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2006 discharge: European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA)

2007/2058(DEC)

Based on the observations contained in the revenue and expenditure account and the balance sheet of the European Aviation Safety Agency for the financial year 2006, 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 of the Agency discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget for the financial year 2006.

In doing so, the Council confirms that EUR 6.3 million (96%) of the appropriations carried over from 2005 to 2006 (EUR 6.6 million) was used, that the appropriations carried over from 2006 to 2007 amount to EUR 19.3 million and that a total of EUR 3.7 million was cancelled.

Recalling that the Court of Auditors was able to obtain reasonable assurance that the Agency’s annual accounts were, in all material aspects, reliable, the Council believes that there is a certain number of observations that must be taken into consideration when providing the discharge on the implementation of the 2006 budget, particularly regarding the following points:

  • Management of the Agency: the Council emphasises that certain factors, notably high carryover rates, high rates of cancellations and a significant number of vacant posts, require further improvements to the management of the financial, budgetary and human resources of the Agency and calls on the Agency to rectify this situation as soon as possible;
  • Receivables: the Council notes the Court’s observation that collected revenue was insufficient to cover the cost of the Agency’s certification activities. Following the adoption of Regulation (EC) N° 593/2007, which entered into force 1 June 2007, the Council hopes that this issue will be resolved. In the meantime, it encourages the Agency to continue its efforts aimed at implementing an effective claim management system in order to rectify the shortcomings noted by the Court;
  • Procurement: the Council also notes that the Court revealed that, in two instances, recourse to the negotiated procedure was not justified for procurement and encourages the Agency to improve its programming and, therefore, to respect the principle of open competition concerning the management of public markets;
  • Presentation of the budget: the Council notes its satisfaction with the greater transparency in terms of creating reports, due to the separate mention of assigned revenues in the presentation of the implementation of the budget.