Source: EURLEX
Language: en
Format: md

|  |  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 30.12.2004 | EN | Official Journal of the European Union | C 324/106 |

---

REPORT

on the annual accounts of the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market for the 2003 financial year together with the Office's replies

(2004/C 0324/15)

CONTENTS

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| 1 | INTRODUCTION |

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| 2-5 | THE COURT'S OPINION |

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| 6-10 | OBSERVATIONS |

Tables 1–4

The Office's replies

INTRODUCTION

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| 1. | The Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (hereinafter called ‘the Office’) was set up by Council Regulation (EC) No 40/94[(1)](#ntr1-C_2004324EN.01010601-E0001) of 20 December 1993. Its mandate is to implement the Community legislation on trade marks and designs, which gives undertakings uniform protection throughout the area of the Union. The Office's duties and activities are summarised, on the basis of information submitted by the Office, in Table 1. |

THE COURT's OPINION

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| 2. | This opinion is addressed to the Office's Budget Committee pursuant to Article 137(2) of Council Regulation (EC) No 40/94[()](#ntr-C_2004324EN.01010601-E0002). |

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| 3. | The Court has examined the Office's annual accounts for the financial ended 31 December 2003. In accordance with Article 119(2)(c) of Council Regulation (EC) No 40/94, the Office's budget was implemented on the responsibility of its President. This responsibility includes the drawing-up and presentation of the accounts[(2)](#ntr2-C_2004324EN.01010601-E0003), in accordance with the internal financial provisions provided for in Article 138 of Council Regulation (EC) No 40/94. The Court of Auditors is required under Article 248 of the Treaty establishing the European Community to examine these accounts. |

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| 4. | The Court carried out its audit in accordance with its audit policies and standards, which have been adapted from generally accepted international auditing standards to reflect the specific nature of the Community context. It examined the accounting documents and applied the audit procedures it considered necessary in that context. |

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| 5. | The Court has thus obtained reasonable assurance that the annual accounts for the financial year ended on 31 December 2003 are reliable and that the underlying transactions, taken as a whole, are legal and regular. The content of the following observations does not call into question the audit opinion expressed by the Court in this report. |

OBSERVATIONS

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| 6. | The implementation of the appropriations for the financial year 2003, and of the appropriations carried over from the previous year, is set out in Table 2. The Office's revenue and expenditure account and balance sheet for the financial year 2003 are presented in summary form in Tables 3 and 4. |

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| 7. | The total value of appropriations carried over was 18,3 million euro. More attention should be given to evaluating whether carry-overs are really necessary. Tests performed on a 35 % sample of this amount revealed unjustified carry-overs of around 586 000 euro, 350 000 euro for search reports and 236 000 euro for professional training activities. |

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| 8. | A large number of carry-overs correspond to provisional commitments, the unused balance of which is carried over at the year's end in its entirety, even where all or part of this balance does not relate to duly contracted obligations. This situation is irregular. |

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| 9. | Computer licences and software are not included under fixed assets, in contravention of the Regulation on inventory[(3)](#ntr3-C_2004324EN.01010601-E0004). As at 31 December 2003, it was estimated that they might have a value of up to 700 000 euro. |

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| 10. | In spite of the Court's previous observations[(4)](#ntr4-C_2004324EN.01010601-E0005), the Office has not reviewed its inventory system: duties are still poorly defined and there is still insufficient staff training. It is difficult to keep the inventory correctly in such circumstances. For example, items of computer equipment and furniture recorded in the accounts at a value of around 500 000 euro could not be located when a physical inventory was made. |

This Report was adopted by the Court of Auditors in Luxembourg at its meeting of 29 and 30 September 2004.

For the Court of Auditors

Juan Manuel FABRA VALLÉS

President

---

[Top](#document1)