OBJECTIVE: granting of discharge for implementing the EU’s general budget for 2003 – Translation Centre for EU bodies.

LEGISLATIVE ACT: Decision 2005/544/EC of the European Parliament concerning the discharge for implementing the general budget of the EU for the 2003 financial year – Translation Centre for EU bodies.

CONTENT: With this Decision, the European Parliament grants discharge to the Director of the European Translation Centre for the implementation of the budget for the 2003 financial year.

This decision is in line with the European Parliament’s resolution adopted on 12 April 2005 and comprises a series of observations that form an integral part of the discharge decision (please refer to the summary of the opinion of 12/04/2005).

The European Parliament adopted a resolution drafted by co-rapporteurs Inés AYALA SENDER (PES, ES) and Carl SCHLYTER (Greens/EFA, SE) giving discharge to the Director of the Translation Centre for the bodies of the European Union in respect of the implementation of its budget for the financial year 2003. (Please see the summary of 16/03/05.)

Parliament’s resolution is in two parts: the first concerns the discharge itself and the second part deals with an accompanying resolution on the management and implementation of the budget. The accompanying resolution also carries general points addressed to the Commission and the Agencies.

With regard to the management of the Centre, Parliament asked to be kept informed of the outcome of the Centre’s attempts to find a solution to the question of pension contributions for its employees. Parliament welcomed the signing in 2004 of a memorandum of understanding by the Centre and the Luxembourg authorities resolving the problem of the costs related to the Centre's use of the New Hemicycle building.

Parliament went on to state that the price per page set in 2003 budget, and invoiced by the Centre is EUR 77.50. It asked the Commission to evaluate the performance and added value of the different translation services together with the cost-benefit ratio. Parliament noted that for reasons of security, confidentiality, speed and special qualifications in-house translation is necessary. Where the required quality criteria are met, the Centre does work in partnership with external translators. In 2003, 40% of its total production was outsourced.

Finally, Parliament remarked on the absence of an equality plan, but welcomed the Centre's commitment to communicating information on its activities to citizens.

Parliament went on to make some general observations common to all the agencies. The principal points may be summarized as follows:

General points addressed to the Commission and the Agencies: Parliament supported the Commission’s efforts to establish a limited number of models, at least for future ‘regulatory’ agencies. It took the view that the structure of current and future agencies merited in-depth consideration at inter-institutional level. Before the Commission defines the framework conditions for the use of regulatory agencies, an inter-institutional agreement should spell out common guidelines. Parliament invited the Commission to perform by the end of 2005 a cross-cutting analysis of the evaluations carried out on individual Agencies in order to:

- reach conclusions with regard to the coherence of Agency activity with EU policies in general and as regards the synergies existing or to be developed between the agencies and Commission departments and the avoidance of overlapping between them;

- make an assessment of the broader European added value of the Agencies' outputs in their respective area of activity and of the relevance and effectiveness of the Agency model in implementing or contributing to EU policies;

- determine the impact of the Agencies’ actions in terms of the proximity and visibility of the EU to its citizens.

In parallel with this exercise, the Commission should present proposals for changes to be made in the existing Agencies’ Constituent Acts with a view to optimising its relationship with the Agencies. Before any decision is taken to propose the creation of a new agency, the Commission must undertake a strict evaluation of the added value of the function of this agency, bearing in mind existing structures, the principles of subsidiarity, budgetary austerity and the simplification of procedures.

General points addressed to the Agencies:

Parliament wanted to receive from each of the Agencies, the report summarizing information on the audits carried out by the Internal Auditor, the recommendations made and the action taken on these recommendations in accordance with Regulation 2343/2002/EC. Agencies should also make further efforts to apply correctly the staff regulations and rules applicable to other civil servants with regard to their staff. Parliament made some remarks on the imbalance between men and women in high-grade positions in the agencies, and stated that relevant provisions on equal opportunities must be observed.

In response to the relevant observations of the Court of Auditors, the Agencies must comply fully with the budgetary principles as set out in the Financial Regulation, in particular those of unity and budgetary accuracy.

Parliament went on to encourage the Agencies to strengthen their co-operation, thus opening up opportunities for developing synergies, and avoiding duplication of work. Parliament expected to be informed regularly on this issue.

It called on the Agencies to pay special attention to procedures for the award and management of contracts, and to strengthen their internal control procedures. Parliament suggested the setting-up of specialised units entrusted with the task of advising, on the basis of risk analysis, on how best to prepare contract award procedures.

General points addressed to the European Court of Auditors and the Agencies:

Parliament asked Court of Auditors and the Agencies to strengthen their co-operation in order to enhance the procedures and technical tools to improve the sound management of all the budgetary and finance issues. They should do this in order to establish a methodology that prepares the ground for a positive budget discharge from the start of the process.

The European Parliament adopted a resolution drafted by co-rapporteurs Inés AYALA SENDER (PES, ES) and Carl SCHLYTER (Greens/EFA, SE) giving discharge to the Director of the Translation Centre for the bodies of the European Union in respect of the implementation of its budget for the financial year 2003. (Please see the summary of 16/03/05.)

Parliament’s resolution is in two parts: the first concerns the discharge itself and the second part deals with an accompanying resolution on the management and implementation of the budget. The accompanying resolution also carries general points addressed to the Commission and the Agencies.

With regard to the management of the Centre, Parliament asked to be kept informed of the outcome of the Centre’s attempts to find a solution to the question of pension contributions for its employees. Parliament welcomed the signing in 2004 of a memorandum of understanding by the Centre and the Luxembourg authorities resolving the problem of the costs related to the Centre's use of the New Hemicycle building.

Parliament went on to state that the price per page set in 2003 budget, and invoiced by the Centre is EUR 77.50. It asked the Commission to evaluate the performance and added value of the different translation services together with the cost-benefit ratio. Parliament noted that for reasons of security, confidentiality, speed and special qualifications in-house translation is necessary. Where the required quality criteria are met, the Centre does work in partnership with external translators. In 2003, 40% of its total production was outsourced.

Finally, Parliament remarked on the absence of an equality plan, but welcomed the Centre's commitment to communicating information on its activities to citizens.

Parliament went on to make some general observations common to all the agencies. The principal points may be summarized as follows:

General points addressed to the Commission and the Agencies: Parliament supported the Commission’s efforts to establish a limited number of models, at least for future ‘regulatory’ agencies. It took the view that the structure of current and future agencies merited in-depth consideration at inter-institutional level. Before the Commission defines the framework conditions for the use of regulatory agencies, an inter-institutional agreement should spell out common guidelines. Parliament invited the Commission to perform by the end of 2005 a cross-cutting analysis of the evaluations carried out on individual Agencies in order to:

- reach conclusions with regard to the coherence of Agency activity with EU policies in general and as regards the synergies existing or to be developed between the agencies and Commission departments and the avoidance of overlapping between them;

- make an assessment of the broader European added value of the Agencies' outputs in their respective area of activity and of the relevance and effectiveness of the Agency model in implementing or contributing to EU policies;

- determine the impact of the Agencies’ actions in terms of the proximity and visibility of the EU to its citizens.

In parallel with this exercise, the Commission should present proposals for changes to be made in the existing Agencies’ Constituent Acts with a view to optimising its relationship with the Agencies. Before any decision is taken to propose the creation of a new agency, the Commission must undertake a strict evaluation of the added value of the function of this agency, bearing in mind existing structures, the principles of subsidiarity, budgetary austerity and the simplification of procedures.

General points addressed to the Agencies:

Parliament wanted to receive from each of the Agencies, the report summarizing information on the audits carried out by the Internal Auditor, the recommendations made and the action taken on these recommendations in accordance with Regulation 2343/2002/EC. Agencies should also make further efforts to apply correctly the staff regulations and rules applicable to other civil servants with regard to their staff. Parliament made some remarks on the imbalance between men and women in high-grade positions in the agencies, and stated that relevant provisions on equal opportunities must be observed.

In response to the relevant observations of the Court of Auditors, the Agencies must comply fully with the budgetary principles as set out in the Financial Regulation, in particular those of unity and budgetary accuracy.

Parliament went on to encourage the Agencies to strengthen their co-operation, thus opening up opportunities for developing synergies, and avoiding duplication of work. Parliament expected to be informed regularly on this issue.

It called on the Agencies to pay special attention to procedures for the award and management of contracts, and to strengthen their internal control procedures. Parliament suggested the setting-up of specialised units entrusted with the task of advising, on the basis of risk analysis, on how best to prepare contract award procedures.

General points addressed to the European Court of Auditors and the Agencies:

Parliament asked Court of Auditors and the Agencies to strengthen their co-operation in order to enhance the procedures and technical tools to improve the sound management of all the budgetary and finance issues. They should do this in order to establish a methodology that prepares the ground for a positive budget discharge from the start of the process.

EP: decision of committee responsible, 1st reading/single reading

The committee adopted the report by Inés AYALA SENDER (PES, ES) and Carl SCHLYTER (Greens/EFA, SE) giving discharge to the Director of the Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union for the 2003 financial year.

In its accompanying comments, the committee made a number of general points addressed to the Commission, the Agencies and the Court of Auditors (ECA):

- before the Commission defines the framework conditions for the use of regulatory agencies, an interinstitutional agreement should spell out common guidelines;

- the Commission should carry out a cross-cutting analysis, on a standard three-year cycle, of the coherence of agency activity with EU policy in general. It should also assess "the broader European added value" of the Agencies' work in their respective fields. Before any decision is taken to propose the creation of a new agency, the need for such an agency should be carefully evaluated, bearing in mind existing structures and the principles of subsidiarity, budgetary austerity and simplification of procedures;

- the Agencies were urged to comply fully with the budgetary principles set out in the Financial Regulation, further strengthen their internal management and control procedures and pay "special attention" to procedures for the award and management of contracts. They should also step up cooperation with each other, avoid duplication of work and develop a comprehensive strategy for making the results of their work available to the general public;

- the ECA and the Agencies were urged to strengthen their cooperation and establish a methodology "that prepares the ground for a positive budget discharge from the start of the process".

Having examined the revenue and expenditure account for the financial year 2003 and the balance sheet of revenue and expenditure at 31 December 2003 of the Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union and the Court of Auditors' report on the annual accounts of the Centre for the financial year 2003, the Council recommends that the European Parliament give a discharge to the Director of the Centre in respect of the implementation of the budget for the financial year 2003.

To recall, EUR 1.1 million (92%) of the EUR 1.2 million in appropriations carried forward from the financial year 2002 to the financial year 2003 have been used. EUR 1.2 million in appropriations have been carried forward from the financial year 2003 to the financial year 2004 and EUR 13.0 million have been cancelled.

Observations in the Court of Auditors' report in relation to the financial year 2003 call for certain comments by the Council, which are annexed to this Recommendation.

The Council welcomes the fact that the Court of Auditors has been able to obtain reasonable assurance that the Centre's annual accounts for the financial year ended 31 December 2003 are reliable and that the underlying transactions, taken as a whole, are legal and regular. However, some observations need to be made.

The Council notes the Court's observation concerning the accounting rules not being followed in the context of the change of accounting principles.

The Council notes that the amount of provisions for risks and charges in the final accounts has increased and invites the Centre to find rapidly a solution with the Commission for the remaining sum corresponding to its share of pension contributions for the Centre's employees.

This report from the Court of Auditors concerns the results of the audit carried out by the Court on the annual accounts of the Translation Centre for the bodies of the European Union for the financial year ended 31 December 2003.

The Court has obtained reasonable assurance that the annual accounts for the financial year ended 31 December 2003 were reliable and that the underlying transactions, taken as a whole, were legal and regular.

The report states that the appropriations entered into the final budget amount to EUR 29 million of which EUR 16.1 million were committed and EUR 14.9 million were paid. EUR 1.2 million were carried over to 2004 and ER 12.9 million were cancelled.

In its report, the Court states that the Centre's accounts for 2003 were adopted on the basis of the accounting principles laid down in its new Financial Regulation. The Centre did not reprocess all of the accounting data for the financial year 2002 in accordance with the accounting rules used to draw up its annual accounts for the financial year ending 31 December 2003.

In addition, provisions for risks and charges totalled EUR 8.6 million at the end of 2003, an increase of EUR 2.2 million when compared with 2002. Most of this amount concerned the sums claimed by the Commission corresponding to its share of pension contributions for the Centre's employees; the amount is disputed by the Centre. The remainder was established to cover rent owed to the Luxembourg authorities as soon as the definitive amount has been set. The Centre must make every effort to resolve these problems as it had already underlined these problems in 2002 (in its report concerning the financial year 2001 C326/2002).

The Centre responds point by point to the observations made by the Court and indicates that in principle, when there are changes to the methods used, the accounts for previous financial years should be drawn up using the new method. Nevertheless, it was not possible for the Centre to make an objective evaluation of the effect of the change on previous years. The analysis of the impact of the change on the accounting for the financial year 2003 can be found in the annexes to the Centre's accounts. In July 2004 the Centre signed a memorandum of understanding with the Luxembourg authorities resolving the problem of the costs of using the Nouvel Hémicycle building. With regard to the pension contributions for the Centre's employees, renewed attempts will be made to find a solution.

PURPOSE : presentation of the financial statements and the balance sheets for the Translation Centre for the bodies of the European Union for the financial year 2003.

CONTENT : this report presented by the Translation Centre presents the financial statements and balance sheets of its activities in 2003.

The final budget for the year 2003 amounts to EUR 29 million.

As regards the staffing of the Centre, whose headquarters is in Luxembourg, the total staff amounts officially to 158 with 132 posts occupied plus 15 other posts making a total of 147 assigned to operational, administrative and mixed duties.

The Centre's main objective is to provide the necessary translation services to the Agencies and, if need be, to the institutions and bodies of the European Union. In total, the number of pages translated in 2003 amounted to 238 399. Number of pages per language official languages: 221 127. Other languages: 17 272. Number of pages per customer type bodies: 215 992; institutions et al.: 22 407. The number of freelance translation contracts amounted to 245 with 94 355 pages translated.

PURPOSE : presentation of the financial statements and the balance sheets for the Translation Centre for the bodies of the European Union for the financial year 2003.

CONTENT : this report presented by the Translation Centre presents the financial statements and balance sheets of its activities in 2003.

The final budget for the year 2003 amounts to EUR 29 million.

As regards the staffing of the Centre, whose headquarters is in Luxembourg, the total staff amounts officially to 158 with 132 posts occupied plus 15 other posts making a total of 147 assigned to operational, administrative and mixed duties.

The Centre's main objective is to provide the necessary translation services to the Agencies and, if need be, to the institutions and bodies of the European Union. In total, the number of pages translated in 2003 amounted to 238 399. Number of pages per language official languages: 221 127. Other languages: 17 272. Number of pages per customer type bodies: 215 992; institutions et al.: 22 407. The number of freelance translation contracts amounted to 245 with 94 355 pages translated.