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2011 discharge: European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC)

2012/2195(DEC)

The European Parliament adopted a decision on discharge to be granted to the Director of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) in respect of the implementation of the Centre’s budget for the financial year 2011. The vote on the decision to grant discharge covers the closure of the accounts (in accordance with Annex VI, Article 5(1) of the European Parliament’s Rules of Procedure).

Noting that the Court of Auditors stated that it has obtained reasonable assurances that the annual accounts of the Centre for the financial year 2011 are reliable and that it has delivered a qualified opinion on the legality and the regularity of the transactions underlying the Centre’s accounts, Parliament approved the closure of the accounts. It has adopted a resolution containing 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 performance, financial management and control of EU agencies:

  • Financing, budget and financial management: Parliament recalls that the Centre's budget for the year 2011 was EUR 56 656 000, which represents a decrease of 2% compared to 2010.
  • Implementation rate of appropriations and carryovers: it acknowledges that the budget execution at the end of 2011 increased slightly and reached 96%. The budget execution, in terms of payments, reached 76%. It notes that out of the total budget for 2011, 20% was carried over to 2012. It calls on the Centre to inform the discharge authority of the actions taken to address this deficiency as this high level of carryover.
  • Recruitment procedures: Members note that the total number of temporary agents in place at the Centre as of 31 December 2011 was 177, out of 200 posts provided for in the Establishment Table 2011. It calls for the simplification of the Staff Regulations.
  • Qualified opinion of the Court of Auditors: Parliament deplores the fact that the Court of Auditors qualified its opinion with regard to irregularities in the management of one framework contract concluded in 2009 due to fact that the Centre subsequently amended the contract, which led to payments above the set ceiling which were considered irregular and their amount exceeded the materiality threshold. It notes that the Centre consulted the Court of Auditors on further action once it discovered the irregularity and took steps to rectify the situation.

Lastly, Parliament made a series of observations as regards the Centre’s procurement procedures, accounting system, grants and internal audits.