PURPOSE: to grant discharge to the European Agency for Safety and Health at work for the financial year 2004.

LEGISLATIVE ACTS: Decisions 2006/832/EC and 2006/833/EC of the European Parliament on the discharge for the implementation of the budget of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work for the financial year 2004 and closure of accounts for the year in question.

CONTENT: with the present decisions, the European Parliament grants discharge to the Director of the European Environment Agency for the implementation of the Agency’s budget for the financial year 2004 and approves the closure of the accounts.

This decision is in line with the European Parliament’s resolution adopted on 27 April 2006 and comprises a series of observations that form an integral part of the discharge decision (please refer to the summary of the opinion of 27/04/2006).

Budget 2006/832
OJ L 340 06.12.2006, p. 0096-0096

SP(2006)2095

Results of vote in Parliament

The European Parliament adopted a resolution drafted by Umberto GUIDONI (GUE/NGL, IT) and granted discharge to the Director of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work for the implementation of the Agency’s budget for the financial year 2004. In its accompanying comments, Parliament welcomed the reduction in carry-overs achieved and encouraged the Agency to continue its efforts to further reduce carry-overs. It urged the Agency to put in place detailed rules for the implementation of its new financial regulation and internal control procedures based on risk analysis as soon as possible. It insisted that the Agency respect the rules concerning the duration of framework contracts.

Parliament also made a series of general remarks on the agencies. As well as spending money properly, agencies should also strive to spend money as efficiently and effectively as possible. The Court of Auditors was asked to consider the possibility of extending its specific annual reports on the agencies to include an examination of performance and achievement of objectives. The following aspects should be taken into account: duplication of work among the agencies must be avoided as much as possible and measures designed to improve transparency and communication with the public must be clarified, along with Community affirmative action measures at all levels of recruitment, training and the assignment of responsibilities.

Parliament noted that Community agencies did not always have a good image or good press and that many of them did not deserve such a negative image. EU citizens should be made aware of this, and Parliament called on the Commission to act accordingly, using whatever means it considers necessary.

Furthermore, the enlargement of the European Union in 2004 had affected the structures and operating arrangements of the Community agencies in many ways, and several of the agencies draw attention to these effects in their activity reports, focusing in particular on the increase in the number of administrators. The Commission needed to assess the problems encountered and recommend the regulatory changes required.

The Commission had made a commitment to harmonising the way in which activity reports concerning its directorates-general were presented. Parliament called for a similar approach to be taken in respect of the activity reports of the Communities" agencies, which differed significantly in terms of content. The Commission should point out to the agencies the information and activity indicators that they must provide.

Finally, Parliament asked the Commission to improve synergies between agencies by making cooperation more effective, avoiding duplication of work and addressing shortcomings, in particular as regards common areas such as training, the implementation of Community policies across the board, the use of the latest management systems and solving problems relating to sound management of the budget.

T6-0173/2006

Debate in Parliament

A6-0099/2006

A6-0099/2006

The committee adopted the report by Umberto GUIDONI (GUE/NGL, IT) recommending that Parliament should grant discharge for the implementation of the budget of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work for 2004.

In their accompanying comments, MEPs urged the Agency to continue its efforts to further reduce carry-overs, to put in place detailed rules for the implementation of its new financial regulation and internal control procedures based on risk analysis, and to respect the rules concerning the duration of framework contracts. They also made a number of general remarks applicable to all the Community agencies:

- EU enlargement in 2004 had affected the structures and operating arrangements of the agencies in many ways, and the Commission should assess the real or supposed problems encountered and recommend the regulatory changes required;

- the agencies should spend the money available to them as efficiently and effectively as possible;

- the agencies should avoid duplication as far as possible and clarify measures for improving transparency and communication with the public, to overcome their often negative image which many of them did not deserve;

- the Commission should help harmonise the activity reports of the agencies - which differed significantly in terms of content - by informing them of the common indicators that they must provide;

- there was a need for improved cooperation between the agencies, particularly in such common areas as training, the use of the latest management systems and solving problems relating to sound management of the budget.

PE370.242

Having examined the Agency’s revenue and expenditure account and the observations made by Court of Auditors, the Council recommends the European Parliament to give a discharge to the Director of the Agency in respect of the implementation of the budget for the financial year 2004.

In doing so, the Council confirms that EUR 5.6 million (84 %) of the EUR 6.6 million in appropriations carried forward from the financial year 2003 to the financial year 2004 have been utilised. In addition, EUR 2.8 million in appropriations were carried forward from the financial year 2004 to the financial year 2005 and EUR 2.2 million were cancelled.

In parallel, the Council makes accompanying comments on the discharge which should be followed up. In particular, it:

§ expects detailed rules for the implementation of the Agency's new Financial Regulation and internal control procedures based on risk analysis to be put in place as soon as possible;

§ notes with dissatisfaction that the standard term of framework contracts, as stipulated in the implementation rules of the Financial Regulation, was exceeded in four cases and urges the Foundation to avoid such situations in the future;

§ notes that while the negative budget outturn for the financial year 2003 has not been included in an amending budget for the financial year 2004, the Council expects this to be done in the future in order to respect the principles of unity and of budget accuracy.

05972/2006

PE367.986

This report from the Court of Auditors concerns the results of the audit carried out by the Court on the annual accounts of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work for the financial year ended 31 December 2004. The Court states that its audit was planned and performed to obtain reasonable assurance that the accounts are reliable and the underlying transactions are legal and regular. The Agency’s accounts for the financial year ended 31 December 2004 are, in all material respects, reliable. The transactions underlying the Agency’s annual accounts, taken as a whole, are legal and regular. The observations which follow do not call the Court’s opinion into question.

The report shows that the appropriations entered in the final budget amount to EUR 10 768 000 with EUR 9 968 000 committed and EUR 6 752 000 p aid. EUR 2 857 000 was carried over to 2005, and EUR 1 159 000 cancelled. The outstanding commitments carried over from the previous financial year were EUR 6 633 000.

The Court makes the following observations:

- the Agency has not yet put in place detailed rules for the implementation of its new financial regulation or provided for internal control procedures based on risk analysis;.

- four framework contracts signed more than four years ago were used in 2004 for contracts amounting in total to EUR 208 000. Article 117 of the detailed rules for the implementation of the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget limits the duration of such contracts to four years;

- the revenue and expenditure account for the financial year 2003 shows, before economic adjustments, a loss of EUR 1 987 000 connected with the implementation of the Agency’s budget. This balance ought to have been included in an amending budget for the financial year 2004.

The Agency responds point by point to the Court’s observations:

- d raft detailed rules for the implementation of the new financial regulation were sent to the Commission on 30 May 2005 for comments before submission to the Administrative Board. The Agency’s internal control procedures were drawn up on the basis of guidelines handed down by the Commission, and will be gradually adapted in accordance with the conclusions of the forthcoming report of the Commission’s Internal Audit Service and the risk analysis to be undertaken by the Agency;

- these four service contracts will all be the subject of a call for tenders in 2005;

- the cumulative negative budget outturn for the financial year 2004 will be entered in the 2005 budget.

OJ C 332 28.12.2005, p. 0023-0029
N6-0004/2006

PURPOSE : presentation of the final accounts of the European Agency for Safety and Health for the financial year 2004.

CONTENT : this document published in the Official Journal of the EU sets out a detailed account of the implementation of the 2004 budget, including the revenue and expenditure and the balance sheet for the year concerned.

According to this document, the final budget amounted to EUR 10,8 million (compared to EUR 14,6 million in 2003) of which 98% stems from a Community subsidy (DG Employment) and the remaining 2% from miscellaneous revenue.

As regards the staffing policy, the Agency whose headquarters are based in Bilbao, set out 38 posts in its establishment plan of which 29 are currently occupied. 22 other posts (auxiliary contracts, seconded national experts, local staff and employment-agency staff) are also occupied totalling 51 posts assigned to operational, administrative and mixed tasks.

Staffing expenditure represented EUR 3 379 000.

In 2004, the Agency concentrated on the development of its network. Approximately 850 partners participated in the development of the network through national focal points, 4 expert groups and 3 topic centres. A certain number of activities were carried out with the PHARE and EFTA countries.

In addition, one notes :

- European Week for Safety and Health at work: ‘building safety’;

- participation in 67 exhibitions/conferences;

- electronic media: bi-monthly newsletter, website (2,9 million visitors);

- paper based publications;;

- third programme for SMEs (2003-2004) with 40 projects finalised.

The total operating expenditure represented roughly EUR 5 million (of which an important part of the appropriations were carried over). The balance for the financial year 2004 presented a negative outturn of EUR 940 000.

The complete version of the final accounts may be found at the following address:

http://agency.osha.eu.int

OJ C 269 28.10.2005, p. 0001
N6-0007/2005

PURPOSE : presentation of the final accounts of the European Agency for Safety and Health for the financial year 2004.

CONTENT : this document published in the Official Journal of the EU sets out a detailed account of the implementation of the 2004 budget, including the revenue and expenditure and the balance sheet for the year concerned.

According to this document, the final budget amounted to EUR 10,8 million (compared to EUR 14,6 million in 2003) of which 98% stems from a Community subsidy (DG Employment) and the remaining 2% from miscellaneous revenue.

As regards the staffing policy, the Agency whose headquarters are based in Bilbao, set out 38 posts in its establishment plan of which 29 are currently occupied. 22 other posts (auxiliary contracts, seconded national experts, local staff and employment-agency staff) are also occupied totalling 51 posts assigned to operational, administrative and mixed tasks.

Staffing expenditure represented EUR 3 379 000.

In 2004, the Agency concentrated on the development of its network. Approximately 850 partners participated in the development of the network through national focal points, 4 expert groups and 3 topic centres. A certain number of activities were carried out with the PHARE and EFTA countries.

In addition, one notes :

- European Week for Safety and Health at work: ‘building safety’;

- participation in 67 exhibitions/conferences;

- electronic media: bi-monthly newsletter, website (2,9 million visitors);

- paper based publications;;

- third programme for SMEs (2003-2004) with 40 projects finalised.

The total operating expenditure represented roughly EUR 5 million (of which an important part of the appropriations were carried over). The balance for the financial year 2004 presented a negative outturn of EUR 940 000.

The complete version of the final accounts may be found at the following address:

http://agency.osha.eu.int

N6-0007/2005