The European
Parliament adopted by 556 votes to 30, with 54 abstentions, a decision on
discharge to be granted to the Executive Director of the SESAR Joint
Undertaking in respect of the implementation of its budget for the financial
year 2008.
Furthermore,
Parliament adopted a resolution with observations which are an integral part
of the decision to grant discharge.
The main
points are as follows:
- failure
to respect the budgetary principle of annuality: Parliament notes that, in April 2008, the Joint
Undertaking's Administrative Board adopted the final budget covering the
period August 2007 – December 2008, and that that decision was at odds
with the annuality principle;
- implementation
of the budget: Parliament states that the
final budget adopted by the Joint Undertaking's Administrative Board in
April 2008 proved to be highly unrealistic, as is illustrated by
commitment and payment appropriations take-up rates of 1% and 17%
respectively. It regrets that, in a number of instances, transaction
controls did not operate correctly and that adequate internal controls
for contracts and procurement had not been established;
- recognition
of assets: in contrast to very low
utilisation rates, the Joint Undertaking had considerable sums in
deposits in bank accounts at the year end, thus breaching the principle
of budgetary equilibrium. Parliament expressly recommends that the Joint
Undertaking formulates a more appropriate accounting policy;
- SESAR
Financial Regulation: Parliament welcomes
the Court of Auditors' intention to deliver an opinion on the Financial
Regulation. It stresses the importance of that regulation being in line
with the framework Financial Regulation for Community bodies and the
need to adopt implementing rules for its Financial Regulation;
- internal
control systems: Parliament calls on the
Joint Undertaking also to establish without delay appropriate internal
control systems in connection with public procurement. It concludes from
the annual closure of accounts and the amount of interest payments that
the Joint Undertaking maintains high cash reserves over long periods (as
of 31 December 2008, the Joint Undertaking's cash reserves amounted to
EUR 116 007 569).
Noting that
the Joint Undertaking’s annual accounts for the financial year 2008 are
reliable, and the underlying transactions are legal and regular, Parliament
approves the closure of the Undertaking’s accounts. However, it makes a
number of recommendations that need to be taken into account when the
discharge is granted, in addition to the general recommendations that appear
in the draft resolution on financial management and control of EU agencies
(see 2010/2007(INI) adopted in parallel).