The European Parliament,

–   having regard to the final annual accounts of the European Railway Agency for the financial year 2008,

–   having regard to the Court of Auditors‘ report on the annual accounts of the European Railway Agency for the financial year 2008, together with the Agency's replies(1),

–   having regard to the Council's recommendation of 16 February 2010 (5827/2010 – C7-0061/2010),

–   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 Regulation (EC) No 881/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 establishing a European Railway Agency(3), and in particular Article 39 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 Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002(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 Transport and Tourism (A7-0084/2010),

1.  Grants the Executive Director of the European Railway Agency discharge in respect of the implementation of the Agency's budget for the financial year 2008;

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 European Railway 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).

(1) OJ C 304, 15.12.2009, p. 89. (2) OJ L 248, 16.9.2002, p. 1. (3) OJ L 164, 30.4.2004, p. 1. (4) OJ L 357, 31.12.2002, p. 72.

The European Parliament,

–   having regard to the final annual accounts of the European Railway Agency for the financial year 2008,

–   having regard to the Court of Auditors‘ report on the annual accounts of the European Railway Agency for the financial year 2008, together with the Agency's replies(1),

–   having regard to the Council's recommendation of 16 February 2010 (5827/2010 – C7-0061/2010),

–   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 Regulation (EC) No 881/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 establishing a European Railway Agency(3), and in particular Article 39 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 Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002(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 Transport and Tourism (A7-0084/2010),

1.  Approves the closure of the accounts of the European Railway Agency for the financial year 2008;

2.  Instructs its President to forward this Decision to the Executive Director of the European Railway 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).

(1) OJ C 304, 15.12.2009, p. 89. (2) OJ L 248, 16.9.2002, p. 1. (3) OJ L 164, 30.4.2004, p. 1. (4) OJ L 357, 31.12.2002, p. 72.

The European Parliament,

–   having regard to the final annual accounts of the European Railway Agency for the financial year 2008,

–   having regard to the Court of Auditors‘ report on the annual accounts of the European Railway Agency for the financial year 2008, together with the Agency's replies(1),

–   having regard to the Council's recommendation of 16 February 2010 (5827/2010 – C7-0061/2010),

–   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 Regulation (EC) No 881/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 establishing a European Railway Agency(3), and in particular Article 39 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 Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002(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 Transport and Tourism (A7-0084/2010),

A.   whereas the Court of Auditors states that it has obtained reasonable assurances that the annual accounts for the financial year 2008 are reliable and that the underlying transactions are legal and regular,

B.   whereas on 23 April 2009 Parliament granted the Executive Director of the European Railway Agency discharge for implementation of the Agency's budget for the financial year 2008(5), and in its resolution accompanying the discharge decision inter alia:

1.  Welcomes the fact that the Court of Auditors found the Agency's accounts for 2008 to be reliable and regarded the transactions underlying them, taken as a whole, as legal and regular;

2.  Notes that the Agency received EUR 18 000 000 in commitment and payment appropriations from the 2008 Union budget;

Performance

3.  Calls 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 more effectively its performance from one year to the next;

4.  Stresses how important it is for the Agency to set SMART objectives and RACER indicators in its programming so as to assess its achievements; notes, however, the assertion by the Agency that it has taken those observations into consideration in its 2009 programme; calls also 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 a concise form the amount of time spent by each staff member on a project and encouraging an approach geared towards achieving results;

5.  Notes the Court of Auditors‘ finding that the Agency carries out its operations in two locations (Lille and Valenciennes), exposing it to additional costs;

Carry-over of appropriations

6.  Notes that the Court of Auditors found that more than EUR 4 100 000 was carried forward to 2009, about EUR 3 900 000 of which concern administrative and operational expenditure (this being 57% of the annual Title II and Title III appropriations); emphasises that this state of affairs reveals that the Agency had difficulties in the programming and the budgeting of its activities;

Procurement procedures

7.  Expresses concern at the weaknesses in procurement procedures revealed by the Court of Auditors‘ audit;

8.  Congratulates the Agency on having drawn up an action plan to address the weaknesses in procurement procedures identified by the Court of Auditors, which were hampering the transparency of those procedures;

Internal audit

9.  Acknowledges that 32 out of the 36 recommendations made by the Internal Audit Service (IAS) have been implemented since 2006; amongst the 4 recommendations which are still in progress, 1 is considered to be ‘critical’ and 3 ‘very important’; urges the Agency, therefore, to implement certain internal control standards related to bank signatures, segregation of duties, sensitive posts and maintenance of delegation powers;

o
o   o

10.  Refers, for other observations accompanying its Decision on discharge, which are of a horizontal nature, to its resolution of 5 May 2010(6) on the performance, financial management and control of the agencies.

(1) OJ C 304, 15.12.2009, p. 89. (2) OJ L 248, 16.9.2002, p. 1. (3) OJ L 164, 30.4.2004, p. 1. (4) OJ L 357, 31.12.2002, p. 72. (5) OJ L 255, 26.9.2009, p. 167. (6) Texts adopted, P7_TA(2010)0139.