Activites

• 2012/10/17 Final act published in Official Journal
  • Decision 2012/584
  • OJ L 286 17.10.2012, p. 0229
• 2012/05/10 Results of vote in Parliament
  • Results of vote in Parliament
  • Debate in Parliament
  • T7-0179/2012 summary

    The European Parliament adopted by 525 votes to 81 with 22 abstentions, a decision concerning the discharge to be granted to the Executive Director of the European Railway Agency in respect of the implementation of the Agency’s budget for 2010. The decision to grant the discharge also closes the accounts for the Agency for that year. Noting that the Court of Auditors stated that it has obtained reasonable assurances that the annual accounts for the financial year 2010 are reliable and that the underlying transactions are legal and regular, Parliament adopted by 546 votes to 67, with 9 abstentions, a resolution containing 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 resolution on performance, financial management and control of EU agencies: Budget and Financial Management: Parliament notes the low rate of utilisation for payment appropriations, particularly for operational expenditure and appreciates the fact that the Agency provides information on the use of the appropriations carried forward from 2009 to 2010. It takes the view that it is extremely important to optimise the use of budgetary resources at a time of financial crisis and urges the Commission and the Agency to analyse and establish the real budgetary requirements in order for the Agency to be able to carry out all the tasks assigned to it. Transfers: Parliament regrets that the errors in budgetary forecasts resulted in the cancellation or delay of certain investments. It urges the Agency to inform immediately the discharge authority of the measures implemented in order to allow for better expenditure forecasts. Carryover of appropriations: once more, Parliament notes the significant carryover of credits. It acknowledges from the Court of Auditors that the appropriations carried forward to 2011 amounted to EUR 5 500 000, of which EUR 4 300 000 (78 %) are related to goods and services that were to be provided in 2011. It is of the opinion that the Agency did not adequately address the problem of appropriations being carried forward from one year to the next. It calls on the Agency to inform the discharge authority about actions taken to improve this situation. It reminds the Agency that this request was already made during the previous discharge procedure; Performance: Parliament urges the Agency to create a Multi-Annual Plan translating long-term objectives into multi-annual tasks and associated Key Performance Indicators. This would better provide stakeholders with information on the objectives/activities, strategic priorities and resource allocation. Two locations: Parliament considers that using two locations (Lille and Valenciennes) for carrying out its activities exposes the Agency to additional costs. It notes, also, that this observation has been made since 2006 and that no action has been taken by the Council to change the situation. Internal audit: lastly, Parliament calls on the Agency to implement the Internal Audit Service (IAS) recommendations related to the audit on Human Resources (HR) management undertaken by the IAS in 2009.

• 2012/04/04 Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading
  • A7-0118/2012 summary

    The Committee on Budgetary Control adopted the report by Monica Luisa MACOVEI (PPE, RO) on discharge in respect of the budget of the European Railway Agency, and called on the European Parliament to grant the Executive Director of the European Railway Agency discharge in respect of the implementation of the Agency's budget for the financial year 2010. Noting that the Court of Auditors stated that it has obtained reasonable assurances that the annual accounts for the financial year 2010 are reliable and that the underlying transactions are legal and regular, Members approve the closure of the accounts of the European Railway Agency for the financial year 2010. 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 performance, financial management and control of EU agencies: Budget and Financial Management: Members note the low rate of utilisation for payment appropriations, particularly for operational expenditure and appreciate the fact that the Agency provides information on the use of the appropriations carried forward from 2009 to 2010. They take the view that it is extremely important to optimise the use of budgetary resources at a time of financial crisis and urges the Commission and the Agency to analyse and establish the real budgetary requirements in order for the Agency to be able to carry out all the tasks assigned to it. Transfers: Members regret that the errors in budgetary forecasts resulted in the cancellation or delay of certain investments. It urges the Agency to inform immediately the discharge authority of the measures implemented in order to allow for better expenditure forecasts. Carryover of appropriations: once more, Members note the significant carryover of credits and are of the opinion that the Agency did not adequately address the problem of appropriations being carried forward from one year to the next. They call on the Agency to inform the discharge authority about actions taken to improve the annual budget implementation and to decrease the carryovers of budget appropriations. Performance: the committee urges the Agency to create a Multi-Annual Plan translating long-term objectives into multi-annual tasks and associated Key Performance Indicators. This would better provide stakeholders with information on the objectives/activities, strategic priorities and resource allocation. Two locations: Members consider that using two locations (Lille and Valenciennes) for carrying out its activities exposes the Agency to additional costs. They note, also, that this observation has been made since 2006 and that no action has been taken by the Council to change the situation. Internal audit: lastly, Members call on the Agency to implement the Internal Audit Service (IAS) recommendations related to the audit on Human Resources (HR) management undertaken by the IAS in 2009.

• 2012/03/27 Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
• 2011/10/12 Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
• 2011/07/26 Non-legislative basic document published
  • COM(2011)0473 summary

    PURPOSE: presentation by the Commission of the consolidated annual accounts of the European Union for the financial year 2010, as part of the 2010 discharge procedure. Analysis of the accounts of the European Railway Agency (ERA) CONTENT: this Commission document sets out the consolidated annual accounts of the European Union for the financial year 2010 as prepared on the basis of the information presented by the institutions, organisations and bodies of the EU, in accordance with Article 129 (2) of the Financial Regulation applicable to the EU's General Budget, including the European Railway Agency (ERA). In 2010, the tasks and budget of this agency were as follows: description of ERA's tasks: ERA, which is located in Lille-Valenciennes, was created by Regulation (EC) No 881/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004. The Agency's aim is to enhance the level of interoperability of railway systems and to develop a common approach to safety in order to contribute to creating a more competitive European railway sector with a high level of safety; ERA's budget for the 2010 financial year: the Agency's 2010 budget amounted to EUR 24.1 million, compared with EUR 21 million the previous year. The number of staff employed by the Agency at the end of the year was 142, compared with 127 the previous year. The complete version of ERA's final accounts may be found at the following address: http://www.era.europa.eu/The-Agency/BudgetandAccounts/Pages/home.aspx

  • DG {'url': 'http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/budget/', 'title': 'Budget'}, ŠEMETA Algirdas

Documents

• Non-legislative basic document published: COM(2011)0473
• Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading: A7-0118/2012
• Results of vote in Parliament: Results of vote in Parliament
• Debate in Parliament: Debate in Parliament
• Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading: T7-0179/2012
• : Decision 2012/584
• : OJ L 286 17.10.2012, p. 0229

History

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