Activites

• 2013/04/17 Vote in plenary scheduled
• 2013/04/16 Indicative plenary sitting date, 1st reading/single reading
• 2013/03/21 Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading
  • A7-0062/2013
• 2013/03/18 Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
• 2013/02/27 Amendments tabled in committee
  • PE497.959
• 2013/01/29 Committee draft report
  • PE497.958
• 2012/09/13 Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
• 2012/09/06 Court of Auditors: opinion, report
  • OJ C 344 12.11.2012, p. 0243
  • N7-0126/2012 summary

    OBJECTIVE: presentation of the 2011 Annual Report of the Court of Auditors on the activities funded by the 8th, 9th and 10th European Development Funds (EDF). CONTENT: in accordance with the tasks and objectives conferred on the Court of Auditors by the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, it provides under the discharge procedure, for both the European Parliament and Council, a statement of assurance (“DAS”) about the reliability of the accounts and the legality and regularity of the transactions of each institution, body or agency of the EU, based on an independent external audit. The audit also focuses on the budget implementation of the EDF. To recall, the EDF is the main instrument for providing European Union aid for development cooperation to the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) States as well as the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs), on the basis of the Cotonou Agreement of 2000. It is centred on the objective of reducing and eventually eradicating poverty, consistent with the objectives of sustainable development and the gradual integration of the ACP countries and OCTs in the world economy. It is based on three complementary pillars: development cooperation; economic and trade cooperation; the political dimension. The EDFs are funded by the Member States; they are governed by their own financial regulations and managed outside the framework of the EU general budget. The European Commission is responsible for the financial implementation of operations funded with resources from the EDFs. The key conclusions of the Court are given in a “Statement of Assurance” (DAS) the main elements of which can be summarised as follows: Statement of assurance: Reliability of the accounts: the Court found that the accounts of the EDFs for the financial year ended on 31 December 2011 fairly present, in all material respects, the financial position of the EDFs and the results of their operations and cash flows, in accordance with the provisions of the respective Financial Regulations and the relevant accounting rules adopted by the accounting officer. Legality and regularity of the transactions underlying the accounts: on the basis of its audit, in the Court's opinion, revenue underlying the accounts for the 2011 financial year is legal and regular in all material respects. However, the external aid financed by the EDFs and the general budget is implemented in a high risk environment, notably due to geographically dispersed activities, whilst many partner countries have weak institutional and administrative capacities. The types of quantifiable errors found in EDF payments concerned eligibility (for example, expenditure incurred outside the implementation period or related to activities and services not included in the contract, non-compliance with the rules of origin or nationality, non-compliance with procurement procedures by the beneficiary. The question of payments: the Court’s report indicates that the payments are materially affected by error. The Court’s estimate for the most likely error rate for payments from the 8th, 9th and 10th EDFs is 5.1 %. For the transactions related to projects, the majority of the errors were found in grants and contribution agreements with international organisations. Control systems: the Court found weaknesses in the ex ante checks, as well as in the functioning and monitoring of external audit at the level of delegations. It also notes that the quality of the external aid management information system (CRIS) data remains a source of concern and that the internal audit structure of EuropeAid was able to implement only about half of its initial annual work plan. Recommendations of the Court: the Court evaluated the follow-up to its previous recommendations. The Commission has made significant progress in implementing many of the Court’s recommendations. This is notably the case in relation to the dissemination of the financial management toolkit to improve the beneficiaries’ knowledge of eligibility rules, the planning and monitoring of audits and the assessment of eligibility for budget support. However, further efforts are necessary to fully implement the Court’s recommendations concerning the quality of CRIS data, the follow-up of audit findings and recommendations and the assessment of the cost-effectiveness of the transactional ex- post control system. Following this review and the findings and conclusions for 2011, the Court recommends that EuropeAid: improve the management of contract awarding procedures, by setting out clear selection criteria and better documenting the evaluation process; introduce documented risk-based planning and systematic follow-up for verification visits and on- the-spot monitoring visits; render compulsory the guidelines on risk analysis for the preparation of annual audit plans by delegations and EuropeAid’s headquarters; review the design of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to ensure that they are unambiguous and easy to interpret; assess the Internal Audit Capability (IAC)’s capacity to perform its task effectively. The report also contains a table establishing the totals for the execution of the EDF budget for 2011: In particular, the report confirms the following amounts: cumulative EDF resources: EUR 48.854 billion; global commitments: EUR 40.827 billion, 83.6% implementation rate; individual commitments: EUR 34.83 billion, 71.3% implementation rate; net payments: EUR 29.208 billion, 59.8% implementation rate; payments still outstanding: EUR 11.619 billion; available balance: EUR 8.027 billion.

• 2012/07/25 Non-legislative basic document
  • COM(2012)0435 summary

    PURPOSE: to present the final accounts of the 8th, 9th and 10th European Development Funds (EDF) for the financial year 2011. CONTENT: this communication presents the final accounts of the 8th, 9th and 10th EDF, which must be presented to the European Parliament, the Council and the Court of Auditors, in accordance with the relevant provisions regarding the EDF. The document also includes a note accompanying the accounts in which the accounting officer in charge of the EFD audit certifies that the accounts present a true and fair view of the financial position of the European Development Funds in all material aspects (signed declaration of assurance). 1. EDF objectives and implementation: the EDF is the main instrument for providing Union aid for development cooperation to the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) States and Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs). The 1957 Treaty of Rome made provision for its creation with a view to granting technical and financial assistance, initially limited to African countries which at that time were still colonised and with which some Member States had historical links. The EDF is not funded by the European Union's budget. It is funded by the Member States, subject to its own financial regulation and managed by a specific committee. The European Commission is responsible for the financial implementation of the operations carried out with EDF resources and the European Investment Bank (EIB) manages the Investment Facility. During the period 2008-2013, the geographic aid granted to ACP States and OCTs will continue to be mainly funded by the EDF. Each EDF is usually concluded for a period of around five years. Since the conclusion of the first partnership convention in 1964, the EDF programming cycles have generally followed the partnership agreement/convention cycles. Each EDF is governed by its own Financial Regulation, which imposes the preparation of financial statements for each individual EDF. Accordingly, financial statements are prepared separately for each EDF in respect of the part that is managed by the European Commission. These financial statements are also presented in an aggregated way so as to provide a global view of the financial situation of the resources for which the European Commission is responsible. The Investment Facility was established within the framework of the Cotonou agreement. This Investment Facility is managed by the European Investment Bank and is used to support private sector development in the ACP States by financing essentially – but not exclusively – private investments. As the Investment Facility is not managed by the European Commission, it is not consolidated in the Commission document. The financial statements of the Investment Facility are included as a separate part of the annual accounts to provide a full picture of the development aid of the EDF. Funding of the EDF: unlike the European Union budget, the EDF is a fund operating on the basis of multiannuality during a period of usually five years. The EDF resources are “ad hoc” contributions from the EU Member States. Approximately every five years, Member State representatives meet at intergovernmental level to decide on an overall amount that will be allocated to the Fund and to oversee its implementation. The Commission then manages the fund. Since Member States have their own development and aid policies in addition to the Union wide policies, they must coordinate their policies with the EU to ensure they are complementary. Until 2010, contributions were called from the 15 participating Member States. In 2011, the first contributions under the 10th EDF, in which the 27 Member States participate, were called. While some funds of the 10th EDF have been set aside for unforeseen needs, most are being programmed in indicative multi-annual frameworks, mainly geographic but also thematic, currently set for the years 2008-2013. In this regard, the Commission communication gives details on how the EDF is managed technically by the Commission with respect to management which is centralised, decentralised or joint management with international organisations, and discusses the different financial actors involved in the financial and accounting processes. Implementing the EDF resources: the vast majority of financial resources awarded to ACP States and OCTs through the EDF are grants. At the beginning of each EDF, the European Union informs the ACP States and the OCTs about the level of grants that should be available to them over the period of the fund. The beneficiary country develops a cooperation strategy while or after holding consultations with its development partners (donors). A National Indicative Programme (NIP) is then drawn up to implement the cooperation strategy. This contains the procedure for granting funds, for monitoring and accounting, which is detailed in the communication (expenditure, payments and, in certain cases, recovering undue payments). Audit and discharge: the process of audit and discharge is detailed in the communication. It is the Accounting Officer's responsibility to prepare the annual accounts and ensure that they present a true and fair view of the financial position of the EDF. The EDF annual accounts and resource management are overseen by its external auditor, the European Court of Auditors, which draws up an annual report for the Council and the European Parliament. The Court's main task is to conduct an external, independent audit of the EDF annual accounts. The final control is the discharge of the financial implementation of the EDF resources for a given financial year. The European Parliament is the discharge authority of the EDF. This means that following the audit and finalisation of the annual accounts it falls to the Council to recommend and then to the Parliament to decide whether to grant discharge to the Commission for the financial implementation of the EDF resources for the preceding financial year. This decision is based on a review of the accounts and the annual report of the Court of Auditors.  The discharge represents the political aspect of the external control of financial implementation and is the decision by which the European Parliament, acting on a Council recommendation, "releases" the Commission from its responsibility for management of the financial implementation of a given financial year. This discharge procedure may produce one of two outcomes: the granting or postponement of the discharge.  2. Financial implementation of the EDF in 2010: in 2010, the 8th, 9th and 10th EDFs were implemented simultaneously. Although funds for each EDF are committed over a period of five years, payments can be made over a longer period. The document contains a table showing the aggregated use of EDF resources at 31 December 2011, which are as follows: Capital called as at 31 December 2011 for each EDF: ·        8th EDF: EUR 12.840 billion, ·        9th EDF: EUR 11.699 billion ·        10th EDF: EUR 2.44 billion Total capital called as at 31.12.2011: EUR 26.979 billion. The fund capital represents the total amount of contributions from the Member States for the relevant EDF fund as laid down in each of the internal agreements. Called fund capital represents the amount of the initial allocations which has been called up for transfer to the treasury accounts by Member States.  The capital of the 8th and the 9th EDF has been called up and received in its entirety. The 10th EDF entered into force in 2008 with a fund capital amounting to EUR 21 152 million, according to the internal agreement applicable to the 10th EDF.  Funding of the EDF at 31 December 2011: ·        8th EDF: EUR 10 663 billion ·        9th EDF: EUR 16 552 billion ·        10th EDF: EUR 21 639 billion. Total allocations EUR 10 663 billion. The report sets out a series of tables showing how these resources were used during the financial year 2011, (by project, country and type of action). It also sets out certain precise figures: ·        Amount of the 10th EDF: the 10th EDF covers the period 2008-2013 and has a total budget of EUR 22 682 million. Of this amount, EUR 21 966 million were allocated to ACP countries, EUR 286 million allocated to the OCT; EUR 430 million for the Commission to finance the costs arising from the programming and implementation of 10th EDF resources. RAL (outstanding commitments): the outstanding budgetary commitments correspond to the amount of open commitments for which payments have not yet been paid. At 31.12.2011, the outstanding budgetary commitments not yet paid amounted to EUR 5.594 billion.

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

Documents

• Non-legislative basic document published: COM(2012)0435
• Amendments tabled in committee: PE497.959
• Committee draft report: PE497.958
• Court of Auditors: opinion, report: OJ C 344 12.11.2012, p. 0243
• Court of Auditors: opinion, report: N7-0126/2012
• Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading: A7-0062/2013

History

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