The European Parliament adopted by 544 votes to 37, with 61 abstentions, a decision on discharge to be granted to the Director-General of the Euratom Supply Agency in respect of the implementation of its budget for the financial year 2008.
Furthermore, Parliament adopted a resolution with observations which are an integral part of the decision to grant discharge.
The main points are as follows:
- statutes: Parliament recalls that under Decision 2008/114/EC, Euratom, Euratom, established in Luxembourg in 1958, has a new Statute and has become an Agency. In 2008, the Agency did not receive any subsidy to cover its operations and the Commission bore all expenses incurred by the Agency for the implementation of the 2008 budget. Parliament notes therefore that, in the absence of an autonomous budget, the Agency is de facto integrated in the Commission. It therefore asks whether this situation raises the issue of the need to maintain the Agency in its current form and organisation. It cites the Agency’s response which argued that the current situation reflects a balance between, on the one hand, a clear relationship with the Commission (for example, the Commission can adopt directives and nominate the Agency’s director-general) and a degree of legal and financial autonomy, on the other;
- internal audit: Parliament acknowledges that, in accordance with Article 3 of its Statutes, the Agency has selected its own internal auditor, who took up his duties only on 1 July 2009.
Noting that the Agency’s annual accounts for the financial year 2008 are reliable, and the underlying transactions are legal and regular, Parliament approves the closure of the Agency’s accounts. However, it makes 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 financial management and control of EU agencies (see 2010/2007(INI) adopted in parallel).