on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Police Office for the financial year 2010

(C7-0316/2011 – 2011/2255(DEC))

The European Parliament,

–   having regard to the final annual accounts of the European Police Office for the financial year 2010,

–   having regard to the Court of Auditors' report on the annual accounts of the European Police Office for the financial year 2010, together with the Office's replies(1),

–   having regard to the Council's recommendation of 21 February 2012 (06083/2012 – C7-0051/2012),

–   having regard to Article 319 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

–   having regard to Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities(2), and in particular Article 185 thereof,

–   having regard to Council Decision 2009/371/JHA of 6 April 2009 establishing the European Police Office (Europol)(3), and in particular Article 43 thereof,

–   having regard to Commission Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2343/2002 of 19 November 2002 on the framework Financial Regulation for the bodies referred to in Article 185 of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities(4), and in particular Article 94 thereof,

–   having regard to Rule 77 of, and Annex VI to, its Rules of Procedure,

–   having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgetary Control and the opinion of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (A7-0111/2012),

1.  Grants the Director of the European Police Office discharge in respect of the implementation of the Office's budget for the financial year 2010;

2.  Sets out its observations in the resolution below;

3.  Instructs its President to forward this Decision and the resolution that forms an integral part of it to the Director of the European Police Office, the Council, the Commission and the Court of Auditors, and to arrange for their publication in the Official Journal of the European Union (L series).

2. PROPOSAL FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT DECISION

on the closure of the accounts of the European Police Office for the financial year 2010

(C7-0316/2011 – 2011/2255(DEC))

The European Parliament,

–   having regard to the final annual accounts of the European Police Office for the financial year 2010,

–   having regard to the Court of Auditors' report on the annual accounts of the European Police Office for the financial year 2010, together with the Office's replies(5),

–   having regard to the Council's recommendation of 21 February 2012 (06083/2012 – C7-0051/2012),

–   having regard to Article 319 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

–   having regard to Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities(6), and in particular Article 185 thereof,

–   having regard to Council Decision 2009/371/JHA of 6 April 2009 establishing the European Police Office (Europol)(7), and in particular Article 43 thereof,

–   having regard to Commission Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2343/2002 of 19 November 2002 on the framework Financial Regulation for the bodies referred to in Article 185 of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities(8), and in particular Article 94 thereof,

–   having regard to Rule 77 of, and Annex VI to, its Rules of Procedure,

–   having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgetary Control and the opinion of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (A7-0111/2012),

1.  Approves the closure of the accounts of the European Police Office for the financial year 2010;

2.  Instructs its President to forward this Decision to the Director of the European Police Office, the Council, the Commission and the Court of Auditors, and to arrange for its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union (L series).

3. MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION

with observations forming an integral part of its Decision on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Police Office for the financial year 2010

(C7-0316/2011 – 2011/2255(DEC))

The European Parliament,

–   having regard to the final annual accounts of the European Police Office for the financial year 2010,

–   having regard to the Court of Auditors' report on the annual accounts of the European Police Office for the financial year 2010, together with the Office's replies(9),

–   having regard to the Council's recommendation of 21 February 2012 (06083/2012 – C7-0051/2012),

–   having regard to Article 319 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

–   having regard to Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities(10), and in particular Article 185 thereof,

–   having regard to Council Decision 2009/371/JHA of 6 April 2009 establishing the European Police Office (Europol)(11), and in particular Article 43 thereof,

–   having regard to Commission Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2343/2002 of 19 November 2002 on the framework Financial Regulation for the bodies referred to in Article 185 of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities(12), and in particular Article 94 thereof,

–   having regard to Rule 77 of, and Annex VI to, its Rules of Procedure,

–   having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgetary Control and the opinion of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (A7-0111/2012),

A.  whereas the Court of Auditors stated that it has obtained reasonable assurances that the annual accounts for the financial year 2010 are reliable and that the underlying transactions are legal and regular,  

B.  whereas the overall budget of the Agency for the year 2010 was EUR 92 800 000, whereas the contribution of the Union to the budget of the Office for 2010 was EUR 79 724 150(13),

Budget and Financial Management

1.     Deplores the high level of appropriations carried forward matched by the low level of accrued expenditure; takes note of the Agency's reply that a significant amount of the carryover was due to the Agency's move to its new headquarters; welcomes the additional measures taken by the Agency and the commitment to monitor the implementation of the budget on a monthly basis in 2012, with a particular focus on carry-forwards.

2.      Acknowledges from its Annual Activity Report (AAR) that the Office’s initial budget for 2010 was EUR 80 100 000; notes that the budget was amended by almost EUR 12 700 000 which came from appropriations carried over from 2009 to 2010 integrated into the 2010 budget, grants from the Commission and some additional revenue; takes note of observations from the Office that the reason for amending the initial budget was to facilitate its transition to becoming an agency;

3.      Establishes from its AAR that the Office's overall implementation rates for the end of 2010 were 98,3 % for commitments and 73,6 % for payments;

4.      Welcomes that, following the request of the discharge authority, the final accounts for the financial year 2010 have been made publicly available on the Office's website on 17 February 2012; underlines nevertheless that the final accounts for the financial year 2010 should have been made public immediately after their adoption on 13 September 2011; calls therefore on the Office to do so in the future in order to promote its transparency;

Carryover appropriations

5.      Calls on the Office to take immediate action to reduce the high amount of carryovers; notes that the Court of Auditors stated that there were carryovers of EUR 22 600 000 representing 25 % of the 2010 budget; notes also with disappointment that the carry-forward rate was 49 % in Title II – Administrative expenditure and 59 % in Title III – Operational expenditure;

6.      Notes that the breakdown of the carry-forward (EUR 22 600 000) is as follows:

-          EUR 11 300 000 for expenditure relating to the new Europol headquarters,

-          EUR 1 800 000 relates to Chapter 26 (Article 58(4) Europol Council Decision – ECD: liabilities concerning the previous legal framework of Europol),

-          EUR 9 500 000 for other expenditure;

7.      Considers that the high level of appropriations carried forward, matched by the low level of accrued expenditure (EUR 2 900 000), is excessive and at odds with the budgetary principle of annuality;

8.      Notes, nevertheless, that the significant amount of the carryover was due to the unique circumstance of the Office’s move to its new headquarters in 2011, given the delay in the delivery of the building in 2010;

Human Resources

9.      Observes from the Office's AAR that the vacancy rate at the end of the year was 4,5 % instead of the estimated 2,5 %;

10.    Calls on the Office to adopt the Implementing Rules to the Staff Regulations (and related internal instruments) and prepare a learning and development framework;

Performance

11.    Welcomes the fact that the Office's Annual Work Programme (AWP) is aligned with its Strategy 2010-2014 and contains key performance indicators, critical risks and resources assigned to each annual objective;

12.    Calls nevertheless on the Office to include in its AWP information on the overview of planned procurement activities to serve as a "financing decision", required by the implementing provisions of the Framework Financial Regulation;

13.    Calls also on the Office to finalise the translation of its organisational mission statement into concise descriptions of roles and objectives for the departments and units;

14.    Notes in the Office's AAR that the SIENA 2.0 information platform connecting law enforcement authorities was successfully deployed on 22 October 2010 and that by the end of 2010, 21 Member States were connected to SIENA and 8 Member States national asset recovery offices were also linked to it;

15.    Notes, in addition, in the Office's AAR that as of 31 December 2010, on the basis of the assessment of the AWP 2010, very good progress had been made on 14 (82 %) of the AWP objectives and good progress was made on the remaining three objectives (18 %);

16.    Notes also that the Office's Strategy 2010-2014 and the Strategy Implementation Plan were adopted by the Board of Management in 2010;

17.    Recommends that the Office, in the interest of fostering transparency, provides a list of the members of its Management Board which should include their name, declaration of interest and curriculum vitae with their work and educational background; notes with satisfaction that the Office's procurement activities and list of contractors concluded for 2010 has been published on the Office's website;

Internal audit

18.    Acknowledges that the Internal Audit Service (IAS) performed an audit on the implementation of internal control standards in order to assess the status of their implementation, notably in respect of the areas of mission and values, human resources, planning and risk management process, operations and controls activities, information and financing reporting, and evaluation and audit;

19.    Notes that the IAS issued five "very important" recommendations related to:

-          the segregation of duties,

-          ex-post controls,

-          the exceptions to processes,

-          the business continuity plans,

-          the continuity of operations;

calls on the Office to implement all the recommendations of the IAS and to inform the discharge authority on the actions taken;

°

° °

20.    Considering the complementarities between the European Police College and Europol, as well as the potential synergies, calls on the Commission to prepare a comprehensive impact assessment regarding a potential merger of these two agencies setting out the cost and benefits by March 2013.

9.2.2012

OPINION of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs

for the Committee on Budgetary Control

on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Police Office for the financial year 2010

(C7-0316/2011 - 2011/2255(DEC))

Rapporteur: Renate Sommer

SUGGESTIONS

The Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs calls on the Committee on Budgetary Control, as the committee responsible, to incorporate the following suggestions in its motion for a resolution:

1.  Is pleased to note that the Court of Auditors has been able to obtain appropriate evidence that the Annual Accounts of the European Police Office present fairly, in all material respects, its position for the financial year 2010 and that the underlying transactions are legal and regular;

2.  Deplores the high level of appropriations carried forward matched by the low level of accrued expenditure; takes note of the Agency's reply that a significant amount of the carryover was due to the Agency's move to its new headquarters; welcomes the additional measures taken by the Agency and the commitment to monitor the implementation of the budget on a monthly basis in 2012, with a particular focus on carry-forwards.

RESULT OF FINAL VOTE IN COMMITTEE

RESULT OF FINAL VOTE IN COMMITTEE

(1) OJ C 366, 15.12.2011, p. 179. (2) OJ L 248, 16.9.2002, p. 1. (3) OJ L 121, 15.5.2009, p. 37 . (4) OJ L 357, 31.12.2002, p. 72. (5) OJ C 366, 15.12.2011, p. 179. (6) OJ L 248, 16.9.2002, p. 1. (7) OJ L 121, 15.5.2009, p. 37. (8) OJ L 357, 31.12.2002, p. 72. (9) OJ C 366, 15.12.2011, p. 179. (10) OJ L 248, 16.9.2002, p. 1. (11) OJ L 121, 15.5.2009, p. 37. (12) OJ L 357, 31.12.2002, p. 72. (13) OJ L 64, 12.03.2010, p. 1046.