PURPOSE: to grant discharge to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) for the financial year 2012.

NON-LEGISLATIVE ACT: Decision 2014/575/EU of the European Parliament on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) for the financial year 2012.

CONTENT: with the present decision, the European Parliament grants discharge to the Director of the Centre in respect of the implementation of its budget for the financial year 2012.

This decision is in line with the European Parliament's resolution adopted on 3 April 2014 and comprises a series of observations that form an integral part of the discharge decision (please refer to the summary of the opinion of 3 April 2014).

Amongst the main observations made, Parliament is concerned that the Centre does not usually obtain any documents to substantiate the eligibility and accuracy of the costs claimed by beneficiaries . It called therefore on the Centre to improve this situation.

The European Parliament adopted a decision concerning the discharge to be granted to the Director of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) in respect of the implementation of the Centre's budget for the financial year 2012. The vote on the discharge decision approved the closure of the accounts (in accordance with Annex VI, Article 5(1) of the Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament.

Noting that the Court of Auditors stated that it has obtained reasonable assurances that the annual accounts of the Centre for the financial year 2012 are reliable, and that the underlying transactions are legal and regular, Parliament adopted by 512 votes to 73, with 11 abstentions, a resolution containing a series of recommendations that form an integral part of the discharge decision and as well as the general recommendations that appear in the draft resolution on performance, financial management and control of EU agencies.

These recommendations are summarised as follows:

Budget and financial management : Parliament noted that budget monitoring efforts during the financial year 2012 resulted in a budget implementation rate of 93.91% and that the payment appropriations execution rate was 76.26%. It noted that the Centre awarded grants to research institutions and individuals and that the total grant expenditure amounted to EUR 752 000, representing 1.4% of the 2012 operating expenditure. Parliament was concerned that the Centre does not usually obtain any documents to substantiate the eligibility and accuracy of the costs claimed by beneficiaries. It also noted that while the Centre has adopted an ex post verification strategy and has planned for its implementation in 2012, no ex post verifications of 2012 grant expenditure have yet taken place. Commitments and carryovers : Parliament noted that the Court of Auditors' annual audit has found that the level of carry-overs related to operation expenditure is high whilst acknowledging that these carryovers reflect the multiannual nature of activities. Performance : Parliament requested that the Centre communicate the results and impact its work has on European citizens in an accessible way, mainly through its website.

Parliament made a series of observations on transfers, procurement and recruitment procedures as well as comments on internal controls.

Lastly, it also acknowledged that a revised version of the Centre's comprehensive independence policy is to be adopted by the Centre's Management Board in 2014.

The Committee on Budgetary Control adopted the report by Petri SARVAMAA (EPP, FI) in which it recommended the European Parliament to grant discharge to the Director of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) in respect of the implementation of the Centre's budget for the financial year 2012.

Noting that the Court of Auditors stated that it has obtained reasonable assurances that the annual accounts of the Centre for the financial year 2012 are reliable, and that the underlying transactions are legal and regular, Members approved the closure of ECDC’s accounts. They made, however, a number of recommendations that needed 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 noted that budget monitoring efforts during the financial year 2012 resulted in a budget implementation rate of 93.91% and that the payment appropriations execution rate was 76.26%. They noted that the Centre awarded grants to research institutions and individuals and that the total grant expenditure amounted to EUR 752 000, representing 1.4% of the 2012 operating expenditure. Members were concerned that the Centre does not usually obtain any documents to substantiate the eligibility and accuracy of the costs claimed by beneficiaries. They also noted that while the Centre has adopted an ex post verification strategy and has planned for its implementation in 2012, no ex post verifications of 2012 grant expenditure have yet taken place. Commitments and carryovers : Members noted that the Court of Auditors' annual audit has found that the level of carry-overs related to operation expenditure is high whilst acknowledging that these carryovers reflect the multiannual nature of activities.

Members also made a series of observations on transfers, procurement and recruitment procedures as well as comments on internal controls.

Lastly, they also acknowledged that a revised version of the Centre's comprehensive independence policy is to be adopted by the Centre's Management Board in 2014.

Having examined the revenue and expenditure accounts for the financial year 2012 and the balance sheet at 31 December 2012 of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, as well as the Court of Auditors' report on the annual accounts of the Centre for the financial year 2012, accompanied by the Centre's replies to the Court's observations, the Council recommends the European Parliament to give a discharge to the Director of the Centre in respect of the implementation of the budget for the financial year 2012.

The observations in the Court of Auditors' report in relation to the financial year 2012 call for some comments by the Council, which may be summarised as follows:

in general, the Council welcomes the Court's opinion that, in all material respects, the Centre's annual accounts present fairly its financial position as at 31 December 2012 and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the year then ended, in accordance with the provisions of the Centre's Financial Regulation and the accounting rules adopted by the Commission's accounting officer, and that the underlying transactions for that financial year are legal and regular. Controls : the Council invites the Centre to strengthen its controls. It encourages the Centre to base its ex-ante and ex-post verifications of grant applications not only on desk checks of the beneficiaries' cost statements and on certificates of external auditors contracted by the beneficiaries, but also on detailed supporting documentation to be submitted by the beneficiaries for substantiating the eligibility and accuracy of the claimed costs, in order to increase the assurance provided by the verification process. Carry-overs : furthermore, the Council asks the Centre to continue improving its financial management by systematically scrutinising carry-overs of appropriations to the following budgetary year on the basis of the budget implementation schedules for its multiannual operations, and by limiting them to the minimum necessary, in line with the budgetary principle of annuality.

PURPOSE: presentation of the EU Court of Auditors’ report on the annual accounts of the e European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) for the year 2012, together with the Centre’s reply.

CONTENT: in accordance with the tasks conferred on the Court of Auditors by the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the Court presents to the European Parliament and to the Council, in the context of the discharge procedure, a Statement of Assurance as to the reliability of the annual accounts of each institution, body or agency of the EU, and the legality and regularity of the transactions underlying them, on the basis of an independent external audit.

This audit concerned, amongst others, the annual accounts of the e European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.

In the Court’s opinion, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control ’s Annual Accounts fairly present, in all material respects, its financial position as of 31 December 2012 and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the year then ended, in accordance with the provisions of its Financial Regulation and the accounting rules adopted by the Commission’s accounting officer.

The Court also considers that the transactions underlying the annual accounts of the Centre for the financial year ended 31 December 2012 are, in all material respects, legal and regular.

The report confirms that the Centre’s 2012 budget amounted to EUR 58.2 million.

The report also makes a series of observations on the budgetary and financial management of the Centre, accompanied by the latter’s response. The main observations may be summarised as follows:

The Court’s observations :

· legality and regularity of transactions: the opinion on the legality and regularity of the Centre’s transactions was qualified for the year 2011 because the Centre did not respect the maximum amount of a framework contract from 2009. The Centre has taken corrective action in 2012 and signed a replacement framework contract in June 2012 (no further payments will be made under the old contract) and has improved monitoring the consumption of framework contracts in general. The 2012 payments amounting to EUR 5.2 million stem from failures in previous years when the ceiling of the framework contract was not respected. Given the corrective action taken by the Centre in 2012, the Court has not qualified the opinion on the legality and regularity of transactions this year;

· internal controls: in order to strengthen controls, the Centre has adopted an ex post verification strategy and planned for its implementation in 2012. However, it experienced a delay in gaining access to an interinstitutional audit contract and, at the time of the audit, no ex post verifications of 2012 grant expenditure had yet taken place.

The Centre’s reply:

· audits: the Centre has put all necessary measures in place: immediate launch of a new tender to establish a new Framework Contract and a registration of exception. The Centre emphasises that no funds were lost and no parties have been disadvantaged. The ECDC Grant Verification Policy is due to be revised in July 2013.

Lastly, the Court of Auditors’ report contains a summary of the Centre’s activities in 2012 . This is focused on the following:

· health threats identified and monitored using the Threat Tracking Tool (TTT) and weekly threat reports on communicable diseases ;

· provision of support to epidemic intelligence for large mass-gathering events ;

· preparation of risk assessments, and rapid risk assessment updates ;

· simulation exercise workshops conducted for testing and improving preparedness and response to communicable diseases ;

· coaching in the European Programme for Intervention Epidemiology Training (EPIET), and in the European Public Health Microbiology Training (EUPHEM) ;

· short training modules for public health experts from 30 EU-EEA countries ;

· maintenance of the Centre’s web portal ;

· publication of 240 scientific documents ;

· organisation of Fifth European Antibiotic Awareness Day with the participation of 43 countries;

· Organisation of the first Eurovaccine.net conference with 200 participants.

Eurosurveillance received its first impact factor. A stunning 6.15 was awarded for the year 2011. This places Eurosurveillance at rank 6 among the 70 journals in the category Infectious Diseases, worldwide.