2002 discharge: European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products

PURPOSE : to present a Council Recommendation on the discharge to be given to the Director of the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Agency for the European Agency for the evaluation of medicinal products for the financial year 2002. CONTENT : taking into account the positive Report from the Court of Auditors on the financial statements of the Agency, the Court recommends that the European Parliament give discharge to the Director of the Agency in respect of the implementation of the budget for the financial year 2002. To recall, EUR 12,2 million (90 %) of the EUR 13,5 million in appropriations carried forward from the financial year 2001 to the financial year 2002 have been used. EUR 6,8 million in appropriations have been carried forward from the financial year 2002 to the financial year 2003 and EUR 4,2 million have been cancelled. This recommendation includes comments made by the Council on the discharge to be given to the Agency. The Council welcomes the fact that the Court of Auditors has been able to obtain reasonable assurance that the Agency's annual accounts for the financial year ended 31 December 2002 are reliable and that the underlying transactions, taken as a whole, are legal and regular. However, some observations need to be made. The Council notes with satisfaction the efforts being made by the Agency to put in place a revised procedure to bring the processing of inspection fees in line with the principle of annuality. About the global sum advances received by the Agency, the Council stresses the importance of finding a procedure in order to make the link between the customer deposits and their uses clearer. Finally, the Council asks that the implementation of internal control procedures necessary in order to carry out efficient verification of invoices be improved as quickly as possible.�