REPORT on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the Community Fisheries Control Agency for the financial year 2009

1. PROPOSAL FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT DECISION

4.4.2011 - (C7‑0244/2010 – 2010/2184(DEC))

Committee on Budgetary Control
Rapporteur: Georgios Stavrakakis

Procedure : 2010/2184(DEC)

Document stages in plenary

Document selected :

A7-0118/2011

Texts tabled :

A7-0118/2011

Debates :

PV 10/05/2011 - 4
CRE 10/05/2011 - 4

Votes :

PV 10/05/2011 - 9.8
Explanations of votes
Explanations of votes
Explanations of votes

Texts adopted :

P7_TA(2011)0167

1. PROPOSAL FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT DECISION

Date adopted

Result of final vote

+:

–:

0:

Members present for the final vote

Josefa Andrés Barea, Kriton Arsenis, Alain Cadec, Carmen Fraga Estévez, Pat the Cope Gallagher, Marek Józef Gróbarczyk, Carl Haglund, Iliana Malinova Iotova, Isabella Lövin, Gabriel Mato Adrover, Guido Milana, Maria do Céu Patrão Neves, Britta Reimers, Crescenzio Rivellini, Ulrike Rodust, Struan Stevenson, Jarosław Leszek Wałęsa

Substitute(s) present for the final vote

Jean-Paul Besset, Luis Manuel Capoulas Santos, Ole Christensen

Substitute(s) under Rule 187(2) present for the final vote

Esther Herranz García

on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the Community Fisheries Control Agency for the financial year 2009

(C7‑0244/2010 – 2010/2184(DEC))

The European Parliament,

– having regard to the final annual accounts of the Community Fisheries Control Agency for the financial year 2009,

– having regard to the Court of Auditors' report on the annual accounts of the Community Fisheries Control Agency for the financial year 2009, together with the Agency's replies[1],

– having regard to the Council's recommendation of 15 February 2011 (5892/2011 – C7‑0052/2011),

– having regard to Article 276 of the EC Treaty and 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 Regulation (EC) No 768/2005 of 26 April 2005 establishing a Community Fisheries Control Agency[3], and in particular Article 36 thereof,

– having regard to Commission Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2343/2002[4] of 19 November 2002 on the framework Financial Regulation for the bodies referred to in Article 185 of Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002, 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 Fisheries (A7-0118/2011),

1. Grants the Executive Director of the Community Fisheries Control Agency discharge in respect of the implementation of the Agency's budget for the financial year 2009;

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 Executive Director of the Community Fisheries Control Agency, 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 Community Fisheries Control Agency for the financial year 2009

(C7‑0244/2010 – 2010/2184(DEC))

The European Parliament,

– having regard to the final annual accounts of the Community Fisheries Control Agency for the financial year 2009,

– having regard to the Court of Auditors' report on the annual accounts of the Community Fisheries Control Agency for the financial year 2009, together with the Agency's replies[5],

– having regard to the Council's recommendation of 15 February 2011 (5892/2011 – C7‑0052/2011),

– having regard to Article 276 of the EC Treaty and 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 Regulation (EC) No 768/2005 of 26 April 2005 establishing a Community Fisheries Control Agency[7], and in particular Article 36 thereof,

– having regard to Commission Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2343/2002[8] of 19 November 2002 on the framework Financial Regulation for the bodies referred to in Article 185 of Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002, 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 Fisheries (A7-0118/2011),

1. Approves the closure of the accounts of the Community Fisheries Control Agency for the financial year 2009;

2. Instructs its President to forward this Decision to the Executive Director of the Community Fisheries Control Agency, 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 the observations forming an integral part of its Decision on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the Community Fisheries Control Agency for the financial year 2009

(C7‑0244/2010 – 2010/2184(DEC))

The European Parliament,

– having regard to the final annual accounts of the Community Fisheries Control Agency for the financial year 2009,

– having regard to the Court of Auditors' report on the annual accounts of the Community Fisheries Control Agency for the financial year 2009, together with the Agency's replies[9],

– having regard to the Council's recommendation of 15 February 2011 (5892/2011 – C7‑0052/2011),

– having regard to Article 276 of the EC Treaty and 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 Regulation (EC) No 768/2005 of 26 April 2005 establishing a Community Fisheries Control Agency[11], and in particular Article 36 thereof,

– having regard to Commission Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2343/2002[12] of 19 November 2002 on the framework Financial Regulation for the bodies referred to in Article 185 of Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002, 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 Fisheries (A7-0118/2011),

A. whereas the Court of Auditors stated that it has obtained reasonable assurances that the annual accounts for the financial year 2009 are reliable and that the underlying transactions are legal and regular,

B. whereas on 5 May 2010 Parliament granted the Executive Director of the Community Fisheries Control Agency discharge in respect of the implementation of the Agency's budget for the financial year 2008[13] and, in its resolution accompanying the discharge decision, inter alia:

- drew attention to the need for the Agency to remedy the shortcomings in the programming of its activities so that in future the procedures for drafting the budget are sufficiently rigorous and obviate any need to increase and/or decrease the appropriations against its budget headings;

- noted that the Agency did not draw up a multiannual work programme;

C. whereas the budget of the Agency for the year 2009 was EUR 10 100 000 which is an increase of 18 % from the financial year 2008;

Performance

1. Congratulates the Agency for having adopted its multiannual work programme for 2011-2015 on 19 October 2010; stresses, in fact, the importance of such a document so that the Agency can make effective organisational arrangements to implement its strategy and achieve its goals;

2. Calls, once more, on the Agency to set out, in a table to be annexed to the Court of Auditors' next report, a comparison of operations carried out during the year for which discharge is to be granted and in the previous financial year so as to enable the discharge authority to assess the Agency's performance from one year to the next more effectively;

3. Urges the Agency to improve its annual work programme by including specific and measurable objectives both at policy area level and at operational activity level, and by establishing SMART indicators; calls also on the Agency to develop key performance indicators within the administrative support functions;

4. Calls further on the Agency to consider making a Gantt diagram part of the programming for each of its operational activities, with a view to indicating in concise form the amount of time spent by each staff member on a project and encouraging an approach geared towards achieving results; requests, therefore, the Agency to inform the discharge authority of the progress made in this respect;

5. Recalls that a delegation from the Committee on Fisheries visited the Agency in June 2010 and was very satisfied with the general state of the Agency's affairs, particularly the execution of the Joint Deployment Plans;

Human resources

6. Calls on the Agency to redress its weaknesses in recruitment planning; notes, in fact, that the Court of Auditors reported that only 44 out of 55 temporary posts planned have been filled (80 %);

Internal audit

7. Welcomes the Agency's initiative to revise its budgetary procedures and associated financial circuits, to designate authorising officers and invest in staff training on financial management;

8. Congratulates the Agency for having set up in 2008 an Internal Audit function (Internal Audit Capability-IAC) which is dedicated to providing support and advice to the Agency's Executive Director and management on internal control, risk assessment and internal audit; notes that the Agency does not employ a full time IAC but shares it with the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) in Lisbon; acknowledges, to this end, that a Service Level Agreement between the Agency and EMSA was signed on 17 June 2008; considers, therefore, this shared service as a best practice to be promoted by other Agencies;

9. Acknowledges that the IAC performed two audits in 2009, one on the implementation of the Internal Control Standards and the other on the payment cycle; calls on the Agency to inform the discharge authority of the recommendations made by the IAC and the action taken by the Agency;

10. Urges the Executive Director of the Agency to fully fulfil his obligation to include, in his report to the discharge authority summarising the Internal Audit Service (IAS) Report, all recommendations made (including the ones which could be possibly refused by the Agency) and all action taken on these recommendations; calls therefore on the Executive Director of the Agency to provide information on the content of the four IAS' “very important” recommendations and the action taken by the Agency;

11. Calls on the Agency to review its Internal Control System to underpin its Executive Director’s annual declaration of assurance and to review all its procedures, both administrative and operational with subsequent documentation of the workflow and key controls; encourages, furthermore, the Agency to establish a risk management function for registering risks and creating plans for mitigating actions;

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12. Refers, in respect of the other observations accompanying its Decision on discharge, which are of a horizontal nature, to its resolution of … May 2011[14] on the performance, financial management and control of the agencies.

15.3.2011

OPINION of the Committee on Fisheries

for the Committee on Budgetary Control

on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the Community Fisheries Control Agency for the financial year 2009

(C7-0244/2010 - 2010/2184(DEC))

Rapporteur: Pat the Cope Gallagher

SUGGESTIONS

The Committee on Fisheries calls on the Committee on Budgetary Control, as the committee responsible, to incorporate the following suggestions in its motion for a resolution:

1. Draws attention to the Court of Auditors' confirmation that the annual accounts showing a budget of EUR 10 100 000 fairly represent, in the Court's opinion, the Community Fisheries Control Agency's financial position as of 31 December 2009 and the results of its operations and its cash-flow for the year then ended, in accordance with the provisions of the Financial Regulation;

2. Expresses its satisfaction that the Court of Auditors has declared the annual accounts of the Agency for the financial year 2009 to be legal and regular;

3. Recalls that a delegation from the Committee on Fisheries visited the Community Fisheries Control Agency in June 2010 and was very satisfied with the general state of the Agency's affairs, particularly the execution of the Joint Deployment Plans;

4. Proposes that Parliament grant the Executive Director of the Community Fisheries Control Agency discharge for the implementation of the Agency's budget for the financial year 2009.

RESULT OF FINAL VOTE IN COMMITTEE

RESULT OF FINAL VOTE IN COMMITTEE

[1] OJ C 338, 14.12.2010, p.1.
[2] OJ L 248, 16.9.2002, p. 1.
[3] OJ L 128, 21.5.2005, p. 1.
[4] OJ L 357, 31.12.2002, p. 72.
[5] OJ C 338, 14.12.2010, p.1.
[6] OJ L 248, 16.9.2002, p. 1.
[7] OJ L 128, 21.5.2005, p. 1.
[8] OJ L 357, 31.12.2002, p. 72.
[9] OJ C 338, 14.12.2010, p.1.
[10] OJ L 248, 16.9.2002, p. 1.
[11] OJ L 128, 21.5.2005, p. 1.
[12] OJ L 357, 31.12.2002, p. 72.
[13] OJ L 252, 25.9.2010, p. 128.
[14] Texts adopted, P7_TA-PROV(2011)

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