the Director implements the revenue and expenditure of the budget in accordance with the financial rules of the Agency, under his own responsibility and within the limits of the authorised appropriations (7). The Director is responsible for putting in place (8) the organisational structure and the internal management and control systems and procedures relevant for drawing up final accounts (9) that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and for ensuring that the transactions underlying those accounts are legal and regular.





The Court’s responsibility







6.


The Court’s responsibility is to provide, on the basis of its audit, a statement of assurance as to the reliability of the annual accounts of the Agency and the legality and regularity of the transactions underlying them.










7.


The Court conducted its audit in accordance with the IFAC and ISSAI (10) International Auditing Standards and Codes of Ethics. Those standards require the Court to comply with ethical requirements and to plan and perform the audit so as to obtain reasonable assurance as to whether the accounts are free of material misstatement and whether the underlying transactions are legal and regular.










8.


The Court’s audit involves performing procedures to obtain audit evidence of the amounts and disclosures in the accounts and of the legality and regularity of the transactions underlying them. The procedures selected, including its assessment of the risks of material misstatement of the accounts or of illegal or irregular transactions, whether due to fraud or error, depend on its audit judgement. In making those risk assessments, internal controls relevant to the entity’s preparation and presentation of accounts are considered in order to design audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances. The Court’s audit also includes evaluating the appropriateness of the accounting policies used and the reasonableness of the accounting estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the accounts.










9.


The Court believes that the audit evidence obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for the opinions set out below.






Opinion on the reliability of the accounts








10.


In the Court’s opinion, the Agency’s Annual Accounts (11) fairly present, in all material respects, its financial position as of 31 December 2010 and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the year then ended, in accordance with the provisions of its Financial Regulation.






Opinion on the legality and the regularity of the transactions underlying the accounts








11.


In the Court’s opinion, the transactions underlying the annual accounts of the Agency for the financial year ended 31 December 2010 are, in all material respects, legal and regular.










12.


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





COMMENTS ON BUDGETARY AND FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT







13.


In December 2010, the Agency committed 48 % (4,6 million euro) of its annual Title III operational expenditure. Such a concentration of spending in the final weeks of the year indicates the need for an improvement in budgetary implementation planning, as it contributed significantly to a high level of carry-forwards — 6,9 million euro.





This Report was adopted by Chamber IV, headed by Mr Igors LUDBORŽS, Member of the Court of Auditors, in Luxembourg at its meeting of 6 September 2011.


For the Court of Auditors

Vítor Manuel da SILVA CALDEIRA

President





(1)  OJ L 53, 22.2.2007, p. 1.

(2)  The Annex summarises the Agency'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 the 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 (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 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 (OJ L 181, 10.7.2008, p. 23) and are integrated as such in the Financial Regulation of the Agency.

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

(11)  The Final Annual Accounts were drawn up on 28 March 2011 and received by the Court on 20 June 2011. The Final Annual Accounts can be found on the following website http://eca.europa.eu or www.fra.europa.eu/fraWebsite/home/home_en.htm


ANNEX

European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (Vienna)


Competences and activities








Areas of Union competence deriving from the Treaty


(Article 337 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union)



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





Competences of the Agency


(Council Regulation (EC) No 168/2007 of 15 February 2007)




Objectives

To provide the relevant institutions, bodies, offices and agencies of the Union and its Member States when implementing Union law with assistance and expertise relating to fundamental rights in order to support them when they take measures or formulate courses of action within their respective spheres of competence to fully respect fundamental rights.

Tasks







—


To collect, record, analyse and disseminate relevant, objective, reliable and comparable information and data.










—


To develop methods and standards to improve the comparability, objectivity and reliability of data at European level.










—


To carry out, cooperate with or encourage scientific research and surveys, preparatory studies and feasibility studies.










—


To formulate and publish conclusions and opinions on specific thematic topics for the Union institutions and the Member States when implementing Union law.










—


To publish an annual report on fundamental-rights issues covered by the areas of the Agency's activity.










—


To publish thematic reports based on its analysis, research and surveys.










—


To publish an annual report on its activities.










—


To develop a communication strategy and promote dialogue with civil society.









Governance




1 —   Management Board


Composition

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

Task

To adopt the budget, work programme and annual reports. To adopt the final budget and the establishment plan. To give an opinion on the final accounts.

2 —   Executive Board


Composition







—


Chairperson of the Management Board,










—


vice-Chairperson of the Management Board,










—


one representative of the Commission,










—


two other members of the Management Board,










—


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





3 —   Scientific Committee


Composition







—


11 independent persons, highly qualified in the field of fundamental rights,










—


appointed by the Management Board, shall appoint the members following a transparent call for applications and selection procedure.





4 —   Director

Appointed by the Management Board on a proposal from the Commission and after opinions of the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union (who will state their preferences).

5 —   External audit

Court of Auditors.

6 —   Discharge authority

Parliament, on a recommendation from the Council.





Resources made available to the Agency in 2010 (2009)





Final Budget

20,2 (17,2) million euro of which the Union subsidy is 99 % (99 %).

Staff as at 31 December 2010

72 (61) in the establishment plan, of which occupied: 69 (48)
+ 18 (16) other staff (contract staff, seconded national experts).
Total staff: 90 (77), undertaking the following tasks:






 


operational: 55 (46)










 


administrative: 29 (27)










 


mixed: 6 (4)









Products and services in 2010 (2009)





Raxen

162 (189) contributions by the 27 national focal points, 1 (1) meetings

Fralex

131 (227) contributions by legal experts, 0 (1) meetings

Research Reports

37 (19) reports, 11 (20) meetings and 2 (2) annual reports

Non-Research Activities

1 (1) Fundamental Rights Conference and 3 (1) various Agency publications
2 (3) Diversity Day Event

Meetings with Member States and other Institutions

Member States: 12 (10)
Council of the EU: 6 (2)
European Commission: 20 (17)
European Parliament: 5 (2)
Committee of the Regions: 2 (2)
European Economic and Social Committee: 1 (1)
Fundamental Rights Platform: 2 (2)
Council of Europe: 10 (16)
OSCE: 3 (6)
United Nations: 6 (3)
External Stakeholders: 30 (22)
Specialised Bodies: 7 (9)
Other Meetings and Round Tables: 20 (11)





Source: Information supplied by the Agency.







THE AGENCY’S REPLY






13.


The Agency has taken appropriate measures (e.g. planning two years in advance) in order to better spread budget implementation along the year, avoiding concentration during the last month. This has been considered as ‘best practice’ by IAS on their report on ‘Planning and Monitoring’.