PURPOSE: to grant discharge to the Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union for the financial year 2013.

NON-LEGISLATIVE ACT: Decision (EU) 2015/1637 of the European Parliament on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union (CdT) for the financial year 2013.

CONTENT: with the present decision, the European Parliament grants discharge to the Director of the Centre for the implementation of its budget for the financial year 2013.

This decision is in line with the European Parliament's resolution adopted on 29 April 2015 and comprises a series of observations that form an integral part of the discharge decision (please refer to the summary of the opinion of 29 April 2015).

Amongst the main observations made, Parliament noted the efforts made as regards the Centre’s budget implementation rate and in particular the payment appropriations execution rate.

The European Parliament adopted by 557 votes to 129, with 7 abstentions, a decision to grant discharge to the Director of the Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union (CdT) for the financial year 2013. 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 Authority for the financial year 2013 are reliable, and that the underlying transactions are legal and regular, Parliament adopted by 565 votes to 104, with 10 abstentions, a resolution containing a number of recommendations that form an integral part of the discharge decision and as well as the general recommendations that appear in the resolution on performance, financial management and control of EU agencies :

Centre’s financial statements : Parliament noted that the final budget of the Centre for the financial year 2013 was EUR 52 193 667, representing an increase of 8.08% compared to 2012. Commitments and carry-overs : Parliament noted that budget monitoring efforts during the financial year 2013 resulted in a budget implementation rate of 83.47%, and that the payment appropriations execution rate was 77.68 %. It acknowledged that the Court report mentions no notable issues as regards the level of carry-overs in 2013. It notes, however, problems of surpluses in the order of approximately EUR 37 500 000 EUR at the end of 2013. Parliament welcomes that accordingly the Centre had decided to provide deficit budgets for the years 2014-2015 in order to use part of the surpluses from previous years.

Parliament also made a series of observations on transfers, procurement and recruitment procedures, prevention and conflicts of interest and internal controls.

It noted that the Centre concluded 472 framework contracts with translation services for a maximum four-year period in 2008, and that in 2012 the Centre participated in the Commission's procurement procedure for translation services, but no agreement on the contract terms could be reached with the Commission . As a consequence, the Centre extended its existing framework contracts for an additional year. However, such an extension was not in compliance with the implementing rules for the Centre's financial regulation.

Lastly, Parliament noted that the Centre became operational in 1994 and has, since then, worked on the basis of correspondence and exchanges with Luxembourg. The Centre's negotiations with the country regarding its headquarters had reached the final phase, and it had signed the headquarters agreement with the Government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.

The Committee on Budgetary Control adopted the report by Ryszard CZARNECKI (ECR, PL) on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union (CdT) for the financial year 2013.

It called on the European Parliament to grant the Director of the Centre discharge in respect of the implementation of the Centre’s budget for the financial year 2013.

Noting that the Court of Auditors stated that it has obtained reasonable assurances that the annual accounts of the Centre for the financial year 2013 are reliable, and that the underlying transactions are legal and regular, Members called on the Parliament to approve the closure of the Centre’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.

Centre’s financial statements : Members noted that the final budget of the Centre for the financial year 2013 was EUR 52 193 667, representing an increase of 8.08% compared to 2012. Commitments and carry-overs : Members noted that budget monitoring efforts during the financial year 2013 resulted in a budget implementation rate of 83.47%, and that the payment appropriations execution rate was 77.68 %. They acknowledged that the Court’ report mentions no notable issues as regards the level of carry-overs in 2013

Members also made a series of observations on transfers, procurement and recruitment procedures, prevention and conflicts of interest and internal controls.

They noted that the Centre concluded 472 framework contracts with translation services for a maximum four-year period in 2008, and that in 2012 the Centre participated in the Commission's procurement procedure for translation services, but no agreement on the contract terms could be reached with the Commission. As a consequence, the Centre extended its existing framework contracts for an additional year. However, such an extension was not in compliance with the implementing rules for the Centre's financial regulation.

Lastly, the committee noted that the Centre became operational in 1994 and has, since then, worked on the basis of correspondence and exchanges with Luxembourg. The Centre's negotiations with the country regarding its headquarters had reached the final phase, and it had signed the headquarters agreement with the Government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.

Having examined the revenue and expenditure accounts for the financial year 2013 and the balance sheet at 31 December 2013 of the Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union (CdT), as well as the Court of Auditors' report on the annual accounts of the Centre for the financial year 2013, 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 2013.

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 2013 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.

Nevertheless, the Council made some observations which may be summarised as follows:

procurement : the Council regrets the non-compliance with the implementing rules for the Centre's financial regulation detected by the Court in relation to the procurement of a framework contract for translation services; budgetary surplus : the Council recalls that a significant budgetary surplus was recorded at the end of 2013 and takes note, following the Court's assessment, of a possible reduction of prices; headquarters : the Council encourages the Centre to pursue its efforts in order to conclude a headquarters agreement with the host Member State.

PURPOSE: presentation of the report of the Court of Auditors on the annual accounts of the Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union for the financial year 2013, together with the Centre’s replies (CdT).

CONTENT: in line with the tasks and objectives conferred on the Court of Auditors by the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, it provides in the context of the discharge procedure, both in Parliament and Council, a Statement of Assurance concerning the reliability of the accounts and the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions of each institution, body or agency of the EU, based on an independent external audit.

This audit also focused on the annual accounts of the Centre CdT.

Statement of assurance : pursuant to the provisions of Article 287 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), the Court has audited:

the annual accounts of the Centre, which comprise the financial statements and the reports on the implementation of the budget for the financial year ended 31 December 2013; the legality and regularity of the transactions underlying those accounts.

Opinion on the reliability of the accounts : in the Court’s opinion, the Centre’s annual accounts present fairly, in all material respects, its financial position as at 31 December 2013 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.

Opinion on the legality and regularity of the transactions underlying the accounts : in the Court’s opinion, the transactions underlying the annual accounts for the year ended 31 December 2013 are legal and regular in all material respects.

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 the transactions : the Court noted that in 2008 the Centre concluded 472 framework contracts with translation services providers for a maximum period of four years. In order to obtain better conditions for the new framework contracts to be signed in 2012, the Centre wanted to participate in the Commission’s ongoing procurement procedure for translation services. However, no agreement on the contract terms could be reached with the Commission. Instead, the Centre extended its existing framework contracts for one more year. Such an extension is not in compliance with the implementing rules for the Centre’s financial regulation; financial management : cash held by the Centre further increased from EUR 35 million at the end of 2012 to EUR 40 million at the end of 2013. This indicates scope to reduce prices; headquarters : the Centre became operational in 1994 and has, to date, worked on the basis of correspondence and exchanges with the host Member State. However, there is no comprehensive headquarters agreement between the Centre and the Member State.

The Centre’s replies :

legality and regularity of the transactions : the Centre had joined the Commission’s call for tenders for this type of translation services in the past. The Centre decided to organise its own call for tenders for this specific type of translation services and to extend existing contracts by one year in order to prepare correctly for this extensive call for tenders. Considering the impact on the Centre in the event that no contracts had been in place on the expiry date of the existing contracts, it was considered justified to prolong the existing contracts; financial management : the Centre is fully aware that it generated an economic surplus for the second consecutive year, but it must be noted that the 2013 surplus came about as a result of external factors beyond the Centre’s control; especially as a result of a higher volume of invoiced pages than forecast, the cancelled salary increase and the pension contribution reimbursed to the Centre. The Centre decreased the 2014 prices considerably in order to reflect not only changes in the cost of products, but also to use up part of the surplus; headquarters : the works on the headquarters agreement have come into a final phase.

Lastly, the Court of Auditors’ report contains a summary of the Centre’s activities in 2013. This is focused on the following:

Budget : EUR 52.194 million of which the Union subsidy is 86.3%.

Activities :

number of pages translated: 804 986 pages against 735 007 the previous year; number of pages by languages: in the official EU languages: 800 221 pages; in other languages: 4 765 pages; number of pages per client: bodies: 780 310 pages; institutions: 24 676 pages; number of pages translated by freelancers: 512 524 pages.

PURPOSE: presentation by the Commission of the consolidated annual accounts of the European Union for the financial year 2013, as part of the 2013 discharge procedure.

Analysis of the accounts of the Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union (CdT) .

CONTENT: this Commission document sets out the consolidated annual accounts of the European Union for the financial year 2013 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 Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union (CdT).

The document contains the figures on which the discharge procedure is based.

Discharge procedure of the EU agencies : the EU Budget finances a wide range of policies and programmes throughout the EU. In accordance with the priorities set by the European Parliament and the Council in the multi-annual financial framework (MFF), the European Commission carries out specific programmes, activities and projects in the field with the technical support of some specialised agencies.

The consolidated annual accounts of the EU provide information on the activities of the institutions, agencies and other bodies of the EU from a budgetary and accrual accounting perspective.

The consolidated reports on the implementation of the general budget of the EU include the budget implementation of all Institutions. Agencies do not have a separate budget inside the EU budget ; and they are partially financed by a Commission budget subsidy.

Each agency is subject to its own discharge procedure.

CdT : in 2013, the tasks and budget of this agency were as follows:

· description of the Centre's tasks : the Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union, which is located in Luxembourg, was established by Council Regulation (EC) No 2965/94 and its role is to provide any European Union Institutions and Bodies, which call upon its services with the translation services necessary for their activities;

· the Centre's budget for the 2013 financial year : the Centre’s budget for 2013, as presented in the Commission document on the consolidated annual accounts of the European Union , gives the following figures:

§ Commitment appropriations:

- committed : EUR 52 millions ;

- paid : EUR 44 million ;

- carried over : 0.

§ Payment appropriations :

- committed : EUR 56 millions;

- paid : EUR 44 millions;

- carried over : EUR 3 millions.

Also see final accounts of the Translation Centre.