natgillin/translations-raw huggingface dataset:
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
(18) Protocol on the financial consequences of the expiry of the ECSC Treaty and on the Research Fund for Coal and Steel (OJ C 80, 10.3.2001. p.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
67).
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
THE COMMISSION’S REPLIES 10.35.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
Relevant controls on compliance with investment restrictions set by the Management Agreement have been performed by DG ECFIN regularly.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
They showed that the investments did comply with the relevant investment restrictions set in the Agreement.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
Following the Court’s audit, a further control has been introduced in order to enhance compliance even on marginal issues falling outside the restrictions set by the Management Agreement.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
At 31 December 2008, the total assets of the ECSC i.L. were 2 045 million euro, compared with 2 152 million euro at 31 December 2007.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
The net loss for 2008 was 14,8 million euro compared with a net profit of 5,3 million euro in 2007.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
The net loss was mainly due to a loss in the fair value of the financial derivatives used for hedging purposes in the ECSC i.L.’s financial operations.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
10.39.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
ThenetrevenueofECSCi.L.investmentsin2008 amounted to 56 million euro and will be made available to the Community budget for financing research for coal and steel projects.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
The Court noted that as at 31 December 2008 the unused budget available for financing coal and steel research had accumulated to 235 million euro (19).
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
10.40.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
TheperformanceoftheECSCi.Lportfoliowas 5,4 % for the year 2008 while the return of the benchmark, serving as reference rate for the ECSC i.L., was 7,4 %.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
The relative underperformance of 2% was mainly due to the lower return on bonds from new EU Member states which were not included in the benchmark.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
THE COMMISSION’S REPLIES 10.38.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
The net loss from derivatives relates mainly to a book loss on a cross-currency swap transaction (EUR/GBP) which served to hedge a loan-related currency position entered into by the ECSC over 19 years ago.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
The swap contract in question expired on 13 March 2009 with no actual loss being made on this hedging operation.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
The Research Programme financed by DG RTD’s Research Fund for Coal and Steel (RFCS) is used exclusively for research, outside the Framework Programme, in sectors related to the coal and steel industry, in accordance with the its legal basis (the Protocol annexed to the Treaty establishing the European Community and acts adopted subsequently on this basis).
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
The amount of EUR 235 million includes: — on the one hand, allocations for 2010 (EUR 56 million) and allocations for 2009 which have not yet been committed; and — on the other hand, outstanding amounts related to contracts signed since 2003 (the start of the RFCS Research Programme) for which closure of the accounts has not yet been completed.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
The ECSC i.L. portfolio regularly allocates part of its investments to securities issued by the new Member States, with the purpose of both improving diversification and targeting some extra return over the long run.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
The financial crisis (which started in July 2007 and further developed into 2008) led to a flight to quality/liquidity process that was the main driver of relative performance over that period.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
In this process, securities issued by new Member States (perceived by the market as less liquid and secure than those of ‘core’ issuers like Germany and France) were harder hit.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
The ECSC i.L. portfolio, however, did fairly well in terms of absolute return, despite the financial crisis, posting the third-best result in absolute terms since the inception of performance measurement: +5,4%, a result beaten only in 2002 (+6,3%) and 2004 (+ 5,8 %).
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
10.41.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
Thewinding-upofthefinancialoperationsofthe ECSC i.L. is proceeding in compliance with the relevant legis­ lation, including the multiannual financial guidelines.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
The Court noted that appropriate actions had been taken to monitor the impact of the financial crisis on the assets of the ECSC i.L. FOLLOW-UP OF PREVIOUS OBSERVATIONS 10.42.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
See Annex 10.2. _____________ (19) Including the allocations for 2009 of 52 million euro and for 2010 of 54 million euro.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
EN 208 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanUnion 10.11.2009 ANNEX 10.1 PART 1: MAIN FEATURES OF SAMPLE BASED TRANSACTION TESTING 1.1 — Size of the sample 2008 80 2007 55 1.2 — Structure of the sample Percentage of transactions tested which were Final/interim payments Advances Total 1.3 — Frequency and estimated impact of errors Errors Frequency of transactions tested which were affected by errors Frequency of errors which are quantifiable Impact of quantifiable errors: Most likely error rate falls in the range (*) (*) The Court distinguishes three ranges for most likely error rate: below 2 %, between 2 % and 5 %, above 5 %. (**) The Sixth Framework Programme for research and technological development (FP6) accounts for a disproportionate large part of the overall error rate (see paragraph 10.27).
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
The figures in { } brackets are absolute numbers.
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1.4 — Types of errors in the sample Percentage and number of errors in transactions tested which concern Eligibility Occurrence Accuracy Other Total Year Number of transactions tested 2008 2007 Economic and Financial Affairs Enterprise Competition Internal Market Trade Total 35 % 0% 16 % 44 % 1% 0% 0% 0% 4% 0% 56 % 44 % 72 % 27 % 35 % 60 % 1% 0% 4% 100 % 100 % 2008 2007 Economic and Financial Affairs, Trade, Competition and Internal Market Enterprise Total 9 % {3} 17 % {8} 14 % {11} 7 % {4} 0 % {0} 88 % {7} 54 % {7} 43 % {3} N/A Between 2 % and 5% Between 2% and 5% (**) Below 2 % 2008 2007 Economic and Financial Affairs, Trade, Competition and Internal Market Enterprise Total 0% 0% 0% 100 % 0 0 0 5 75 % 0% 12,5 % 12,5 % 6 0 1 1 46 % 0% 8% 46 % 6 0 1 6 29 % 0% 29 % 2 0 2 3 42 % 100 % 5 100 % 8 100 % 13 100 % 7
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
EN 10.11.2009 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanUnion 209 PART 2: OVERALL ASSESSMENT OF SUPERVISORY AND CONTROL SYSTEMS 2.1 — Assessment of selected supervisory and control systems System concerned Payments under policy area 01 – Economic and Financial Affairs Payments under policy area 02 – Enterprise Payments under policy area 20 – Trade Overall assessment Key internal controls (Commission) Ex-ante checks Audit Certification N/A Ex-post financial audit N/A N/A N/A Legend: N/A Effective Partially effective Not effective Not applicable: does not apply or not assessed
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
Risk capital operations (RCO) — Provision of risk capital through investment funds Court analysis Commission reply The Court's audit revealed that the investment funds included in the RCO portfolio did not fully comply with the MEDA Regulation as: Since 2003 the Commission ensures that the eligibility provisions of the MEDA Regulation regarding the geographical location of both the investment funds and the investment funds’ target region are monitored at the time of approval.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
The Commission’s monitoring controls have significantly improved at the time of investment fund approval however, monitoring of the geographical location and cross investments during the life of the funds should be further enhanced.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
The new Framework Agreement between the EIB and the Commission, currently under negotiation, will ensure that the operational and accounting information provided by the EIB will allow better monitoring of the geographical location and cross-investments during the life of the funds.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
This will include information regarding global loans. — the portfolio included investment funds which were located outside the EU; — investment funds made investments outside the list of eligible partner territories and countries.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
This was notably due to the fact that the investment rules of the funds did not include the necessary investment restriction.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
The Commission also intervenes at the time of approval when it believes that cross-investments could become a problem.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
In addition, the annual reports provided by the EIB do not give detailed information on the investments financed by global loans.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
In addition, there was no control procedure in respect of cross-investments between funds.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
It was difficult therefore to verify that the overall ceilings had been respected.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
For both 2007 and 2008, the Commission also received from the European Investment Bank (EIB) annual reports on RCO providing information on the actual investments made.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
(Annual Report concerning the financial year 2006, paragraphs 11.8 and 11.9) 2.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
Risk capital operations (RCO) — Weaknesses in the valuation of RCO RCO are valued by the Commission at historic costs less any provisions for impairment.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
The provisions for impairment were based on the provisional or definitive write-offs.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
This method was not consistently applied.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
The Court found some cases where provisional estimates for impairments available to the EIB had not been communicated to the Commission.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
This showed that the convention between the Commission and the EIB needed to be updated so that the Commission receives all relevant information in time to allow it to take it into In its reply to the Court’s observation, the Commission stated that the EIB and the Commission were following developments and were reviewing the situation together, looking for the best cost-benefit solution.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
As at the first quarter of 2009, the Commission and the EIB are still reviewing the situation and trying to find a cost-effective solution.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
The Court noted that progress has not been made.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
The Commission should aim to resolve this issue prior to the closing of the 2009 financial year.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
The Commission’s requirement will be included in the new Framework Agreement.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
Furthermore, the Commission should more actively monitor the application of the convention rather than rely entirely on the information provided by the EIB.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
(Annual Report concerning the financial year 2006, paragraph 11.11) 3.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
Reporting obligation towards the Budgetary Authorities Since the start of the MEDA programme in 1996 the Commission has been required to submit to the European Parliament and the Council an annual report giving information on the measures financed during the year (Article 15 of the MEDA Regulation).
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
In 2001 EuropeAid decided to produce a general report instead of a special report for each legal basis.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
This decision was taken in order to make better use of the limited human resources at its disposal.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
In subsequent years, EuropeAid took the budgetary authorities’ observations into account when drafting this report.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
(Annual Report concerning the financial year 2006, paragraph 11.14)
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
Detailed information is given in Table 11.1 which sets out the insti­ tutions covered, the payments by spending year and the budget management mode.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
Table 11.1 — Breakdown of payments in policy area 24-27 and 29 (million euro) Centralised direct Centralised direct Centralised direct Centralised direct Centralised direct Centralised direct Centralised direct Centralised direct Centralised direct Budget title Policy areas Description Payments 2008 Budget management mode Administrative and other expenditure European Parliament Council Commission Court of Justice Court of Auditors Economic and Social Committee Committee of the Regions European Ombudsman European Data Protection Supervisor 1 489 618 5 867 288 116 114 79 8 4 Total administrative expenditure Total operational expenditure Total payments for the year 8 583 0 8 583 11.2.
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Administrativeexpendituremainlycomprisesexpen­ diture for human resources and expenditure for buildings, equipment, energy, communications, and information tech­ nology.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
This chapter also covers expenditure considered in the general budget as operational although its purpose and object is in most cases the functioning of the Commission’s administration rather than policy delivery (1). _____________ (1) This expenditure includes the following titles of the general budget: title 24 (‘fight against fraud’), title 25 (‘Commission’s policy coor­ dination and legal advice’), title 26 (‘Commission’s administration’), title 27 (‘budget’) and title 29 (‘statistics’).
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
Some of these titles also include operational expenditure.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
Title 27 includes for 2008 an amount of 200 million euro as ‘Temporary and lump-sum compen­ sation for the new Member States’.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
Asampleof57transactions,drawnrandomlyfrom all the administrative expenditure referred to in paragraph 11.2 (see also 1.1 in Annex 11.1), was tested.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
In addition, the Court assessed the compliance of the supervisory and control systems applied by each institution with the requirements of the Financial Regulation.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
The Court also audited selected topics (2).
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
11.4.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
TheCourtofAuditorsisauditedbyanindependent external audit firm(3) which issued an assurance report concerning the legality and regularity of the use of the Court's resources, and the control procedures in place for the period from 1 January 2008 to 31 December 2008 (see paragraph 11.15).
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
11.5.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
Thischapteralsogivesinformationontheresultsof the Court’s audits of the Agencies of the European Union and other decentralised bodies as well as of the European schools.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
REGULARITY OF TRANSACTIONS 11.6.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
The audit of the sample of 57 transactions found them to be free of material error.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
COMPLIANCE OF SYSTEMS WITH THE FINANCIAL REGU­ LATION 11.7.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
The Court’s audit of the compliance of the systems designed to ensure the regularity of transactions with the provisions of the Financial Regulation (see paragraph 11.3) found no material weakness. _____________ (2) The selected topics audited are the following: procurement contracts in all the institutions except the European Ombudsman and the European Data Protection Supervisor; procurement management of Information Technology contracts at the Parliament, the Council, the Commission; extension of contracts at the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions; late payment penalties in all the institutions; payments on carried-over appropriations at the Parliament; transfers of acquired pension rights in all the institutions except the European Ombudsman and the European Data Protection Supervisor.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
(3) PricewaterhouseCoopers, Société à responsabilité limitée, Réviseur d'Entreprises.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
EN 216 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanUnion 10.11.2009 THE COURT'S OBSERVATIONS SPECIFIC OBSERVATIONS 11.8.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
Thespecificobservationsthatfollowandwhichare presented by institution are based on the Court’s audit of the supervisory and control systems applied by each institution and on the selected topics (see paragraph 11.3).
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
These findings do not call into question the assessments set out in paragraphs 11.6 and 11.7.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
Parliament 11.9.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
Parliament signed a contract in December 2007 concerning the fitting-out of premises which provided that the invoices were to be presented monthly after each period, on the basis of work completed.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
The audit of this expenditure showed that one invoice dated 17 November 2008 had been endorsed ‘certified correct’ and ‘passed for payment’, when in fact it represented advances for works not yet performed.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
The total amount paid irregularly in advance was 1 547 915 euro.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
11.9.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT REPLIES Invoice No 8101025356 in the sum of EUR 1 547 915,33 was created on and dated 17 November 2008 and officially registered by the Accounting Officer on 19 November 2008.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
That sum was purportedly in respect of works for the period of December 2008 set out in periodic progress report No EA 008 validated by an external consultant, and two duly authorised agents of the Parliament on 4 December 2008 when the invoice was endorsed certified correct and passed for payment.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
The payment order in respect of this payment was validated by the Authorising Officer by Delegation on 9 December 2008.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
It is acknowledged that this payment was irregularly made in advance of the works being carried out for the period in question.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
That payment was based on an erroneous assessment of the risks attaching to a failure to use appropriations carried over from 2007 to 2008 before the end of 2008.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
The payment was covered by a bank guarantee provided by the contractor and thus entailed no adverse budgetary consequences for the institution.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
These circumstances were drawn to the Authorising Officer by Delegation’s attention following the Court of Auditors’ controls in the context of preparing the 2008 DAS.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
After discussing the matter with the Internal Auditor and informing the Secretary-General, the Authorising Officer by Delegation decided, in acknowledgment of the mistake and assuming responsibility for it, to refer the matter himself on 20 May 2009 to the Financial Irregularities Panel, pursuant to Article 75(1), second subparagraph, of the Financial Regulation.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
In the meantime, the Bureau has decided wide structural changes in DG INLO which will have the effect of centralising these responsi­ bilities at the level of Director-General. EN 10.11.2009 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanUnion 217 Council THE COURT'S OBSERVATIONS 11.10.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
ThetargetcompletiondatefortheSecuredEuropean System for Automatic Messaging (SESAME) used to prepare the Council’s annual budgets (4) was consistently overly opti­ mistic.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
As a result, the annual budget for SESAME was over­ estimated each year up to 2008.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
For the period 2005 to 2008, expenditure on SESAME by the Council amounted to less than 2 million euro, while over the same period the Council’s budget allocated 59 million euro.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
The resulting over budgeting of 57 million euro was then available for transfer to other Council budget lines.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
The continued over-budgeting for SESAME, which evidenced a weakness in its planning and implementation, did not comply with the budgetary principle of accuracy required by the Financial Regulation (Article 5(3)), as most of the amounts included in each year’s initial budgets for SESAME were not used as intended. 11.10.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
REPLY OF THE COUNCIL 1.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
TheCounciltakesnoteoftheobservationsoftheCourtof Auditor's following the contradictory procedure in relation to the SESAME programme (see annex) and is pleased to note that no other comments were made in relation to the 2008 accounts.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
2.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
Thebasicobjectiveofthisinnovativeprogrammeistoreplace the current CORTESY and ESDP-NET communication systems by a single integrated system, with a network classification split: the first layer of the system should allow the handling of information up to RESTREINT UE, the second information classified CONFIDENTIEL UE and SECRET UE.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
The programme is therefore more than a replacement project; additional communication structures and business functions will be introduced.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
3.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
The reasons for the delay, and the consequential budget slippage over recent years, stem mainly from changes in the programme's scope after the date that the Secretariat introduced the proposal for the coming budget year and the number of stakeholders and Council preparatory bodies involved.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
A much greater degree of certainty now exists on the future devel­ opment of the programme; the requirements have been established and the main programme steps have been approved.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
There is therefore a reasonable prospect that the programme will shortly move to the next phase.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
4.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
In the light of this experience, the Council is currently considering ways of improving its coordination on structures for the governance of major IT projects such as SESAME. _____________ (4) SESAME is a secure communication system that has been under development by the Council since 2002.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
The initial target imple­ mentation date for the new system was July 2004.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
In January 2009, the target implementation date was further postponed to the end of 2012.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
There were many changes to the initial project design, and by the end of 2008, planning for SESAME had still not been finalised as there was no agreement among Member State delegations to one of the key committees on how to treat certain kinds of sensitive information.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
The rigorous accreditation procedure to obtain the Council’s security clearance, and the technical complexity of the project were initially underestimated.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
218 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanUnion 10.11.2009 Commission EN THE COURT'S OBSERVATIONS Implementation of the Individual Rights Information System 11.11.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
InJune2008theOfficeforAdministrationand Payment of Individual Entitlements (PMO) implemented a new system called the Individual Rights Information System (IRIS) for the management of staff entitlements, including salaries.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
The migration towards IRIS led to numerous problems in the calculation of salaries.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
A task force set up by the PMO estimated that more than 8 000 staff members’ files might include erroneous data which could affect the calcu­ lation of salaries.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
Work to check all individual files is still ongoing.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
Emergency measures to correct inconsistencies included manual interventions in the payroll calculation system, which were not adequately supervised.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
There was insufficient system testing of IRIS, and the old and the new systems were not run in parallel until evidence that the new system was operating satisfactorily had been obtained.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
11.11.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
REPLY OF THE COMMISSION The launch of the new IRIS system, which feeds the system for calculating remuneration, revealed discrepancies between historical data, particularly concerning family composition, and the data used for the payment of salaries.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
The main effect of these discrepancies was that the pay calculation system rejected the old data.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
This resulted in the retroactive cancellation of amounts paid on the basis of these data.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
The Commission suggested the figure of 8 000 on the basis of an analysis of potentially flawed files, which were to be analysed in greater detail in future.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
Pending correction of the data, the calculation of retroactive entitlements was blocked to avoid unjustified recoveries.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
This has already made it possible to limit the number of files containing errors.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
The danger of inconsistent data giving rise to incorrect payments was thus kept under control, but the downside is that this measure has also blocked retroactive corrections which were due, and which are still blocked.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
Checks on inconsistent data are underway and may affect some old payments, but not current salaries.
BG 10.11.2009 г. 
Some files were corrected directly by manual encoding in the payment calculation system, but this has always been possible and the usual control procedures were followed.