PURPOSE: to grant discharge to the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions in respect of the implementation of the Agency's budget for the financial year 2009.

NON-LEGISLATIVE ACT: Decision 2011/598/EU of the European Parliament 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 2009.

CONTENT: with the present decision, the European Parliament grants discharge to the Director of the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions for the implementation of its budget for the financial year 2009.

This decision is in line with the European Parliament's resolution adopted on 10 May 2011 and comprises a series of observations that form an integral part of the discharge decision (please refer to the summary of the opinion of 10/05/2011).

A parallel decision, adopted on the same day, approves the closure of this Agency's accounts.

The European Parliament adopted by 537 votes to 81, with 32 abstentions a decision on discharge to be granted to the Director of the European Foundation for Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound) for implementation of the Foundation's budget for the financial year 2009.

Noting that the Foundation’s annual accounts for the financial year 2009 are reliable, and the underlying transactions are legal and regular, Parliament approves the closure of the Foundation’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 resolution on financial management and control of EU agencies - see DEC/2010/2271 ):

performance: Parliament notes that the Foundation carried out another ex-post assessment exercise of its 2005-2008 work programme which showed that it had deployed its financial resources efficiently and achieved the objectives of its work programme. It encourages it to further develop its performance monitoring system and to ensure that the results are fed back into management decision-making and planning. It calls on Eurofound to better define its target audiences at a national level (and to try and reach a broader range of employer and employee bodies and to set up a network of focal points); governing board: Parliament calls on the Foundation to take steps to strengthen the Governing Board's role in providing overall direction to Eurofound; procurement procedures: Parliament notes the presence of errors and anomalies in the evaluation of one open procurement procedure which affected its quality. Steps need to be taken to improve Eurofound’s evaluation and review procedure to avoid repetition of such errors in the future; budgetary management: Parliament calls on the Foundation to make sure that appropriations are made available only when the corresponding assigned revenue has been received. It regrets that the Court of Auditors was compelled to comment on the budgetary and financial statement of the Foundation, especially to the effect that the initial provisional accounts presented by the Foundation contained serious shortcomings; human resources: lastly, Parliament calls on the Foundation to provide evidence of its staff selection decisions in order to guarantee the transparency of the recruitment procedures. In fact, the Court of Auditors reported irregularities in this respect for seven audited staff selection procedures. Parliament calls for the rectification of all the shortcomings identified by the Court since 2006 in respect of Eurofound’s recruitment procedures.

The Committee on Budgetary Control adopted the report by Georgios STAVRAKAKIS (S&D, EL) on discharge to be granted to the Director of the European Foundation for Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound) for implementation of the Foundation's budget for the financial year 200 9.

Noting that the Foundation’s annual accounts for the financial year 2009 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 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 DEC/2010/2271 ):

performance : Members note that the Foundation carried out another ex-post assessment exercise of its 2005-2008 work programme which showed that it had deployed its financial resources efficiently and achieved the objectives of its work programme. They encourage it to further develop its performance monitoring system and to ensure that the results are fed back into management decision-making and planning. They support the external evaluator's recommendation to better define the Foundation's target audiences at a national level and try and reach employer and employee bodies and set up a network of focal points; governing board : Members note that the same evaluation reported that Eurofound's governing Board was not an effective decision-making body. They call on the Foundation to take steps to strengthen the Governing Board's role in providing overall direction to Eurofound; procurement procedures: Members note the presence of errors and anomalies in the evaluation of one open procurement procedure which affected its quality. Steps need to be taken to improve its evaluation and review procedure to avoid repetition of such errors in the future; budgetary management : Members call on the Foundation to make sure that appropriations are made available only when the corresponding assigned revenue has been received. They regret that the Court of Auditors was compelled to comment on the budgetary and financial statement of the Foundation, especially to the effect that the initial provisional accounts presented by the Foundation contained serious shortcomings;

human resources : Members call on the Foundation to provide evidence of its staff selection decisions in order to guarantee the transparency of the recruitment procedures. They note that the Court of Auditors reported irregularities in this respect for seven audited staff selection procedures. They call for the rectification of all the shortcomings identified by the Court since 2006 in respect of Eurofound’s recruitment procedures; internal audit : lastly, Members call on Eurofound to rapidly implement the recommendations of the Internal Audit Service (IAS) and, in particular, those considered to be “very important” which, in particular, relate to the internal control systems and procedures for communication improprieties.

Based on the observations contained in the revenue and expenditure account and the balance sheet of the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions for the financial year 2009, 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 2009.

The Council welcomes the Court's opinion that, on the one hand, the Foundation's annual accounts present fairly, in all material aspects, the financial position as at 31 December 2009 and the results of operations and cash-flows for the year then ended, in accordance with the provisions of the Foundation's Financial Regulation, and that, on the other hand, the underlying transactions for the financial year ended on 31 December 2009 are, in all material respects, legal and regular.

However, the Council considers that observations made in the Court of Auditor’s report call for a certain number of observations to be taken into account when granting discharge, particularly on the following points:

presentation of accounts : the Council is concerned about the problems identified by the Court with respect to the assigned revenue presentation and management. Moreover, it regrets that significant delays and serious shortcomings were again found in the preparation and presentation of the Foundation's accounts. Therefore, it will pay careful attention to the outcomes of the measures taken in order to improve the implementation of the applicable procedures; internal control : the Council takes note that the Foundation has now implemented a register of exceptions, as recommended by its internal audit service, as well as by the Court; recruitment and procurement procedures : the Council is also concerned about the weaknesses found in the audited staff selection procedures, as well as in one procurement procedure. It therefore calls on the Foundation to remedy such irregularities and avoid them in the future by strengthening the relevant resources and processes.

PURPOSE: presentation by the Court of Auditors of its report on the annual accounts of the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (EUROFOUND) for the financial year 2009, together with the Foundation’s replies.

CONTENT: in accordance with the tasks and objectives conferred on it by the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), the Court of Auditors, in the context of the discharge procedure, addresses to the European Parliament and the Council a Statement of Assurance on the reliability of the annual accounts, as well as of the legality and regularity of the transactions underlying them of each EU institution, body or agency, on the basis of an external, independent audit.

This audit also covered the annual accounts of the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (EUROFOUND).

In the Court’s opinion, the Foundation’s annual accounts presented “fairly, in all material respects”, its financial position as of 31 December 2009 and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the year then ended, in accordance with the provisions of its Financial Regulation.

The Court also stated that the transactions underlying the annual accounts of the Agency for the financial year ended 31 December 2009 were, “in all material respects, legal and regular ”.

The report again confirmed that the Foundation’s 2009 final budget amounted to EUR 20.2 million. The number of staff employed by the Agency at the end of the year was 94.

The report also included comments on the Foundation’s budgetary and financial management, together with its replies. The main comments are as follows:

The Court’s comments :

· significant delays in the preparation and presentation of the Foundation’s Accounts; the initial provisional accounts presented by the Foundation contained serious shortcomings, pointing to significant weaknesses in the Foundation’s Financial organisation;

· lack of transparency in the selection procedures;

· errors and anomalies in the evaluation of an open procurement procedure.

The Foundation’s replies :

· Eurofound’s commitment to respect the deadlines for presenting its accounts;

· improvement of the selection procedures for personnel;

· evaluation and review procedures shall be strengthened.

Lastly, the Court of Auditor’s report contained a summary of the Foundation’s activities in 2009 in the following areas:

· monitoring and surveys: second European Quality of Life Survey: overview report based on 35 000 interviews in 31 countries published;

· work on the following themes: employment and competitiveness; Industrial relations and workplace development; social cohesion and quality of life;

· communication and sharing ideas and experience: 152 443 print publications disseminated; 637 new web and print publications; 803 contacts and briefing meetings with European level policy makers; EUR 1.6 million user sessions; media activities resulted in reaching 114 million European citizens.

PURPOSE: presentation by the Commission of the consolidated annual accounts of the European Union for the financial year 2009, as part of the 2009 discharge procedure.

Analysis of the accounts of the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (EUROFOUND) .

CONTENT: this Commission document sets out the consolidated annual accounts of the European Union for the financial year 2009 as prepared on the basis of the information presented by the institutions, organisations and bodies of the EU, in accordance with Article 129 (2) of the Financial Regulation applicable to the EU’s General Budget, including the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (EUROFOUND).

In 2009, the tasks and budget of this agency were as follows:

· description of the Agency’s tasks : the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, which is located in Dublin, was set up by Council Regulation (EEC) No 1365/75 . Its aim is to contribute to the planning and establishment of better living and working conditions in the Union by increasing and disseminating knowledge which is relevant to this subject;

· foundation’s budget for the 2009 financial year : the Foundation’s 2009 budget amounted to EUR 20.2 million, compared with EUR 21 million the previous year. The number of staff employed by the Foundation at the end of the year was 94, as compared with 87 the previous year.

The complete version of the Foundation’s final accounts may be found at the following address: http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/about/publicaccess/categories/finance/index.htm

PURPOSE: presentation by the Commission of the consolidated annual accounts of the European Union for the financial year 2009, as part of the 2009 discharge procedure.

Analysis of the accounts of the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (EUROFOUND) .

CONTENT: this Commission document sets out the consolidated annual accounts of the European Union for the financial year 2009 as prepared on the basis of the information presented by the institutions, organisations and bodies of the EU, in accordance with Article 129 (2) of the Financial Regulation applicable to the EU’s General Budget, including the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (EUROFOUND).

In 2009, the tasks and budget of this agency were as follows:

· description of the Agency’s tasks : the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, which is located in Dublin, was set up by Council Regulation (EEC) No 1365/75 . Its aim is to contribute to the planning and establishment of better living and working conditions in the Union by increasing and disseminating knowledge which is relevant to this subject;

· foundation’s budget for the 2009 financial year : the Foundation’s 2009 budget amounted to EUR 20.2 million, compared with EUR 21 million the previous year. The number of staff employed by the Foundation at the end of the year was 94, as compared with 87 the previous year.

The complete version of the Foundation’s final accounts may be found at the following address: http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/about/publicaccess/categories/finance/index.htm