2009 discharge: Community Fisheries Control Agency CFCA

The Committee on Budgetary Control adopted the report by Georgios STAVRAKAKIS (S&D, EL) on discharge to be granted to the Executive Director of the Community Fisheries Control Agency in respect of the implementation of the Agency’s budget for the financial year 2009.

Noting that the Agency’s annual accounts for the financial year 2009 are reliable, and the underlying transactions are legal and regular, MEPs approve the closure of the Agency’s accounts. However, they make 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 DEC/2010/2271):

• performance: Members call, once more, 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 the Agency's performance from one year to the next more effectively. They urge the Agency to improve its annual work programme by including specific and measurable objectives both at policy area level and at operational activity level, and by establishing SMART indicators. They recall that a delegation from the Committee on Fisheries had visited the Agency in June 2010 and was very satisfied with the overall conduct of this Agency;
• human resources: Members call on the Agency to redress its weaknesses in recruitment planning;
• internal audit: Members note that the Agency does not have an internal fulltime audit structure but that it shares one with the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) in Lisbon. To this end, a Service Level Agreement between the Agency and EMSA was signed on 17 June 2008. Members consider this shared service as a best practice to be promoted by other Agencies. Members also call on the Executive Director of the Agency to fully fulfil his obligation to include, in his report to the discharge authority all recommendations made (including the ones which could be possibly refused by the Agency) and all action taken on these recommendations, and the follow-up given to the “very important” recommendations made by the Internal Audit Service (IAS). They also call on the Agency to review its Internal Control System to underpin its Executive Director’s annual declaration of assurance and to review all its procedures, both administrative and operational.