Procedure completed
Role | Committee | Rapporteur | Shadows |
---|---|---|---|
Lead | CONT | POCHE Miroslav (S&D) | HAYES Brian (EPP), MARIAS Notis (ECR), GERBRANDY Gerben-Jan (ALDE), OMARJEE Younous (GUE/NGL), TARAND Indrek (Verts/ALE), VALLI Marco (EFD), KAPPEL Barbara (ENF) |
Opinion | ITRE |
Activites
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2017/09/29
Final act published in Official Journal
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2017/04/27
Results of vote in Parliament
- Results of vote in Parliament
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T8-0193/2017
summary
The European Parliament decided to grant discharge to the Director of the Joint Undertaking for ITER and the Development of Fusion Energy in respect of the implementation of the budget for the financial year 2015. Based on the statement of assurance provided by the Court of Auditors concerning the reliability of the accounts and the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions, it decided to approve the closure of the accounts of the Joint Undertaking for the same financial year. Noting that the Court of Auditors has stated that it has obtained reasonable assurances that the Joint Undertaking’s annual accounts for the financial year 2015 are reliable and that the underlying transactions are legal and regular, Parliament adopted by 431 votes to 147 with 37 abstentions, a resolution containing a series of recommendations which form an integral part of the decision on discharge. General: Members expressed concern that the Court’s report once again emphasised that the complexity of ITER activities puts the amount of the Joint Undertaking’s contribution to the construction phase of the ITER project at significant risk of increasing. They recognised that significant progress across a range of areas impacting on the whole management structure of the project has been achieved. Highlighting the need to maintain the budget cap of EUR 6.6 billion until 2020, Parliament stressed that the main challenge for the ITER project is to make sure that the realistic schedule and budgeting are kept and that any potential deviation or problem is detected at the earliest stage possible. It welcomed the efforts taken by the Joint Undertaking to provide more global and realistic cost estimates. The Commission is invited to present, before July 2017, a communication on ITER project, which is essential for ensuring transparency of the whole project and setting out the way forward. Budget and financial management: the final 2015 budget available for implementation included commitment appropriations of EUR 467 901 000 and payment appropriations of EUR 586 080 000. Members noted the following: the utilisation rates for commitment and payment appropriations were 100 % and 99 % respectively. The level of cancelled appropriations was low for 2015; out of the EUR 467 900 000 available for commitment appropriations, 52 % was implemented through direct individual commitments and the remaining 48 % through global commitments: i. as regards individual commitments, lower performance than originally foreseen was mainly due to a decrease in the amount of cash contribution requested by ITER Organisation, a decrease in the amount of cash contribution requested by Japan and postponements of contracts in areas such as remote handling, diagnostics and plasma engineering; ii. as for global commitments, the main domains were buildings (for amendments or options on the main buildings contracts) and a vacuum vessel (for completion of the procurement of the main vessel). Other observations: the resolution also contained a series of observations on the prevention and management of conflicts of interests, personal selection and recruitment, internal control measures, operational procurements and grants, intellectual property rights and industrial policy. Parliament also noted in particular: the development of contract tracker tool (a portal by which to exchange documentation with suppliers), which is an important tool for monitoring of milestones and overall project progress; the launch of 73 operational procurement procedures the signing of 79 procurement contracts for a value of about EUR 326 million. The average time to contract for procurements above EUR 1 million decreased from 240 days to 140 days during 2015 in comparison with 2014; efforts are needed to increase the competitiveness of its operational procurement procedures; the adoption of the single intellectual property document in 2016, the Joint Undertaking formalised the use of that document by including it as an explicit step in all new processes for procurement procedures; the signature of a renewed long-term lease agreement with Spain for its offices. The Director is encouraged to continue in his effort towards optimising resources between the Joint Undertaking and the ITER Organisation.
- 2017/04/26 Debate in Parliament
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2017/03/29
Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading
-
A8-0108/2017
summary
The Committee on Budgetary Control adopted the report by Miroslav POCHE (S&D, CZ) on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the ITER and the Development of Fusion Energy for the financial year 2015. The committee called on the European Parliament to grant the Director of the European Joint Undertaking for ITER and the Development of Fusion Energy discharge in respect of the implementation of the Joint Undertaking’s budget for the financial year 2015. Noting that the Court of Auditors issued a statement of assurance as to the reliability of the accounts and the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions for the financial year 2015, Members called on Parliament to approve the closure of the joint undertaking’s accounts. They made, however, a number of recommendations that need to be taken into account when the discharge is granted. They may be summarised as follows: General: Members expressed concern that the Court’s report once again emphasises that the complexity of ITER activities puts the amount of the Joint Undertaking’s contribution to the construction phase of the ITER project at significant risk of increasing. They recognised that significant progress across a range of areas impacting on the whole management structure of the project has been achieved. Highlighting the need to maintain the budget cap of EUR 6.6 billion until 2020, Members stressed that the main challenge for the ITER project is to make sure that the realistic schedule and budgeting are kept and that any potential deviation or problem is detected at the earliest stage possible. The Commission is invited to present, before July 2017, a communication on ITER project, which is essential for ensuring transparency of the whole project and setting out the way forward. Budget and financial management: the final 2015 budget available for implementation included commitment appropriations of EUR 467 901 000 and payment appropriations of EUR 586 080 000. The utilisation rates for commitment and payment appropriations were 100 % and 99 % respectively. The full implementation of the 2015 budget made the level of cancelled appropriations very low for 2015. Out of the EUR 467 900 000 available for commitment appropriations, 52 % was implemented through direct individual commitments and the remaining 48 % through global commitments. As regards individual commitments, lower performance than originally foreseen was mainly due to a decrease in the amount of cash contribution requested by ITER Organisation, a decrease in the amount of cash contribution requested by Japan and postponements of contracts in areas such as remote handling, diagnostics and plasma engineering. As for global commitments, the main domains were buildings (for amendments or options on the main buildings contracts) and a vacuum vessel (for completion of the procurement of the main vessel). Other observations: the report also contained a series of observations on the prevention and management of conflicts of interests, personal selection and recruitment, internal control measures, operational procurements and grants, intellectual property rights and industrial policy. The report also noted in particular: the development of contract tracker tool (a portal by which to exchange documentation with suppliers), which is an important tool for monitoring of milestones and overall project progress; the launch of 73 operational procurement procedures the signing of 79 procurement contracts for a value of about EUR 326 million. The average time to contract for procurements above EUR 1 million decreased from 240 days to 140 days during 2015 in comparison with 2014; the adoption of the single intellectual property document in 2016; the signature of a renewed long-term lease agreement with Spain for its offices. The Director is encouraged to continue in his effort towards optimising resources between the Joint Undertaking and the ITER Organisation.
-
A8-0108/2017
summary
-
2017/03/23
Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
-
2016/10/04
Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
-
2016/07/11
Non-legislative basic document published
-
COM(2016)0475
summary
PURPOSE: presentation by the Commission of the consolidated annual accounts of the European Union for the financial year 2015, as part of the 2015 discharge procedure. Analysis of the accounts of the European Joint Undertaking for ITER and Fusion for Energy Joint Undertaking (F4E). CONTENT: the organisational governance of the EU consists of institutions, agencies and other EU bodies whose expenditure is included in the general budget of the Union. The EU's operational expenditure of these institutions takes different forms, depending on how the money is paid out and managed. From 2014 onwards, the Commission classifies its expenditure as follows: Direct management: the budget is implemented directly by the Commission services. Indirect management: the Commission confers tasks of implementation of the budget to bodies of EU law or national law, such as the EU agencies. Shared management: under this method of budget implementation tasks are delegated to Member States. About 80 % of the expenditure falls under this management mode covering such areas as agricultural spending and structural actions. This Commission document concerns the EU's consolidated accounts for the year 2015 and details how spending by the EU institutions and bodies was carried out. The consolidated annual accounts of the EU provide financial information on the activities of the institutions, agencies and other bodies of the EU from an accrual accounting and budgetary perspective. It is the responsibility of the Commission's Accounting Officer to prepare the EU's consolidated annual accounts and ensure that they present fairly, in all material aspects, the financial position, the result of the operations and the cash flows of the EU institutions and bodies, including the ITER-F4E, with a view to granting discharge. Discharge procedure: the final step of a budget lifecycle is the discharge of the budget for a given financial year. It represents the political aspect of the external control of budget implementation and is the decision by which the European Parliament, acting on a Council recommendation, "releases" the Commission (and other EU bodies) from its responsibility for management of a given budget by marking the end of that budget's existence. The European Parliament is the discharge authority within the EU. The discharge procedure may produce three outcomes: (i) the granting; (ii) postponement or; (iii) the refusal of the discharge. The final discharge report including specific recommendations to the Commission for action is adopted in plenary by the European Parliament and are subject to an annual follow up report in which the Commission outlines the concrete actions it has taken to implement the recommendations made. Each agency is subject to its own discharge procedure, including ITER and Fusion for Energy. ITER and Fusion for Energy Joint Undertaking (F4E): the ITER-F4E Joint Undertaking, located in Barcelona (ES), is the technical and organisational structure to provide Euratom’s contribution to the ITER international project (whose main facilities are located in Cadarache - FR). The JU was set up under Council Decision 2007/198/Euratom for a period of 35 years. It was created to manage the ITER facilities, to encourage the exploitation of the ITER facilities, to promote public understanding and acceptance of fusion energy, and to undertake any other activities that are necessary to achieve its purpose. Implementation of the JU’s appropriations: the EU (Euratom) contribution to ITER International is given through the Fusion for Energy Agency, including also the contributions from Member States and from Switzerland. The total contribution is legally considered as a Euratom contribution to ITER since the Member States and Switzerland do not have ownership interests in ITER. As the EU legally holds the participation in the joint venture ITER International, the Commission must recognise the participation in its accounts. Following a review of the accounting for joint ventures, it has been determined that the ITER Organisation does not meet the criteria for recognition as a joint venture. Since 2015, it is no longer recorded as a joint venture, and EU contributions to the ITER Organisation are treated as expenses. As the carrying value of the ITER Organisation at 31 December 2014 was zero, and the impact of the change is not material, no adjustment of prior year results has been made. On an accounting level, the following expenditure is noted: Commitment appropriations: - committed: EUR 792 million; - paid: EUR 791 million; - carried-over: 0. Payment appropriations: - committed: EUR 531 million; - paid: EUR 524 million; - carried-over: EUR 6 million. Please also refer to the final accounts of ITER-F4E.
- DG {'url': 'http://ec.europa.eu/info/departments/budget_en', 'title': 'Budget'}, GEORGIEVA Kristalina
-
COM(2016)0475
summary
Documents
- Non-legislative basic document published: COM(2016)0475
- Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading: A8-0108/2017
- Debate in Parliament: Debate in Parliament
- Results of vote in Parliament: Results of vote in Parliament
- Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading: T8-0193/2017
Amendments | Dossier |
25 |
2016/2194(DEC)
2017/03/06
CONT
25 amendments...
Amendment 1 #
Proposal for a decision 1 Paragraph 1 1.
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 5 5.
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 7 7.
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 7 7. Highlights that the Commission should present a Communication on ITER project
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 8 a (new) 8a. Points out that in 2015, taking into account the challenges faced by the ITER project, the new ITER IO Director- General submitted an action plan to the ITER Council, with specific measures to eliminate the main constraints affecting the development of the project;
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 16 a (new) 16a. Notes that the F4E Governing Board has adopted an anti-fraud strategy and the corresponding action plan;
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 17 a (new) 17a. Points out that in 2015 the Joint Undertaking also adopted a decision on whistleblowing rules;
Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 18 Amendment 17 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 19 Amendment 18 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 20 Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 20 20. Acknowledges the fact that that the Joint Undertaking adopted the implementing rules to the Staff Regulations concerning the appraisal of temporary agents and officials; the appraisal of contract agents; unpaid leave and leave on personal grounds; the use and engagement of temporary agents recruited under Article 2(f) of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants; notes, moreover, that the Joint Undertaking also adopted revised policies in the area of internal mobility, language training and internships; regrets that certain specific rules for the implementation of the Staff Regulations still remain to be adopted;
Amendment 2 #
Proposal for a decision 1 Paragraph 1 1.
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 21 Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 25 25. Notes that the Joint Undertaking´s internal audit capability completed two engagements and performed three follow- up engagements in 2015; expects the Joint Undertaking to inform the discharge authority on the recommendations and progress made regarding these engagements; notes furthermore that the Commission´s internal audit service acknowledged the progress made by the Joint Undertaking in the sphere of procurements and concluded that seven out of nine audit recommendations from 2014 were adequately implemented;
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 26 26. Acknowledges that the Joint Undertaking is
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 27 a (new) 27a. Points out that F4E has set up a portal on which to exchange documents with suppliers, so as to enable project teams to oversee and monitor contract execution;
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 28 28. Acknowledges that the average time to contract for procurements above EUR 1 000 000 decreased
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 34 34.
Amendment 3 #
Proposal for a decision 2 Paragraph 1 1.
Amendment 4 #
Proposal for a decision 2 Paragraph 1 1.
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 3 3.
Amendment 6 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 3 3. Notes that the Court’s report once again emphasises that the complexity of ITER activities puts the amount of the Joint Undertaking’s contribution to the construction phase of the project at significant risk of increasing, given the changes to the scope of project deliverables and the unrealistic current schedule, but also recognises that significant progress across a range of areas impacting the whole management structure of the project has been achieved;
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 3 3.
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 4 4. Highlights that the Joint Undertaking is responsible for the management of the Union
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 4 4. Highlights that the Joint Undertaking is responsible for the management of the Union’s contribution to the ITER project and that the budget cap of EUR 6 600 000 000 until 2020 must be maintained;
source: 599.875
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The Committee on Budgetary Control adopted the report by Miroslav POCHE (S&D, CZ) on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the ITER and the Development of Fusion Energy for the financial year 2015. The committee called on the European Parliament to grant the Director of the European Joint Undertaking for ITER and the Development of Fusion Energy discharge in respect of the implementation of the Joint Undertakings budget for the financial year 2015. Noting that the Court of Auditors issued a statement of assurance as to the reliability of the accounts and the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions for the financial year 2015, Members called on Parliament to approve the closure of the joint undertakings accounts. They made, however, a number of recommendations that needed to be taken into account when the discharge is granted, in addition to the general recommendations that appear in the draft resolution on performance, financial management and control of EU agencies: General: Members expressed concern that the Courts report once again emphasises that the complexity of ITER activities puts the amount of the Joint Undertakings contribution to the construction phase of the ITER project at significant risk of increasing. They recognised that significant progress across a range of areas impacting on the whole management structure of the project has been achieved. Highlighting the need to maintain the budget cap of EUR 6.6 billion until 2020, Members stressed that the main challenge for the ITER project is to make sure that the realistic schedule and budgeting are kept and that any potential deviation or problem is detected at the earliest stage possible. The Commission is invited to present, before July 2017, a communication on ITER project, which is essential for ensuring transparency of the whole project and setting out the way forward. Budget and financial management: the final 2015 budget available for implementation included commitment appropriations of EUR 467 901 000 and payment appropriations of EUR 586 080 000. The utilisation rates for commitment and payment appropriations were 100 % and 99 % respectively. The full implementation of the 2015 budget made the level of cancelled appropriations very low for 2015. Out of the EUR 467 900 000 available for commitment appropriations, 52 % was implemented through direct individual commitments and the remaining 48 % through global commitments. As regards individual commitments, lower performance than originally foreseen was mainly due to a decrease in the amount of cash contribution requested by ITER Organisation, a decrease in the amount of cash contribution requested by Japan and postponements of contracts in areas such as remote handling, diagnostics and plasma engineering. As for global commitments, the main domains were buildings (for amendments or options on the main buildings contracts) and a vacuum vessel (for completion of the procurement of the main vessel). Other observations: the report also contained a series of observations on the prevention and management of conflicts of interests, personal selection and recruitment, internal control measures, operational procurements and grants, intellectual property rights and industrial policy. The report also noted in particular:
The Director is encouraged to continue in his effort towards optimising resources between the Joint Undertaking and the ITER Organisation. New
The Committee on Budgetary Control adopted the report by Miroslav POCHE (S&D, CZ) on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the ITER and the Development of Fusion Energy for the financial year 2015. The committee called on the European Parliament to grant the Director of the European Joint Undertaking for ITER and the Development of Fusion Energy discharge in respect of the implementation of the Joint Undertakings budget for the financial year 2015. Noting that the Court of Auditors issued a statement of assurance as to the reliability of the accounts and the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions for the financial year 2015, Members called on Parliament to approve the closure of the joint undertakings accounts. They made, however, a number of recommendations that need to be taken into account when the discharge is granted. They may be summarised as follows: General: Members expressed concern that the Courts report once again emphasises that the complexity of ITER activities puts the amount of the Joint Undertakings contribution to the construction phase of the ITER project at significant risk of increasing. They recognised that significant progress across a range of areas impacting on the whole management structure of the project has been achieved. Highlighting the need to maintain the budget cap of EUR 6.6 billion until 2020, Members stressed that the main challenge for the ITER project is to make sure that the realistic schedule and budgeting are kept and that any potential deviation or problem is detected at the earliest stage possible. The Commission is invited to present, before July 2017, a communication on ITER project, which is essential for ensuring transparency of the whole project and setting out the way forward. Budget and financial management: the final 2015 budget available for implementation included commitment appropriations of EUR 467 901 000 and payment appropriations of EUR 586 080 000. The utilisation rates for commitment and payment appropriations were 100 % and 99 % respectively. The full implementation of the 2015 budget made the level of cancelled appropriations very low for 2015. Out of the EUR 467 900 000 available for commitment appropriations, 52 % was implemented through direct individual commitments and the remaining 48 % through global commitments. As regards individual commitments, lower performance than originally foreseen was mainly due to a decrease in the amount of cash contribution requested by ITER Organisation, a decrease in the amount of cash contribution requested by Japan and postponements of contracts in areas such as remote handling, diagnostics and plasma engineering. As for global commitments, the main domains were buildings (for amendments or options on the main buildings contracts) and a vacuum vessel (for completion of the procurement of the main vessel). Other observations: the report also contained a series of observations on the prevention and management of conflicts of interests, personal selection and recruitment, internal control measures, operational procurements and grants, intellectual property rights and industrial policy. The report also noted in particular:
The Director is encouraged to continue in his effort towards optimising resources between the Joint Undertaking and the ITER Organisation. |
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