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Document 52004TA1230(07)

Report on the annual accounts of the Translation Centre for the bodies of the European Union for the 2003 financial year together with the Centre's replies

OJ C 324, 30.12.2004, p. 46–52 (ES, CS, DA, DE, ET, EL, EN, FR, IT, LV, LT, HU, MT, NL, PL, PT, SK, SL, FI, SV)

Date of document:: 30/09/2004

Author:: European Court of Auditors
Form:: Report

Treaty:

Treaty establishing the European Community

Legal basis:

12002E248

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EUROVOC descriptor:

Subject matter:

Budget

Directory code:

01.60.20.00 General, financial and institutional matters / Financial and budgetary provisions / Budget

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Official Journal

30.12.2004

Official Journal of the European Union

C 324/46

REPORT

on the annual accounts of the Translation Centre for the bodies of the European Union for the 2003 financial year together with the Centre's replies

(2004/C 324/07)

CONTENTS

1	INTRODUCTION

2-5	THE COURT'S OPINION

6-8	OBSERVATIONS

Tables 1 to 4

The Centre's replies

INTRODUCTION

The Translation Centre for the bodies of the European Union (hereinafter the Centre) was established by Council Regulation (EC) No 2965/94 (1). The Centre's role is to provide the EU bodies, and any other EU institutions and bodies which call upon its services, with the translation services necessary for their activities. Table 1contains a summary of the Centre's responsibilities and activities based on information provided by the Centre.

THE COURT'S OPINION

2.	This opinion is addressed to the European Parliament and the Council in accordance with Article 185(2) of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 (2).

The Court of Auditors has examined the annual accounts of the Translation Centre for the bodies of the European Union for the financial year ended 31 December 2003. In accordance with Article 14(1) of Council Regulation (EC) No 2965/94, the budget was implemented on the responsibility of the Director. This responsibility includes the drawing-up and presentation of the accounts (3) in accordance with the internal financial provisions provided for in Article 15 of the same Regulation. The Court is required, pursuant to Article 248 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, to examine these accounts.

The Court carried out its audit in accordance with its auditing policies and standards. These have been adapted from generally accepted international auditing standards to reflect the specific nature of the Community context. It examined the accounting documents and applied the auditing procedures that it considered necessary in this context.

The Court thus obtained reasonable assurance that the annual accounts for the financial year ending on 31 December 2003 were reliable and that the underlying operations, taken as a whole, were legal and regular. The content of the following observations does not call the audit opinion expressed by the Court in this report into question.

OBSERVATIONS

The implementation of the budget for the financial year 2003 and of the appropriations carried over from the previous financial year is shown in Table 2. The revenue and expenditure account and the balance sheet submitted by the Centre for the financial year 2003 are presented in summary form in Tables 3 and 4.

The Centre's accounts for 2003 were adopted on the basis of the accounting principles laid down in its new Financial Regulation (4). The Centre did not reprocess all of the accounting data for the financial year 2002 in accordance with the accounting rules used to draw up its annual accounts for the financial year ending 31 December 2003.

Provisions for risks and charges totalled 8 601 000 euro at the end of 2003, an increase of 2 195 000 euro when compared with 2002. Most of this amount (6 071 000 euro) concerned the sums claimed by the Commission corresponding to its share of pension contributions for the Centre's employees; the amount is disputed by the Centre. The remainder (2 530 000 euro) was established to cover rent owed to the Luxembourg authorities as soon as the definitive amount has been set. The Centre must make every effort to resolve these problems (5).

This Report was adopted by the Court of Auditors in Luxembourg at its meeting of 29 and 30 September 2004.

For the Court of Auditors

Juan Manuel FABRA VALLÉS

President

(1) OJ L 314, 7.12.1994, p. 1.

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

(3) As laid down in Article 83(3) of the Centre's Financial Regulation, the final accounts for the financial year 2003 were drawn up on 14 September 2004 and sent to the Court of Auditors, which received them on 27 September 2004. A summarised version of these accounts is presented in the tables attached to this report.

(4) Article 78 of the Centre's Financial Regulation.

(5) See the Report concerning the financial year 2001 (paragraph 7, OJ C 326, 27.12.2002, p. 22).

Table 1

Translation Centre for the bodies of the European Union (Luxembourg)

Scope of EU competencies stipulated in the Treaty

Competencies of the Centre as defined in the Parliament and Council Regulation — Council Regulation (EC) No 2965/94 of 28 November 1994

Administration

Resources made available to the Centre (data for 2002)

Products and services provided in 2003 (data for 2002 in brackets)

The representatives of the Member States' governments adopted by mutual agreement a declaration concerning the creation, under the aegis of the Commission's translation departments in Luxembourg, of a Translation Centre for the bodies of the Union, which would provide the necessary translation services for the operation of the bodies and services whose seats were established by the decision of 29 October 1993

(Council Decision taken on the basis of Article 235 of the Treaty).

Objectives

To provide the necessary translation services for the operation of the following bodies:

—	the European Environment Agency

—	the European Training Foundation

—	the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction

—	the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products;

—	the European Agency for Health and Safety at Work;

—	the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (Trademarks and Designs)

—	the European Police Office (Europol) and the Europol Drugs Unit.

The bodies set up by the Council, other than the above, may use the Centre's services. The institutions and bodies of the European Union which already have their own Translation Service may, if need be, call upon the Centre's services on a voluntary basis.

Tasks

—	Make arrangements for cooperating with the bodies and institutions

—	Participate in the work of the Interinstitutional Translation Committee

Management Board

Composition

—	One representative per Member State

—	Two representatives from the Commission, one of whom is Chairman

—	One representative from each body or institution calling upon the Centre's services

Task

Adopts the Centre's annual work programme and annual report

2.	Director Appointed by the Management Board on a proposal from the Commission

3.	External control Court of Auditors

4.	Discharge authority Parliament on a recommendation from the Council

Final budget

29 million euro (24 million euro)

Staff as at 31 December 2003

158 (158) posts listed in the establishment plan;

posts occupied: 132 (136)

+15 (5) other posts

Total staff 147 (141)

Assigned to:

—	operational duties: 95 (91)

—	administrative duties: 48 (46)

—	mixed duties: 4 (4)

Number of pages translated

238 399(227 783)

Number of pages per language

—	official languages: 221 127(224 190)

—	other languages: 17 272(3 593)

Number of pages per customer type

—	bodies: 215 992(218 532)

—	institutions et al.: 22 407(9 521)

Number of freelance translation contracts: 245 (215)

Number of pages translated freelance: 94 355(86 826)

Source:Information supplied by the Centre.

Table 2

Translation Centre for the bodies of the European Union: implementation of the budget for the 2003 financial year

(million euro)
Revenue			Expenditure
Source of revenue	Revenue entered in the final budget for the financial year	Revenue received	Allocation of expenditure	Final budget appropriations					Appropriations carried over from the previous financial year			Appropriations available (2003 budget and 2002 financial year)
Source of revenue	Revenue entered in the final budget for the financial year	Revenue received	Allocation of expenditure	entered	committed	paid	carried over	cancelled	commitments outstanding	paid	cancelled	Appropriations	committed	paid	carried over	cancelled
Revenue paid by the bodies and institutions	20,6	19,8	Title I Staff	12,5	10,3	10,2	0,1	2,2	0,1	0,1	0,0	12,6	10,4	10,3	0,1	2,2
Financial income	0,1	0,4	Title II Administration	3,2	1,9	1,3	0,6	1,3	0,7	0,6	0,1	3,9	2,6	1,9	0,6	1,4
Miscellaneous income	0,0	0,1	Title III Operating activities	7,0	3,9	3,4	0,5	3,1	0,4	0,4	0,0	7,4	4,3	3,8	0,5	3,1
Balance for the previous financial year	8,3	0,0	Title X Reserve and provisions	6,3	0,0	0,0	0,0	6,3	0,0	0,0	0,0	6,3	0,0	0,0	0,0	6,3
Total	29,0	20,3	Total	29,0	16,1	14,9	1,2	12,9	1,2	1,1	0,1	30,2	17,3	16,0	1,2	13,0
Source:Data compiled by the Centre. This table summarises the data supplied by the Centre in its own accounts.

Table 3

Translation Centre for the bodies of the European Union — Revenue and expenditure account for the financial

(1000 euro)
	2003	2002
Operating revenue
Invoicing for the financial year	22 075	18 113
Miscellaneous revenue	223	291
Total (a)	22 298	18 404
Operating expenditure
Current expenses	18 255	18 446
Total (b)	18 255	18 446
Operating result (c = a – b)	4 043	–42
Financial income
Bank interest	387	495
Exchange-rate gain	1	2
Total (d)	388	497
Financial charges
Bank charges	10	0
Total (e)	10	0
Financial result (f = d – e)	378	497
Result for ordinary activities (g = c + f)	4 421	455
Exceptional income (h)	19	0
Exceptional expenses (i)	9	0
Exceptional result (j = h – i)	10	0
Result for the financial year (g + j)	4 431	455
Source:Data compiled by the Centre.

Table 4

Translation Centre for the bodies of the European Union — Balance sheet at 31 December 2003 and 31 December 2002 (1)

(1000 euro)
Assets	2003	2002	Liabilities	2003	2002
Intangible assets	760	889	Own capital
			Budget out-turn (a)	4 404	8 330
Tangible assets			Result of adjustments (b)	27
Furniture and vehicles	219	267	Economic out-turn (a + b)	4 431	8 330
IT equipment	398	486	Out-turns carried over from previous financial years (2)	1 642	1 642
Fixed assets under construction and advances paid	35	0	Permanent pre-financing fund	8 330
Subtotal	652	753	Subtotal	14 403	9 972
Current assets			Provisions for risks and liabilities	8 601	6 406
VAT paid and recoverable from the Member States	3	25	Short-term liabilities
Amounts owed by Community institutions and bodies	2 676	3 360	Amounts owed to Community institutions and bodies	0	3 360
Sundry receivables	10	26	Payment appropriations to be carried over	784	1 247
Subtotal	2 689	3 411	Sundry creditors	162	15
Disposable assets	20 354	16 126	Sundry liabilities	5	15
			Advances to customers	500	164
			Subtotal	1 451	4 801
Total	24 455	21 179	Total	24 455	21 179
Source:Data compiled by the Centre — This table summarises the data supplied by the Centre in its own accounts.

(1) The use of the model proposed by the Commission resulted in balances being reallocated under existing headings.

(2) This amount actually corresponds to fixed assets after depreciation as at 31 December 2002 (see table 3 of the report concerning the financial year 2002, OJ C 319, 30.12.2003, p. 29).

Source:Data compiled by the Centre — This table summarises the data supplied by the Centre in its own accounts.

THE CENTRE'S REPLIES

In principe, when there are changes to the methods used, the accounts for previous financial years should be drawn up using the new method. Nevertheless it was not possible for the Centre to make an objective evaluation of the effect of the change on previous years. The analysis of the impact of the change on the accounting for the financial year 2003 can be found in the annexes to the Centre's accounts.

8.	In July 2004 the Centre signed a memorandum of understanding with the Luxembourg authorities resolving the problem of the costs of using the Nouvel Hémicycle building. With regard to the pension contributions for the Centre’s employees, renewed attempts will be made to find a solution.

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