PURPOSE: to grant discharge to the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen (FCH) Joint Undertaking for the financial year 2014.

NON LEGISLATIVE ACT: Decision (EU) 2016/1588 of the European Parliament on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking for the financial year 2014.

CONTENT: with the present decision, the European Parliament grants discharge to the Executive Director of the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen 2 Joint Undertaking for the implementation of the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking's budget for the financial year 2014.

This decision is in line with the European Parliament's resolution adopted on 28 April 2016 and comprises a series of observations that form an integral part of the discharge decision (please refer to the summary of the opinion of 28 April 2016).

Amongst Parliament’s main observations in the resolution accompanying the discharge decision, the latter regretted the absence of information regarding in-kind and cash contribution . It called on the Court to include in its future reports separate provisions regarding the evaluation procedure and level of in-kind and cash paid contribution for FP7 and for Horizon 2020.

The European Parliament decided to grant the Executive Director of the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen 2 (FCH2) Joint Undertaking discharge in respect of the implementation of Authority’s budget for the financial year 2014. The vote on the decision on discharge covers the closure of the accounts (in accordance with Annex V, Article 5 (1)(a) to Parliament’s Rules of Procedure.

Noting that the Court of Auditors has stated that it has obtained reasonable assurances that the Joint Undertaking’s annual accounts for the financial year 2014 are reliable and that the underlying transactions are legal and regular, Parliament adopted by 519 votes to 107 with 3 abstentions, a resolution containing a series of recommendations, which form an integral part of the decision on discharge and which add to the general recommendations set out in the resolution on performance, financial management and control of EU agencies:

General remark : Parliament noted that the Court of Auditors' report is based on too many general remarks to the detriment of viable, specific ones. It therefore called for an audit with a sharper focus on the annual financial performance, on the implementation status of multiannual projects (including a clear presentation of the implementation of the budget for the respective year and for previous years) and on the results and their implementation. It noted that the Institutions and Bodies are required to produce each year a Report on Budgetary and Financial Management and that the information provided by the Joint Undertaking in this report lacked harmonisation and was often incomplete. It called on the Commission to provide guidance as to the nature and content of the report. Budget and financial management : Parliament noted that FCH's final budget for the financial year 2014 included commitment appropriations of EUR 112 064 990 and payment appropriations of EUR 95 952 176. It pointed out that the budget execution by year end for all fund sources reached 98.48 % as regards commitment appropriations and 74.52 % in terms of payment executions. It considered that, in the absence of a clear separation between FP7 and Horizon 2020, implementation-related information, those indicators do not assure a real evaluation of performance. It called on the Court to include in future reports information regarding, separately, the execution of the budget under FP7 and Horizon 2020. It also regretted the absence of information regarding in-kind and cash contributions.

Lastly, Parliament issued a series of observations on the undertaking's legal framework, and procurement and internal control procedures.

The Committee on Budgetary Control adopted the report by Marian-Jean MARINESCU (EPP, RO) on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen (FCH) Joint Undertaking for the financial year 2014.

The parliamentary committee calls on the European Parliament to grant the joint undertaking’s Executive Director discharge in respect of the implementation of the joint undertaking’s budget for the financial year 2014.

Noting that the Court of Auditors issued a statement of assurance as to the reliability of the accounts and the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions for the financial year 2014, Members call on Parliament to approve the closure of the joint undertaking’s accounts.

They made, however, a number of recommendations that need to be taken into account when the discharge is granted. They may be summarised as follows:

General remark: Members note that the Court of Auditors' report is based on too many general remarks to the detriment of viable, specific ones. They therefore call for an audit with a sharper focus on the annual financial performance, on the implementation status of multiannual projects (including a clear presentation of the implementation of the budget for the respective year and for previous years) and on the results and their implementation. They note that the Institutions and Bodies are required to produce each year a Report on Budgetary and Financial Management and that the information provided by the Joint Undertaking in this report lacked harmonisation and was often incomplete. They call on the Commission to provide guidance as to the nature and content of the report. Budget and financial management: Members note that FCH's final budget for the financial year 2014 included commitment appropriations of EUR 112 064 990 and payment appropriations of EUR 95 952 176. They point out that the budget execution by year end for all fund sources reached 98.48 % as regards commitment appropriations and 74.52 % in terms of payment executions. They consider that, in the absence of a clear separation between FP7 and Horizon 2020, implementation-related information, those indicators do not assure a real evaluation of performance. They call on the Court to include in future reports information regarding, separately, the execution of the budget under FP7 and Horizon 2020. They also regret the absence of information regarding in-kind and cash contributions.

Lastly, Members issue a series of observations on the undertaking's legal framework, and procurement and internal control procedures.

Having examined the revenue and expenditure accounts for the financial year 2014 and the balance sheet as at 31 December 2014 of the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking and the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen 2 Joint Undertaking, as well as the Court of Auditors' report on the annual accounts of the Joint Undertaking for the financial year 2014, accompanied by the Joint Undertaking's replies to the Court's observations, the Council recommended the European Parliament to give a discharge to the Executive Director of the successor Joint Undertaking in respect of the implementation of the budget of the Joint Undertaking for the financial year 2014.

The Council recalled that the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen 2 Joint Undertaking has replaced and succeeded the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking and should be given to the Executive Director of the successor Joint Undertaking.

The Council welcomed the Court's opinion that, in all material respects, the Joint Undertaking's annual accounts present fairly its financial position as at 31 December 2014 and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the year then ended, in accordance with the provisions of the Joint Undertaking's Financial Rules, and that the underlying transactions for 2014 are legal and regular in all material respects.

Nevertheless, the Council made the following observation:

research results : the Council took note of the recommendation to improve the reporting and dissemination of research results and called on the successor Joint Undertaking to enhance its cooperation with the Commission in this regard.

PURPOSE: presentation of the EU Court of Auditors’ report on the annual accounts of the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen 2 (FCH 2) for the financial year 2014, together with the Joint Undertaking’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 FCH 2 Joint Undertaking ( fuel cells and hydrogen technologies ).

Statement of assurance : pursuant to the provisions of Article 287 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), the Court has audited:

the annual accounts of the FCH 2, which comprise the financial statements and the reports on the implementation of the budget for the financial year ended 31 December 2014; the legality and regularity of the transactions underlying those accounts.

Opinion on the reliability of the accounts : in the Court’s opinion, the Joint Undertaking’s annual accounts present fairly, in all material respects, its financial position as at 31 December 2014, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the year then ended in accordance with the provisions of its financial rules and the rules adopted by the Commission’s accounting officer.

Opinion on the legality and regularity of the transactions underlying the accounts : in the Court’s opinion, the transactions underlying the annual accounts for the year ended 31 December 2014 are, in all material respects, legal and regular.

The audit also revealed the following points:

budgetary management : the budgetary implementation rate for commitment appropriations ranged between 90 % and 100 % for most Joint Undertakings including FCH 2 and the rate for payment appropriations ranged between 74 % and 100 %; procurement : the Court notes that with regard to calls for proposals, the final rate of appropriations committed achieved a figure between 90 % and 100 %, including FCH 2.

Cross-cutting remarks for all the Joint undertakings : the monitoring and reporting of research results is laid down in the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7). In the grant agreements signed with members and other beneficiaries, the Joint Undertakings have included specific provisions governing intellectual property rights and the dissemination of research activities and results. The implementation of these provisions is monitored by the Joint Undertakings at different stages of the funded projects and significant progress has been achieved in 2014. However, in order to meet the requirements of Horizon 2020 and to better contribute to the dissemination of FP7 research results, the Court considers that cooperation between the Joint Undertakings and the Commission must be developed as much as possible with special regard to the further integration of some of the Joint Undertakings’ data into the Commission’s systems.

The Court also indicates that there is room to improve procedures, in particular in the implementation of the ex-post audit strategy, and cooperation with the Commission as regards the integration of the research results.

Replies of the Joint Undertaking : the Joint Undertaking welcomes the positive opinion of the European Court of Auditors on FCH 2 Joint Undertaking’s annual accounts and underlying transactions for the financial year 2014 and takes note of the comments.

With regard to the activities of the Joint Undertaking in 2014 , the report refers to the Joint Undertaking’s latest available annual activity report for 2014 available at the following address: http://www.fch.europa.eu/page/documents .

It should be noted that the budget for FCH 2 was EUR 112 million.

PURPOSE: presentation by the Commission of the consolidated annual accounts of the European Union for the financial year 2014, as part of the 2014 discharge procedure.

Analysis of the accounts of the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen 2 Joint Undertaking (FCH 2 Joint Undertaking ).

CONTENT: this Commission document sets out the consolidated annual accounts of the European Union for the financial year 2014 as prepared on the basis of the information presented by the institutions, organisations and bodies of the EU, in accordance with Article 148 (2) of the Financial Regulation applicable to the EU's General Budget, including the FCH 2 Joint Undertaking.

The document contains the figures on which the discharge procedure is based.

On this basis, the Financial Controller of the European Commission ensures the certification of the consolidated accounts as declared by the institutions, agencies and bodies of the European Union.

Discharge procedure of the EU Joint Undertakings : the EU Budget finances a wide range of policies and programmes throughout the EU. In accordance with the priorities set by the European Parliament and the Council in the multi-annual financial framework (MFF), the European Commission carries out specific programmes, activities and projects in the field with the technical support of some specialised agencies.

The consolidated annual accounts of the EU provide information on the activities of the institutions, agencies and other bodies of the EU from a budgetary and accrual accounting perspective.

The consolidated reports on the implementation of the general budget of the EU include the budget implementation of all Institutions. Agencies and Joint Undertakings (JUs) do not have a separate budget inside the EU budget ; and they are partially financed by a Commission budget subsidy.

This document sets out how the JUs spent and implemented their budget in 2014. Each agency is subject to its own discharge procedure.

FCH 2 JU : in 2014, the tasks and budget of the Joint Undertaking were as follows:

description of the tasks of the Joint Undertakin g: the FCH 2 Joint Undertaking, located in Brussels (BE), was set up by Council Regulation (EU) No 559/2014 until 31 December 2024. The FCH 2 Joint Undertaking shall replace and succeed the FCH Joint Undertaking as established by Regulation (EC) No 521/2008. It aims to reduce the production cost of fuel cell systems to be used in transport applications, while increasing their lifetime to levels which can compete with conventional technologies; accounts of the JU : The ownership participation at year-end is as follows 70.85% in FCH 2. In order to take into account the duration of Horizon 2020, calls for proposals by the FCH 2 Joint Undertaking shall be launched at the latest by 31 December 2020.

Please also consult the final accounts of FCH 2 Joint Undertaking .

PURPOSE: presentation by the Commission of the consolidated annual accounts of the European Union for the financial year 2014, as part of the 2014 discharge procedure.

Analysis of the accounts of the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen 2 Joint Undertaking (FCH 2 Joint Undertaking ).

CONTENT: this Commission document sets out the consolidated annual accounts of the European Union for the financial year 2014 as prepared on the basis of the information presented by the institutions, organisations and bodies of the EU, in accordance with Article 148 (2) of the Financial Regulation applicable to the EU's General Budget, including the FCH 2 Joint Undertaking.

The document contains the figures on which the discharge procedure is based.

On this basis, the Financial Controller of the European Commission ensures the certification of the consolidated accounts as declared by the institutions, agencies and bodies of the European Union.

Discharge procedure of the EU Joint Undertakings : the EU Budget finances a wide range of policies and programmes throughout the EU. In accordance with the priorities set by the European Parliament and the Council in the multi-annual financial framework (MFF), the European Commission carries out specific programmes, activities and projects in the field with the technical support of some specialised agencies.

The consolidated annual accounts of the EU provide information on the activities of the institutions, agencies and other bodies of the EU from a budgetary and accrual accounting perspective.

The consolidated reports on the implementation of the general budget of the EU include the budget implementation of all Institutions. Agencies and Joint Undertakings (JUs) do not have a separate budget inside the EU budget ; and they are partially financed by a Commission budget subsidy.

This document sets out how the JUs spent and implemented their budget in 2014. Each agency is subject to its own discharge procedure.

FCH 2 JU : in 2014, the tasks and budget of the Joint Undertaking were as follows:

description of the tasks of the Joint Undertakin g: the FCH 2 Joint Undertaking, located in Brussels (BE), was set up by Council Regulation (EU) No 559/2014 until 31 December 2024. The FCH 2 Joint Undertaking shall replace and succeed the FCH Joint Undertaking as established by Regulation (EC) No 521/2008. It aims to reduce the production cost of fuel cell systems to be used in transport applications, while increasing their lifetime to levels which can compete with conventional technologies; accounts of the JU : The ownership participation at year-end is as follows 70.85% in FCH 2. In order to take into account the duration of Horizon 2020, calls for proposals by the FCH 2 Joint Undertaking shall be launched at the latest by 31 December 2020.

Please also consult the final accounts of FCH 2 Joint Undertaking .