PURPOSE: presentation of the EU Court of
Auditors’ report on the annual accounts of the European
Institute of Innovation and Technology for the financial year 2011,
together with the Institute’s replies.
CONTENT: in accordance with the tasks conferred on the
Court of Auditors by the Treaty on the Functioning of the European
Union, the Court presents to the European Parliament and to the
Council, in the context of the discharge procedure, a Statement of
Assurance as to the reliability of the annual accounts of each
institution, body or agency of the EU, and the legality and
regularity of the transactions underlying them, on the basis of an
independent external audit.
This audit concerned, amongst others, the annual
accounts of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology
(EIT).
In the Court’s opinion, the Institute’s
Annual Accounts fairly present, in all material respects, its
financial position as of 31 December 2011 and the results of
its operations and its cash flows for the year then ended, in
accordance with the provisions of its Financial
Regulation.
The Court also considers that the transactions
underlying the annual accounts of the Institute for the
financial year ended 31 December 2011 are, in all material
respects, legal and regular.
The report confirms that the Institute’s 2011
budget amounted to EUR 65.85 million and that the number of staff
employed by the Institute at the end of the year was 40.
The report also makes a series of observations on the
budgetary and financial management of the Institute, accompanied by
the latter’s response. The main observations may be summarised
as follows:
Court’s comments:
- budget execution: the Court notes that the rate of
execution of the Institute’s budget for the audited period of
financial autonomy was low;
- grants: grant agreements resulting in payments in 2011
were systematically signed by the European Commission (Directorate
General for Education and Culture) and the Institute after most of
the activities had already been implemented. Between September and
December 2011, the Institute made final payments, amounting to EUR
4.2 million, related to three grant agreements that were signed
well after the start of activities. This is an issue in terms of
good financial management.
Institute’s replies:
- the Institute states that there is a seasonal
distribution of expenditures particularly as regards grants. Grant
agreements were concluded at the beginning of the year, and
consequently the pre-financing payments were executed prior to the
Institute’s financial autonomy. As grants represent about 90 %
of the Institute’s budget, their impact on budget execution is
significant. Execution rates are considerably higher for the entire
calendar year than for the audited period of financial autonomy.
However, in order to improve budget execution, the Institute has
introduced a monthly reporting on budget implementation and a
review process for assessing in detail the implementation of the
budget and the EIT work programme, thereby formulating corrective
and reorientation actions in due course if needed, through the
year;
- EIT acknowledges the Court’ comment and is
committed to decrease the gap between the starting date of the
grant agreements and the date of signature.
Lastly, the Court of Auditors’ report contains a
summary of the Institute’s activities in 2011. This is
focused on the following:
- organisation of the first “EIT’s Vision for
the Future” stakeholder conference in Budapest (HU) on 14
April 2011;
- submission of the Institute’s Draft Strategic
Innovation Agenda (SIA) to the European Commission on 15 June
2011;
- participation of the Director of the Institute in the
‘Friends of EIT’ event hosted by the European Parliament
with Commissioner Vassiliou and knowledge and innovation
communities (KIC) CEOs on 21 September 2011;
- organisation of the first “Youth and
Entrepreneurship” conference in Kraków (PL);
- first forum held in Budapest on 11 November
2011;
- joint contribution by the Chairman of the
Institute’s Governing Board, the Institute’s Director and
KIC CEOs at the 1st Innovation Convention organised by the European
Commission, 5-6 December 2011;
- the number of KIC partners has increased steadily,
from 75 in 2010 to around 400 in 2012. The Institute’s total
contribution is around EUR 160 million (slightly less than 25% of
the KICs’ total budget) for the period 2010-2012.