Source: EURLEX
Language: en
Format: md

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| 1.12.2016 | EN | Official Journal of the European Union | C 449/224 |

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REPORT

on the annual accounts of the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market for the financial year 2015, together with the Office’s reply

(2016/C 449/42)

INTRODUCTION

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|  | 1. | The Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market[(1)](#ntr1-C_2016449EN.01022401-E0001) (hereinafter ‘the Office’, aka ‘OHIM’), which is located in Alicante, was established by Council Regulation (EC) No 40/94[(2)](#ntr2-C_2016449EN.01022401-E0002), which was repealed and replaced by Regulation (EC) No 207/2009[(3)](#ntr3-C_2016449EN.01022401-E0003). The Office’s task is to implement the Union legislation on trademarks and designs, which gives undertakings uniform protection throughout the entire area of the European Union. |

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|  | 2. | The table presents key figures for the Office[(4)](#ntr4-C_2016449EN.01022401-E0004).  Table  Key figures for the Office   |  |  |  | | --- | --- | --- | |  | 2014 | 2015 | | Budget (million euro)[(1)](#ntr1-C_2016449EN.01022401-E0005) | 419,6 | 384,2 | | Total staff as at 31 December[(2)](#ntr2-C_2016449EN.01022401-E0006) | 928 | 998 | |  | | | |

INFORMATION IN SUPPORT OF THE STATEMENT OF ASSURANCE

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|  | 3. | The audit approach taken by the Court comprises analytical audit procedures, direct testing of transactions and an assessment of key controls of the Office’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. |

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| STATEMENT OF ASSURANCE   |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | |  | 4. | Pursuant to the provisions of Article 287 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), the Court has audited:   |  |  | | --- | --- | | (a) | the annual accounts of the Office, which comprise the financial statements[(5)](#ntr5-C_2016449EN.01022401-E0007) and the reports on the implementation of the budget[(6)](#ntr6-C_2016449EN.01022401-E0008) for the financial year ended 31 December 2015; and |  |  |  | | --- | --- | | (b) | the legality and regularity of the transactions underlying those accounts. | |   The management’s responsibility   |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | |  | 5. | The management is responsible for the preparation and fair presentation of the annual accounts of the Office and the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions[(7)](#ntr7-C_2016449EN.01022401-E0009):   |  |  | | --- | --- | | (a) | The management’s responsibilities in respect of the Office’s annual accounts include designing, implementing and maintaining an internal control system relevant to the preparation and fair presentation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error; selecting and applying appropriate accounting policies on the basis of the accounting rules adopted by the Commission’s accounting officer[(8)](#ntr8-C_2016449EN.01022401-E0010); making accounting estimates that are reasonable in the circumstances. The President approves the annual accounts of the Office after its accounting officer has prepared them on the basis of all available information and established a note to accompany the accounts in which he declares, inter alia, that he has reasonable assurance that they present a true and fair view of the financial position of the Office in all material respects. |  |  |  | | --- | --- | | (b) | The management’s responsibilities in respect of the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions and compliance with the principle of sound financial management consist of designing, implementing and maintaining an effective and efficient internal control system comprising adequate supervision and appropriate measures to prevent irregularities and fraud and, if necessary, legal proceedings to recover funds wrongly paid or used. | |   The auditor’s responsibility   |  |  |  | | --- | --- | --- | |  | 6. | The Court’s responsibility is, on the basis of its audit, to provide the Budget Committee of the Office with a statement of assurance as to the reliability of the annual accounts and the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions[(9)](#ntr9-C_2016449EN.01022401-E0011). The Court conducts its audit in accordance with the IFAC International Standards on Auditing and Codes of Ethics and the INTOSAI International Standards of Supreme Audit Institutions. These standards require the Court to plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance as to whether the annual accounts of the Office are free from material misstatement and the transactions underlying them are legal and regular. |  |  |  |  | | --- | --- | --- | |  | 7. | The audit involves performing procedures to obtain audit evidence about the amounts and disclosures in the accounts and the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions. The procedures selected depend on the auditor’s judgement, which is based on an assessment of the risks of material misstatement of the accounts and material non-compliance by the underlying transactions with the requirements in the legal framework of the European Union, whether due to fraud or error. In assessing these risks, the auditor considers any internal controls relevant to the preparation and fair presentation of the accounts, as well as the supervisory and control systems that are implemented to ensure the legality and regularity of underlying transactions, and designs audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances. The audit also entails evaluating the appropriateness of accounting policies, the reasonableness of accounting estimates and the overall presentation of the accounts. |  |  |  |  | | --- | --- | --- | |  | 8. | The Court considers that the audit evidence obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for its statement of assurance. |   Opinion on the reliability of the accounts   |  |  |  | | --- | --- | --- | |  | 9. | In the Court’s opinion, the Office’s annual accounts present fairly, in all material respects, its financial position as at 31 December 2015 and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the year then ended, in accordance with the provisions of its Financial Regulation and the accounting rules adopted by the Commission’s accounting officer. |   Opinion on the legality and regularity of the transactions underlying the accounts   |  |  |  | | --- | --- | --- | |  | 10. | In the Court’s opinion, the transactions underlying the annual accounts for the year ended 31 December 2015 are legal and regular in all material respects. | |

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| 11. | The comments which follow do not call the Court’s opinions into question. |

COMMENTS ON BUDGETARY MANAGEMENT

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|  | 12. | The level of committed appropriations carried over to 2016 was high for Title III at 12,9 million euro, i.e. 36 % (2014: 14,1 million euro, i.e. 38 %). The carry-overs mainly relate to cooperation agreements with national offices which submit cost claims only after year-end. |

OTHER COMMENTS

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|  | 13. | The procurement of services based on a negotiated procedure without publication of a contract notice limits competition to a single negotiating party and should therefore only be used in exceptional circumstances. The Office, following this procedure, in 2015 extended six framework contracts with a value of extended services of 1,9 million euro (in 2014: 12 framework contracts with a value of extended services of 12,6 million euro)[(10)](#ntr10-C_2016449EN.01022401-E0012). The Office’s use of this procedure cannot be considered as ‘exceptional’ given the number, value and frequency of such contracts and did not fully comply with the formal requirements[(11)](#ntr11-C_2016449EN.01022401-E0013). |

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|  | 14. | The Office reimburses part or all of the gross salary of seconded national experts (‘SNEs’) to their employers. This deviates from the Commission’s practice that SNEs’ employers continue to pay their salaries. In 2015, these reimbursements amounted to 1,9 million euro. |

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|  | 15. | As at 31 December 2015, nine OHIM staff members were seconded in the interest of the service to the OHIM Board of Appeal. However the EU Staff Regulations do not provide for such secondments[(12)](#ntr12-C_2016449EN.01022401-E0014). |

FOLLOW-UP OF PREVIOUS YEARS’ COMMENTS

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|  | 16. | 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 13 September 2016.

For the Court of Auditors

Vítor Manuel da SILVA CALDEIRA

President

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