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2008 discharge: European GNSS Supervisory Authority GSA

2009/2129(DEC)

The European Parliament adopted by 551 votes to 33, with 57 abstentions, a decision on discharge to be granted to the Executive Director of the European GNSS Supervisory Authority 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:

  • budgetary and financial management: Parliament regrets that the Court of Auditors qualified its statement of assurance on the reliability of the annual accounts for the financial year 2008 and on the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions. It notes that the Authority has decided to present the results of its activities without taking into account the fact that the Authority’s management of the Galileo and EGNOS programmes would be discontinued after the finalisation of the transfer of assets and funds to the Commission, scheduled for the end of the first quarter of 2008. In spite of the transfer to the Commission of responsibility for the programmes, the Commission transferred EUR 95 million to the Authority’s bank account on 24 December 2008, although no proper amending budget had been established. Parliament also notes that a very substantial reduction in the Authority’s budget was adopted in 2008 (from EUR 436.5 million in 2007 to EUR 22.7 million in 2008) and is concerned that, although under Regulation (EC) No 683/2008, the Commission became responsible, from 1 January 2009, for fund management and implementation of the European satellite navigation programmes (EGNOS and Galileo), neither of these activities nor any assets had been transferred to the Commission by the end of 2008. In addition, the new distribution of responsibilities between the Commission and the Authority was not clearly reflected in their respective annual accounts. Parliament also notes important differences in the treatment of certain amounts attributed to the Authority as a result of the transfer of responsibility to the Commission;
  • internal audit: Parliament also calls on the Authority to implement the recommendations made by the Internal Audit Service (IAS) in particular in regard to human resources.

Noting that the Authority’s annual accounts for the financial year 2008 are reliable, and the underlying transactions are legal and regular, Parliament approves the closure of the Authority’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).