The Committee
on Budgetary Control adopted the report by Georgios STAVRAKAKIS (S&D, EL)
on discharge to be granted to the Executive Director of the SESAR Joint
Undertaking in respect of the implementation of the SESAR’s budget for the
financial year 2009.
Noting that
the SESAR’s annual accounts for the financial year 2009 are reliable, and the
underlying transactions are legal and regular, MEPs approve the closure of
the SESAR’s accounts. However, they make 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 DEC/2010/2271):
- implementation
of the budget: Members note that the Joint
Undertaking final 2009 budget included commitment appropriations of EUR
325 million and payment appropriations of EUR 157 million. They also
note that the utilisation rates for commitment and payment
appropriations were 97.1% and 43.2% respectively. They recognise that
the Joint Undertaking is still in a start-up period. They also stress
that year-end bank deposits totalling EUR 86.8 million represent a breach
of the budgetary principle of equilibrium. They consider it important to
set out the conditions under which, if the balance of the outturn
account is positive, it shall be entered in the budget of the Joint
Undertaking of the following financial year in order to specify the
application of this derogation from the general budgetary principle of
equilibrium. They are also concerned by the fact that, in December 2009,
no integrated management system had been set in place. They ask that a
report on carryovers of appropriations not used in the previous year
specifying the reasons why these resources were not deployed be attached
to the budget of each financial year;
- Members’
contribution: Members call on SESAR to
harmonise the presentation of members' contributions in the Accounts
under the guidance of the Commission;
- internal
control systems: Members urge SESAR to
complete the implementation of its internal controls and financial
information system and to include in its Financial Rules a specific
reference to the powers of the Internal Audit Service of the Commission
as its internal auditor. They consider that the role of the Commission
as internal auditor should be to advise SESAR on dealing with risks, by
issuing independent opinions on the quality of management and control
systems and by issuing recommendations for improving the conditions of
implementation of operations and promoting sound financial management.
They also consider it essential that SESAR submit to the discharge
authority a report drawn up by its director summarising the number and
the type of internal audits conducted by the internal auditor. In view
of the size of its budget and the complexity of its tasks, SESAR should
consider establishing an audit committee, reporting directly to the Administrative
Board;
- Financial Regulation: Members welcome the adoption by SESAR of new Financial
Rules.