Report on the annual accounts of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work for the financial year 2016, together with the Agency’s reply
Date: 2017-09-12
Institutions: European Court of Auditors
Subjects: European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, administration of the Institutions, auditing, budgetary control, financial control








C_2017417EN.01020101.xml










6.12.2017   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 417/201





REPORT
on the annual accounts of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work for the financial year 2016, together with the Agency’s reply
(2017/C 417/32)

INTRODUCTION









1.


The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (hereinafter ‘the Agency’, aka ‘EU-OSHA’), which is located in Bilbao, was created by Council Regulation (EC) No 2062/94 (1). The Agency’s task is to collect and disseminate information on national and Union priorities in the field of health and safety at work, to support national and Union organisations involved in policymaking and implementation, and to provide information on preventive measures.












2.


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

Table


Key figures for the AGENCY








 


2015


2016




Budget (million euro)


16,9 


16,7 




Total staff as at 31 December (3)



65


65












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 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.


In preparing this report and Statement of Assurance, we considered the audit work of the independent external auditor performed on the Agency’s accounts as stipulated in Article 208(4) of the EU Financial Regulation (6).














16.


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





COMMENTS ON BUDGETARY MANAGEMENT









17.


The level of committed appropriations carried over to 2017 was high for Title II (administrative expenditure) at 417 279 euro, i.e. 30 %, (2015: 364 740 euro, i.e. 26 %). These carry overs mainly concern IT services which had not yet been fully delivered or been invoiced by the end of the year. The committed appropriations carried over under Title III amounted to 3 370 616 euro, i.e. 43 % (2015: 3 383 052 euro, i.e. 41 %). These carry-overs mainly concern research projects and studies with a duration of more than one year. The Agency may consider introducing differentiated budget appropriations to better reflect the multi-annual nature of operations and unavoidable delays between the signature of contracts, deliveries and payments.





COMMENTS ON SOUND FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT AND PERFORMANCE









18.


In 2014 the Agency signed a framework contract (FWC) for the provision of IT consultancy services in the period 2014 to 2017 for a total amount of 1,1 million euro. Although specific contracts signed in 2016 to implement this FWC clearly define project deliverables, consultants were engaged on a ‘time & means’ basis where price is not fixed and directly linked to the delivery, but instead results from the number of working days spent. Moreover in 2016 some 50 % of the IT consultancy services were carried out offsite the Agency’s premises, limiting the Agency’s means to monitor the efficient implementation of the contracts. Payments made under this framework contract in 2016 amounted to some 0,4 million euro.





OTHER COMMENTS









19.


The Agency’s founding Regulation does not explicitly require external evaluations of its activities. The Commission’s proposal for a new founding Regulation includes the obligation of performing an evaluation every five years.





FOLLOW-UP OF PREVIOUS YEARS’ COMMENTS









20.


An overview of the corrective actions 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 216, 20.8.1994, p. 1. The Regulation was last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1112/2005 (OJ L 184, 15.7.2005, p. 5).

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

(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 cashflow 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.

(6)  Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 298, 26.10.2012, p. 1).


ANNEX
Follow-up of previous years’ comments







Year


Court's comments


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




2015


The level of committed appropriations carried over for title II (administrative expenditure) remains high at 364 740  euro, i.e. 26 % (2014: 443 412  euro, i.e. 34 %). These carry overs mainly concern services that are contracted for a period covering two calendar years as well as IT services which had not yet been fully delivered or been invoiced by the end of 2015.


N/A




2015


The level of committed appropriations carried over for title III (operational expenditure) remains high at 3 383 052  euro, i.e. 41 % (2014: 4 277 160  euro, i.e. 42 %). These carry overs mainly concern large scale research projects with a duration of more than one year, as well as a board meeting held in January 2016 which had to be organised in the last quarter of 2015.


N/A







THE AGENCY’S REPLY






18.


Regarding the carry-over of 41 % of committed appropriations under Title III, EU-OSHA confirms that these mainly concern research projects and studies with duration of more than one year, resulting in particular from the agency’s decision to move progressively to fewer, larger research activities. To a lesser extent the carry-over resulted from delayed procurement involving a re-launch of a procedure and extended evaluation periods, both considered usual situations when procuring services for exploratory research. Concerning the suggestion of introducing differentiated appropriations, the Agency will study this possibility in order to see if the budget management can be improved.










19.


The Agency took note of the auditors’ comments during their visit and is already applying their advice to its new ICT and consultancy framework contracts by making use of Quoted Times and Means specific contracts when appropriate.