PURPOSE: presentation by the Commission of the
consolidated annual accounts of the European Union for the
financial year 2012, as part of the 2012 discharge
procedure.
Analysis of the accounts of the ITER Joint
Undertaking.
CONTENT: this Commission document sets out the
consolidated annual accounts of the European Union for the
financial year 2012 as prepared on the basis of the information
presented by the institutions, organisations and bodies of the EU,
in accordance with Article 129 (2) of the Financial Regulation
applicable to the EU's General Budget, including the ITER Joint
Undertaking.
In 2012, the tasks and budget of the Joint Undertaking
were as follows:
- description of the tasks of the Joint
Undertaking: the Joint Undertaking is
located in Barcelona, while the main fusion facilities are to be
developed at Cadarache, in France. It was set up under Council Decision
2007/198/Euratom for a period of 35 years.
ITER involves the EU and China, India, Russia,
South Korea, Japan and USA. It was created to manage the ITER
facilities, to encourage the exploitation of the ITER facilities,
to promote public understanding and acceptance of fusion energy,
and to undertake any other activities that are necessary to achieve
its purpose;
- budget of the Joint Undertaking for the 2012 financial
year: the EU (Euratom) contribution
to ITER International is given through the Fusion for Energy
Agency, including also the contributions from Member States and
from Switzerland. The total contribution is legally considered as a
Euratom contribution to ITER since the Member States and
Switzerland do not have ownership interests in ITER. As the EU
legally holds the participation in the joint venture ITER
International, the Commission must recognise the participation in
its accounts. At 31 December 2012, the Commission held 44.25 % of
the ownership participation in ITER. The total (indicative) Euratom
contribution foreseen for ITER (from 2007 to 2041) is EUR 8 949
million.
Please also consult ITER Joint Undertakings final
accounts.