2000 discharge: European Centre for the Development for vocational Training ECDVT budget, Thessalonica

PURPOSE : to present the Council's recommendations on the discharge to be given to the management board of the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training. CONTENT : the Council considers that discharge should be given to the Management Board of the Centre in respect of the implementation of the statement of revenue and expenditure for the financial year 2000. The observations in the Court of Auditors' report in relation to the financial year 2000 call for certain comments by the Council. In particular, the Council: - welcomes the fact that the Court has been able to accord the Centre a statement of assurance in respect of the reliability of the Centre's accounts for the financial year 2000, and in respect of the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions as a whole. - invites the Centre to ensure that the implementation of its budget complies with the principle of annuality by limiting carryovers of appropriations and any cancellations resulting therefrom. - notes with satisfaction the efforts made by the Centre to improve its procurement procedures and encourages it to continue along that path. - invites the Centre subsequently to improve its staff management and information system, in particular its recruitment procedures, in order to make these more transparent. - takes note of the comments of the Court with respect to the consequences of the relocation from Berlin to Thessaloniki and states that it would take account of this experience should a similar situation arise.�