Procedure completed
Role | Committee | Rapporteur | Shadows |
---|---|---|---|
Opinion | AFET | KACIN Jelko (ALDE) | |
Lead | CONT | MARTIN Hans-Peter (NI) |
Legal Basis RoP 094
Activites
- 2009/03/31 Final act published in Official Journal
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2008/04/22
Results of vote in Parliament
- Results of vote in Parliament
- Debate in Parliament
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T6-0149/2008
summary
The European Parliament adopted, by 620 votes in favour, 27 against and 36 abstentions, a Decision to grant the Director of the European Agency for Reconstruction discharge in respect of the implementation of its budget for the financial year 2006. The decision to grant discharge also constitutes closure of the accounts of this EU agency.At the same time, the Parliament adopted, by 609 votes in favour, 24 against and 37 abstentions, a Resolution containing the comments which form part of the decision granting discharge. The report had been tabled in the plenary by Hans-Peter MARTIN (NI, AT) on behalf of the Committee on Budgetary Control. As is the case for all EU agencies, the Parliament's Resolution is divided into two parts: part one contains general comments on EU agencies, while part two focuses on the specific case of the Agency.1) General comments on the majority of EU agencies: the Parliament notes that the budgets of the 24 agencies and other satellite bodies audited by the Court of Auditors totalled more than EUR 1 billion and that the number of agencies is constantly increasing. The number of agencies subject to the discharge procedure evolved from 8 in 2000 to 20 in 2006. It concludes therefore that the auditing/discharge process has become cumbersome and disproportionate compared to the relative size of the agencies and that, in the future, this type of procedure should be simplified and rationalised for decentralised agencies.On the basis of the financial analysis, the Parliament is of the following opinion:Fundamental considerations: given the constantly increasing number of agencies, the Parliament requests that, before the creation of a new agency, the Commission provide clear explanations regarding agency type, objectives of the agency, internal governance structure, products, services, clients and stakeholders of the agency, formal relationship with external actors, budget responsibility, financial planning, and personnel and staffing policy. It also requests that each agency be governed by a yearly performance agreement which should contain the main objectives for the coming year and that the performance of the agencies be regularly audited by the Court of Auditors (and extend the financial analysis of expenditure to also cover administrative efficiency and effectiveness). More generally, the Parliament takes the view that, in the case of agencies, which are continually overestimating their respective budget needs, technical abatement should be made on the basis of vacant posts in order to reduce the assigned revenue for the agencies and therefore also lower administrative costs of the EU. It recalls that it is a serious problem that a number of agencies is criticised for not following rules on public procurement, the Financial Regulation, the Staff Regulations etc., and consider that the principal reason for this is that most regulations and the Financial Regulation are designed for bigger institutions rather than for small agencies. Therefore, it is necessary to seek a rapid solution in order to enhance the effectiveness of the legislation by grouping the administrative functions of various agencies together or by establishing implementing rules which are better adapted to the agencies. The Parliament also insists that the Commission, when drafting the Preliminary Draft Budget, take into consideration the results of budget implementation by the individual agencies in former years and revise the budget requested by the particular agency accordingly. If the Commission does not undertake this revision, the Parliament invites the competent committee to revise, itself, the budget in question to a realistic level. At the same time, the Parliament recalls that it expects the Commission to present every five years a study on the added value of every existing agency and to not hesitate to close an agency if it is deemed useless by the analysis. Such an assessment is expected as soon as possible given that this type of assessment has yet to be presented. Furthermore, the Parliament insists that recommendations of the Court of Auditors should be promptly implemented and the level of subsidies paid to the agencies should be aligned with their real cash requirements. Presentation of reporting data: noting that there is no standard approach among the agencies with regard to the presentation of information, the Parliament recalls that it already invited the directors of the agencies to accompany their annual activity report with a declaration of assurance concerning the legality and regularity of operations, similar to the declarations signed by the Directors General of the Commission. It therefore asks the Commission to amend its standing instructions to the agencies and to produce a harmonised model for presenting information, including: i) an annual report intended for a general readership on the body's operations, work and achievements; ii) financial statements and a report on implementation of the agency’s budget; iii) an activity report of the Directors of the agency (as requested by the Parliament since 2005); iv) a declaration of assurance signed by the body's director. General findings by the Court of Auditors: the Parliament refers to certain recurring findings by the Court, including the disbursement of subsidies paid by the Commission (not sufficiently justified estimates of the agencies' cash requirements), the non implementation of the ABAC accounting system by some agencies or the accrued charges for untaken leave which are accounted for by some agencies. It calls for rapid measures in these areas as well as improvements to the internal audit procedures of the agencies. The Parliament also calls on the agencies to consider an inter-agency disciplinary board, as some individual agencies have difficulty in setting up their own disciplinary boards due to their size. · Draft inter-institutional agreement: the Parliament recalls the Commission's draft Interinstitutional agreement on the operating framework for the European regulatory agencies (see ACI/2005/2035), which was intended to create a framework for the creation, structure, operation, evaluation and control of the European regulatory agencies and awaits its adoption as soon as possible. It particularly welcomes the Commission's commitment to bring forward a Communication on the future of the regulatory agencies during the course of 2008.2) Specific points concerning the European Agency for Reconstruction: the Parliament welcomes the Agency’s role in the development and consolidation of stability in the Balkans and its sound management of the CARDS programme. It believes that the Agency has satisfactorily fulfilled its mandate and that it can now complete its activities (planned for the end of 2008) in order to entrust the management of assistance to Serbia, Kosovo, Montenegro and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to the Commission delegations in those countries. It insists that accumulated know-how and expertise be transferred to the relevant Commission delegations, including by means of the redeployment of Agency staff to manage the relevant programmes in those delegations.On the whole, the Parliament congratulates the Director and his staff for the work done and looks forward to a new mandate being accorded to the Agency, at the end of its current mandate, to transform it into a truly European agency for external actions. This new mandate would be the most efficient way of carrying out the new tasks in external actions, which cannot be carried out by Commission services in Brussels or by Commission delegations in third countries. This would also significantly increase the visibility of Community aid.Concerning the Court of Auditor’s financial analysis for the financial year 2006, the Parliament wishes to draw the Agency’s attention to the level of appropriations yet to be committed. It recalls that the European Agency for Reconstruction has by far the largest budget (2006: EUR 271 million) and that the total of appropriations carried over to 2007 was EUR 678 million. For this reason, the Parliament requests to be kept informed of the balance of appropriations remaining at the end of the Agency’s mandate (end 2008).
- 2008/04/03 Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading
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2008/03/25
Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
- #2847
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2008/02/12
Council Meeting
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2007/10/25
Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
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2007/03/30
Non-legislative basic document published
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SEC(2007)1055
summary
PURPOSE: presentation of the final accounts of the European Agency for Reconstruction (EAR) for the financial year 2006.CONTENT: this document sets out a detailed account of the implementation of the 2006 budget, including the revenue and expenditure and the balance sheet for the year concerned. According to this document, the final budget of the EAR, whose main head office is based in Thessalonica – Greece), amounted to EUR 286.8 million (compared to EUR 318.9 million in 2005) including an EU grant. As regards the staffing policy, the EAR officially set out 108 posts in its establishment plan. 90 are currently occupied + 164 other posts (local staff) (157 currently occupied) and 29 contract staff (26 currently occupied) giving a total of 273 posts assigned to administrative and operational tasks of the Agency. In 2006, staff expenditure represented EUR 17.117 million (final appropriations paid). The principal operational activities in 2006 are as follows: KOSOVOstart-up grants, loans, training and business advice to small businesses of minorities and returnees;support to privatisation; rehabilitation of district heating (in north) and waste and water utility buildings in (south) Mitrovica; improving border/boundary management;setting up a new system for public investment programming;expert advice and training to the Kosovo Assembly;support to Justice and Internal Affairs ministries and Statistical Office; environmental upgrades, including construction of Pristina regional landfill;support to drafting of Kosovo Rural Development Plan. SERBIAdraft laws in public administration reform; supply of equipment to border police; completion of state-of-the- art DNA laboratory; rehabilitation and supply of equipment to courts; rehabilitation programme for hospitals; new jobs created due to loans from the Revolving Credit Fund; training support to enterprises;regional training centres for adults;economic development programmes for poorest municipalities; handover of new border crossings with Hungary and Croatia; renovation of municipal infrastructure; reform of the statistics office;support to Foreign Direct Investment management; support to vulnerable groups including refugees and displaced persons;completion of power plant rehabilitation projects; air filter installed at Kostolac power plant.MONTENEGROconstruction of Podgorica international airport and refurbishment of Tivat airport; central IT database of the Ministry of the Interior; support for Human Resources Management Agency; new Roads Directorate and transport laws; electricity utility unbundling/restructuring, energy efficiency strategy;establishing an Environmental Protection Agency;providing management expertise to companies;supporting Judicial Training Centre; prison reform;support to drafting of strategy for agriculture and rural development.FORMER YUGOSLAV REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIAassistance in strengthening and creating new institutions in the public administration (e.g. State Statistical Office, Civil Society Unit in the General Secretariat; Public Procurement Bureau);support to development of electronic communications market; support to police reform including refurbishment of Police Academy; support to money laundering prevention and refurbishment of Skopje Basic Court; opening of new state phytosanitary laboratory; construction of National Border Management Coordination Centre;assistance to municipalities in decentralisation;upgrading of municipal infrastructure;training of civil servants from non-majority communities; management training for SMEs.The complete version of the final accounts may be found at the following address: http://www.ear.europa.eu/agency/agency.htm
- DG {'url': 'http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/budget/', 'title': 'Budget'}, KALLAS Siim
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SEC(2007)1055
summary
Documents
- Non-legislative basic document published: SEC(2007)1055
- Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading: A6-0112/2008
- Results of vote in Parliament: Results of vote in Parliament
- Debate in Parliament: Debate in Parliament
- Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading: T6-0149/2008
- : Budget 2009/211
- : OJ L 088 31.03.2009, p. 0150
Amendments | Dossier |
48 |
2007/2048(DEC)
2008/03/06
CONT
48 amendments...
Amendment 1 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 1 Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 14 Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 15 Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 16 Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 17 Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 18 Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 19 Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 20 Amendment 17 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 21 Amendment 18 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 22 Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 23 Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 2 Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 24 Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 25 Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 26 Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 27 Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 28 Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 29 Amendment 26 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 30 Amendment 27 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 31 Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 33 Amendment 29 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 34 Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 3 Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 36 36. Requests that the performance of the agencies be regularly (and on an ad hoc basis) audited by the Court of Auditors or another independent auditor; considers that this should not be limited to traditional elements of financial management and the proper use of public money, but should also cover administrative efficiency and effectiveness and should include a rating of the financial management of each agency;
Amendment 31 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 36 a (new) 36a. Takes the view that in the case of agencies which are continually overestimating their respective budget needs, technical abatement should be made on the basis of vacant posts; is of the opinion that this will lead in the long run to less assigned revenue for the agencies and therefore also to lower administrative costs;
Amendment 32 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 36 b (new) 36b. Notes that it is a serious problem that a number of agencies is criticised for not following rules on public procurement, the Financial Regulation, the Staff Regulations etc.; considers that the principal reason for this is that most regulations and the Financial Regulation are designed for bigger institutions and that most of the small agencies do not have the critical mass to be able to cope with these regulatory requirements; therefore asks the Commission to look for a rapid solution in order to enhance the effectiveness by grouping the administrative functions of various agencies together, in order to achieve this critical mass (taking into consideration the necessary changes in the basic regulations governing the agencies and their budgetary independence), or urgently to draft specific rules for the agencies (in particular implementing rules for the agencies) which allow them to be in full compliance;
Amendment 33 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 36 c (new) 36c. Insists that the Commission, when drafting the Preliminary Draft Budget, take into consideration the results of budget implementation by the individual agencies in former years, in particular in year n-1, and, revise the budget requested by the particular agency accordingly; invites its competent committee to respect this revision and, if not undertaken by the Commission, to revise itself the budget in question to a realistic level matching the absorption and implementation capacity of the agency in question;
Amendment 34 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 36 d (new) 36d. Recalls its decision on discharge in respect of the financial year 2005, in which it invited the Commission to present every five years a study on the added value of every existing agency; invites all relevant institutions in the case of a negative evaluation of the added value of an agency to take the necessary steps by reformulating the mandate of that agency or by closing it; notes that there has not been one single evaluation undertaken by the Commission in 2007; insists that the Commission should present at least 5 such evaluations before the decision on discharge in respect of the financial year 2007, starting with the oldest agencies;
Amendment 35 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 36 e (new) 36e. Is of opinion that recommendations of the Court of Auditors should be promptly implemented and the level of subsidies paid to the agencies should be aligned with their real cash requirements; considers further that the amendments to the general Financial Regulation should be incorporated into the agencies' framework financial regulation and into their various specific financial regulations;
Amendment 36 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 36 f (new) 36f. Is concerned that a significant number of staff is employed on a temporary basis in a way that could undermine the quality of their work; therefore asks the Commission to improve its monitoring of the implementation of the Staff Regulations by the agencies;
Amendment 37 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 37 Amendment 38 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 38 Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 4 Amendment 40 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 39 Amendment 41 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 39 39. Calls on the Commission to submit as quickly as possible a proposal to abolish or drastically cut back privileges
Amendment 42 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 40 Amendment 43 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 41 Amendment 44 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 60 a (new) 60a. Congratulates the Director and his staff for the work done in a very difficult environment, which has considerably improved the image of the EU and its visibility;
Amendment 45 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 60 b (new) 60b. Considers that the Agency has not only the systems (logistics, IT systems, and others) to implement swiftly large amounts of support in post-conflict areas, but that it has especially also proven high levels of expertise and know-how in post- war reconstruction;
Amendment 46 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 60 c (new) 60c. Is convinced that, at the point where the Commission takes over the management of the new Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance in view of the acquis-related tasks related to the Balkans, it should finally present to the Council a new mandate for the Agency, which should, as decided, finish its work in the Balkans by the end of 2008 and be converted into a truly European Agency for external actions;
Amendment 47 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 60 d (new) 60d. Considers that a new mandate for this successful agency would be the most efficient way to carry out the new tasks in external actions, which cannot be carried out by Commission services in Brussels or by Commission delegations;
Amendment 48 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 60 e (new) 60e. Considers that, with this new mandate, the Agency could play a most efficient role in areas where traditional development assistance cannot be implemented; considers also that this would significantly increase the EU's visibility;
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 5 Amendment 6 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 6 Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 7 Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 8 Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 13 source: PE-402.804
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