PURPOSE: to grant discharge to the Euratom Supply Agency for the financial year 2012.

NON-LEGISLATIVE ACT: Decision 2014/607/EU of the European Parliament on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the Euratom Supply Agency for the financial year 2012.

CONTENT: with the present decision, the European Parliament grants discharge to the Director-General of the Euratom Supply Agency for the implementation of its budget for the financial year 2012.

This decision is in line with the European Parliament's resolution adopted on 3 April 2014 and comprises a series of observations that form an integral part of the discharge decision (please refer to the summary of the opinion of 3 April 2014).

Amongst the main observations made, Parliament recalled that between 2008 and 2011, the Agency did not receive its own budget and the Commission directly financed and discharged all expenditure, a situation which the Court of Auditors considered to be at odds with the Statutes of the Agency.

The European Parliament adopted a decision concerning the discharge to be granted to the Director-General of the Euratom Supply Agency in respect of the implementation of the Agency's budget for the financial year 2012. The vote on the discharge decision approved the closure of the accounts (in accordance with Annex VI, Article 5(1) of the Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament.

Noting that the Court of Auditors stated that it has obtained reasonable assurances that the annual accounts of the Agency for the financial year 2012 are reliable, and that the underlying transactions are legal and regular, Parliament adopted by 481 votes to 62, with 27 abstentions, a resolution containing a series of recommendations that form an integral part of the discharge decision and as well as the general recommendations that appear in the draft resolution on performance, financial management and control of EU agencies.

These recommendations are summarised as follows:

Financial statements : recalling that the final budget of the Euratom Supply Agency for the financial year 2012 was EUR 104 000, Parliament reminded the Commission of the Court of Auditors' observation that between 2008 and 2011, the Agency did not receive its own budget and the Commission directly financed and discharged all expenditure , a situation which the Court of Auditors considered to be at odds with the Statutes of the Agency. It noted with concern that for 2012, although the Commission granted the Agency its own budget amounting to EUR 104 000 including financial revenue from its own investments, most of the Agency’s expenditure was still financed directly by the Commission. The Commission is called upon to provide an explanation for this situation. Budget and financial management : Parliament noted that budget monitoring efforts during the financial year 2012 resulted in a budget implementation rate of 98.51%.

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 Euratom Supply Agency for the financial year 2012.

Noting that the Court of Auditors stated that it has obtained reasonable assurances that the annual accounts of the Agency for the financial year 2012 are reliable and that the underlying transactions are legal and regular, Members approve the closure of the Office’s accounts. However, they made 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.

Recalling that, according to its financial statements, the final budget of the Euratom Supply Agency for the financial year 2012 was EUR 104 000, Members reminded the Commission of the Court of Auditors' observation that between 2008 and 2011, the Agency did not receive its own budget and the Commission directly financed and discharged all expenditure, a situation which the Court of Auditors considered to be at odds with the Statutes of the Agency.

They also noted with concern that for 2012, although the Commission granted the Agency its own budget amounting to EUR 98 000 (EUR 104 000 including financial revenue from its own investments), nevertheless, most of the Agency’s expenditure was still financed directly by the Commission. Members called the Commission to provide an explanation for this situation.

Having examined the revenue and expenditure account for the financial year 2012 and the balance sheet at 31 December 2012 of the Euratom Supply Agency, as well as the Court of Auditors' report on the annual accounts of the Agency for the financial year 2012, accompanied by the Agency's replies to the Court's observations, the Council recommends the European Parliament to give a discharge to the Director General of the Agency in respect of the implementation of the budget for the financial year 2012.

The observations in the Court of Auditors' report in relation to the financial year 2012 call for some comments by the Council, which may be summarised as follows:

in general, the Council welcomes the Court's opinion that, in all material respects, the Agency's annual accounts present fairly its financial position as at 31 December 2012 and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the year then ended, in accordance with the provisions of the Agency's Financial Regulation and the accounting rules adopted by the Commission's accounting officer, and that the underlying transactions for that financial year are legal and regular. Agency’s financing : the Council notes with concern that, although in 2012 the Agency was granted its own budget, most of the Agency's expenditure is still financed by the Commission. The Council recalls that, according to the Treaty Establishing the European Atomic Energy Community and the Agency's Statutes, the Agency should be financially autonomous. The Council urges the Commission and the Agency to ensure the Agency's full financial autonomy.

PURPOSE: presentation of the EU Court of Auditors’ report on the annual accounts of the Euratom Supply Agency (ESA) for the year 2012, together with the Agency’s reply.

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

This audit concerned, amongst others, the annual accounts of the ESA.

In the Court’s opinion, the Euratom Supply Agency’s Annual Accounts fairly present, in all material respects, its financial position as of 31 December 2012 and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the year then ended, in accordance with the provisions of its Financial Regulation and the accounting rules adopted by the Commission’s accounting officer.

The Court also considers that the transactions underlying the annual accounts of the Agency for the financial year ended 31 December 2012 are, in all material respects, legal and regular.

The report also makes a series of observations on the budgetary and financial management of the Agency, accompanied by the latter’s response. The main observations may be summarised as follows:

The Court’s observations :

· the Court wishes to draw attention to the fact that between 2008 and 2011, the Agency did not receive its own budget and the European Commission directly financed and discharged all expenditure. The Court had considered this situation to be at odds with the Statutes of the Agency. Following the Court’s comments, the Commission granted the Agency its own budget amounting to EUR 98 000. Although Article 54 of the Treaty Establishing the European Atomic Energy Community and Article 6 of the Agency’s Statutes provide that it shall have financial autonomy, most of the Agency’s expenditure (staff, office space and IT systems) is still financed directly by the Commission. These provisions are contradictory and go against the financial autonomy required of the Agency.

The Agency’s reply: the Agency agrees with the Court of Auditors that the amount of the subsidy allows it to pay only a minor part of its administrative expenditure, while the main part still needs to be directly financed by the Commission. It does not see a contradiction between the provisions of its Statutes.

The Court of Auditors’ report contains a summary of the Agency’s activities in 2012 . This consisted of about 270 transactions, including contracts, amendments and notifications of the front-end activities. The Agency also provided input to the procedure regarding its budget for 2013. The ESA published several reports and the six-monthly Nuclear News Digests.