The Committee on Budgetary Control adopted the report by Petri SARVAMAA (EPP, FI) on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions for the financial year 2012, and called on the European Parliament to grant the Director of the Foundation discharge in respect of the implementation of the Foundation’s budget for the financial year 2012.
Noting that the Court of Auditors stated that it has obtained reasonable assurances that the annual accounts of the Foundation for the financial year 2012 are reliable, and that the underlying transactions are legal and regular, Members approved the closure of the Foundation’s accounts. They made, however, a number of recommendations that needed 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: Members recalled that the budget of the Foundation for the financial year 2012 was EUR 21 .4 million.
· Carryovers: Members stressed that while the carry-over of committed appropriations is high at 50 %; this corresponds to payment schedules and reflects the multiannual nature of the Foundation’s operations.
Members also made a series of observations on transfers, procurement and recruitment procedures as well as comments on internal controls.
They acknowledged from the Foundation that since 2011, the Foundation had established a system of monitoring and reporting potential conflicts of interest of members of the Governing Board and the relevant forms were published on the Foundation's website. The report acknowledged, furthermore, that the Foundation’s Governing Board discussed a comprehensive strategy on the detection and management of conflicts of interest and that the policy is currently being finalised on this basis. It called on the Foundation to submit the adopted document to the discharge authority.
Lastly, Members asked the Foundation to strengthen transparency and prevent conflicts of interests, as well as make publicly available the Declarations of Interests of certain members.