The European Parliament adopted a decision to grant discharge to the Director of the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training in respect of the implementation of the budget for the financial year 2010. This decision also approves the closure of the Agency’s accounts.
Noting that the Court of Auditors stated that it has obtained reasonable assurances that the annual accounts of the Centre for the financial year 2010 are reliable and that the underlying transactions are legal and regular, Parliament adopted a resolution containing a series 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.
These recommendations may be summarised as follows:
- Budget and financial management: Parliament notes from the Centre’s annual accounts for the financial year 2010 that the representation expenses and the meeting expenses increased respectively by 233 % and 37 % compared with 2009. It also notes that, in 2010, the Centre did not meet the target for using funds as already commented on by the Court in its report on the 2009 financial year. It calls on the Centre to keep the discharge authority informed of the use of these contributions. It welcomes in this respect the fact that, in 2011, the target was reached and 100 % of the planned budget was executed;
- Carryover appropriations: Members note that the Centre carried forward a number of appropriations from one budget heading to another (when some carryovers were unauthorised because they were not automatic). They note some improvements as cancelled payment appropriations were down from 24 % in 2009 to 14% in 2010 but, nevertheless, call on the Centre to put further efforts into reducing carryover appropriations;
- Transfers: Members call on the Centre to reduce as much as possible transfers of commitment appropriations in order also to apply the principle of specification;
- Human resources: Parliament observes from its Annual Activity Report (AAR) that on 31 December 2010 the Centre employed 96 staff, 5 posts fewer than provided for in its establishment plan. It takes note of the Governing Board's statement in its opinion on the Centre's 2010 final Annual Account that the recruitment procedures for all five open posts were in progress or had been successfully completed by 31 December 2010;
- Internal audit: Parliament notes that that the Internal Audit Service (IAS) had observed that the Centre has started to implement new Internal Control Standards (ICS) in 2009 and baseline requirements were fully met by the end of 2010 with very few exceptions. As far as the Internal Audit Capacity (IAC) is concerned, Parliament notes that following an IAC audit of grant procedures the Centre proceeded to recover amounts paid to national grant beneficiaries totalling EUR 23 647.67. On the whole, they are of the view that the IAC’s reports could lead to further improvements in the internal control measures for procurement and grant procedures.