Report on the annual accounts of the Innovation and Networks Executive Agency for the financial year 2016, together with the Agency’s reply
Date: 2017-09-12
Institutions: European Court of Auditors
Subjects: administration of the Institutions, auditing, budgetary control, executive agency, financial control, innovation, trans-European network, transport network








C_2017417EN.01024701.xml










6.12.2017   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 417/247





REPORT
on the annual accounts of the Innovation and Networks Executive Agency for the financial year 2016, together with the Agency’s reply
(2017/C 417/40)

INTRODUCTION









1.


The Innovation and Networks Executive Agency (INEA — hereinafter ‘the Agency’), which is located in Brussels, was set up by Commission Decision 2013/801/EU (1) to replace and succeed the Trans-European Transport Network Executive Agency. The Agency was established for a period beginning on 1 January 2014 and ending on 31 December 2024 for the management of EU actions in relation to the Connecting Europe Facility, the Horizon 2020 research and innovation funding programme, the trans-European transport network and the Marco Polo programme.












2.


The table presents key figures for the Agency (2).

Table


Key figures for the agency








 


2015


2016




Budget (million euro)


18,4 


21,7 




Total staff as at 31 December (3)



186


225












INFORMATION IN SUPPORT OF THE STATEMENT OF ASSURANCE









3.


The audit approach taken by the Court comprises analytical audit procedures, direct testing of transactions and an assessment of key controls of the Agency’s supervisory and control systems. This is supplemented by evidence provided by the work of other auditors (where relevant) and an analysis of management representations.










OPINION









4.


We have audited:






(a)


the accounts 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 2016; and










(b)


the legality and regularity of the transactions underlying those accounts;




as required by Article 287 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).






Reliability of the accounts



Opinion on the reliability of the accounts









5.


In our opinion, the accounts of the Agency for the year ended 31 December 2016 present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Agency at 31 December 2016, the results of its operations, its cash flows, and the changes in net assets for the year then ended, in accordance with its Financial Regulation and with accounting rules adopted by the Commission’s accounting officer. These are based on internationally accepted accounting standards for the public sector.






Legality and regularity of the transactions underlying the accounts



Revenue


Opinion on the legality and regularity of revenue underlying the accounts









6.


In our opinion, revenue underlying the accounts for the year ended 31 December 2016 is legal and regular in all material respects.





Payments


Opinion on the legality and regularity of payments underlying the accounts









7.


In our opinion, payments underlying the accounts for the year ended 31 December 2016 are legal and regular in all material respects.






Responsibilities of management and those charged with governance










8.


In accordance with Articles 310 to 325 of the TFEU and the Agency’s Financial Regulation, management is responsible for the preparation and presentation of the accounts on the basis of internationally accepted accounting standards for the public sector and for the legality and regularity of the transactions underlying them. This responsibility includes the design, implementation and maintenance of internal controls relevant to the preparation and presentation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error. Management is also responsible for ensuring that the activities, financial transactions and information reflected in the financial statements are in compliance with the authorities which govern them. The Agency’s management bears the ultimate responsibility for the legality and regularity of the transactions underlying the accounts.












9.


In preparing the accounts, management is responsible for assessing the Agency’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting.












10.


Those charged with governance are responsible for overseeing the entity’s financial reporting process.






Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the accounts and underlying transactions










11.


Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the accounts of the Agency are free from material misstatement and the transactions underlying them are legal and regular and to provide, on the basis of our audit, the European Parliament and the Council or other respective discharge authorities with a statement of assurance as to the reliability of the accounts and the legality and regularity of the transactions underlying them. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit will always detect a material misstatement or non-compliance when it exists. These can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these accounts.












12.


An audit involves performing procedures to obtain audit evidence about the amounts and disclosures in the accounts and the legality and the regularity of the transactions underlying them. The procedures selected depend on the auditor’s judgment, including an assessment of the risks of material misstatement of the accounts and of material non-compliance of the underlying transactions with the requirements of the legal framework of the European Union, whether due to fraud or error. In making those risk assessments, internal controls relevant to the preparation and fair presentation of the accounts and legality and regularity of underlying transactions, are considered in order to design audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of internal controls. An audit also includes evaluating the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of accounting estimates made by the management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the accounts.












13.


For revenue, we verify the subsidy received from the Commission and assess the Agency’s procedures for collecting fees and other income, if any.












14.


For expenditure, we examine payment transactions when expenditure has been incurred, recorded and accepted. Advance payments are examined when the recipient of funds provides justification for their proper use and the Agency accepts the justification by clearing the advance payment, whether in the same year or later.














15.


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





COMMENTS ON BUDGETARY MANAGEMENT









16.


The level of carry-overs for committed appropriations was high for Title III at 0,5 million euro, i.e. 48 % (2015: 0,5 million euro, i.e. 51 %). The main cause was IT and audit contracts for which execution goes beyond the year-end.





FOLLOW-UP OF PREVIOUS YEARS’ COMMENTS









17.


An overview of the corrective action taken in response to the Court’s comments from previous years is provided in the Annex.






This Report was adopted by Chamber IV, headed by Mr Baudilio TOMÉ MUGURUZA, Member of the Court of Auditors, in Luxembourg at its meeting of 12 September 2017.


For the Court of Auditors

Klaus-Heiner LEHNE

President





(1)  OJ L 352, 24.12.2013, p. 65.

(2)  More information on the Agency’s competences and activities is available on its website: www.ec.europa.eu/inea

(3)  Staff includes officials, temporary and contract staff and seconded national experts.

Source: data provided by the Agency.

(4)  The financial statements comprise the balance sheet, the statement of financial performance, the cash flow statement, the statement of changes in net assets and a summary of significant accounting policies and other explanatory notes.

(5)  The reports on implementation of the budget comprise the reports which aggregate all budgetary operations and the explanatory notes.


ANNEX
Follow-up of previous years’ comments







Year


Court's comments


Status of corrective action
(Completed/Ongoing/Outstanding/N/A)




2015


The level of carry-overs for committed appropriations was high for Title III (operational expenditure) at 0,5  million euro, i.e. 51 % (2014: 0,4  million euro, i.e. 56 %). The main cause was the conclusion of IT and audit contracts for services to be delivered after the year-end.


N/A







THE AGENCY’S REPLY






16.


INEA considers the level of carry-over for Title III to be justified in view of the nature of the expenditure. As the Court mentions, the expenditure is linked to 2016 IT and audit contracts extending over 2017, whose implementation cannot always start and finish within the same given year. In respect of IT contracts, it should be noted that from the amount carried over, 35 % corresponds to services provided during the last quarter of 2016 but invoiced early 2017. Very similar percentage applies to audit contracts, with the particular remark that for this kind of contract, the final payment can only be released to the audit company once the final audit report is accepted following the conclusion of the contradictory procedure with the auditee, whose duration is out of INEA’s control.