PURPOSE: to grant discharge to the European Training Foundation for the financial year 2008.

LEGISLATIVE ACT: Decision 2010/536/EU of the European Parliament on the discharge for the implementation of the budget of the European Training Foundation for the financial year 2008.

CONTENT: with the present decision, the European Parliament grants discharge to the Director of the European Training Foundation for the implementation of the Foundation’s budget for the financial year 2008.

This decision is in line with the European Parliament’s resolution adopted on 5 May 2010 and comprises a series of observations that form an integral part of the discharge decision (please refer to the summary of the opinion of 5 May 2010).

A parallel Decision, adopted on the same day, approves the closure of the accounts of this EU agency.

The European Parliament adopted by 549 votes to 33, with 55 abstentions, a decision on discharge to be granted to the Director of the European Training Foundation in respect of the implementation of its budget for the financial year 2008.

Furthermore, Parliament adopted a resolution with observations which are an integral part of the decision to grant discharge.

The main points are as follows:

performance: noting that the impact of its activities on its direct beneficiaries was in general considered positive, Parliament notes, nevertheless, that the impact on government institutions cannot easily be proved because of the difficulty of establishing a direct link between the results of the Foundation’s projects and the institutions’ activities. It congratulates the Foundation which, in supporting the Commission in 2008, obtained a 97% satisfaction rate from the Commission and calls on it to present, in the future, a comparison of operations carried out during the year for which discharge is to be granted and in the previous financial year so as to enable the discharge authority to assess its performance more effectively from one year to the next; cooperation with the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop): Parliament calls, in view of the fact that some areas of interest are shared, for close cooperation and synergies between the Foundation and Cedefop and for information to be provided regularly in the activity reports by the Directors of both agencies; human resources: Parliament is concerned about the findings of the Court of Auditors as regards the lack of transparency in recruitment procedures and the intervention of the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), which has opened an inquiry (OF/2009/0370). It calls on the Foundation to set an example by implementing fair, transparent and comprehensive recruitment procedures in the future. It urges the Foundation to report on the allocation of its human resources. It also notes the Court of Auditors’ observation that there are various weaknesses in the recruitment procedures. Parliament notes, nevertheless, that the Foundation now says it has undertaken a thorough review of its recruitment procedures in response to the Court of Auditors’ findings and in the light of an internal audit carried out by the IAS in 2008. It calls on the Foundation, therefore, to inform the discharge authority of action taken and the subsequent results. It also notes the Foundation’s reply admitting the validity of the Court of Auditors’ opinion concerning the expatriation allowance denied to certain members of staff because of an incorrect interpretation of the rules. It congratulates the Foundation for promising to review the cases concerned and then make the appropriate changes; internal audit: Parliament calls for the rigorous implementation of recommendations made by the Internal Audit Service (IAS).

Noting that the Agency’s annual accounts for the financial year 2008 are reliable, and the underlying transactions are legal and regular, Parliament approves the closure of the Centre’s accounts. However, it makes a number of recommendations that need to be taken into account when the discharge is granted, in addition to the general recommendations that appear in the draft resolution on financial management and control of EU agencies (see 2010/2007(INI) adopted in parallel).

The Committee on Budgetary Control adopted the report by Véronique MATHIEU (EPP, FR) calling on the European Parliament to grant the Director of the European Training Foundation discharge in respect of the implementation of the Foundation’s budget for the financial year 2008.

Noting that the Foundation’s annual accounts for the financial year 2008 are reliable, and the underlying transactions are legal and regular, MEPs approve the closure of its accounts. However, they make a number of recommendations that need to be taken into account when the discharge is granted, in addition to the general recommendations that appear in the draft resolution on financial management and control of EU agencies (see 2010/2007(INI) :

performance : noting that the impact of its activities on its direct beneficiaries was in general considered positive, Members note nevertheless that the impact on government institutions cannot easily be proved because of the difficulty of establishing a direct link between the results of the Foundation’s projects and the institutions’ activities. They congratulate the Foundation which, in supporting the Commission in 2008, obtained a 97% satisfaction rate from the Commission and call on it to present, in the future, a comparison of operations carried out during the year for which discharge is to be granted and in the previous financial year so as to enable the discharge authority to assess its performance more effectively from one year to the next; cooperation with the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop) : Members call, in view of the fact that some areas of interest are shared, for close cooperation and synergies between the Foundation and Cedefop and call for information to be provided regularly in the activity reports by the Directors of both agencies; human resources : Members are concerned about the findings of the Court of Auditors as regards the lack of transparency in recruitment procedures and the intervention of the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), which has opened an inquiry (OF/2009/0370). They call on the Foundation to set an example by implementing fair, transparent and comprehensive recruitment procedures in the future. They urge the Foundation to report on the allocation of its human resources. They also note the Court of Auditors’ observation that there are various weaknesses in the recruitment procedures. Members note, nevertheless, that the Foundation now says it has undertaken a thorough review of its recruitment procedures in response to the Court of Auditors’ findings and in the light of an internal audit carried out by the IAS in 2008. They call on the Foundation, therefore, to inform the discharge authority of action taken and the subsequent results. They also note the Foundation’s reply admitting the validity of the Court of Auditors’ opinion concerning the expatriation allowance denied to certain members of staff because of an incorrect interpretation of the rules. It congratulates the Foundation for promising to review the cases concerned and then make the appropriate changes; internal audit : Members call for the rigorous implementation of recommendations made by the Internal Audit Service (IAS).

Based on the observations contained in the revenue and expenditure account and the balance sheet of the European Training Foundation for the financial year 2008, as well as on the Court of Auditor’s report and the Foundation’s replies to the Court’s observations, the Council recommends that the Parliament grant the Director of the Foundation discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget for the financial year 2008.

The Council welcomes the Court's opinion that, on the one hand, the Foundation's annual accounts present fairly, in all material aspects, the financial position as at 31 December 2008 and the results of operations and cash-flows for the year then ended, in accordance with the provisions of the Foundation's Financial Regulation, and that, on the other hand, the underlying transactions for the financial year ended on 31 December 2008 are, in all material respects, legal and regular.

However, the Council considers that observations made in the Court of Auditor’s report call for a certain number of observations to be taken into account when granting discharge, particularly on the following points:

recruitment procedures : the Council notes that the regularity of the recruitment procedures and their transparency have been difficult to assess due to insufficient information available on the justifications and the dates relating to the decisions taken and expects an efficient implementation of the corrective actions as announced by the Foundation to exclude these shortcomings from now on; expatriation allowances : the Council notes that, in at least two cases, the Foundation had incorrectly interpreted the rules on the expatriation allowances and calls on the Foundation to review its system in a way that prevents similar cases in the future.

PURPOSE: to present the report of the Court of Auditors on the 2008 accounts of the European Training Foundation (ETF).

CONTENT: in the Court’s opinion, the Foundation’s Annual Accounts present fairly, in all material respects, its financial position as of 31 December 2008 and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the year then ended. The transactions underlying the annual accounts of the Foundation for the financial year ended are, in all material respects, legal and regular.

The Court of Auditor’s report includes a detailed section on the European Training Foundation’s expenditure and an analysis of the expenditure, as well as the Foundation’s replies.

· The Court’s analysis of the accounts : in its report, the Court makes a number of observations, particularly with regard to the budgetary and financial management of the budget. It states that the audited recruitment procedures showed various shortcomings. In at least two cases, agents entitled to receive the expatriation allowance were denied this allowance on the basis of an incorrect interpretation of the rules in force. The Foundation should correct these cases and perform the necessary verifications in order to be fully assured that other agents are not in a similar situation.

· The Foundation’s replies : the Foundation has undertaken a thorough review of its recruitment procedures in response to the findings of an internal audit carried out by the Internal Audit Service (IAS) in 2008 and has implemented a series of actions, including enhancing documentation and transparency in selection processes. It acknowledges the Court’s opinion on expatriation allowance and has reviewed the individual cases concerned and made the appropriate adaptations.

PURPOSE: to present the final accounts of the European Training Foundation (ETF) for the financial year 2008.

CONTENT: this document sets out a detailed account of the implementation of the European Training Foundation’s budget for the financial year 2008. It notes that the final budget amounted to EUR 19.2 million (compared to EUR 21.1 million in 2007) funded by a Commission subsidy and EUR 1.2 million funded by other bodies as assigned revenue.

As regards the staffing policy, the Foundation, whose headquarters are based in Turin (Italy) officially set out 96 posts in the establishment plan. 86 posts are currently occupied with 38 other posts (auxiliaries, local agents and contract agents) totalling 124 posts assigned to operational, administrative and mixed tasks.

In 2008, the Foundation’s main activities concentrated on the following:

· Activities : the assistance provided by the ETF covers a large range of technical fields including: initial vocational training, lifelong learning, continuing (adult) education, human resources development in companies, employment policies, training of the unemployed, poverty alleviation and social inclusion, and training to encourage local development.

· Support to the Commission : in 2008, 111 new direct requests for support were received from the Commission. Most came from the delegations (49 %). The Commission’s satisfaction rate with the ETF’s response was 97 %. The most frequent applications were those in the field of policies and contributions in the preparation of European Neighbourhood Instruments (32 %), followed by formulation (21 %), programming (11 %), the identification of projects (10 %) and follow-up.

· Operational activities : are classified in outputs (2008 figures) according to the following categories:

– Policy reviews and analysis: 73 outputs (37 in the context of the IPA, 20 in the context of the ENPI, 8 in the context of the DCI, 8 in the context of the ILP.

– Capacity building actions: 83 outputs (35 for IPA, 32 for ENPI, 16 for DCI.

– Support to programming cycle: 25 outputs (11 for IPA, 9 for ENPI, 5 for DCI.

– Dissemination and networking: 32 outputs (13 for IPA, 9 for ENPI, 7 for DCI, 3 for ILP.

– Effectiveness analysis: 10 outputs (6 for IPA, 1 for ENPI, 2 for DCI, 1 for ILP.

– Total: 223 outputs .

Instruments used : IPA: Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance; ENPI: European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument; DCI: Development Cooperation Instrument ILP: Innovation and Learning Programmes.

The complete version of the final accounts may be found at the following address: http://www.etf.europa.eu/Archive

PURPOSE: to present the final accounts of the European Training Foundation (ETF) for the financial year 2008.

CONTENT: this document sets out a detailed account of the implementation of the European Training Foundation’s budget for the financial year 2008. It notes that the final budget amounted to EUR 19.2 million (compared to EUR 21.1 million in 2007) funded by a Commission subsidy and EUR 1.2 million funded by other bodies as assigned revenue.

As regards the staffing policy, the Foundation, whose headquarters are based in Turin (Italy) officially set out 96 posts in the establishment plan. 86 posts are currently occupied with 38 other posts (auxiliaries, local agents and contract agents) totalling 124 posts assigned to operational, administrative and mixed tasks.

In 2008, the Foundation’s main activities concentrated on the following:

· Activities : the assistance provided by the ETF covers a large range of technical fields including: initial vocational training, lifelong learning, continuing (adult) education, human resources development in companies, employment policies, training of the unemployed, poverty alleviation and social inclusion, and training to encourage local development.

· Support to the Commission : in 2008, 111 new direct requests for support were received from the Commission. Most came from the delegations (49 %). The Commission’s satisfaction rate with the ETF’s response was 97 %. The most frequent applications were those in the field of policies and contributions in the preparation of European Neighbourhood Instruments (32 %), followed by formulation (21 %), programming (11 %), the identification of projects (10 %) and follow-up.

· Operational activities : are classified in outputs (2008 figures) according to the following categories:

– Policy reviews and analysis: 73 outputs (37 in the context of the IPA, 20 in the context of the ENPI, 8 in the context of the DCI, 8 in the context of the ILP.

– Capacity building actions: 83 outputs (35 for IPA, 32 for ENPI, 16 for DCI.

– Support to programming cycle: 25 outputs (11 for IPA, 9 for ENPI, 5 for DCI.

– Dissemination and networking: 32 outputs (13 for IPA, 9 for ENPI, 7 for DCI, 3 for ILP.

– Effectiveness analysis: 10 outputs (6 for IPA, 1 for ENPI, 2 for DCI, 1 for ILP.

– Total: 223 outputs .

Instruments used : IPA: Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance; ENPI: European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument; DCI: Development Cooperation Instrument ILP: Innovation and Learning Programmes.

The complete version of the final accounts may be found at the following address: http://www.etf.europa.eu/Archive