EN C 417/142 Official Journal of the European Union 11 12 2019 Legality and regularity of the transactions underlying the accounts Revenue Opinion on the legality and regularity of revenue underlying the accounts 3 26 5 In our opinion, revenue underlying the accounts for the year ended 31 December 2018 is legal and regular in all material respects Payments Opinion on the legality and regularity of payments underlying the accounts 3 26 6 In our opinion, payments underlying the accounts for the year ended 31 December 2018 are legal and regular in all material respects 3 26 7 The observations which follow do not call the CourtŐs opinion into question OBSERVATIONS ON THE LEGALITY AND REGULARITY OF TRANSACTIONS 3 26 8 In one recruitment procedure, the selection committee deviated from the published vacancy notice and applied a higher minimum score for applicants to be placed on the reserve list This is considered a weakness in the transparency of the procedure The Agency should make sure that published selection criteria are respected 3 26 9 In the case of a service contract for the provision of telecommunication services, the agency awarded a contract to the sole economic operator who had submitted a tender The awarded contract amount corresponds to the amount published in the initial contract notice (144 000 euros) However, the financial offer submitted by the operator was 45 700 euros only The public procurement procedure resulting in the award of a contract for an amount exceeding the offer is not in line with public procurement rules The Agency should not award contracts for prices exceeding tenderersŐ offers 3 26 10 The Agency extended the duration of a direct contract for the provision of security and reception services beyond its four-year duration to six years This has led to a cumulative increase of the contract value from 2,9 million euros to 5 million euros (73 %), which is not in compliance with the Financial Regulation Payments executed in 2018 beyond the 4-year initial period (1 million euros) are irregular The Agency should make sure it complies with public procurement rules 3 26 11 Two audited payments made for the provision of Ôcorrective maintenance in working order of the Schengen Information SystemŐ (MWS) were (partly) irregular The Agency had amended one specific contract by increasing the monthly maintenance charges from 361 000 euros to 568 000 euros, without amending the MWS framework contract to provide for such a price increase Later, the agency extended the specific contract by 1,5 months after the expiry of the MWS framework contract The additional amount paid for the monthly maintenance (207 000 euros) and the payment for maintenance after the expiry date of the MWS framework contract (552 000 euros) are irregular The Agency should make sure it complies with public procurement rules 3 26 12 In addition, the formula stipulated in the tender specifications for the MWS contract to identify the best quality offer was different from the one communicated in the question and answers document for bidders We also identified other shortcomings in the quality, completeness and consistency of information, such as inconsistencies between information kept in paper files and stored electronically Although these weaknesses had no impact on the outcome of the procurement procedure, the Agency should strengthen procurement-related internal controls EN 11 12 2019 Official Journal of the European Union C 417/143 OBSERVATIONS ON BUDGETARY MANAGEMENT 3 26 13 In 2018, the Agency managed a budget of 202 million euros in commitment appropriations and 97 million euros in payment appropriations Budget implementation was less than planned due to the late adoption or entry into force of legal acts which were outside the control of the Agency, affecting both the evolution of existing systems and developments of new systems In response, the Agency returned 74 million euros in payment appropriations to the Commission and carried forward 49 million euros of commitment appropriation in order to preserve them for use in the following financial years This calls into question the underlying planning assumptions contained in the Legislative Financial Statements prepared by the European Commission, in which it assumed that the Agency could absorb significant budgetary resources already in 2018 The Agency, together with the Commission, should improve alignment of budgetary planning with the timing of the related legal acts FOLLOW-UP OF PREVIOUS YEARSŐ OBSERVATIONS 3 26 14 An overview of the corrective action taken in response to the CourtŐs observations from previous years is provided in the Annex 
SV 11 12 2019 Europeiska unionens officiella tidning C 417/143 IAKTTAGELSER OM BUDGETF RVALTNINGEN 3 26 13 Fr 2018 frvaltade byrn en budget p 202 miljoner euro i tagandebemyndiganden och 97 miljoner euro i betalningsbemyndiganden Budgetgenomfrandet blev lgre n planerat beroende p att rttsakter antogs eller trdde i kraft sent, vilket lg utanfr byrns kontroll och pverkade bde utvecklingen av befintliga system och utarbetandet av nya Byrn skickade drfr tillbaka 74 miljoner euro i betalningsbemyndiganden till kommissionen och frde ver 49 miljoner euro i tagandebemyndiganden som ska anvndas under kommande budgetr Detta gr att de underliggande planeringsantagandena i de finansieringsversikter fr rttsakter som Europeiska kommissionen hade utarbetat kan ifrgasttas Dr frutsattes att byrn kunde absorbera stora budgetresurser redan under 2018 Byrn och kommissionen br tillsammans anpassa budgetplaneringen och tidpunkten fr de tillhrande rttsakterna bttre UPPF LJNING AV TIDIGARE RS IAKTTAGELSER 3 26 14 En versikt ver de korrigerande tgrder som har vidtagits som en reaktion p revisionsrttens iakttagelser frn tidigare r finns i bilagan