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 Police College for the financial year 2012
Date: 2014-04-03
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: CEPOL, budgetary discharge, financial year, general budget (EU)








L_2014266EN.01017601.xml










5.9.2014   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


L 266/176








            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 Police College for the financial year 2012


THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT,






—


having regard to the final annual accounts of the European Police College for the financial year 2012,










—


having regard to the Court of Auditors’ report on the annual accounts of the European Police College for the financial year 2012, together with the College’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 the 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 Council Decision 2005/681/JHA of 20 September 2005 establishing the European Police College (CEPOL) (4), and in particular Article 16 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 Commission Decision C(2011) 4680 of 30 June 2011 granting consent to a derogation requested by the European Police College from Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2343/2002,










—


having regard to the report of the European Police College of 12 July 2010 on the Reimbursement of Private Expenditure (10/0257/KA),










—


having regard to the external audit commissioned by the European Police College (Contract Ref. No CEPOL/2010/001) on the reimbursement of private expenditure,










—


having regard to the final report on the five-year external evaluation of the European Police College (Contract Ref. No CEPOL/CT/2010/002),










—


having regard to the Annual Activity Report 2009 of the Directorate-General Justice, Freedom and Security,










—


having regard to the fourth progress report of the European Police College on the implementation of its Multi-annual Action Plan (MAP) for 2010-2014,










—


having regard to the Court of Auditors’ report on the implementation of the European Police College MAP for 2010-2014,










—


having regard to the note of the Internal Audit Service (IAS) of 4 July 2011 (Ref. Ares (2011) 722479) on the third progress report on the implementation of the European Police College MAP for 2010-2014,










—


having regard to the report and annexes of the European Police College on the implementation of the European Parliament’s resolution on ‘2009 Discharge: European Police College’,










—


having regard to the report and annex of the European Police College on the application of its Procurement Manual for the period covering 1 July 2010 - 1 July 2011,










—


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 Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (A7-0240/2014),










A.


whereas according to its financial statements, the final budget of the European Police College (‘the College’) for the financial year 2012 was EUR 8 450 640, representing an increase of 1,31 % compared to 2011; whereas the entire budget of the Authority derives from the Union budget,










B.


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






Follow-up of 2011 discharge









1.


Notes from the Court of Auditors’ report that the status of three out of four corrective actions taken in response to the previous year’s comments are outstanding, while one corrective action is marked as ongoing;












2.


Acknowledges from the College that:






—


the high level of carry-overs mainly arose from the fact that the costs relating to courses organised in the last months of 2011 under the grant agreements were not due for reimbursement until the beginning of 2012 and that the cancellations are mainly explained by grant beneficiaries in the Member States implementing the courses with less money than initially budgeted,










—


the budget implementation monitoring and the monitoring of the use of individual commitments have been improved, with an additional focus on commitments that have been carried over,










—


in order to improve financial management and prevent a recurrence of situations such as the use of payments on incorrect budget lines which were related to ‘Courses and seminars’, the College implemented a rationalisation process of its budget structure by reducing the number of budget lines involved in the creation of a commitment for courses,










—


a new procedure for budget transfers has been developed and is expected to be approved and that improved budget structure together with increased supervision on budget implementation and further improvements of the budget procedures are expected to put the budget transfers on a decreasing trend;









Budget and financial management









3.


Notes that budget monitoring efforts during the financial year 2012 resulted in a budget implementation rate of 95,1 % and that the payment appropriations execution rate was 76 %;





Commitments and carry-overs









4.


Notes with concern that out of the committed appropriations carried over from 2011 amounting to EUR 1 700 000, EUR 700 000 (41,2 %) were cancelled in 2012; acknowledges that this was mainly due to lower than estimated costs to be reimbursed under the 2011 grant agreements (EUR 440 000 of cancelled carry-overs);












5.


Notes that the level of committed 2012 appropriations for the different titles varied between 90 % and 99 % of total appropriations, indicating that legal commitments were made in a timely manner; notes that the level of committed appropriations carried over to 2013 was high for title III (operating expenditure) as it amounted to EUR 1 500 000 (36 %); acknowledges that this was not due to delays in implementing the College’s 2012 annual work programme but mainly arose from the carry-over referred to in paragraph 6 and from the fact that costs relating to courses that were organised in the last months of 2012 under 2012 grant agreements were not due for reimbursement until the beginning of 2013;












6.


Regrets that the carry-over to 2013 of committed appropriations amounting to EUR 355 500 for the 2013 Exchange Programme (scheduled to take place between March and November 2013) was done in the absence of any reference to the 2013 Exchange Programme in the College’s 2012 annual work programme; notes that as no financing decision had been made on the matter in 2012, this carry-over is irregular;





Transfers









7.


Notes that in 2012, the College made 37 budgetary transfers amounting to EUR 1 000 000, of which 36 were within their respective titles;





Procurement and recruitment procedures









8.


Reminds the College of the need to ensure full compliance with the ‘Guide to CEPOL recruitment’ and to further improve the transparency of recruitment procedures; notes with concern that vacancy notices were not always published at least six weeks before applications were due and that there was no evidence that assessors ensured that the rules for the submission of applications had been respected; expresses concern that the selection criteria that were applied did not always match those that had been specified in the vacancy notices and that there were major delays in some cases in the examination of applications;





Prevention and management of conflicts of interests and transparency









9.


Acknowledges that the College will review its conflicts of interests arrangements currently in place with the aim of developing a specific conflict of interest policy in 2014 on the basis of the Commission’s Guidelines on the Prevention and Management of Conflicts of Interests in EU Decentralised Agencies; notes that members of the Governing Board and working groups or other categories of stakeholders directly collaborating with the College but not employed by the College will be considered within the scope of this exercise; calls on the College to inform the discharge authority on the review results once available;












10.


Observes that the CVs and declarations of interests of the Governing Board members, the Executive Director and the senior management are not publicly available; calls on the College to remedy the situation as a matter of urgency;





Internal audit









11.


Acknowledges from the College that in 2012 the Commission’s Internal Audit Service (IAS) carried out an audit on procurement, as well as a follow up of earlier recommendations; acknowledges that the College’s internal control capability carried out an ex post verification of management and control systems in two areas; notes that the IAS audit resulted in two very important and five important recommendations; acknowledges that the College prepared an action plan which was accepted by the IAS and it implemented immediate measures addressing the two very important recommendations; notes that all recommendations from previous IAS reports (2011 and earlier) have been closed;





Other comments









12.


Notes with concern that discussions about the College’s future, which have been ongoing for several years, have created a situation of uncertainty which continues to hamper business planning and implementation;












13.


Stresses that the issue of the College’s future seat has to be clarified as soon as possible before the end of 2014, for reasons relating to staff and budget planning which have been highlighted by the Court of Auditors;












14.


Stresses that, when selecting a new seat for the College, economic factors must be taken in consideration;












15.


Stresses that the Commission’s proposal to merge the College with the European Police Office was rejected by a large majority in the Council and that an initiative by 25 Member States proposed to amend the College’s founding Decision 2005/681/JHA by means of a Regulation to be adopted under the codecision procedure;












16.


Stresses the need to maximise predictability so as to ensure that the move to the new seat is carried out in accordance with sound financial management principles; takes the view that, to this end, the United Kingdom should bear the College’s removal costs, given that it decided unilaterally not to host the College;





Performance









17.


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












18.


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. 29.

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

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

(4)  
            OJ L 256, 1.10.2005, p. 63.

(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).