EN 11 12 2019 Official Journal of the European Union C 417/17 1 27 On the basis of the results of our audit, we provide the European Parliament and the Council, or the other discharge authorities referred to in Chapter 3 of this report, with one statement of assurance per agency as to the reliability of the agenciesŐ accounts and the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions We complement the statements of assurance with significant audit observations, where appropriate 1 28 Moreover and pursuant to Article 287(4) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, we also carry out audits and publish special reports on specific topics We also deliver opinions at the request of one of the other institutions or bodies of the Union, which provide our views on new or updated laws and regulations with a significant impact on EU financial management See Chapter 2 of this report, section ÔAudit results from other agency-related products issued by the CourtŐ Our audits are designed to address key risks 1 29 All our audits are designed in such a way that they address the key risks identified The 2018 annual audit of EU agenciesŐ accounts and underlying revenue and payments was carried out in response to our risk assessment, which is briefly presented below Risk to the reliability of agenciesŐ accounts is low in general 1 30 Overall, we consider the risk to the reliability of the accounts to be low for all agencies The agenciesŐ accounts are established by applying the accounting rules adopted by the CommissionŐs accounting officer These are based on internationally accepted accounting standards for the public sector The number of material errors found in the past was small However, the increasing number of delegation agreements with the Commission assigning specific additional tasks and revenue to agencies represents a challenge in terms of the consistency and transparency of the agenciesŐ accounting (and budgetary) treatment Risk to the legality and regularity of revenue is low overall, with exceptions 1 31 The risk to the legality and regularity of revenue underlying the accounts is low for the majority of agencies These are fully financed by contributions from the EU general budget and, as laid down in their regulations, budgets and resulting revenue are agreed with the budgetary authorities during annual budget procedures However, risk is medium for the (partly) self-financed agencies (10) where specific regulations are applicable to charging and collecting service fees and contributions from economic operators or cooperating countries Risk to the legality and regularity of payments is medium overall, but varies Title I (Staff expenditure) 1 32 Risk is generally low Salaries are administered by the CommissionŐs PMO service, which the Court audits within the framework of its specific assessments of administrative expenditure No material errors were found in relation to staff expenditure in recent years However, where agencies have to recruit a high number of additional staff within a short time, there is a medium to high risk to the legality and regularity of recruitment procedures Title II (Administrative expenditure) 1 33 Risk is considered to be medium Procurements of different kinds of services, with increasing amounts related to IT, involve complex procurement rules and procedures, and agenciesŐ administrations sometimes do not achieve satisfactory transparency and best value for money Serious procurement errors affecting the conditions for payments have traditionally been one of the main reasons for qualified audit opinions and observations by the Court However, office rent is often the main cost category paid on a recurrent basis, and changes usually only occur when agencies move to new premises, so the overall risk is medium A new risk identified is the increased use of external staff through IT service contracts or from temporary work agencies, for which specific EU and national legal frameworks apply, imposing multiple obligations to user undertakings Title III (Operational expenditure) 1 34 The risk is considered to be low to high This depends on the specific agencies and the type of operational expenditure they have In general, procurement-related risks are similar to those in relation to Title II, although the amounts involved can be higher As far as grants paid under budget Title III are concerned, previous audits found that, while Ń overall Ń the agenciesŐ controls have improved, they are not always fully effective (10) CdT, CPVO, EASA, EBA, ECHA, EIOPA, EMA, ESMA, EUIPO, SRB 
SK 11 12 2019 Úradný vestník Európskej únie C 417/17 1.27. Na základe výsledkov nášho auditu poskytujeme Európskemu parlamentu a Rade, prípadne ďalším orgánom udeľujúcim absolutórium uvedeným v kapitole 3 tejto správy, jedno vyhlásenie o vierohodnosti za každú agentúru týkajúce sa spoľahlivosti účtovnej závierky agentúry a zákonnosti a správnosti príslušných transakcií.