2003 discharge: European Agency for reconstruction

The European Parliament adopted a resolution drafted by co-rapporteurs Inés AYALA SENDER (PES, ES) and Carl SCHLYTER (Greens/EFA, SE) giving discharge to the Director of the European Agency for Reconstruction, in respect of the implementation of its budget for the financial year 2003.  (Please see the summary of 16/03/05.)

Parliament’s resolution is in two parts: the first concerns the discharge itself and the second part deals with an accompanying resolution on the management and implementation of the budget. The accompanying resolution also carries general points addressed to the Commission and the Agencies.

Parliament noted  that certain practices in the Agency's budget resulted in an accounting out-turn for the financial year that bears no relation to the economic reality, and in a cumulative deficit of approximately EUR 141 million, which is largely artificial. Parliament expected that this problem would be solved for the discharge procedure 2004.

On the financial statements, Parliament pointed out that since 2003 major changes in the tender system have been undertaken, which should guarantee the transparent treatment of each tender. It welcomed the immediate action taken by the Director of the Agency when discovering irregularities in the conclusion of one of the major infrastructure contracts, including the automatic suspension of the person responsible and the transmission of the dossier to OLAF. The latter found strong evidence that the successful firm received assistance from the Agency employee suspended in connection with the infrastructure contract in question in preparing the documents relating to its bid. Parliament recalled that, under the rules governing calls for tenders, even the attempt by a tenderer to obtain confidential information concerning a call for tender procedure entails his exclusion from the procedure.

With regard to the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions, Parliament recognized

the efforts by the Agency in limiting the number of authorizing officers to only 20 delegations and sub-delegations, which should allow a proper financial implementation while ensuring an efficient implementation of the actions planned at local level.

General points addressed to the Commission and the Agencies: Parliament supported the Commission’s efforts to establish a limited number of models, at least for future ‘regulatory’ agencies. It took the view that the structure of current and future agencies merited in-depth consideration at inter-institutional level. Before the Commission defines the framework conditions for the use of regulatory agencies, an inter-institutional agreement should spell out common guidelines. Parliament invited the Commission to perform by the end of 2005 a cross-cutting analysis of the evaluations carried out on individual Agencies in order to:

- reach conclusions with regard to the coherence of Agency activity with EU policies in general and as regards the synergies existing or to be developed between the agencies and Commission departments and the avoidance of overlapping between them;

- make an assessment of the broader European added value of the Agencies' outputs in their respective area of activity and of the relevance and effectiveness of the Agency model in implementing or contributing to EU policies;

- determine the impact of the Agencies’ actions in terms of the proximity and visibility of the EU to its citizens.

In parallel with this exercise, the Commission should present proposals for changes to be made in the existing Agencies’ Constituent Acts with a view to optimising its relationship with the Agencies. Before any decision is taken to propose the creation of a new agency, the Commission must undertake a strict evaluation of the added value of the function of this agency, bearing in mind existing structures, the principles of subsidiarity, budgetary austerity and the simplification of procedures.

General points addressed to the Agencies:

Parliament wanted to receive from each of the Agencies, the report summarizing information on the audits carried out by the Internal Auditor, the recommendations made and the action taken on these recommendations in accordance with Regulation 2343/2002/EC. Agencies should also make further efforts to apply correctly the staff regulations and rules applicable to other civil servants with regard to their staff. Parliament made some remarks on the imbalance between men and women in high-grade positions in the agencies, and stated that relevant provisions on equal opportunities must be observed.

In response to the relevant observations of the Court of Auditors, the Agencies must comply fully with the budgetary principles as set out in the Financial Regulation, in particular those of unity and budgetary accuracy.

Parliament went on to encourages the Agencies to strengthen their co-operation, thus opening up opportunities for developing synergies, and avoiding duplication of work. Parliament expected to be informed regularly on this issue.

It called on the Agencies to pay special attention to procedures for the award and management of contracts, and to strengthen their internal control procedures.  Parliament suggested the setting-up of specialised units entrusted with the task of advising, on the basis of risk analysis, on how best to prepare contract award procedures.

General points addressed to the European Court of Auditors and the Agencies:

Parliament asked Court of Auditors and the Agencies to strengthen their co-operation in order to enhance the procedures and technical tools to improve the sound management of all the budgetary and finance issues. They should do this in order to establish a methodology that prepares the ground for a positive budget discharge from the start of the process.