The Committee on Budgetary Control adopted the report
by Monica Luisa MACOVEI (EPP, RO) on discharge in respect of the
implementation of the budget of the ENIAC Joint Undertaking and
called on the European Parliament to grant the Executive Director
of discharge in respect of the implementation of the Joint
Undertaking's budget for the financial year 2010.
Noting that the Court of Auditors states that it has
obtained reasonable assurances that the annual accounts for the
financial year 2010 are reliable and that the underlying
transactions are legal and regular, Members approve the closure of
the Joint Undertaking’s account. However, they make a number
of recommendations that need to be taken into account when the
discharge is granted.
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Reliability of the Joint Undertaking’s
accounts: Members are concerned that
the Joint Undertaking received a qualified opinion from the Court
of Auditors on the reliability of the accounts, on the grounds that
it has not included in the accounts the Budgetary Outturn. They
note that the qualified opinion is due to the fact that the Joint
Undertaking and the Court of Auditors referred to different dates
to establish when the Joint Undertaking started to work
autonomously;
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Budget and Financial
Management: Members are concerned
about the low implementation rate of the payments' budget and,
moreover, about the underlying activities of the Joint Undertaking;
underlines that the cash balance stood at EUR 20 million at the end
of the year representing 53 % of the available payment
appropriations for 2010. They remark that the low implementation of
the payment appropriations is the result of the delayed transfer of
the operational activities and the corresponding funding from the
Commission to the Joint Undertaking;
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Internal control systems: Members urge the Joint Undertaking to complete its
internal controls and financial information systems. They also note
that control weaknesses were detected in the area of ex-ante
financial verification of pre-financing payments, in particular
regarding the calculation and validation of the amounts paid.
Members note that the ex-post audit of cost claims related to the
projects has been fully delegated to the Member States and that is
should be ensured that the financial interests of its members are
adequately protected and that the underlying transactions are legal
and regular. They note that the Joint Undertaking has an adequate
level of IT governance and practice for its size and mission but
stress that the IT
- strategic planning cycle, etc is lagging behind. This
situation should be remedied;
-
Internal Audit:
Members state that the mission charter of the Commission’s
Internal Audit Service was adopted by the Governing Board of the
Joint Undertaking;
-
Delayed financial autonomy: Members reiterate that the Joint Undertaking
was set up in February 2008 but started to work autonomously in
July 2010. They express great concern that the Joint Undertaking
has used one quarter of its envisaged duration, up to 31 December
2017, to achieve financial autonomy. They insist that these delays
should not, however, cause a prolongation of the 10 year period of
its existence but should embolden the management of the Joint
Undertaking to address all shortcomings and reach its objectives
within the envisaged 10 year period;
-
Call for Proposals and Project
Management: Members are deeply
concerned by the slow progression of the projects under Call 1
(2008) and Call 2 (2009). They call on the Joint Undertaking to
provide the discharge authority with report on the situation of
different projects ;
-
Performance:
Members note that the Commission’s report on the first interim
evaluation showed chronic underspending of its operational budget.
They call on the Joint Undertaking to inform the discharge
authority of the state of implementation of these action items and
on the results achieved;
- Lack of host State agreement: Members reiterate that the Joint Undertaking should
rapidly conclude a host agreement with Belgium concerning office
accommodation, privileges and immunities and other support to be
provided by Belgium to it.
Horizontal observations on the Joint
Undertakings: Members underline that
seven Joint Undertakings have so far been established by the
European Commission under Article 187 of the Treaty on the
Functioning of the European Union and that the total Union
contribution deemed necessary for the Joint Undertakings for their
period of existence amounts to EUR 11.5 billion (for the
financial year 2010 alone, the overall Union contribution amounted
to EUR 505 million). In this context, Members call on the
Commission to provide the discharge authority annually with
consolidated information on the total annual funding per Joint
Undertaking made from the general budget of the Union in order to
ensure transparency and clarity on the use of the Union's funds and
restore trust among the European taxpayers. They recall that Joint
Undertakings are public-private partnerships and that as a
consequence public and private interests are intertwined. They
consider that the likelihood of conflicts of interest should not
be dismissed but addressed properly. They call therefore on the
Joint Undertakings to inform the discharge authority on the
verification mechanisms which exist in their respective structures
to enable a proper management and prevention of conflicts of
interest.
Lastly, the Court of Auditors is invited to provide,
within a reasonable deadline, a special report to Parliament, on
the added value of the establishment of the Joint
Undertakings.