Activites

• 2005/07/27 Final act published in Official Journal
  • Budget 2005/544
  • OJ L 196 27.07.2005, p. 0100-0100
• 2005/04/12 Results of vote in Parliament
  • Results of vote in Parliament
  • Debate in Parliament
  • T6-0106/2005 summary

    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.

• 2005/03/23 Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading
  • A6-0074/2005
• 2005/03/16 Additional information
• 2005/03/16 Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
• #2646
• 2005/03/08 Council Meeting
• 2005/01/10 Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
• 2004/02/27 Non-legislative basic document published
  • N6-0214/2004 summary

    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.

Documents

• Non-legislative basic document published: N6-0214/2004
• Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading: A6-0074/2005
• Results of vote in Parliament: Results of vote in Parliament
• Debate in Parliament: Debate in Parliament
• Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading: T6-0106/2005
• : Budget 2005/544
• : OJ L 196 27.07.2005, p. 0100-0100

History

(these mark the time of scraping, not the official date of the change)