The European Parliament adopted a decision to grant
discharge to the Executive Director of the ENIAC Joint Undertaking
in respect of the implementation of Undertaking's budget for the
financial year 2010. This decision also approves the closure of the
Agency’s accounts.
Noting that the Court of Auditors stated that it has
obtained reasonable assurances that the annual accounts of the
Joint Undertaking for the financial year 2010 are reliable and that
the underlying transactions are legal and regular, Parliament
adopted a resolution containing a series 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
performance, financial management and control of EU
agencies.
These recommendations may be summarised as
follows:
-
Reliability of the Joint Undertaking’s
accounts: Parliament is 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. It notes 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;
-
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;
-
Internal control systems: Parliament urges the Joint Undertaking to complete
its internal controls and financial information systems. It also
notes 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. 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:
Parliament states that the mission charter of the Commission’s
Internal Audit Service was adopted by the Governing Board of the
Joint Undertaking;
-
Delayed financial autonomy: Parliament reiterates 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. It insists
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: Parliament 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: Parliament reiterates 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). They note that six Joint Undertakings (IMI,
ARTEMIS, ENIAC, CLEAN SKY, FCH and ITER-F4E) are in the research
area under the Commission’s DGs RTD and INFSO and one is
charged with developing the new air traffic management system
(SESAR) in the transport domain whose activities are supervised by
DG MOVE.
In this context, Parliament calls 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. It recalls that Joint
Undertakings are public-private partnerships and that as a
consequence public and private interests are intertwined. Members
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.
Parliament notes, with the notable exception of the
Joint Undertaking for ITER and the Development of Fusion Energy,
that Joint Undertakings are relatively small structures and
geographically-concentrated and that they should pool their
resources where possible.
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.