2011 discharge: European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (EUROFOUND)

2012/2184(DEC)

The European Parliament adopted a decision on discharge to be granted to the Director of the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound) in respect of the implementation of the Agency’s budget for the financial year 2011. The vote on the decision to grant discharge covers the closure of the accounts (in accordance with Annex VI, Article 5(1) of the European Parliament’s Rules of Procedure).

Noting that the Court of Auditors stated that it has obtained reasonable assurances that the annual accounts of the Foundation for the financial year 2011 are reliable and that the underlying transactions are legal and regular, Parliament adopted a resolution containing a number 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:

  • Financing, budget and financial management: Parliament recalls that the overall budget of the Foundation for the year 2011 was EUR 20.6 million which is a decrease compared to 2010. The initial contribution of the Union to the Foundation's budget amounted to EUR 20.21 million.
  • Implementation rate of appropriations and carryovers: it states that 47% of operational expenditure went unused (of which EUR 1.6 million were unplanned). It expresses concern that this situation indicates delays in the implementation of the Foundation’s activities and is at odds with the budgetary principle of annuality.
  • Recruitment procedures: Parliament notes that the Court of Auditors identified a need to improve the transparency of recruitment procedures.

Lastly, Parliament made a series of observations as regards the Foundation’s follow-up of the previous discharge and performances of this Agency.