2010 discharge: European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders (FRONTEX)

Having examined the revenue and expenditure accounts for the financial year 2010 and the balance sheet at 31 December 2010 of the European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders of the Member States of the European Union, as well as the Court of Auditors' report on the annual accounts of the Agency for the financial year 2010, accompanied by the Agency's replies to the Court's observations, the Council recommends the European Parliament to give a discharge to the Executive Director of the Agency in respect of the implementation of the budget for the financial year 2010.

However, the Council considers that observations made in the Court of Auditor's report call for a certain number of remarks:

• the Council welcomes the Court's opinion that, in all material respects, the Agency's annual accounts fairly present the financial position as at 31 December 2010 and the results of operations and cash flows for the year then ended, in accordance with the provisions of the Agency's Financial Regulation, and that the underlying transactions for that financial year are legal and regular;
• as in previous years, the Council invites the Agency to improve its planning and monitoring of activities in order to reduce the high amount of appropriations carried over to the next financial year, in line with the budgetary principle of annuality;
• it encourages the Agency to tackle the weaknesses detected in the system for reconciling suppliers' statements with the corresponding records at the Agency.