5.9.2014   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 266/143

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having regard to the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2012 (1),

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having regard to the consolidated annual accounts of the European Union for the financial year 2012 (COM(2013) 570 – C7-0281/2013) (2),

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having regard to the Annual Report of the Court of Auditors on implementation of the budget for the financial year 2012, together with the institutions’ replies (3),

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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 2012 pursuant to Article 287 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

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

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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 (5), and in particular Articles 50, 86, 145, 146 and 147 thereof,

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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 (6), and in particular Articles 164, 165 and 166 thereof,

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having regard to its previous discharge decisions and resolutions,

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

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having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgetary Control and the opinion of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (A7-0228/2014),

1.

Welcomes the conclusion of the Court of Auditors that the payments as a whole for the year ended on 31 December 2012 for administrative and other expenditure of the European Data Protection Supervisor (‘the Supervisor’) were free from material error and that the examined supervisory and control systems for administrative and other expenditure were effective;

2.

Notes with satisfaction that in its 2012 annual report, the Court of Auditors observed that no significant weaknesses had been identified in respect to the audited topics related to the human resources and procurement for the Supervisor;

3.

Notes that in 2012, the Supervisor had a total of EUR 7 624 090 in commitment appropriations (EUR 7 564 137 in 2011), and that the implementation rate of those appropriations was 89,69 % (85,03 % in 2011); finds this a positive development but calls for further efforts to improve the implementation rate and for the changes made to be monitored;

4.

Stresses that the Supervisor’s budget is purely administrative; notes that the implementation rate of expenditure on persons working with the institution is 93,18 % (Title 1) and that the expenditure on buildings, furniture, equipment and miscellaneous operating expenditure is 100 % (Title 2); congratulates the Supervisor for the results of 2012;

5.

Welcomes the progress regarding better management of allowances and the Court of Auditors’ finding that the measures taken were effective; welcomes, moreover, the fact that the Supervisor intends to continue to improve its system to monitor and control in a timely manner;

6.

Invites the Supervisor to continue to monitor the allowances management and improve its performance levels;

7.

Following last year’s request, asks the Supervisor to include detailed information on how the recent incorporation of structural changes and the implementation of the electronic system on case management have influenced the cost saving;

8.

Recalls that the Treaty of Lisbon enhanced the Supervisor’s competences by extending data protection to all Union policy domains;

9.

Takes note of the reorganisation of the Supervisor’s secretariat and the consequent creation of a new ICT unit; requests to be informed of the budgetary impact of that reform;

10.

Acknowledges the inclusion of Parliament’s discharge recommendations in the annual activity report;

11.

Urges the Supervisor to implement the recommendations made by the Commission’s internal audit service (IAS); expects that logistics and human resources units will improve efficiency following their implementation;

12.

Expects to be informed about the full operability of the system which defines key performance indicators and the benchmarking system plan set in 2012; calls on the Supervisor to assess in detail the improvements achieved by that system in its next year’s annual activity report;

13.

Calls on the Supervisor to continue informing Parliament’s Committee on Budgetary Control on the follow-up of the recommendations which are set forth in Parliament’s discharge resolutions;

14.

Following last year’s request, asks the Supervisor to include an exhaustive table of all the human resources at the Supervisor’s disposal, broken down by category, grade, sex and nationality in the next annual activity report;

15.

Calls on the Supervisor to cooperate with other institutions to come up with a unified methodology of presenting the translation costs in order to simplify the analysis and comparison of the costs;

16.

Welcomes the signing of a service level agreement with the Commission’s IAS and expects the results of that agreement to be thoroughly stated in the annual activity report;

17.

Considers, in general, that the Supervisor should pay particular attention to ensuring sound financial management, i.e. to using its appropriations economically, efficiently and effectively in the performance of its duties;

18.

Calls on the Court of Auditors to include in its next annual report a review of the follow-up by the Supervisor of Parliament’s recommendations in this resolution.