OBJECTIVE: presentation of the Report of the Court of Auditors on the 2011 budget (section IX – European Data Protection Supervisor).
CONTENT: the Court of Auditors published its 35th Annual Report on the implementation of the EU budget for the 2011 financial year.
In accordance with the tasks and objectives conferred on the Court of Auditors by the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, it provides under the discharge procedure, for both the European Parliament and Council, a statement of assurance (“DAS”) about the reliability of the accounts and the legality and regularity of the transactions of each institution, body or agency of the EU, based on an independent external audit.
The audit also focuses on the budget implementation of the Committee of the Regions.
On the basis of its audit work, the Court considers that payments for “Administrative and other expenditure” policy are, overall, significantly error-free. The estimated error rate is 0.1 %.
The Court, however, draws attention to the errors and weaknesses which did not affect the Court’s conclusion. The Court examined a sample of procurement procedures and noted several weaknesses in the application of selection and award criteria, some of which had an impact on the results of the procedure. Other weaknesses relate to the organisation of cross border competition, to the management of automatic award procedures and to the respect of provisions as regards the drafting and filing of tendering documents.
The Court also detects weaknesses when it reviewed a sample of calculations and payments of social allowances as well as a sample of employment contracts concluded with temporary agents.
The Court therefore recommends that the institutions and bodies of the EU take steps to: (i) guarantee that staff deliver, at appropriate intervals, documents confirming their personal situation and implement a system for the timely monitoring of these documents; (ii) ensure that authorising officers improve the design, coordination and performance of procurement procedures through appropriate checks and better guidance.
The Court also makes a number of comments specific to each institution or body of the European Union. These observations do not affect the positive overall appraisal given that they do not significantly affect overall administrative expenditure. However, in the specific case of the audit of the Committee of the Regions, the Court’s audit did not identify any significant weakness.
Follow-up to the Court of Auditors 2010 Annual Report: as regards the payment of social allowances to staff members, the Court indicated that staff should be requested to deliver, at appropriate intervals, documents proving their personal situation. In this regard, the European Data Protection Supervisor should improve its system for the timely monitoring and control of these documents.
To this effect, the Supervisor indicates that it has implemented tools for better management of the allowances (formal contacts within the EDPS’s Office and with the Office for Administration and Payment of Individual Entitlements and yearly information fiche). The Court’s audit showed that these measures were effective.