EN C 417/66 Official Journal of the European Union 11 12 2019 3 9 EUROPEAN INSTITUTE OF INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY (EIT) INTRODUCTION 3 9 1 The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (hereinafter Ôthe InstituteŐ, or ÔEITŐ), which is located in Budapest, was created by Regulation (EC) No 294/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council (74) The InstituteŐs objective is to contribute to sustainable European economic growth and competitiveness by reinforcing the innovation capacity of the Member States and the European Union The Institute awards grants to an increasing number of ÔKnowledge and Innovation CommunitiesŐ (KICs), linking the higher education, research and business sectors with one another and aiming thereby to boost innovation and entrepreneurship KICs coordinate the activities of hundreds of partners The grants provided by the Institute reimburse partnersŐ costs and costs stemming from the KICsŐ coordination activities In 2018, operating expenses in relation to the KIC grants amounted to 387 million euros (75), representing 97 % of the InstituteŐs budget 3 9 2 The Table presents key figures for the Institute (76) Table Key figures for the Institute Budget (million euros) (1) Staff as at 31 December (2) (1) Budgetfiguresarebasedonpaymentappropriations (2) StaffincludesEUofficials,EUtemporaryagents,EUcontractstaffandsecondednationalexperts,notinterimworkersandconsultants Source: Data provided by the Institute THE COURTŐS STATEMENT OF ASSURANCE PROVIDED TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL Ń INDEPENDENT AUDITORŐS REPORT 2017 303 61 2018 350 64 OPINION 3 9 3 We have audited: (a) the accounts of the Institute which comprise the financial statements (77) and the reports on the implementation of the budget (78) for the financial year ended 31 December 2018; 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 3 9 4 In our opinion, the annual accounts for the year ended 31 December 2018 of the Institute present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Institute at 31 December 2018 and the results of its operations, its cash flows, and the changes in net assets for the year then ended, in accordance with the provisions of its Financial Regulation and the accounting rules adopted by the CommissionŐs accounting officer These are based on internationally accepted accounting standards for the public sector (74) OJ L 97, 9 4 2008, p 1 (75) In terms of initial payment appropriations (76) More information on the InstituteŐs competences and activities is available on its website: https://eit europa eu/ (77) The financial statements comprise the balance sheet, the statement of financial performance, the cash flow statement, the statement of changes in net assets and a summary of significant accounting policies and other explanatory notes (78) The reports on implementation of the budget comprise the reports which aggregate all budgetary operations and the explanatory notes 
(2) Medzi zamestnancami sú úradníci EÚ, dočasní zamestnanci EÚ, zmluvní zamestnanci EÚ a vyslaní národní experti, nie dočasní agentúrni zamestnanci a konzultanti Zdroj: Údaje poskytnuté orgánom VYHLÁSENIE DVORA AUDÍTOROV O VIEROHODNOSTI PREDKLADANÉ EURÓPSKEMU PARLAMENTU A RADE – SPRÁVA NEZÁVISLÉHO AUDÍTORA Úradný vestník Európskej únie 11 12 2019 EURÓPSKY ORGÁN PRE POISŤOVNÍCTVO A DÔCHODKOVÉ POISTENIE ZAMESTNANCOV (EIOPA) Európsky orgán pre poisťovníctvo a dôchodkové poistenie zamestnancov (ďalej len „orgán“ alebo „EIOPA“), ktorý 2017 24 151 STANOVISKO 3.8.3.