PURPOSE: to grant discharge to the European Training Foundation for the financial year 2007.

LEGISLATIVE ACT: Decision 2009/659/EC of the European Parliament on the discharge for the implementation of the budget of the European Training Foundation for the financial year 2007.

CONTENT: with the present decision, the European Parliament grants discharge to the Director of the European Training Foundation for the implementation of the Foundation’s budget for the financial year 2007.

This decision is in line with the European Parliament’s resolution adopted on 23 April 2009 and comprises a series of observations that form an integral part of the discharge decision (please refer to the summary of the opinion of 23/04/2009). The decision to grant discharge is also an approval of the closure of the accounts of this EU agency.

The European Parliament adopted a decision concerning the discharge to be granted to the Director of the European Training Foundation in respect of the implementation of the Agency’s budget for the financial year 2007. The decision to grant discharge is also an approval of the closure of the accounts of this EU agency.

In parallel, the European Parliament adopted by 434 votes to 16, with 12 abstentions, a resolution with observations which are an integral part of the decision to grant discharge.

Parliament notes that in the amending budget, the amount of assigned revenue was stated in an incorrect way (it should have been EUR 1.2 million instead of the EUR 3.4 million shown, which included assigned revenue carried over from the previous year).

It also underlines that in the declaration of assurance (annexed to the annual activity report), the Director maintains reservations made last year concerning political uncertainty in partner countries, financial management of part of the Tempus convention and possible social, reputational, legal and financial implications of the repatriation of Tempus technical assistance from the Foundation. Parliament therefore calls on the Court of Auditors to examine and comment on the Director's reservations in the forthcoming audit report on the Foundation.

Lastly, noting that the Foundation’s annual accounts for the financial year 2007 are reliable, and the underlying transactions are legal and regular, the Parliament approves the closure of its accounts and refers, for other observations accompanying its decision on discharge, to its resolution on financial management and control of EU agencies - see 2008/2207(INI) - adopted in parallel.

The Committee on Budgetary Control adopted the report drawn up by Christofer FJELLNER (EPP-ED, SE) on discharge to be granted to the European Training Foundation, calling on the European Parliament to grant the Executive Director of the Foundation discharge in respect of the implementation of its budget for the financial year 2007.

Noting that the Foundation’s annual accounts for the financial year 2007 are reliable, and the underlying transactions are legal and regular, MEPs approve the closure of the Foundation’s accounts.

However, they make a number of recommendations as part of the decision on discharge. In addition to the general recommendations appearing in the draft resolution on financial management and control of EU agencies (see 2008/2207(INI) ), MEPs make the following observations:

in the amending budget, the amount of assigned revenue was stated in an incorrect way (it should have been EUR 1.2 million instead of the EUR 3.4 million shown, which included assigned revenue carried over from the previous year); in the declaration of assurance (annexed to the annual activity report), the Director maintains reservations made last year concerning political uncertainty in partner countries, financial management of part of the Tempus convention and possible social, reputational, legal and financial implications of the repatriation of Tempus technical assistance from the Foundation. MEPs therefore call on the Court of Auditors to examine and comment on the Director's reservations in the forthcoming audit report on the Foundation.

Based on the observations contained in the revenue and expenditure account and the balance sheet of the European Training Foundation for the financial year 2007, as well as on the Court of Auditor’s report and the Foundation’s replies to the Court’s observations, the Council recommends that the Parliament grant the Director of the Foundation discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget for the financial year 2007.

In doing so, the Council confirms that EUR 2.53 million (46%) of the appropriations carried over from 2006 to 2007 (EUR 5.48 million) were used, that the appropriations carried over from 2007 to 2008 amount to EUR 1.95 million and that a total of EUR 2.18 million was cancelled.

Recalling that the Court of Auditors was able to obtain reasonable assurance that the Foundation’s annual accounts were, in all material aspects, reliable, the Council believes that there is a certain number of observations that must be taken into consideration when granting discharge in respect of the implementation of the 2007 budget, particularly regarding the following points:

Presentation of the budget : the Council notes that the amount of the assigned revenue entered in the sole Amending Budget issued for 2007 was incorrect, because it included assigned revenue carried over from the previous year. As assigned revenue is an issue of the utmost importance for the Council and an essential element for a transparent and accountable financial management, it calls on the Foundation to pay particular attention to their budgeting in the future.

PURPOSE: to present the report of the Court of Auditors on the 2007 accounts of the European Training Foundation (ETF).

CONTENT: the Court of Auditor’s report includes a detailed section on the European Training Foundation’s expenditure and an analysis of the expenditure, as well as the Foundations’s replies.

Analysis of the accounts by the Court : in its report, the Court makes a number of observations, particularly with regard to the presentation of the budget. The budget incorporates the amount of assigned revenue (included in an amending budget). However, this amount is incorrect. It should have been EUR 1.2 million instead of the EUR 3.4 million shown, which erroneously included assigned revenue carried over from the previous year; The Agency’s replies : the Foundation takes notes of the Court’s observation and states that, while at no stage was the principle of transparency disrespected, further efforts will be made to align ETF’s budget presentation practices with regulatory requirements.

PURPOSE: to present the final accounts of the European Training Foundation for the financial year 2007.

CONTENT: this document sets out a detailed account of the implementation of the European Training Foundation’s budget for the financial year 2007. It notes that the final budget amounted to EUR 21.1 million (compared to EUR 26.5 million in 2006) funded by a Commission subsidy and EUR 1.4 million funded by other bodies as assigned revenue.

As regards the staffing policy, the Foundation, whose headquarters are based in Turin (Italy) officially set out 100 posts in the establishment plan. 91 posts are currently occupied with 40 other posts (auxiliaries, local agents and contract agents) totalling 131 posts assigned to operational, administrative and mixed tasks.

In 2007, the Foundation’s main activities concentrated on the following:

Activities : the assistance provided by the ETF covers a large range of technical fields including: initial vocational training, lifelong learning, continuing (adult) education, human resources development in companies, employment policies, training of the unemployed, poverty alleviation and social inclusion, and training to encourage local development; Support for the Commission : in 2007, 115 new requests for support were received from the Commission. Most came from the delegations (40%), EAR (17%), DG AIDCO (10%), DG EAC and DG ENTRE (9%), DG EMPL (6%), DG ELARG (4%), DG RELEX (3%) and DG JLS (3%), This included 29 analyses of the situation in the ENPI countries. The Commission’s satisfaction rate with the ETF’s response was 96%. The most frequent applications were those in the field of programming (32%), followed by policies and contributions in the preparation of European Neighbourhood Instruments (25%), the identification of projects (14%) and followup; Information and analysis : country sector studies, statistics on education, policy advice to countries; Innovation and development support projects : as a centre of expertise, the ETF contributes towards the setting up of development projects in order to test innovative approaches allowing partner countries to carry out reforms of their education and vocational training systems; Technical assistance to DG EAC for the implementation of the Tempus Programme : assistance Conventions with CARDS, MEDA and Tacis for the Tempus programme. This assistance covers the whole cycle of the project. It includes the selection, management and follow-up of contracts and information and communications, including general administrative support. IT tools such as online applications and report forms have greatly facilitated the administrative management of the various project cycles.

The complete version of the final accounts may be found at the following address: http://www.etf.europa.eu/Wpubdocs.nsf/0/6d08a4916a401d3ac125747800306eeb/$FILE/ETF-GB-08-009_EN.pdf

PURPOSE: to present the final accounts of the European Training Foundation for the financial year 2007.

CONTENT: this document sets out a detailed account of the implementation of the European Training Foundation’s budget for the financial year 2007. It notes that the final budget amounted to EUR 21.1 million (compared to EUR 26.5 million in 2006) funded by a Commission subsidy and EUR 1.4 million funded by other bodies as assigned revenue.

As regards the staffing policy, the Foundation, whose headquarters are based in Turin (Italy) officially set out 100 posts in the establishment plan. 91 posts are currently occupied with 40 other posts (auxiliaries, local agents and contract agents) totalling 131 posts assigned to operational, administrative and mixed tasks.

In 2007, the Foundation’s main activities concentrated on the following:

Activities : the assistance provided by the ETF covers a large range of technical fields including: initial vocational training, lifelong learning, continuing (adult) education, human resources development in companies, employment policies, training of the unemployed, poverty alleviation and social inclusion, and training to encourage local development; Support for the Commission : in 2007, 115 new requests for support were received from the Commission. Most came from the delegations (40%), EAR (17%), DG AIDCO (10%), DG EAC and DG ENTRE (9%), DG EMPL (6%), DG ELARG (4%), DG RELEX (3%) and DG JLS (3%), This included 29 analyses of the situation in the ENPI countries. The Commission’s satisfaction rate with the ETF’s response was 96%. The most frequent applications were those in the field of programming (32%), followed by policies and contributions in the preparation of European Neighbourhood Instruments (25%), the identification of projects (14%) and followup; Information and analysis : country sector studies, statistics on education, policy advice to countries; Innovation and development support projects : as a centre of expertise, the ETF contributes towards the setting up of development projects in order to test innovative approaches allowing partner countries to carry out reforms of their education and vocational training systems; Technical assistance to DG EAC for the implementation of the Tempus Programme : assistance Conventions with CARDS, MEDA and Tacis for the Tempus programme. This assistance covers the whole cycle of the project. It includes the selection, management and follow-up of contracts and information and communications, including general administrative support. IT tools such as online applications and report forms have greatly facilitated the administrative management of the various project cycles.

The complete version of the final accounts may be found at the following address: http://www.etf.europa.eu/Wpubdocs.nsf/0/6d08a4916a401d3ac125747800306eeb/$FILE/ETF-GB-08-009_EN.pdf