Source: EURLEX
Language: en
Format: md

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| 13.12.2013 | EN | Official Journal of the European Union | C 365/268 |

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REPORT

on the annual accounts of the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market for the financial year 2012, together with the Office’s replies

2013/C 365/37

INTRODUCTION

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| 1. | The Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (hereinafter ‘the Office’, aka ‘OHIM’), which is located in Alicante, was established by Council Regulation (EC) No 40/94[(1)](#ntr1-C_2013365EN.01026801-E0001), which was repealed and replaced by Regulation (EC) No 207/2009[(2)](#ntr2-C_2013365EN.01026801-E0002) The Office’s task is to implement the Union legislation on trade marks and designs, which gives undertakings uniform protection throughout the entire area of the European Union[(3)](#ntr3-C_2013365EN.01026801-E0003). |

INFORMATION IN SUPPORT OF THE STATEMENT OF ASSURANCE

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| 2. | 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. |

STATEMENT OF ASSURANCE

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| 3. | 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[(4)](#ntr4-C_2013365EN.01026801-E0004) and the reports on the implementation of the budget[(5)](#ntr5-C_2013365EN.01026801-E0005) for the financial year ended 31 December 2012, and |  |  |  | | --- | --- | | (b) | the legality and regularity of the transactions underlying those accounts. | |

The management’s responsibility

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| 4. | In accordance with Articles 33 and 43 of Commission Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2343/2002[(6)](#ntr6-C_2013365EN.01026801-E0006), 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:   |  |  | | --- | --- | | (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[(7)](#ntr7-C_2013365EN.01026801-E0007); 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

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| 5. | The Court’s responsibility is, on the basis of its audit, to provide the European Parliament and the Council[(8)](#ntr8-C_2013365EN.01026801-E0008) with a statement of assurance as to the reliability of the annual accounts and the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions. 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. |

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| 6. | 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. |

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| 7. | 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

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| 8. | In the Court’s opinion, the Office’s annual accounts present fairly, in all material respects, its financial position as at 31 December 2012 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

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| 9. | In the Court’s opinion, the transactions underlying the annual accounts for the year ended 31 December 2012 are legal and regular in all material respects. |

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| 10. | The comments which follow do not call the Court’s opinions into question. |

COMMENTS ON BUDGETARY MANAGEMENT

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| 11. | Out of the 31,9 million euro of committed appropriations carried over from 2011 to 2012, 4,16 million euro (13 %) were cancelled in 2012. Of this amount, 1,93 million euro was related to cooperation agreements with Member States which did not absorb the full amounts allocated to them. |

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| 12. | In 2012 the overall level of committed appropriations was 93 %, indicating that commitments were made in a timely manner. The level of committed appropriations carried over to 2013 however was high at 36,7 million euro (19 % of total committed appropriations), out of which 21,7 million euro related to title II (administrative expenditure) and 14,1 million euro related to title III (operating expenditure). The main reason for the high level of carry-overs was the late receipt of invoices for goods and services delivered in 2012. More specifically, for title II, the high level of carry-overs also arose from a number of multiannual contracts relating to the construction of the Office’s new building (6,09 million euro) and the procurement of IT developments (7,67 million euro). For title III, carry-overs are largely related to cooperation agreements signed with Member States for which cost claims were only due to be submitted in 2013 (8,13 million euro). In addition, translation services were ordered in the last months of 2012 (5,43 million euro) which were only due for payment in 2013. |

FOLLOW-UP OF PREVIOUS YEAR'S COMMENTS

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| 13. | An overview of the corrective actions taken in response to the Court's previous year's comments is provided in Annex I. |

This Report was adopted by Chamber IV, headed by Dr Louis GALEA, Member of the Court of Auditors, in Luxembourg at its meeting of 10 September 2013.

For the Court of Auditors

Vítor Manuel da SILVA CALDEIRA

President

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