OBJECTIVE: granting of discharge for implementing the EU’s general budget for 2003 - European Aviation Safety Agency .

LEGISLATIVE ACT: Decision 2005/551/EC of the European Parliament concerning the discharge for implementing the general budget of the EU for the 2003 financial year – European Aviation Safety Agency.

CONTENT: With this Decision, the European Parliament grants discharge to the Director of the European Aviation Safety Agency for the implementation of the budget for the 2003 financial year.

This decision is in line with the European Parliament’s resolution adopted on 12 April 2005 and comprises a series of observations that form an integral part of the discharge decision (please refer to the summary of the opinion of 12/04/2005).

The committee adopted the report by Inés AYALA SENDER (PES, ES) and Carl SCHLYTER (Greens/EFA, SE) by 565 votes for, 47 votes against and 26 abstentions giving discharge to the Director of the European Aviation Safety Authority for the 2003 financial year.

Parliament notes the observations of the ECA in relation to problems encountered as regards compliance with the Financial Regulation (for example, on the lack of segregation of duties between financial actors or on delays in systems' validation for supplying accounting information). It also notes the ECA's findings with regard to deficiencies in the application of the rules concerning the determination of remuneration or of entitlements of recruited staff.

Moreover, it regrets the absence of an equality plan and expects the Agency to develop a plan shortly in order to become an equal opportunities employer. It expects the Agency not only to consider equality issues at the stage of recruitment but also to work proactively and on a long-term basis to promote gender equality.

In its accompanying comments, the Parliament made a number of general points addressed to the Commission, the Agencies and the Court of Auditors (ECA):

General points addressed to the Commission and the Agencies: Parliament n otes the Commission's position with regard to delegating responsibility for the execution of tasks to bodies, including agencies, other than the Commission's core administration and it takes the view that this does not answer Parliament's call for in-depth consideration at inter-institutional level of the structure of existing agencies. It therefore invites the Commission to provide clarification on this point and on the future overall inter-institutional agreement related to the new arrangements to be set up within or in parallel with the Financial Perspective and invites the Commission to organise and perform in the medium term, e.g. on a standard three-year cycle, a cross-cutting analysis of the evaluations carried out on individual Agencies in order to:

- reach conclusions with regard to the coherence of Agency activity with EU policies in general and as regards the synergies existing or to be developed between the agencies and Commission departments and the avoidance of overlapping between them;

- make an assessment of the broader European added value of the Agencies' outputs in their respective area of activity and of the relevance, efficiency and effectiveness of the Agency model in implementing or contributing to EU policies;

- determine and enhance the impact of the Agencies" actions in terms of the proximity, accessibility and visibility of the EU to its citizens.

In addition, Parliament calls on the Commission, in parallel with this exercise, to present by the end of 2005 at the latest, proposals for changes to be made in the existing Agencies" Constituent Acts with a view, inter alia, to optimising its relationship with the Agencies.

General points addressed to the Agencies: Parliament e xpects to receive from now on, from each of the Agencies, the report summarising information on the audits carried out by the Internal Auditor. It invites the Agencies to make further efforts to apply correctly the staff regulations and rules applicable to other civil servants with regard to their staff (recruitment procedures and relevant decisions taken, personal files, calculation of remuneration and other entitlements, promotions policy, percentage of vacant posts, quotas for respecting gender equality, etc.).

Moreover, the Parliament expects the Agencies, in response to the relevant observations of the ECA, to comply fully with the budgetary principles as set out in the Financial Regulation, in particular those of unity and budgetary accuracy.

Parliament invites the Agencies to develop a comprehensive strategy of communication addressing the need to make available, in the appropriate form, the results of their work to the general public beyond the presentation of such results to the Institutions, Member States" competent services, specialists, partners or specific beneficiaries.

General points addressed to the ECA and the Agencies : Parliament w elcomes the ECA's initiative to add a table to its specific reports on the Agencies presenting summary information on the competences, governance, resources available and products/output of the particular agency.

The committee adopted the report by Inés AYALA SENDER (PES, ES) and Carl SCHLYTER (Greens/EFA, SE) by 565 votes for, 47 votes against and 26 abstentions giving discharge to the Director of the European Aviation Safety Authority for the 2003 financial year.

Parliament notes the observations of the ECA in relation to problems encountered as regards compliance with the Financial Regulation (for example, on the lack of segregation of duties between financial actors or on delays in systems' validation for supplying accounting information). It also notes the ECA's findings with regard to deficiencies in the application of the rules concerning the determination of remuneration or of entitlements of recruited staff.

Moreover, it regrets the absence of an equality plan and expects the Agency to develop a plan shortly in order to become an equal opportunities employer. It expects the Agency not only to consider equality issues at the stage of recruitment but also to work proactively and on a long-term basis to promote gender equality.

In its accompanying comments, the Parliament made a number of general points addressed to the Commission, the Agencies and the Court of Auditors (ECA):

General points addressed to the Commission and the Agencies: Parliament n otes the Commission's position with regard to delegating responsibility for the execution of tasks to bodies, including agencies, other than the Commission's core administration and it takes the view that this does not answer Parliament's call for in-depth consideration at inter-institutional level of the structure of existing agencies. It therefore invites the Commission to provide clarification on this point and on the future overall inter-institutional agreement related to the new arrangements to be set up within or in parallel with the Financial Perspective and invites the Commission to organise and perform in the medium term, e.g. on a standard three-year cycle, a cross-cutting analysis of the evaluations carried out on individual Agencies in order to:

- reach conclusions with regard to the coherence of Agency activity with EU policies in general and as regards the synergies existing or to be developed between the agencies and Commission departments and the avoidance of overlapping between them;

- make an assessment of the broader European added value of the Agencies' outputs in their respective area of activity and of the relevance, efficiency and effectiveness of the Agency model in implementing or contributing to EU policies;

- determine and enhance the impact of the Agencies" actions in terms of the proximity, accessibility and visibility of the EU to its citizens.

In addition, Parliament calls on the Commission, in parallel with this exercise, to present by the end of 2005 at the latest, proposals for changes to be made in the existing Agencies" Constituent Acts with a view, inter alia, to optimising its relationship with the Agencies.

General points addressed to the Agencies: Parliament e xpects to receive from now on, from each of the Agencies, the report summarising information on the audits carried out by the Internal Auditor. It invites the Agencies to make further efforts to apply correctly the staff regulations and rules applicable to other civil servants with regard to their staff (recruitment procedures and relevant decisions taken, personal files, calculation of remuneration and other entitlements, promotions policy, percentage of vacant posts, quotas for respecting gender equality, etc.).

Moreover, the Parliament expects the Agencies, in response to the relevant observations of the ECA, to comply fully with the budgetary principles as set out in the Financial Regulation, in particular those of unity and budgetary accuracy.

Parliament invites the Agencies to develop a comprehensive strategy of communication addressing the need to make available, in the appropriate form, the results of their work to the general public beyond the presentation of such results to the Institutions, Member States" competent services, specialists, partners or specific beneficiaries.

General points addressed to the ECA and the Agencies : Parliament w elcomes the ECA's initiative to add a table to its specific reports on the Agencies presenting summary information on the competences, governance, resources available and products/output of the particular agency.

EP: decision of committee responsible, 1st reading/single reading

The committee adopted the report by Inés AYALA SENDER (PES, ES) and Carl SCHLYTER (Greens/EFA, SE) giving discharge to the Director of the European Aviation Safety Authority for the 2003 financial year.

In its accompanying comments, the committee made a number of general points addressed to the Commission, the Agencies and the Court of Auditors (ECA):

- before the Commission defines the framework conditions for the use of regulatory agencies, an interinstitutional agreement should spell out common guidelines;

- the Commission should carry out a cross-cutting analysis, on a standard three-year cycle, of the coherence of agency activity with EU policy in general. It should also assess "the broader European added value" of the Agencies' work in their respective fields. Before any decision is taken to propose the creation of a new agency, the need for such an agency should be carefully evaluated, bearing in mind existing structures and the principles of subsidiarity, budgetary austerity and simplification of procedures;

- the Agencies were urged to comply fully with the budgetary principles set out in the Financial Regulation, further strengthen their internal management and control procedures and pay "special attention" to procedures for the award and management of contracts. They should also step up cooperation with each other, avoid duplication of work and develop a comprehensive strategy for making the results of their work available to the general public;

- the ECA and the Agencies were urged to strengthen their cooperation and establish a methodology "that prepares the ground for a positive budget discharge from the start of the process".

Having examined the revenue and expenditure account for the financial year 2003 and the balance

sheet of revenue and expenditure at 31 December 2003 of the European Aviation Safety Agency and the Court of Auditors' report on the annual accounts of the Agency, the Council has recommended

that the European Parliament give a discharge to the Executive Director of the Agency in respect of the implementation of the budget for the financial year 2003.

To recall, EUR 2.9 million in appropriations have been carried forward from the financial year 2003 to the financial year 2004 and EUR 0.8 million have been cancelled. Observations in the Court of Auditors' report in relation to the financial year 2003 call for certain comments by the Council, which are annexed to this Recommendation.

It welcomes the fact that the Court of Auditors has been able to obtain reasonable assurance that the Agency's annual accounts for the financial year ended 31 December 2003 are reliable and that the underlying transactions, taken as a whole, are legal and regular. However, some observations need to be made. The Council invites the Agency to follow the Court's remarks regarding the duties of the authorizing officer and the accounting officer, in order to ensure the respect of the Agency's financial regulation. As regards Staff management, the Council calls on the Agency to take appropriate measures in order to improve the compliance with regulatory provisions concerning recruitment. The Agency should also strengthen its computer system to deal with the increase of its activities.

This report from the Court of Auditors concerns the results of the audit carried out by the Court on the annual accounts of the the European Aviation Safety Agency for the financial year ended 31 December 2003. The European Aviation Safety Agency was established by Council Regulation 1592/2002/EC of 15 July 2002 therefore the year 2003 was the first in which the Agency actually began to carry out its operational activities.

The Court has obtained reasonable assurance that the annual accounts for the financial year ended 31 December 2003 were reliable and that the underlying transactions, taken as a whole, were legal and regular.

The report indicates that the final budget appropriations amount to EUR 4.7 million with EUR 3.9 million being committed and EUR 1 million being paid. EUR 2.9 million were carried over to 2004 and EUR 800 000 were cancelled.

In its report, the Court states that the Executive Director, who is the authorising officer, is also empowered to sign banking instructions. This is contrary to Article 37 of the Agency's financial regulation. The Court also notes the lack of consistency of the accounting officer to validate systems or justify accounting information.

Furthermore, the Court highlights that an examination of the recruitment files revealed that they contained formal deficiencies and that some documents were missing. In view of the scale of recruitment forecast between now and 2006 (around 300 persons), steps must be taken to ensure

improved compliance with the regulatory provisions. An analysis of the computer system control environment showed that it requires strengthening in advance of the forecast increase in the Agency's activities.

The Agency responds point by point to the observations made by the Court. Firstly, it states that until the end of 2003, the Executive Director was the Agency's only temporary staff member. In practice, he signed banking transactions alongside the accountant. Other temporary staff have been hired during the second half of 2004, eliminating this incompatibility.

The financial systems were validated by the accountant at the beginning of February 2004. A computer system for managing fixed assets, to be implemented by the authorising officer, is currently being acquired and will be validated at a later stage.

The shortcomings identified by the Court are related to the fact that the Agency was in its start-up phase. A Human Resources department with a special recruitment unit was set up in February 2004. It has already implemented procedures and tools. The Agency is considering setting up a computerised recruitment management system as of January 2005.

The fact that the Agency is based on the premises of the Commission has had a major impact on its IT environment. The Agency will move to its new premises in Cologne, Germany, in November 2004, which will lead to a considerable improvement in its IT environment and the implementation of a new computer architecture.

PURPOSE : presentation of the financial statements and the balance sheets for the European Aviation

Safety Agency for the financial year 2003.

CONTENT : this report presented by the European Aviation Safety Agency presents the financial statements and balance sheets of its activities in 2003.

The final budget of the Agency amounts to EUR 4.75 million in 2003 with a 100% Community contribution.

As regards the staffing policy, the Agency, whose temporary headquarters are in Brussels but planned relocation to Cologne, Germany, has a total of 80 posts. 1 post is currently occupied and 16 others are auxiliary contracts. Therefore, there is effectively 17 staff assigned to operations, administrative and mixed duties.

The European Aviation Safety Agency was established by Council Regulation 1592/2002/EC of 15 July 2002 therefore the year 2003 was the first in which the Agency actually began to carry out its operational activities. As a consequence, the activities are limited to the main missions provided for by Regulation 1592/2002/EC, which are :

- to deliver a number of opinions to the Commission (2 in 2003);

- to provide the Commission with a number of specifications and guidance documents on air safety (19);

- to certify decisions (2 132 with 1 606 relating to minor modifications).

Lastly, in 2003, the Agency did not carry out any inspections or investigations in the Member States.

PURPOSE : presentation of the financial statements and the balance sheets for the European Aviation

Safety Agency for the financial year 2003.

CONTENT : this report presented by the European Aviation Safety Agency presents the financial statements and balance sheets of its activities in 2003.

The final budget of the Agency amounts to EUR 4.75 million in 2003 with a 100% Community contribution.

As regards the staffing policy, the Agency, whose temporary headquarters are in Brussels but planned relocation to Cologne, Germany, has a total of 80 posts. 1 post is currently occupied and 16 others are auxiliary contracts. Therefore, there is effectively 17 staff assigned to operations, administrative and mixed duties.

The European Aviation Safety Agency was established by Council Regulation 1592/2002/EC of 15 July 2002 therefore the year 2003 was the first in which the Agency actually began to carry out its operational activities. As a consequence, the activities are limited to the main missions provided for by Regulation 1592/2002/EC, which are :

- to deliver a number of opinions to the Commission (2 in 2003);

- to provide the Commission with a number of specifications and guidance documents on air safety (19);

- to certify decisions (2 132 with 1 606 relating to minor modifications).

Lastly, in 2003, the Agency did not carry out any inspections or investigations in the Member States.