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32001D0937

2001/937/EC,ECSC,Euratom: Commission Decision of 5 December 2001 amending its rules of procedure (notified under document number C(2001) 3714)

Official Journal L 345 , 29/12/2001 P. 0094 - 0098

Commission Decisionof 5 December 2001amending its rules of procedure(notified under document number C(2001) 3714)(2001/937/EC, ECSC, Euratom)THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 218(2) thereof,Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community, and in particular Article 16 thereof,Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community, and in particular Article 131 thereof,Having regard to the Treaty on European Union, and in particular Article 28(1) and Article 41(1) thereof,HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:Article 1The detailed rules for the application of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents(1), which are set out in the Annex to this Decision, are annexed to the Commission's Rules of Procedure.Article 2Commission Decision 94/90/ECSC, EC, Euratom(2) is repealed.Article 3The Decision shall enter into force on the day of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.Done at Brussels, 5 December 2001.For the CommissionThe PresidentRomano Prodi(1) OJ L 145, 31.5.2001, p. 43.(2) OJ L 46, 18.2.1994, p. 58.ANNEXDetailed rules for the application of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documentsWhereas:(1) In accordance with Article 255(2) of the EC Treaty, the European Parliament and the Council adopted Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents.(1)(2) In accordance with Article 255(3) of the Treaty, Article 18 of the Regulation, which lays down general principles and limits for the exercise of the right of access to documents, provides that each institution is to adapt its Rules of Procedure to the provisions of the Regulation,Article 1BeneficiariesCitizens of the Union and natural or legal persons residing or having their registered office in a Member State shall exercise their right of access to Commission documents under Article 255(1) of the Treaty and Article 2(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 in accordance with these detailed rules. This right of access concerns documents held by the Commission, that is to say, documents drawn up or received by it and in its possession.Pursuant to Article 2(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, citizens of third countries not residing in a Member State and legal persons not having their registered in one of the Member States shall enjoy the right of access to Commission documents on the same terms as the beneficiaries referred to in Article 255(1) of the Treaty.However, pursuant to Article 195(1) of the Treaty, they shall not have the option of laying a complaint before the European Ombudsman. But if the Commission wholly or partly refuses them access to a document after a confirmatory application, they may bring an action before the Court of First Instance of the European Communities in accordance with the fourth paragraph of Article 230 of the Treaty.Article 2Access applicationsAll applications for access to a document shall be sent by mail, fax or e-mail to the Secretariat-General of the Commission or to the relevant Directorate-General or department. The addresses to which applications are to be sent shall be published in the practical guide referred to in Article 8 of these Rules.The Commission shall answer initial and confirmatory access applications within fifteen working days from the date of registration of the application. In the case of complex or bulky applications, the deadline may be extended by fifteen working days. Reasons must be given for any extension of the deadline and it must be notified to the applicant beforehand.If an application is imprecise, as referred to in Article 6(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, the Commission shall invite the applicant to provide additional information making it possible to identify the documents requested; the deadline for reply shall run only from the time when the Commission has this information.Any decision which is even partly negative shall state the reason for the refusal based on one of the exceptions listed in Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 and shall inform the applicant of the remedies available to him.Article 3Treatment of initial applicationsWithout prejudice to Article 9 of these Rules, as soon as the application is registered, an acknowledgement of receipt shall be sent to the applicant, unless the answer can be sent by return post.The acknowledgement of receipt and the answer shall be sent in writing, where appropriate, by electronic means.The applicant shall be informed of the response to his application either by the Director-General or the head of department concerned, or by a Director designated for this purpose in the Secretariat-General or by a Director designated in the OLAF where the application concerns documents concerning OLAF activities referred to in Article 2(1) and (2) of Commission Decision 1999/352/EC, ECSC, Euratom(2) establishing OLAF, or by a member of staff they have designated for this purpose.Any answer which is even partly negative shall inform the applicant of his right to submit, within fifteen working days from receipt of the answer, a confirmatory application to the Secretary-General of the Commission or to the Director of OLAF where the confirmatory application concerns documents concerning OLAF activities referred to in Article 2(1) and (2) of Decision 1999/352/EC, ECSC, Euratom.Article 4Treatment of confirmatory applicationsIn accordance with Article 14 of the Commission's Rules of Procedure, the power to take decisions on confirmatory applications is delegated to the Secretary-General. However, where the confirmatory application concerns documents concerning OLAF activities referred to in Article 2(1) and (2) of Decision 1999/352/EC, ECSC, Euratom, the decision-making power is delegated to the Director of OLAF.The Directorate-General or department shall assist the Secretariat-General in the preparation of the decision.The decision shall be taken by the Secretary-General or by the Director of OLAF after agreement of the Legal Service.The decision shall be notified to the applicant in writing, where appropriate by electronic means, and inform him of his right to bring an action before the Court of First Instance or to lodge a complaint with the European Ombudsman.Article 5Consultations1. Where the Commission receives an application for access to a document which it holds but which originates from a third party, the Directorate-General or department holding the document shall check whether one of the exceptions provided for by Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 applies. If the document requested is classified under the Commission's security rules, Article 6 of these Rules shall apply.2. If, after that examination, the Directorate-General or department holding the document considers that access to it must be refused under one of the exceptions provided for by Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, the negative answer shall be sent to the applicant without consultation of the third-party author.3. The Directorate-General or department holding the document shall grant the application without consulting the third-party author where:(a) the document requested has already been disclosed either by its author or under the Regulation or similar provisions;(b) the disclosure, or partial disclosure, of its contents would not obviously affect one of the interests referred to in Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001.4. In all the other cases, the third-party author shall be consulted. In particular, if the application for access concerns a document originating from a Member State, the Directorate-General or department holding the document shall consult the originating authority where:(a) the document was forwarded to the Commission before the date from which Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 applies;(b) the Member State has asked the Commission not to disclose the document without its prior agreement, in accordance with Article 4(5) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001.5. The third-party author consulted shall have a deadline for reply which shall be no shorter than five working days but must enable the Commission to abide by its own deadlines for reply. In the absence of an answer within the prescribed period, or if the third party is untraceable or not identifiable, the Commission shall decide in accordance with the rules on exceptions in Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, taking into account the legitimate interests of the third party on the basis of the information at its disposal.6. If the Commission intends to give access to a document against the explicit opinion of the author, it shall inform the author of its intention to disclose the document after a ten-working day period and shall draw his attention to the remedies available to him to oppose disclosure.7. Where a Member State receives an application for access to a document originating from the Commission, it may, for the purposes of consultation, contact the Secretariat-General, which shall be responsible for determining the Directorate-General or department responsible for the document within the Commission. The issuing Directorate-General or department of the document reply to the application after consulting the Secretariat-General.Article 6Treatment of applications for access to classified documentsWhere an application for access concerns a sensitive document as defined in Article 9(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, or another document classified under the Commission's security rules, it shall be handled by officials entitled to acquaint themselves with the document.Reasons shall be given on the basis of the exceptions listed in Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 for any decision refusing access to all or part of a classified document. If it proves that access to the requested document cannot be refused on the basis of these exceptions, the official handling the application shall ensure that the document is declassified before sending it to the applicant.The agreement of the originating authority shall be required if access is to be given to a sensitive document.Article 7Exercise of the right of accessDocuments shall be sent by mail, fax or, if available, by e-mail, depending on the application. If documents are voluminous or difficult to handle, the applicant may be invited to consult the documents on the spot. This consultation shall be free.If the document has been published, the answer shall consist of the publication references and/or the place where the document is available and where appropriate of its web address on the EUROPA site.If the volume of the documents requested exceeds twenty pages, the applicant may be charged a fee of EUR 0,10 per page plus carriage costs. The charges for other media shall be decided case by case but shall not exceed a reasonable amount.Article 8Measures facilitating access to the documents1. The coverage of the register provided for by Article 11 of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 shall be extended gradually. It shall be announced on the EUROPA homepage.The register shall contain the title of the document (in the languages in which it is available), its serial number and other useful references, an indication of its author and the date of its creation or adoption.A help page (in all official languages) shall inform the public how the document can be obtained. If the document is published, there shall be a link to the full text.2. The Commission shall draw up a practical guide to inform the public of their rights under Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001. The guide shall be distributed in all official languages on the EUROPA site and in booklet form.Article 9Documents directly accessible to the public1. This Article applies only to documents drawn up or received after the date from which Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 applies.2. The following documents shall be automatically provided on request and, as far as possible, made directly accessible by electronic means:(a) agendas for Commission meetings;(b) ordinary minutes of Commission meetings, after approval;(c) documents adopted by the Commission for publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities;(d) documents originating from third parties which have already been disclosed by their author or with his consent;(e) documents already disclosed following a previous application.3. If it is clear that none of the exceptions provided for in Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 is applicable to them, the following documents may be made available, as far as possible by electronic means, provided they do not reflect opinions or individual positions:(a) after the adoption of a proposal for an act of the Council or of the European Parliament and of the Council, preparatory documents for that proposal that were submitted to the College during the adoption process;(b) after the adoption of an act by the Commission under the implementing powers conferred on it, preparatory documents for that act submitted to the College during the adoption process;(c) after the adoption by the Commission of an act under its own powers, or of a communication, report or working document, preparatory documents for that document submitted to the College during the adoption process.Article 10Internal organisationThe Directors-General and heads of department shall have the power to decide on the action to be taken on initial applications. To this end, they shall designate an official to consider access applications and coordinate the response of his Directorate-General or department.Answers to initial applications shall be sent to the Secretariat-General for information.Confirmatory applications shall be sent for information to the Directorate-General or department which answered the initial application.The Secretariat-General shall ensure coordination and uniform implementation of these rules by Commission Directorates-General and departments. To this end, it shall provide all necessary advice and guidelines.(1) OJ L 145, 31.5.2001, p. 43.(2) OJ L 136, 31.5.1999, p. 20.


title: 2006/826/EC: Decision of the European Parliament of 27 April 2006 on the discharge for the implementation of the budget of the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia for the financial year 2004

text:
               6.12.2006

               EN

               Official Journal of the European Union

               L 340/80

      DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

   of 27 April 2006
   on the discharge for the implementation of the budget of the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia for the financial year 2004
   (2006/826/EC)
   THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT,

               —

               having regard to the final annual accounts of the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia for the financial year 2004 (1),

               —

               having regard to the Court of Auditors' report on the annual accounts of the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia for the financial year 2004, together with the Centre's replies (2),

               —

               having regard to the Council's recommendation of 14 March 2006 (5972/2006 — C6-0093/2006),

               —

               having regard to the EC Treaty, and in particular Article 276 thereof,

               —

               having regard to Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities (3), and in particular Article 185 thereof,

               —

               having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1035/97 of 2 June 1997 establishing a European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (4), and in particular Article 12a thereof,

               —

               having regard to Commission Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2343/2002 of 19 November 2002 on the framework Financial Regulation for the bodies referred to in Article 185 of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities (5), and in particular Article 94 thereof,

               —

               having regard to Rule 71 of and Annex V to its Rules of Procedure,

               —

               having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgetary Control and the opinion of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (A6-0096/2006),

               1.

               Grants discharge to the Director of the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia for the implementation of the Centre's budget for the financial year 2004;

               2.

               Sets out its comments in the resolution below;

               3.

               Instructs its President to forward this decision and the resolution that forms an integral part of it to the Director of the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia, the Council, the Commission and the Court of Auditors and to have them published in the Official Journal of the European Union (L series).

            The President

         Josep BORRELL FONTELLES

            The Secretary-General

         Julian PRIESTLEY

      (1)  OJ C 269, 28.10.2005, p. 48.

      (2)  OJ C 332, 28.12.2005, p. 97.

      (3)  OJ L 248, 16.9.2002, p. 1.

      (4)  OJ L 151, 10.6.1997, p. 1. Regulation as amended by Regulation (EC) No 1652/2003 (OJ L 245, 29.9.2003, p. 33).

      (5)  OJ L 357, 31.12.2002, p. 72. Regulation as amended by Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1261/2005 (OJ L 201, 2.8.2005, p. 3).


title: 2013/627/EU: Decision of the European Parliament of 17 April 2013 on the closure of the accounts of the SESAR Joint Undertaking for the financial year 2011

text:
               16.11.2013

               EN

               Official Journal of the European Union

               L 308/373

      DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

   of 17 April 2013
   on the closure of the accounts of the SESAR Joint Undertaking for the financial year 2011
   (2013/627/EU)
   THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT,

               —

               having regard to the final annual accounts of the SESAR Joint Undertaking for the financial year 2011,

               —

               having regard to the Court of Auditors’ report on the annual accounts of the SESAR Joint Undertaking for the financial year 2011, together with the replies of the Joint Undertaking (1),

               —

               having regard to the Council’s recommendation of 12 February 2013 (05755/2013 – C7-0040/2013),

               —

               having regard to Article 319 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

               —

               having regard to Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities (2), and in particular Article 185 thereof,

               —

               having regard to Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union and repealing Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 (3), and in particular Article 208 thereof,

               —

               having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 219/2007 of 27 February 2007 on the establishment of a Joint Undertaking to develop the new generation European air traffic management system (SESAR) (4), and in particular Article 4b thereof,

               —

               having regard to Commission Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2343/2002 of 19 November 2002 on the framework Financial Regulation for the bodies referred to in Article 185 of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities (5), and in particular Article 94 thereof,

               —

               having regard to Rule 77 of, and Annex VI to, its Rules of Procedure,

               —

               having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgetary Control and the opinion of the Committee on Transport and Tourism (A7-0101/2013),

               1.

               Approves the closure of the accounts of the SESAR Joint Undertaking for the financial year 2011;

               2.

               Instructs its President to forward this Decision to the Executive Director of the SESAR Joint Undertaking, the Council, the Commission and the Court of Auditors, and to arrange for its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union (L series).

            The President

         Martin SCHULZ

            The Secretary-General

         Klaus WELLE

      (1)  OJ C 6, 10.1.2013, p. 46.

      (2)  OJ L 248, 16.9.2002, p. 1.

      (3)  OJ L 298, 26.10.2012, p. 1.

      (4)  OJ L 64, 2.3.2007, p. 1.

      (5)  OJ L 357, 31.12.2002, p. 72.

         RESOLUTION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

      of 17 April 2013
      on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Union Agencies for the financial year 2011: performance, financial management and control
      THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT,

                  —

                  having regard to the report of 14 November 2011 from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on the follow-up to the discharge for the 2009 financial year (COM(2011) 736) and the accompanying Commission Staff Working Documents (SEC(2011) 1350 and SEC(2011) 1351),

                  —

                  having regard to the Joint Statement of the European Parliament, the Council of the EU and the European Commission on decentralised agencies of 19 July 2012,

                  —

                  having regard to the Common Approach on EU decentralised agencies annexed to the Joint Statement of 19 July 2012,

                  —

                  having regard to the Roadmap on the follow-up to the Common Approach on EU decentralised agencies, adopted by the Commission in December 2012,

                  —

                  having regard to the Commission Communication entitled ‘European agencies – the way forward’ (COM(2008) 135),

                  —

                  having regard to its resolution of 10 May 2012 on the 2010 discharge: performance, financial management and control of EU Agencies (1),

                  —

                  having regard to Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities (2), and in particular Article 185 thereof,

                  —

                  having regard to Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union and repealing Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 (3), and in particular Article 208 thereof,

                  —

                  having regard to Commission Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2343/2002 of 19 November 2002 on the framework Financial Regulation for the bodies referred to in Article 185 of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities (4), and in particular Article 96 thereof,

                  —

                  having regard to Special Report No 15/2012 of the Court of Auditors entitled ‘Management of Conflict of Interest in selected EU Agencies’,

                  —

                  having regard to the specific annual reports (5) of the Court of Auditors on the annual accounts of the decentralised agencies for the financial year 2011,

                  —

                  having regard to its study entitled ‘Opportunity and feasibility of establishing common support services for EU Agencies’, issued on 7 April 2009,

                  —

                  having regard to its Declaration of 18 May 2010 on the Union’s efforts in combating corruption (6), to its Resolution of 15 September 2011 on the EU’s efforts to combat corruption (7), and to the Commission Communication on Fighting corruption in the EU (COM(2011) 308);

                  —

                  having regard to Rule 77 of, and Annex VI to, its Rules of Procedure,

                  —

                  having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgetary Control and the opinions of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs, the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety and the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (A7-0118/2013),

                  A.

                  whereas this resolution contains, for each body within the meaning of Article 185 of Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002, the horizontal observations accompanying the discharge decisions in accordance with Article 96 of Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2343/2002 and Article 3 of Annex VI to Parliament’s Rules of Procedure,

                  B.

                  whereas there has been a threefold increase in the number of agencies over the last decade, from 10 in 2001 to 30 in 2011,

         General issues

                  1.

                  Stresses the importance of the tasks performed by the agencies and their direct impact on the daily life of citizens, in particular as regards the quality of medicines, food safety, aviation security and the control of outbreaks of infectious diseases; in this context, emphasises the utmost importance of the autonomy of the agencies, in particular of the regulatory ones and of those in charge of collecting independent information; recalls that the main purpose of establishing decentralised agencies was to be able to provide independent technical and scientific assessments;

                  2.

                  Recalls that in July 2012, after three years of analysis and negotiations, Parliament, the Council and the Commission adopted a Common Approach on decentralised agencies, a political agreement concerning the future management and reform of the agencies; welcomes the conclusion of this agreement but deplores the fact that it neglects to set out either decision-making procedures in respect of the implementation of the actions proposed thereon or arrangements for Parliament oversight of those procedures;

                  3.

                  Welcomes the Court of Auditors’ reports and, in particular, its efforts to comply with the requests made by Parliament for the Court to conduct better audits and facilitate the discharge procedure;

                  4.

                  Notes with satisfaction that the Court’s audit reports now contain more detailed information than in previous years; encourages the Court to continue on this positive trend and to further develop performance audit elements, both in its several annual audit reports and in its special reports; calls on the Court to promote debates in which both parties are heard, whenever the agencies so wish, and to render its reports more informative and transparent, in particular by duly identifying cases in which an agency has uncovered a problem and has notified it to the Court, and by signalling even more clearly cases in which a reservation has been issued;

                  5.

                  Reminds all the agencies of their obligation to submit to the discharge authority a report drawn up by their director summarising the number and nature of internal audits conducted by their internal auditor, the recommendations made and the follow-up given to them, as provided for in Article 72(5) of Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2343/2002;

                  6.

                  Commends the good cooperation with the responsible committee from the side of the Union Agencies Network (‘the Network’), a forum for coordination, information exchange and agreement of common positions on issues of common interest for agencies, and encourages the strengthening of the Network; notes with satisfaction the availability and openness of the directors of the agencies contacted in the framework of the annual discharge procedure; notes with surprise the Network’s letter of 19 October 2012 asking Parliament to ‘revert to its practice of earlier years’; encourages and expects the Network, on the contrary, to support the changes requested by Parliament, in its previous discharge reports, for improved management and transparency and for anti-conflict of interest measures to be taken for the benefit of consumers and taxpayers’ money;

                  7.

                  Emphasises the need to focus on effectiveness and transparency in the discharge exercise and invites all involved parties – the Court of Auditors, the Council, the agencies and the Network – to approach the discharge from that position; emphasises that the focus shift towards performance should by no means hamper regularity and sound financial management;

                  8.

                  Points out, in this context, the relationship between administrative weight and the output of the agencies; believes that for the agencies to operate as efficiently as possible and to make the most of their resources, they must seek synergies, exchange best practices and share services on the basis of geographical proximity or relevance; considers that access to services provided by the Commission should also be improved, expanded and facilitated;

                  9.

                  Suggests that the financial rules applicable to the Agencies should be simplified, which would allow the agencies’ administrative staff costs to be reduced; calls on the Commission to draw up proposals to that effect and to encourage the agencies to use the simplification option as regards recruitment procedures where the standard procedure is designed for a larger scale organisation and presents an excessive burden for the agencies;

                  10.

                  Notes with concern that there are a number of problems identified by the Court of Auditors which affect several agencies, in particular as regards:

                              —

                              carryovers which are not supported by commitments or which appear excessively high,

                              —

                              lack of transparency or rigour in recruitments,

                              —

                              procurement and contract management,

                              —

                              potential conflicts of interest, including at management board level;

                  11.

                  Notes, in this context, the reply of the Network; welcomes the coordinated action of the agencies and their intention to tackle the problems identified by the Court of Auditors and urges the Network, as well as the individual agencies, to report back to the discharge authority on the progress of the implementation of the concrete measures to redress the shortcomings identified by the Court of Auditors and Parliament in the discharge procedure for the financial year 2010; emphasises the fact that the responsibility lies with the executive directors and the management boards of the agencies;

                  12.

                  Urges the Network, as well as the individual agencies, to report to the discharge authority on the progress of the implementation of those ideas and approaches to assess whether a chosen approach has proved effective in resolving the outstanding issues identified by the Court of Auditors and pointed out in the Common Approach, and to report to the discharge authority on both the individual and collective actions taken to address the Court of Auditors’ findings, and the results thereof;

                  13.

                  Emphasises that the agencies have for some time been calling for greater flexibility in the rules applicable to them under the Financial Regulation; recognises that most of those rules are disproportionate and ill-suited not only to the size and objectives of the majority of agencies, but also to their characteristics; considers that simplification of the financial and statutory rules applicable to the agencies would improve their efficiency, reduce their expenditure and solve many of the problems pointed out by the Court of Auditors;

                  14.

                  Notes that some agencies in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice are operational ones and that the implementation of their budget also depends on external factors, which should be considered during the budgetary process;

         Budgetary and financial management

                  15.

                  Reiterates that the principle of annuality is one of the three basic accounting principles (unity, annuality and balance) indispensable to ensure an efficient implementation of the Union budget; notes that decentralised agencies do not always fully comply with this principle;

                  16.

                  Reminds the agencies that the persistent problem of carryovers has yet to be addressed; takes note of the agencies’ explanations as regards the difficulty in avoiding carryovers in operational expenditure; believes, nevertheless, that in a number of cases there is room for improvement, in particular by means of a better management of commitment appropriations based on real needs, better internal planning and general revenue forecasting and more stringent budgetary discipline and regular overview of spending; calls on the agencies to assess their internal administrative procedures in order to reduce their administrative burden, in particular as regards public procurement and staff recruitment procedures; believes that both the Commission and the Court of Auditors should provide effective assistance to the agencies in this area;

                  17.

                  Points out that in some cases the internal planning needs to be improved, which calls on the agencies to enhance their procedures; acknowledges at the same time that under certain circumstances and with due justification (e.g. settlements of payments have not been possible in the contracting year) this should be mentioned in a transparent way in the report of the Court of Auditors; is of the opinion that only so a true assessment can be made whether carryovers are too high or not;

                  18.

                  Stresses, in this context, that the hierarchy of norms is to be taken into account, and believes that the focus should be put on sound financial management; points out, however, that the current financial rules do not resolve the problem of agencies whose funding is based on charges, and calls on the Commission to propose a solution to this issue during the next revision of the financial rules applicable to the agencies; points out that the Financial Regulation is not suited either to agencies which generate surpluses, and stresses that it is essential to consider, as part of the revision, ways of resolving this problem, e.g. by creating a limited reserve fund;

                  19.

                  Expects the Court of Auditors, in its role as an external auditor as a follow-up to Parliament’s discharge report in 2010 and its report on the benchmarking of agencies, to consult the Network to compose an openly accessible and transparent benchmarking and ranking procedure for agencies by using important indicators in the fields of sound financial and budgetary management, low governance costs and efficient operational effectiveness, and to provide the underlying data in an easily accessible format (e.g. Excel files and/or CSV files);

                  20.

                  Notes with concern that the lack of flexibility within the budget has been recognised as a weakness by certain agencies, which suggests that savings could be made if there was enough flexibility within the budget from title to title; calls on the Commission to closely examine the situation and to come forth with proposals addressing this issue;

                  21.

                  Notes that the agencies undergo numerous different audit and control procedures in the course of the year, which are often very unevenly distributed and may create difficulties to them; believes that that problem should be addressed primarily by better coordinating those various audits (8); considers that the agencies should be consulted in order to find practical solutions for this issue without hampering the performance of their core tasks; invites the Court of Auditors, the Commission, the agencies and the Network to come up with an approach of this matter suitable for all involved parties;

                  22.

                  Demands that all agencies and joint undertakings systematically annex a standardised template regarding the publication of their final annual accounts which includes the data presented in their reports on the implementation of the budget and in their reports on the budgetary and financial management; recommends that all agencies and joint undertakings provide this information in a comprehensive, friendly accessible and transparent manner (e.g., Excel files and/or CSV files), in order to ease the comparison between their budgetary executions, and thus enabling Parliament and the public to comprehensively compare their expenses;

                  23.

                  Requests the Network to introduce a detailed, standardised budget line system so that an aggregation and comparison of the agencies revenues and expenses, as well as the implementation and use of appropriations for each budget line, can be compared by title, by chapter and by line; furthermore, asks the Network to make the subsequent comparison and to ensure that the conclusions as well as the underlying data are freely available in an easily accessible format (e.g. Excel files and/or CSV files);

         Human resources and recruitment policy

                  24.

                  Points out that the Staff Regulations establish the principles underlying the staff policy adopted by the agencies and that there is a need for greater flexibility and simplification of the statutory rules applicable to agencies in order to ensure that they function more effectively in this respect; points out furthermore that, although Article 110 of the Staff Regulations allows some flexibility, since the final decision rests with the Commission, it is vital that a previous agreement be reached between the agencies and the Commission; considers that, in the event of disagreement, the Commission should present a reasoned decision to Parliament’s committee responsible;

                  25.

                  Reminds the agencies that their staff policy planning should adopt a global programming approach to human resources which tallies with their budgetary and administrative capacities, in order to ensure that staff policy is cohesive and suited to their needs; points out, furthermore, that staff plans should take into account certain basic considerations, such as gender and geographical balance; welcomes, in this regard, the initiatives envisaged by the Commission in the Roadmap and the fact that the specific characteristics of the agencies are being acknowledged in the ongoing revision of the Staff Regulations;

                  26.

                  Expresses its concern at the fact that the procedures for recruiting staff to the agencies have posed a regular problem ever since the agencies were created, while the Court of Auditors in its audits concerning the financial year 2011 detected problems or weaknesses in this area in all but two of the agencies; is surprised that neither the Common Approach nor the Roadmap provide for any action in this area;

                  27.

                  Considers that the well-established practice of Staff Policy Plans is a valuable tool for long-term staff planning; is increasingly concerned that the Commission annuls agreed Staff Policy Plans within the annual budget procedure and, therefore, calls on the Commission to restrict itself in this respect;

                  28.

                  Calls on all agencies to inform the discharge authority of the number of days of leave authorised to each grade under the flexitime and compensatory leave schemes annually annexed to their annual activity reports;

         Conflicts of interest and transparency

                  29.

                  Welcomes the Special Report No 15/2012 of the Court of Auditors on Management of Conflict of Interest in selected EU Agencies, which stems from Parliament’s request for the Court to undertake a comprehensive analysis of the agencies’ approach to the management of situations where there are potential conflicts of interest;

                  30.

                  Considers that the main added value of Special Report No 15/2012 of the Court of Auditors lies in the regular monitoring of the agencies’ progress as regards management and prevention of conflicts of interest; calls on the Court to further follow-up this issue extending the scope of its audit to other agencies, and to present its findings in a future Special Report on the matter;

                  31.

                  Recalls that in its Special Report No 15/2012, the Court of Auditors has evaluated policies and procedures for the management of conflict of interest in four selected agencies: European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) and European Medicines Agency (EMA);

                  32.

                  Considers that the purpose of the Court of Auditors’ audit was to give an answer to two questions: firstly, were adequate policies and procedures in place, and secondly, were those policies and procedures adequately implemented; notes, furthermore, that the Court based its work on the definition of conflict of interest as provided for in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) guidelines, and that the reference framework for minimum requirements adopted by the Court was also derived from those guidelines; stresses however that, although the OECD guidelines offer an international benchmark on this matter, they basically relate to conflicts of interests in the framework of public sector employees and cannot, therefore, provide an adequate basis for an effective response in the case of potential conflicts of interests among the governing bodies and other bodies involved in the agencies’ work, such as management boards and expert panels; nevertheless recognises the value of the OECD’s toolkit, and especially the checklist for gifts and benefits, etc., as well as the recommendations made concerning penalties, the need to check the completeness and content of statements of interests and the requirement to harness expertise and identify potential conflicts of interest;

                  33.

                  Notes that conflicts of interest can also occur between members of the Management Board of an agency and the agency itself, due to national or institutional interests which may endanger the proper functioning of the agency; therefore, calls on the Commission to urgently submit to Parliament a proposal to address this issue; expects that in the meantime the declarations of interests of each and every member of the management boards of the agencies will be made public, in the interests of transparency;

                  34.

                  Regrets that, according to the findings of the Court of Auditors in its Special Report No 15/2012, at the time of completion of its field work (October 2011), none of the four selected agencies had adequately managed conflict of interest situations; notes that while EMA and EFSA had developed more advanced policies for managing conflict of interest, ECHA’s policies were incomplete and EASA did not have such policies in place;

                  35.

                  Notes with concern that the Court of Auditors reported a number of shortcomings, in particular as regards the implementation of policies and procedures for staff and the board of appeal (ECHA), transparency as regards the publication of annual declarations of interest (EASA) and training on conflicts of interest (ECHA and EASA); stresses that, out of the four agencies audited by the Court, only EMA had a policy on gifts and invitations put in place;

                  36.

                  Welcomes the recommendations made by the Court of Auditors to the four agencies audited; welcomes the fact that following the Court’ audits, the four selected agencies have taken a number of steps to address their individual deficiencies; urges the agencies to report to the discharge authority on any further measures taken as regards the implementation of their policies and procedures to address those shortcomings, including as regards management of conflicts of interest;

                  37.

                  Notes that the Court of Auditors identified a number of significant shortcomings related to post-employment issues which weaken the prevention of ‘revolving doors’ situations; supports the Court of Auditors’ recommendation stressing the need to address those post-employment issues, and takes the view that the ‘cooling-off’ period of anyone who has served as director of an agency or has discharged major responsibilities within an agency needs to be clarified;

                  38.

                  Endorses the Court of Auditors’ recommendation inviting all Union institutions and decentralised bodies to examine whether the recommendations of its Special Report No 15/2012 are relevant and applicable to them; considers that all agencies should develop and implement comprehensive independence policies and procedures, inter alia, establishing a breach of trust mechanism and clear sanctions or changing those already in place on the basis of lessons learned and recommendations of Special Report No 15/2012; calls on the agencies to report to the discharge authority on this matter before the end of 2013;

                  39.

                  Welcomes the European Ombudsman’s decision to conduct an own initiative inquiry into cases of ‘revolving door-type’ conflicts of interest in several cases recently reported at the Commission; endorses the warning issued by the Ombudsman according to which, although effective management of conflicts of interest is a key part of good governance and sound ethical conduct, not all problems relating to governance and ethics necessarily imply a conflict of interest; takes the view that conflicts of interests need to be addressed within their strict limits, and stresses the need for training and prevention strategies and actions to be promoted as regards conflicts of interest in the Union institutions;

                  40.

                  Welcomes the Court of Auditors’ recommendation for the Union to consider further developing its regulatory framework dedicated to the management of conflict of interest situations;

                  41.

                  Welcomes the interinstitutional Joint Statement of 19 July 2012 on decentralised agencies, and in particular its provisions on management and prevention of conflict of interest (paragraphs 11 and 18) and on the independence of their scientific experts (paragraph 20);

                  42.

                  Calls on the Court of Auditors to conduct an assessment of the implementation by the agencies of any measures taken on the basis of the recommendations made to them in its Special Report No 15/2012; calls on the Network to develop proposals based on exchanges of best practices and lessons learned to enable it to identify, in cooperation with the Commission and the Court of Auditors, those agencies, or fields in which they operate, where there is greatest risk of conflicts of interest; welcomes, in that context, the review of the Transparency Register for lobby groups in the Union institutions, and urges the Commission and the agencies to implement measures stemming from that review concerning potential conflicts of interest;

                  43.

                  Welcomes the Commission’s foreseen action on conflicts of interest and, in particular, its intention to come up with guidelines for a coherent policy on the prevention and management of conflicts of interest for members of the management boards and directors, experts in scientific committees, and members of boards of appeal (9), a task for which the Commission itself takes responsibility and has set 2013 as the target year; notes with satisfaction that this task is one of the Commission’s priority actions and milestones; urges the Commission to respect the proposed deadline to implement this action and to report to the discharge authority on its outcome before the end of 2013, attaching to its report the relevant legislative proposals;

                  44.

                  Notes that, in this regard, the Commission foresees two actions to be undertaken by the agencies in 2013, namely, to adopt and implement a clear policy on conflicts of interest and, in particular, exchange experience and possibly develop a coordinated approach to common problems concerning scientific committees and boards of appeal, and define transparent and objectively verifiable criteria for the impartiality and independence of the members of boards of appeal, and to review selection procedures for members of scientific committees (10); urges the agencies to report to the discharge authority on the state of play as regards those tasks before the end of 2013;

                  45.

                  Invites the Commission to bear in mind the need to maintain an adequate balance between risks/benefits as regards the management of conflicts of interest, on one hand, and the objective to obtain the best possible scientific advice, on the other; considers that the proliferation of codes of conduct and ethical guidelines cannot rule out conflicts of interest; takes the view that the adoption of codes of conduct and ethical guidelines is necessary, but not sufficient, and that the eradication of conflicts of interest can only be achieved through the implementation of simple and appropriate rules, and their effective enforcement, as part of a general culture of honesty, integrity and transparency;

                  46.

                  Reiterates the fact that a high level of transparency is a key element to mitigate risks of conflict of interest; calls therefore on the agencies that have not yet done so to make available on their websites the list of their management boards’ members, management staff and external and in-house experts, together with their respective declarations of interests and curriculum vitae;

         Roadmap

                  47.

                  Welcomes the Roadmap on the follow-up to the Common Approach on EU decentralised agencies (‘the Roadmap’), adopted by the Commission in December 2012, and invites all involved parties to take on board the ideas expressed thereon, in particular in the context of the ongoing negotiations on the multiannual financial framework (MFF);

                  48.

                  Fully supports the Commission’s main objectives set out in the Roadmap, namely, achieving more balanced governance, enhancing the agencies’ efficiency and accountability and introducing greater coherence in the way they function; welcomes the actions proposed thereon, in particular regarding the streamlining of management boards, efforts to seek synergies between agencies and the possibility of merging some of them;

                  49.

                  Notes, however, that the Roadmap, while being a good starting point, still lacks a comprehensive assessment of the current agencies landscape, as well as a clear vision and strategy addressing the need to modernise the agencies; believes that the Commission could have been more ambitious and demanding when it comes to specific actions targeting individual agencies or types or groups of agencies; regrets that the lengthy work of the Interinstitutional Working Group has led to a rather modest outcome at this stage, and that the Council has not shown openness to a more ambitious approach; is convinced that a more proactive and forward looking approach would have led to a more considerable added value;

                  50.

                  Welcomes the fact that one of the priorities of the Common Approach is to improve the governance of the agencies, in particular by defining more clearly the roles of the management board and the executive director, and by reviewing the remit of Commission and Parliament representatives on the governing boards; takes the view that this process will also help to clarify the agencies’ relationship with the Union institutions and Member States, to establish enhanced accountability mechanisms for the agencies and to define the Commission’s degree of responsibility in respect of the agencies’ activities, whilst respecting the principle of the agencies’ independence;

                  51.

                  Calls on the Commission to better use the capacity building and the recommendations of agencies in the framework of the European Semester, notably when elaborating the Annual Growth Survey and macroeconomic indicators; underlines the key role of the agencies in achieving the objectives of the Europe 2020 Strategy;

         Independence

                  52.

                  Stresses the utmost importance of the agencies’ independence; recalls that the agencies should be able to independently execute their mandate and regrets that this is not always the case currently; believes that the Commission’s Directorates General should be seen as partners of the agencies, and notes with concern that the Commission’s interventions at times cast doubt on the objectivity of the agencies’ decisions and performed actions, especially when high risks are involved regarding the safety of consumers;

         Accountability

                  53.

                  Considers that the democratic accountability of the agencies should be streamlined, mainly as regards their way of reporting to the discharge authority (there are, in particular, inconsistencies in the presentation of financial information and in the submission of discharge follow-up reports); believes that the relationship between Parliament and the agencies would benefit from a stronger and better structured system of reporting to Parliament; considers that the current situation is rather fragmented and that contact and reporting takes place too often only on an ad-hoc basis;

                  54.

                  Considers it vital for the parliamentary committees responsible for the agencies to scrutinise their annual work programmes as closely as possible and to ensure that they reflect current circumstances and political priorities; expects, in that respect, the agencies to cooperate closely with those committees and the Commission, in line with the Joint Statement of 19 July 2012 on decentralised agencies, when drafting their annual work programmes;

                  55.

                  Asks the agencies to publish the minutes of their management board meetings on their websites, in the interests of transparency and democratic scrutiny, including by Parliament;

                  56.

                  Suggests that a member of Parliament’s Committee on Budgetary Control should be able to attend agencies’ management board meetings as an observer;

         Possibilities of closer cooperation and of merging certain agencies

                  57.

                  Believes that further synergies should be explored between the European Police College and the European Police Office, taking into account the results of the study issued by CEPOL in 2011 (contract CEPOL/CT/2010/002); notes that in March 2014, the College is to leave its current premises in Bramshill (UK); requests that the Commission presents a proposal to the European Parliament and the Council for the relocation of the College to The Hague (NL), where the European Police Office is currently located, in order for both agencies to be able to share facilities and services without jeopardizing their core tasks and autonomy; stresses that a swift decision on the relocation of CEPOL would considerably reduce the level of uncertainty which can adversely affect staff and recruitment procedures;

                  58.

                  Invites the Commission to further explore, together with the European Training Foundation, the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training, the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions and the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, the synergies that exist between those agencies and to report to the discharge authority on their possible deeper integration; invites those agencies and the Commission to evaluate whether closer cooperation could lead to economies of scale and optimisation of their performance;

                  59.

                  Considers that closer coordination should be put in place between certain agencies, in particular as regards decisions impacting on the remit of another agency; proposes that the agencies concerned reach an agreement among themselves, with the involvement of the relevant stakeholders, in order to avoid competing legislation; calls on the agencies, in such cases, to inform the Parliament committees responsible at all times;

         Sharing best practices

                  60.

                  Stresses the need to ensure that newly-formed agencies (e.g. the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators, the European Banking Authority (EBA), the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) and the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), all founded in 2011) benefit from best practices of older and more experienced ones, in order to avoid recruitment, procurement and financial regulation shortcomings;

                  61.

                  Notes with satisfaction that newly formed agencies are participating in the Network’s meetings three times a year and that those meetings comprise sharing best practices; notes, furthermore, that newly established agencies are invited to sub-networks which are set up to discuss issues requiring technical knowledge, in particular the sub-network of the Heads of Administration, which meets with the same frequency as the Network and deals with issues of recruitment, procurement and financial regulations;

                  62.

                  Takes note of the two study visits organised by ESMA which took place at the European Railway Agency (ERA) in 2011 and at the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) in 2012, in which ESMA staff had the opportunity to learn best practices from those well-established agencies; notes the development of frequent contact between ESMA, EIOPA and EBA, sharing experiences, aligning practices and profiting from synergies;

                  63.

                  Invites the Network to liaise with the Commission in order to explore the possibilities of organising common training actions for agencies aimed at overcoming the financial problems identified by the Court of Auditors in 2011;

         European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs)

                  64.

                  Notes with concern that the provisions of the Financial Regulation are not fully adapted to the ESAs’ financing scheme as 55 % to 60 % of their budget is financed by contributions from Member States and European Free Trade Association countries; believes that appropriate mechanisms need to be found to guarantee the security and financial stability of the ESAs, which are exposed to specific risks on account of the mixed nature of their funding; believes that that issue should be addressed, at the latest, in the course of the next revision of the Financial Regulation as regards the agencies, and calls on the Commission to evaluate this situation and to report on this issue to the discharge authority;

                  65.

                  Stresses the importance of adequately matching the allocated budget and available posts on one hand and the tasks entrusted to the ESAs on the other hand, as a mismatch may result in unbalanced staffing as regards the recruitment of the ESAs’ staff on one hand and the involvement of national experts on the other; expresses concern about the fact that the Commission has altered the establishment plans proposed by the ESAs without clearly indicating this; urges the Commission to be fully transparent on this and other issues;

                  66.

                  Notes in this respect the concerns that were raised in the preliminary conclusions of the IMF financial sector assessment of December 2012 on the Union, in which it is recommended to increase the resources and powers of the ESAs in order to enable them to successfully fulfil their mandates, while enhancing their operational independence;

         Gender equality

                  67.

                  Stresses the importance of putting in place policies ensuring that women and men are properly represented on the agencies’ governing bodies; urges the Network to introduce and promote general guidelines regarding best practices on this matter, even where no specific indications are given in the agencies’ founding regulations; calls on the agencies’ executive directors, who have ultimate responsibility for staffing issues, to ensure gender parity among agency staff as a whole and among people in positions of responsibility;

                  68.

                  Notes with concern that few of the executive director positions in the agencies are held by women; given that in most of the agencies, directors are appointed by the management board on the basis of a shortlist adopted by the Commission, calls on the management boards of the agencies and on the Commission to uphold the principles of gender equality and to take account of the strategy launched by the Commission in 2010 to achieve a better gender balance in positions of responsibility; expresses concern about the fact that the Common Approach and the Roadmap do not count gender equality policies among their objectives, and calls on the Commission to devise specific proposals to address this issue;

                  69.

                  Notes that it is the responsibility of Members States to select their representatives on the agencies’ governing boards; invites Members States to bear in mind the principles of gender equality when appointing their representatives to those bodies, and urges the executive directors to raise the awareness of the members of the boards on this topic when the chairs and vice-chairs are to be elected; notes with satisfaction that two of the current Troika agencies have a woman as chair of their governing board;

         Complex IT systems

                  70.

                  Stresses the need for the agencies, as well as the Commission, to coordinate and to share best practices and experiences in order to overcome the technical and management challenges presented by complex information technology (IT) systems which have to operate on a Union-wide basis; finds it strange that the Commission charges the agencies fees for using its IT systems, and that those fees are not set according to objective parameters, such as the size of the agencies; given that those fees represent a considerable burden for the small agencies, and if there is no alternative to charging them, calls on the Commission to adapt the fees to the size and financial capacity of the agencies;

                  71.

                  Draws the Commission’s attention to the difficulties encountered by the agencies with complex IT systems like accrual-based accounting (ABAC) and SYSPER2, due to the fact that those systems are designed to satisfy the Commission’s needs, rather than those of the agencies; welcomes the actions of the sub-networks dealing with the consequences of this problem and, in particular, the Union Agencies Information and Communication Technology Network (IT issues) and the Heads of Administration sub-network (ABAC and SYSPER2), and invites the Commission to cooperate more closely with the agencies on this issue;

                  72.

                  Proposes that the agencies be given the possibility of using the human resources software, or any other kind of software, of the Commission, instead of having to purchase their own expensive software;

                  73.

                  Proposes that, as from the next financial year, in order to facilitate the work of the discharge authority as regards the agencies, and given the great number of agencies and the increasing complexity of their work and output, Parliament considers, when studying and preparing its opinion on an agency, making a reconfiguration that would provide for the appointment of several rapporteurs, as it was already the case this year with other institutions;

                  74.

                  Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the agencies subject to this discharge procedure, the Council, the Commission and the Court of Auditors.

         (1)  OJ L 286, 17.10.2012, p. 388.

         (2)  OJ L 248, 16.9.2002, p. 1.

         (3)  OJ L 298, 26.10.2012, p. 1.

         (4)  OJ L 357, 31.12.2002, p. 72.

         (5)  OJ C 368, 16.12.2011.

         (6)  OJ C 161 E, 31.5.2011, p. 62.

         (7)  OJ C 51 E, 22.2.2013, p. 121.

         (8)  In this respect, see action 53 of the Roadmap on the follow-up to the Common Approach on EU decentralised agencies.

         (9)  See the Roadmap on the follow-up to the Common Approach on EU decentralised agencies, action 33.

         (10)  See the Roadmap on the follow-up to the Common Approach on EU decentralised agencies, actions 34 and 35.


title: Decision (EU) 2017/1743 of the European Parliament of 27 April 2017 on the closure of the accounts of the Innovative Medicines Initiative 2 Joint Undertaking for the financial year 2015

text:
               29.9.2017

               EN

               Official Journal of the European Union

               L 252/360

         DECISION (EU) 2017/1743 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
   of 27 April 2017
   on the closure of the accounts of the Innovative Medicines Initiative 2 Joint Undertaking for the financial year 2015
   THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT,

               —

               having regard to the final annual accounts of the Innovative Medicines Initiative 2 Joint Undertaking for the financial year 2015,

               —

               having regard to the Court of Auditors' report on the annual accounts of the Innovative Medicines Initiative 2 Joint Undertaking for the financial year 2015, together with the Joint Undertaking's reply (1),

               —

               having regard to the statement of assurance (2) as to the reliability of the accounts and the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions provided by the Court of Auditors for the financial year 2015, pursuant to Article 287 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

               —

               having regard to the Council's recommendation of 21 February 2017 on discharge to be given to the Joint Undertaking in respect of the implementation of the budget for the financial year 2015 (05875/2017 — C8-0089/2017),

               —

               having regard to Article 319 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

               —

               having regard to Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union and repealing Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 (3), and in particular Article 209 thereof,

               —

               having regard to Council Regulation (EU) No 557/2014 of 6 May 2014 establishing the Innovative Medicines Initiative 2 Joint Undertaking (4), and in particular Article 12 thereof,

               —

               having regard to Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 110/2014 of 30 September 2013 on the model financial regulation for public-private partnership bodies referred to in Article 209 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council (5),

               —

               having regard to Rule 94 of and Annex IV to its Rules of Procedure,

               —

               having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgetary Control (A8-0083/2017),

               1.

               Approves the closure of the accounts of the Innovative Medicines Initiative 2 Joint Undertaking for the financial year 2015;

               2.

               Instructs its President to forward this decision to the Executive Director of the Innovative Medicines Initiative 2 Joint Undertaking, the Council, the Commission and the Court of Auditors, and to arrange for its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union (L series).

            The President

         Antonio TAJANI

            The Secretary-General

         Klaus WELLE

      (1)  OJ C 473, 16.12.2016, p. 57.

      (2)  OJ C 473, 16.12.2016, p. 58.

      (3)  OJ L 298, 26.10.2012, p. 1.

      (4)  OJ L 169, 7.6.2014, p. 54.

      (5)  OJ L 38, 7.2.2014, p. 2.


Avis juridique important

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32000D0296

2000/296/EC: Commission Decision of 5 April 2000 under the provisions of Council Regulation (EC) No 3286/94 concerning the Chilean prohibition on unloading of swordfish catches in Chilean ports (notified under document number C(2000) 926)

Official Journal L 096 , 18/04/2000 P. 0067 - 0069

Commission Decisionof 5 April 2000under the provisions of Council Regulation (EC) No 3286/94 concerning the Chilean prohibition on unloading of swordfish catches in Chilean ports(notified under document number C(2000) 926)(2000/296/EC)THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 3286/94 of 22 December 1994 laying down Community procedures in the field of the common commercial policy in order to ensure the exercise of the Community's rights under international trade rules, in particular those established under the auspices of the World Trade Organisation(1), as amended by Regulation (EC) No 356/95(2), and in particular Articles 13 and 14 thereof,After consulting the Advisory Committee,Whereas:A. PROCEDURE(1) On 26 May 1998 the Commission received a complaint pursuant to Articles 3 and 4 of Council Regulation (EC) No 3286/94 (hereafter the "Regulation"). The complaint was lodged by ANAPA (Asociación Nacional de Armadores de Buques Palangreros de Altura - Spanish national association of owners of deepsea longliners).(2) The complainant alleged that Chile maintained a prohibition on transhipment and transit of swordfish catches in Chilean ports and a requirement of a zoo-sanitary certificate for fishing products which enter the Chilean territory, whatever their way of entry or their final destination, which are respectively inconsistent with Article V of GATT 1994 and Articles 2(3), 5(4) and (6) of the WTO Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures. On that basis, the complainant asked the Commission to take the necessary actions to convince Chile to repeal these measures.(3) The complaint contained sufficient evidence to justify the initiation of a Community examination procedure pursuant to Article 8 of the Regulation. Consequently, such procedure was initiated on 10 July 1998(3).(4) Following the initiation of the examination procedure the Commission carried out an investigation, which has led to the conclusions indicated below.B. FINDINGS REGARDING THE EXISTENCE OF AN OBSTACLE TO TRADE(5) The relevant Chilean legislation concerning the prohibition on unloading of swordfish catches in Chilean ports is established on the basis of Article 165 of the Chilean Fishery Law (Ley General de Pesca y Acuicultura), as consolidated by the Supreme Decree 430 of 28 September 1991.(6) The investigation revealed that the Chilean legislation imposes a ban on landing and transit of highly migratory species (such as swordfish) caught inside or outside the Chilean exclusive economic zone, when these catches are made in contravention of conservation rules unilaterally imposed by Chile. These rules apply to swordfish catches made in inland waters, the territorial sea or the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and in the areas bordering the EEZ. Consequently, the prohibition applies to swordfish catches made in the bordering areas to the exclusive economic zone, i.e. outside the exclusive economic zone.(7) While the Commission shares the general aim of conserving swordfish resources, it considers that any measures to this end must be taken in a way which least distorts trade and must not amount to arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination.(8) The relevant Chilean legislation was adopted and the import prohibition enforced without Chile having entered into any serious negotiations involving the Community with the objective of concluding bilateral or multilateral agreements. In fact, Chile has been negotiating since 1997 an agreement on the conservation of the living resources in the South Pacific within the framework of a regional organisation but has not pursued the possibility of entering into cooperative arrangements with the Community.(9) The requirement that WTO members should engage in serious efforts to negotiate consensual means of protection and conservation of living marine resources with all interested members, rather than resorting to unilateral and discriminatory measures was set out in "United States import prohibition of certain shrimp and shrimp products"(4). As a consequence of Chile's failure to comply with this requirement and its arbitrary application of its unilateral measures, the investigation concluded that the application of the Chilean measures amounts to an unjustifiable and arbitrary discrimination.(10) The investigation established that the Chilean legislation prohibits Community fishing vessels from unloading their swordfish catches in Chilean ports either for the purpose of landing them for warehousing or for transhipment onto other vessels. This prohibition also applies in the Chilean territorial sea and exclusive economic zone and violates the principle of freedom of transit, established by Article V of GATT 1994.(11) In addition, by making unloading in Chilean ports impossible for swordfish catches made by Community vessels, the Chilean measures render also impossible the importation of the affected catches into Chile, which is contrary to Article XI of GATT 1994.(12) As regards the requirement for a zoo-sanitary certificate, the investigation stated that the Chilean authorities declared that the legislation that introduced the requirement in question (Oficio Circular n° 240) was repealed in November 1991. In consideration of the factual rectification given by the Chilean authorities, the Commission services did not carry out a more detailed analysis of the obstacle to trade.(13) Under these circumstances the Commission considers that the complainant's allegation on prohibition of unloading is well-founded and that the Chilean practices constitute an obstacle to trade within the meaning of Article 2(1) of the Regulation, as they are contrary to Article V and Article XI of GATT 1994.(14) The Commission none-the-less considers that reference to the above legal bases does not rule out recourse to any other pertinent provision of the WTO Agreement and of the Agreements annexed to it, which could be of use in procedures before the WTO.C. FINDINGS REGARDING INJURY(15) The investigation showed that that the Chilean ports are the most convenient for transhipment of swordfish catches made by Community vessels in the South-East Pacific because of their geographical position, their well-developed infrastructure and their commercial facilities. As a consequence, the Chilean prohibition on the transhipment of swordfish obliges the Community vessels to land or tranship their catches in the ports of other third countries in the region, which necessitates at least a six-day trip and cause them injury consisting of:- costs incurred owing to the deficiencies of other third country ports compared to Chilean ones,- additional operational costs for the trip to other third country ports,- potential loss of catches during the additional trip period to other third country ports.(16) The Commission concluded that the abovementioned effects constitute injury within the meaning of Article 2(3) of the Regulation.D. FINDINGS REGARDING ADVERSE TRADE EFFECTS(17) The investigation confirmed that the challenged Chilean practices prevent the Community fishing vessels to access third country markets. In particular, Chilean ports are essential bases for exporting especially fresh swordfish, to the United States of America because of the close commercial relationship in this field between Chile and the USA.(18) The prohibition to land the catches and consequently to use the adjacent airports, prevent the Community producers from exporting on the US market, which is one of the largest market for swordfish in the world, thus creating adverse trade effects for the Community producers.(19) In addition, there are also potential adverse trade effects to be taken into consideration. In the perspective of future international cooperation in the South-East Pacific as provided by the Law of the Seas Convention, the position of the Community will be weakened by the limited presence of Community vessels in the area. As a consequence, it is clearly foreseeable that the impossibility for Community vessels to accede to Chilean ports is likely to develop into further adverse effects for the Community.(20) Therefore, the Commission concluded that the abovementioned effects cause and threaten to cause adverse trade effects within the meaning of Article 2(4) of the Regulation.E. COMMUNITY INTEREST(21) It is essential for Community vessels to have access to international fishing areas and for freedom of transit to be guaranteed by international rules.(22) It is in the Community interest that solutions to disputes involving environmental issues be found via multilaterally negotiated measures, which are supportive of both trade and sustainable development.(23) Moreover, it is not acceptable that Chile imposes a measure which impedes the access of Community vessels to its ports unless such vessels comply with conservation rules imposed unilaterally. As stated by the Appellate Body report in "United States - Gasoline"(5) and further confirmed by the Appellate Body report in "United States - import prohibition of certain shrimp and shrimp products"(6), WTO members are free to adopt their own policies aimed at protecting the environment as long as, in doing so, they fulfil their obligations and respect the rights of other Members under the WTO agreements. Chile has not done this in the present case.(24) Ensuring that WTO partners fully comply with their obligations is of the utmost importance for the Community, which has committed itself to the same obligations. It is fundamental for the good functioning of a multilateral trade system to consistently tackle all allegedly WTO incompatible practices.F. CONCLUSIONS AND MEASURES TO BE TAKEN(25) Meetings have been held with the relevant Chilean authorities to discuss this matter aimed at finding an amicable solution but the Chilean authorities have not forwarded any proposal which could have formed the basis of such a solution.(26) In addition, Chile adopted a new decree (Decree 598 of 15 October 1999) that expressly extends the rules in question to swordfish catches made in the high sea. Consequently, the prohibition on unloading in Chilean ports, which previously applied to swordfish catches made in the exclusive economic zone and in its bordering areas, now also applies to catches made anywhere on the high sea.(27) In these circumstances, it appears that the interests of the Community call for initiation of WTO dispute settlement proceedings,HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:Article 11. The Chilean prohibition on unloading of swordfish catches in Chilean ports appears to be inconsistent with the obligations of that country under the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organisation and constitutes an "obstacle to trade" within the meaning of Article 2(1) of Regulation (EC) No 3286/94.2. The Community will initiate dispute settlement proceedings against Chile under the Understanding on the Rules and Procedures for the Settlement of Disputes and other relevant WTO provisions with a view to securing removal of the obstacle to trade.Article 2This Decision shall apply from the day of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.Done at Brussels, 5 April 2000.For the CommissionPascal LamyMember of the Commission(1) OJ L 349, 31.12.1994, p. 71.(2) OJ L 41, 23.2.1995, p. 3.(3) Notice of initiation of an examination procedure concerning an obstacle to trade, within the meaning of Council Regulation (EC) No 3286/94, consisting of trade practices maintained by Chile in relation to the transit and transhipment of swordfish in Chilean ports (OJ C 215, 10.7.1998, p. 2).(4) The Appellate Body report "United States - import prohibition of certain shrimp and shrimp products" (WT/DS58/AB/R) was adopted on 12 October 1998, paragraphs 171 and 172.(5) The Appellate Body report "United States - standards for reformulated and conventional gasoline" (WT/DS2/AB/R) was adopted on 20 May 1996.(6) See paragraph 186 of the Appellate Body report, referred to in footnote 4.


title: Decision (EU) 2016/1482 of the European Parliament of 28 April 2016 on discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2014, Section IX — European Data Protection Supervisor

text:
               14.9.2016

               EN

               Official Journal of the European Union

               L 246/160

         DECISION (EU) 2016/1482 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
   of 28 April 2016
   on discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2014, Section IX — European Data Protection Supervisor
   THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT,

               —

               having regard to the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2014 (1),

               —

               having regard to the consolidated annual accounts of the European Union for the financial year 2014 (COM(2015) 377 — C8-0207/2015) (2),

               —

               having regard to the Court of Auditors’ annual report on the implementation of the budget concerning the financial year 2014, together with the institutions’ replies (3),

               —

               having regard to the statement of assurance (4) as to the reliability of the accounts and the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions provided by the Court of Auditors for the financial year 2014, pursuant to Article 287 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

               —

               having regard to Article 314(10) and Articles 317, 318 and 319 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

               —

               having regard to Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union and repealing Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 (5), and in particular Articles 55, 99, 164, 165 and 166 thereof,

               —

               having regard to Rule 94 of and Annex V to its Rules of Procedure,

               —

               having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgetary Control and the opinion of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (A8-0109/2016),

               1.

               Grants the European Data Protection Supervisor discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget for the financial year 2014;

               2.

               Sets out its observations in the resolution below;

               3.

               Instructs its President to forward this decision and the resolution forming an integral part of it to the European Data Protection Supervisor, the European Council, the Council, the Commission, the Court of Justice of the European Union, the Court of Auditors, the European Ombudsman, and the European External Action Service, and to arrange for their publication in the Official Journal of the European Union (L series).

            The President

         Martin SCHULZ

            The Secretary-General

         Klaus WELLE

      (1)  OJ L 51, 20.2.2014.

      (2)  OJ C 377, 13.11.2015, p. 1.

      (3)  OJ C 373, 10.11.2015, p. 1.

      (4)  OJ C 377, 13.11.2015, p. 146.

      (5)  OJ L 298, 26.10.2012, p. 1.


title: 2014/605/EU: Decision of the European Parliament of 3 April 2014 on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work for the financial year 2012

text:
               5.9.2014

               EN

               Official Journal of the European Union

               L 266/272

         DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
   of 3 April 2014
   on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work for the financial year 2012
   (2014/605/EU)
   THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT,

               —

               having regard to the final annual accounts of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work for the financial year 2012,

               —

               having regard to the Court of Auditors’ report on the annual accounts of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work for the financial year 2012, together with the Agency’s replies (1),

               —

               having regard to the Council’s recommendation of 18 February 2014 (05849/2014 – C7-0054/2014),

               —

               having regard to Article 319 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

               —

               having regard to Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities (2), and in particular Article 185 thereof,

               —

               having regard to Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union and repealing Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 (3), and in particular Article 208 thereof,

               —

               having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 2062/94 of 18 July 1994 establishing a European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (4), and in particular Article 14 thereof,

               —

               having regard to Commission Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2343/2002 of 19 November 2002 on the framework Financial Regulation for the bodies referred to in Article 185 of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities (5),

               —

               having regard to Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1271/2013 of 30 September 2013 on the framework financial regulation for the bodies referred to in Article 208 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council (6), and in particular Article 108 thereof,

               —

               having regard to Rule 77 of, and Annex VI to, its Rules of Procedure,

               —

               having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgetary Control and the opinion of the Committee on Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (A7-0193/2014),

               1.

               Grants the Director of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work discharge in respect of the implementation of the Agency’s budget for the financial year 2012;

               2.

               Sets out its observations in the resolution below;

               3.

               Instructs its President to forward this Decision and the resolution that forms an integral part of it to the Director of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, the Council, the Commission and the Court of Auditors, and to arrange for their publication in the Official Journal of the European Union (L series).

            The President

         Martin SCHULZ

            The Secretary-General

         Klaus WELLE

      (1)  OJ C 365, 13.12.2013, p. 275.

      (2)  OJ L 248, 16.9.2002, p. 1.

      (3)  OJ L 298, 26.10.2012, p. 1.

      (4)  OJ L 216, 20.8.1994, p. 1.

      (5)  OJ L 357, 31.12.2002, p. 72.

      (6)  OJ L 328, 7.12.2013, p. 42.