2009 discharge: Community Fisheries Control Agency CFCA

The European Parliament adopted by 509 votes to 66, with 35 abstentions a decision on discharge to be granted to the Executive Director of the Community Fisheries Control Agency in respect of the implementation of its 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, 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 resolution on financial management and control of EU agencies - see DEC/2010/2271):

• performance: Parliament calls, 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;
• human resources: Parliament calls on the Agency to redress its weaknesses in recruitment planning;
• internal audit: Parliament notes 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. Parliament considers this shared service concept to be a best practice to be promoted by other Agencies.