2004 discharge: European Aviation Safety Agency

Having examined the Agency’s revenue and expenditure account and the observations made by the Court of Auditors, the Council recommends the European Parliament to give a discharge to the Executive Director of the Agency in respect of the implementation of the budget for the financial year 2004.

In doing so, the Council confirms that EUR 1.7 million (59 %) of the EUR 2.9 million in appropriations carried over from the financial year 2003 to the financial year 2004, have been used. In addition, EUR 1.4 million in appropriations have been carried forward from the financial year 2004 to the financial year 2005 and EUR 3.5 million have been cancelled.

In parallel, the Council makes accompanying comments on the discharge which should be followed up. In particular, it:

§         calls on the Agency to follow the Court's remarks regarding budgetary management in particular as regards amending budgets, transfers and payment of advances outside the budget, and full compliance with the budgetary principle of specificity;

§         calls on the Agency to take the appropriate measures in order to improve its recruitment procedures. It expects that weaknesses will be addressed as soon as possible;

§         asks the Agency to develop the internal control standards and to carry out an adequate risk analysis.