Resolution of the European Parliament of 3 April 2014 with observations forming an integral part of its Decision on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Railway Agency for the financial year 2012
Date: 2014-04-03
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: European Union Agency for Railways, budgetary discharge, financial year, general budget (EU)








L_2014266EN.01025801.xml










5.9.2014   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


L 266/258








            RESOLUTION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
         
of 3 April 2014
         
with observations forming an integral part of its Decision on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Railway Agency for the financial year 2012


THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT,






—


having regard to the final annual accounts of the European Railway Agency for the financial year 2012,










—


having regard to the Court of Auditors’ report on the annual accounts of the European Railway Agency for the financial year 2012, together with the Agency’s replies (1),










—


having regard to the Council’s recommendation of 18 February 2014 (05849/2014 – C7-0054/2014),










—


having regard to Article 319 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,










—


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) (‘the Financial Regulation’), and in particular Article 185 thereof,










—


having regard to Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union and repealing Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 (3), and in particular Article 208 thereof,










—


having regard to Regulation (EC) No 881/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 establishing a European Railway Agency (4), and in particular Article 39 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 (5),










—


having regard to Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1271/2013 of 30 September 2013 on the framework financial regulation for the bodies referred to in Article 208 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council (6), and in particular Article 108 thereof,










—


having regard to its previous discharge decisions and resolutions,










—


having regard to Rule 77 of, and Annex VI to, its Rules of Procedure,










—


having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgetary Control and the opinion of the Committee on Transport and Tourism (A7-0209/2014),










A.


whereas according to its financial statements, the budget of the European Railway Agency (‘the Agency’) for the financial year 2012 was EUR 25 799 000, representing a decrease of 0,72 % compared to 2011,










B.


whereas the Court of Auditors has stated that it has obtained reasonable assurances that the Agency’s annual accounts for the financial year 2012 are reliable and that the underlying transactions are legal and regular,






1.   

Highlights the Agency’s vital role in ensuring the safety and interoperability of rail systems in Europe; notes furthermore that a review of the Agency’s powers is currently under way as part of the Fourth Railway Package; stresses that should it be accorded greater powers, the Agency will need to be given the financial, material and human resources it needs to perform its tasks successfully;



Follow-up of the 2011 discharge









2.


Notes from the Court of Auditors’ report that corrective actions taken in response to previous year’s comments are ongoing;












3.


Acknowledges from the Agency that:






—


corrective measures were implemented in order to reduce the negative impact on the Agency’s activities as regards the significant turnover of operational staff; calls on the Agency, however, to inform the discharge authority of the impact of the measures taken,










—


actions were taken to address deficiencies related to the appropriations carried forward, namely the implementation of stricter rules as regards the deadline for signing contracts, the revision of IT specific contracts allowing invoicing in line with the deliverables and the introduction of a new invoicing system by the Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union allowing for the reduction of carry-overs in the area of translation,










—


in order to improve the recruitment procedures, to ensure transparency and equal treatment of candidates and to avoid conflicts of interest in the selection procedures, a new procedure for the selection and recruitment of staff and new guidelines for section committees were adopted;









Budget and financial management









4.


Notes that budget monitoring efforts during the financial year 2012 resulted in a budget implementation rate of 94,92 % and that the payment appropriations execution rate was 85,63 %;





Two locations









5.


Deplores the fact that using two locations (Lille and Valenciennes) to carry out its activities exposes the Agency to additional costs; acknowledges the efforts made by the Agency to minimise the negative impact of the decision on its seat;












6.


Calls for a single location for the Agency, in a place easily accessible by public transport in order to save scare resources and increase its efficiency;





Commitments and carry-overs









7.


Acknowledges that the Court of Auditors’ annual audit has found no notable issues as regards the level of carry-overs in 2012 and commends the Agency for adhering to the principle of annuality and for the timely execution of its budget;





Transfers









8.


Notes with satisfaction that according to the annual activity report as well as the Court of Auditors’ audit findings, the level and nature of transfers in 2012 have remained within the limits of the financial rules; commends the Agency for its good budgetary planning;





Prevention and management of conflicts of interests and transparency









9.


Acknowledges that the Agency will review its policy on the prevention and management of conflicts of interests in 2014 on the basis of Commission’s Guidelines on the Prevention and Management of Conflicts of Interests in EU Decentralised Agencies; calls on the Agency to inform the discharge authority on the assessment results once available;












10.


Observes that the CVs and declarations of interests of the members of the Management Board are not publicly available; calls on the Agency to remedy the situation as a matter of urgency;





Procurement and recruitment procedures









11.


Notes that for the year 2012, neither sampled transactions nor other audit findings have led to any comments on the Agency’s procurement procedures in the Court of Auditors’ annual audit report;












12.


Notes that the Court of Auditors made no comments in its annual audit report for 2012 as regards the Agency’s recruitment procedures;





Internal audit









13.


Acknowledges from the Agency that in 2012 the Commission’s Internal Audit Service (IAS) carried out an audit (‘Building Blocks of Assurance’) during the last quarter of 2012 which resulted in 10 recommendations for the Agency, two of which were rated as ‘very important’, seven as ‘important’ and one as ‘desirable’; notes that due to the late timing of the 2012 IAS audit, it was not possible for the Agency to provide detailed information on the actions planned in order to close the IAS recommendations; calls on the Agency to inform the discharge authority of those actions;












14.


Notes that there are no outstanding recommendations marked as ‘very important’ from the 2011 IAS audit on ‘Expert management in Interoperability’ and that there are two outstanding recommendations marked as ‘important’ which were open at the end of 2013; calls on the Agency to inform the discharge authority of the actions taken;












15.


Notes that the Court of Auditors indicates in its annual audit report for 2012 that the Agency has suppressed the Internal Audit Capability and has replaced it with an Internal Control Coordinator (ICC) post;












16.


Regrets that the recruitment procedure for the ICC post was lengthy and that as of January 2014, the selected candidate had not yet started working at the Agency;












17.


Notes with concern that the Court of Auditors indicates in its annual audit report for 2012 that the Agency does not comply with its Internal Control Standard regarding business continuity and that no approved IT Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery plans exist; acknowledges that the Agency has decided to implement adequate measures in order to ensure the continuity of the IT services and systems that are horizontal to the Agency’s business; calls on the Agency to inform the discharge authority on actions implemented;





Performance









18.


Requests that the Agency communicate the results and impact its work has on European citizens in an accessible way, mainly through its website;












19.


Refers, in respect of the other observations accompanying its Decision on discharge, which are of a horizontal nature, to its resolution of 3 April 2014 (7) on the performance, financial management and control of the agencies.






(1)  
            OJ C 365, 13.12.2013, p. 184.

(2)  
            OJ L 248, 16.9.2002, p. 1.

(3)  
            OJ L 298, 26.10.2012, p. 1.

(4)  
            OJ L 164, 30.4.2004, p. 1.

(5)  
            OJ L 357, 31.12.2002, p. 72.

(6)  
            OJ L 328, 7.12.2013, p. 42.

(7)  Texts adopted, P7_TA(2014)0299 (see page 359 of this Official Journal).