Legislative Observatory
European Parliament
Please fill in this field to find a procedure

2015 discharge: Clean Sky 2 Joint Undertaking

2016/2196(DEC)

PURPOSE: presentation of the EU Court of Auditors’ report on the annual accounts of the Clean Sky 2 Joint Undertaking for the financial year 2015, together with the Joint Undertaking’s reply.

CONTENT: in accordance with the tasks conferred on the Court of Auditors by the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the Court presents to the European Parliament and to the Council, in the context of the discharge procedure, a Statement of Assurance as to the reliability of the annual accounts of each institution, body or agency of the EU, and the legality and regularity of the transactions underlying them, on the basis of an independent external audit.

This audit focused on the annual accounts of the Clean Sky 2 Joint Undertaking (clean aeronautical technologies). As a reminder, the objective of the Clean Sky Joint Undertaking is to contribute to the finalisation of research activities of the Seventh Research Framework Programme (FP7) and to improving the environmental impact of aeronautical technologies, as well as to developing a strong and globally competitive aeronautical industry and supply chain in Europe. The objectives of the Clean Sky 2 Joint Undertaking fall under the societal challenge pillar in Horizon 2020 for Smart, Green and Integrated Transport.

Statement of assurance: pursuant to the provisions of Article 287 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), the Court has audited:

  • the annual accounts of the Clean Sky 2, which comprise the financial statements and the reports on the implementation of the budget for the financial year ended 31 December 2015;
  • the legality and regularity of the transactions underlying those accounts.

Opinion on the reliability of the accounts: in the Court’s opinion, the Joint Undertaking’s annual accounts present fairly, in all material respects, its financial position as at 31 December 2015, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the year then ended in accordance with the provisions of its financial rules and the rules adopted by the Commission’s accounting officer.

Opinion on the legality and regularity of the transactions underlying the accounts: in the Court’s opinion, the transactions underlying the annual accounts for the year ended 31 December 2015 are, in all material respects, legal and regular.

The audit also revealed the following points:

  • budgetary and financial management: the Court noted that the amount of in-kind contributions entered in the final accounts is based on the information received from the members of the Joint Undertaking other than the EU. From the reported EUR 47 million of in-kind contributions related to H2020 operational expenses, EUR 19 million have been certified in accordance with the Council Regulation, but not yet validated by the Governing Board, and EUR 28 million euros remained to be certified and validated.

Joint Undertaking’s reply: the Joint Undertaking stressed that while the members provided their estimates by 31 January 2016, the actual declarations were received later, as many members find it difficult to present their actual figures in such a short deadline, due to longer internal processes.

By 30 September 2016, the Joint Undertaking received and assessed most of the members’ financial reports which have already increased the validated in-kind contribution by EUR 17.4 million compared to the amount reported in the final accounts.