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2008 discharge: European Railway Agency ERA

2009/2126(DEC)

The European Parliament adopted by 559 votes to 30, with 54 abstentions, a decision on discharge to be granted to the Executive Director of the European Railway Agency in respect of the implementation of its budget for the financial year 2008.

Furthermore, Parliament adopted a resolution with observations which are an integral part of the decision to grant discharge.

The main points are as follows:

  • performance: Parliament calls on the Agency to set out a comparison of operations carried out during the year for which discharge is to be granted and in the previous financial year so as to enable the discharge authority to assess its performance from one year to the next more effectively. It also invites it to consider making a Gantt diagram part of the programming for each of its operational activities, with a view to indicating the amount of time spent by each staff member on a project and encouraging an approach geared towards achieving results;
  • location: Parliament notes that the Agency still carries out its operations in two locations (Lille and Valenciennes), exposing it to additional costs;
  • carryover of appropriations: noting that more than EUR 4.1 million were carried forward to 2009, Parliament emphasises that this state of affairs reveals that the Agency had difficulties in the programming and the budgeting of its activities;
  • internal audit: Parliament calls on the Agency to implement the recommendations made by the Internal Audit Service (IAS) in particular in regard to bank signatures, segregation of duties, sensitive posts and maintenance of delegation powers.

Noting that the Agency’s annual accounts for the financial year 2008 are reliable, and the underlying transactions are legal and regular, Parliament approves the closure of the Agency’s accounts. However, it makes 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 financial management and control of EU agencies (see 2010/2007(INI) adopted in parallel).