PURPOSE: to grant discharge to the EURATOM Supply Agency for the financial year 2008.

LEGISLATIVE ACT: Decision 2010/540/EU of the European Parliament on the discharge for the implementation of the budget of the EURATOM Supply Agency for the financial year 2008.

CONTENT: with the present decision, the European Parliament grants discharge to the Director-General of the EURATOM Supply Agency for the implementation of its 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 05/05/2010).

A parallel decision, adopted on the same day, approves the closure of this Agency’s accounts.

The European Parliament adopted by 544 votes to 37, with 61 abstentions, a decision on discharge to be granted to the Director-General of the Euratom Supply Agency 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:

statutes: Parliament recalls that under Decision 2008/114/EC, Euratom, Euratom, established in Luxembourg in 1958, has a new Statute and has become an Agency. In 2008, the Agency did not receive any subsidy to cover its operations and the Commission bore all expenses incurred by the Agency for the implementation of the 2008 budget. Parliament notes therefore that, in the absence of an autonomous budget, the Agency is de facto integrated in the Commission. It therefore asks whether this situation raises the issue of the need to maintain the Agency in its current form and organisation. It cites the Agency’s response which argued that the current situation reflects a balance between, on the one hand, a clear relationship with the Commission (for example, the Commission can adopt directives and nominate the Agency’s director-general) and a degree of legal and financial autonomy, on the other; internal audit: Parliament acknowledges that, in accordance with Article 3 of its Statutes, the Agency has selected its own internal auditor, who took up his duties only on 1 July 2009.

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 Agency’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) on discharge to be granted to the Euratom Supply Agency, calling on the European Parliament to grant the Director-General of the Agency in respect of the implementation of its budget for the financial year 2008.

Noting that the Agency’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) :

statutes : Members recall that under Decision 2008/114/EC, Euratom, Euratom, established in Luxembourg in 1958, has a new Statute and has become an Agency. In 2008, the Agency did not receive any subsidy to cover its operations and the Commission bore all expenses incurred by the Agency for the implementation of the 2008 budget. They note therefore that, in the absence of an autonomous budget, the Agency is de facto integrated in the Commission. They point out, nevertheless, that this situation raises the issue of the need to maintain the Agency in its current form and organisation; internal audit : Members acknowledge that, in accordance with Article 3 of its Statutes, the Agency has selected its own internal auditor, who took up his duties only on 1 July 2009.

Based on the observations contained in the revenue and expenditure account and the balance sheet of the Euratom Supply Agency for the financial year 2008, as well as on the Court of Auditor’s report and the Agency’s replies to the Court’s observations, the Council recommends that the Parliament grant the Director General of the Agency 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 Agency'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 Agency'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.

The Council notes the Court's comment on the absence of an autonomous budget.

PURPOSE: to present the report by the Court of Auditors on the 2008 annual accounts of the Euratom Supply Agency.

CONTENT: in the Court’s opinion, the Agency’s Annual Accounts fairly present, 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 Agency’s annual accounts for the financial year ended are, in all material respects, legal and regular.

The Court makes no comments as regards the financial and budgetary management of the Agency . In the absence of an autonomous budget, the Agency is de facto integrated in the Commission. This situation raises the issue of the need to maintain the Agency in its current form and organisation.

PURPOSE: to present the final accounts of the Euratom Supply Agency for the financial year 2008.

CONTENT: the Euratom Supply Agency, located in Luxembourg, was created in 1958. Council Decision 2008/114/EC, Euratom replaced the preceding Statutes of the Agency. The Agency’s main tasks are to provide the Community with expertise on the market in nuclear materials and services and to monitor it.

In 2008, the Agency did not receive any subsidy to cover its operations. The Commission took charge of all expenses incurred by the Agency for the implementation of the 2008 budget. The commitments carried over from the year 2007 were paid with the unused part of the 2007 subsidy.

In the absence of an autonomous budget, the Agency is de facto integrated in the Commission. This situation raises the issue of the need to maintain the Agency in its current form and organisation.