2013 discharge: European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA)

Having examined the revenue and expenditure accounts for the financial year 2013 and the balance sheet at 31 December 2013 of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), as well as the Court of Auditors' report on the annual accounts of the Centre for the financial year 2013, accompanied by the Centre's replies to the Court's observations, the Council recommends the European Parliament to give a discharge to the Director of the Centre in respect of the implementation of the budget for the financial year 2013.

The Council welcomes the Court's opinion that, in all material respects, the Centre's annual accounts present fairly its financial position as at 31 December 2013 and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the year then ended, in accordance with the provisions of the Centre's Financial Regulation and the accounting rules adopted by the Commission's accounting officer, and that the underlying transactions for that financial year are legal and regular.

Nevertheless, the Council has made one observation concerning:

• procurement: the Council encourages the Centre to further improve its procurement procedures in order to ensure the effectiveness of the process, as well as the full transparency and equal treatment of tenders.