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2014 discharge: Fuel Cells and Hydrogen 2 Joint Undertaking (FCH 2 Joint Undertaking)

2015/2201(DEC)

PURPOSE: presentation by the Commission of the consolidated annual accounts of the European Union for the financial year 2014, as part of the 2014 discharge procedure.

Analysis of the accounts of the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen 2 Joint Undertaking (FCH 2 Joint Undertaking).

CONTENT: this Commission document sets out the consolidated annual accounts of the European Union for the financial year 2014 as prepared on the basis of the information presented by the institutions, organisations and bodies of the EU, in accordance with Article 148 (2) of the Financial Regulation applicable to the EU's General Budget, including the FCH 2 Joint Undertaking.

The document contains the figures on which the discharge procedure is based.

On this basis, the Financial Controller of the European Commission ensures the certification of the consolidated accounts as declared by the institutions, agencies and bodies of the European Union.

Discharge procedure of the EU Joint Undertakings: the EU Budget finances a wide range of policies and programmes throughout the EU. In accordance with the priorities set by the European Parliament and the Council in the multi-annual financial framework (MFF), the European Commission carries out specific programmes, activities and projects in the field with the technical support of some specialised agencies.

The consolidated annual accounts of the EU provide information on the activities of the institutions, agencies and other bodies of the EU from a budgetary and accrual accounting perspective.

The consolidated reports on the implementation of the general budget of the EU include the budget implementation of all Institutions. Agencies and Joint Undertakings (JUs) do not have a separate budget inside the EU budget; and they are partially financed by a Commission budget subsidy.

This document sets out how the JUs spent and implemented their budget in 2014. Each agency is subject to its own discharge procedure.

FCH 2 JU: in 2014, the tasks and budget of the Joint Undertaking were as follows:

  • description of the tasks of the Joint Undertaking: the FCH 2 Joint Undertaking, located in Brussels (BE), was set up by Council Regulation (EU) No 559/2014 until 31 December 2024. The FCH 2 Joint Undertaking shall replace and succeed the FCH Joint Undertaking as established by Regulation (EC) No 521/2008. It aims to reduce the production cost of fuel cell systems to be used in transport applications, while increasing their lifetime to levels which can compete with conventional technologies;
  • accounts of the JU: The ownership participation at year-end is as follows 70.85% in FCH 2. In order to take into account the duration of Horizon 2020, calls for proposals by the FCH 2 Joint Undertaking shall be launched at the latest by 31 December 2020.

Please also consult the final accounts of FCH 2 Joint Undertaking.