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Document 52014TA1210(41)
Report on the annual accounts of the Research Executive Agency for the financial year 2013, together with the Agency’s reply
Report on the annual accounts of the Research Executive Agency for the financial year 2013, together with the Agency’s reply
Report on the annual accounts of the Research Executive Agency for the financial year 2013, together with the Agency’s reply
OJ C 442, 10.12.2014, p. 351–357
(BG, ES, CS, DA, DE, ET, EL, EN, FR, HR, IT, LV, LT, HU, MT, NL, PL, PT, RO, SK, SL, FI, SV)
10.12.2014 |
EN |
Official Journal of the European Union |
C 442/351 |
REPORT
on the annual accounts of the Research Executive Agency for the financial year 2013, together with the Agency’s reply
(2014/C 442/41)
INTRODUCTION
1. |
The Research Executive Agency (hereinafter ‘the Agency’, aka ‘REA’), which is located in Brussels, was set up by Commission Decision 2008/46/EC (1). The Agency was established for a limited period beginning on 1 January 2008 and ending on 31 December 2017 with the aim of managing specific Union activities in the field of research (2). On 15 June 2009 the Agency was officially granted its administrative and operational autonomy by the European Commission. |
INFORMATION IN SUPPORT OF THE STATEMENT OF ASSURANCE
2. |
The audit approach taken by the Court comprises analytical audit procedures, direct testing of transactions and an assessment of key controls of the Agency’s supervisory and control systems. This is supplemented by evidence provided by the work of other auditors (where relevant) and an analysis of management representations. |
STATEMENT OF ASSURANCE
The management’s responsibility
The auditor’s responsibility
Opinion on the reliability of the accounts
Opinion on the legality and regularity of the transactions underlying the accounts
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FOLLOW-UP OF PREVIOUS YEAR'S COMMENTS
10. |
An overview of the corrective actions taken in response to the Court's previous years’ comments is provided in Annex I. |
This Report was adopted by Chamber IV, headed by Mr Milan Martin CVIKL, Member of the Court of Auditors, in Luxembourg at its meeting of 8 July 2014.
For the Court of Auditors
Vítor Manuel da SILVA CALDEIRA
President
(2) Annex II summarises the Agency's competences and activities. It is presented for information purposes.
(3) These include the balance sheet and the economic outturn account, the cash flow table, the statement of changes in net assets and a summary of the significant accounting policies and other explanatory notes.
(4) These comprise the budgetary outturn account and the annex to the budgetary outturn account.
(5) Articles 62 and 68 in conjunction with Articles 53 and 58 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 298, 26.10.2012, p. 1).
(6) The accounting rules adopted by the Commission’s accounting officer are derived from the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) issued by the International Federation of Accountants or, where relevant, the International Accounting Standards (IAS)/International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) issued by the International Accounting Standards Board.
(7) Article 162 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012.
ANNEX I
Follow-up of previous year’s comments
Year |
Court's comment |
Status of corrective action (Completed/Ongoing/Outstanding/N/A) |
2011 |
There is room for improving the transparency of recruitment procedures. Questions for written tests and interviews were set after the applications had been examined by the selection board; threshold scores for being included in the reserve list were not set in advance; the selection board did not fully document all its meetings and decisions. |
Completed |
2012 |
In 2012 a REA officer signed payment orders amounting to 8,86 million euro (19 % of the 2012 REA budget) as authorising officer when deputising for his head of unit. The officer did not receive a formal subdelegation nor was he officially nominated by the authorising officer as his deputy. This is not in compliance with the subdelegation system laid down in the Financial Regulation. |
N/A |
ANNEX II
Research Executive Agency (Brussels)
Competences and activities
Areas of Union competence deriving from the Treaty (Articles 179 and 180 of the TFEU) |
Collection of information The Union shall have the objective of strengthening its scientific and technological bases by achieving a European research area in which researchers, scientific knowledge and technology circulate freely, and encouraging it to become more competitive, including in its industry. For this purpose the Union shall encourage undertakings, including SMEs, research centres and universities in their research and technological development activities of high quality; it shall support their efforts to cooperate with one another, aiming, notably, at permitting researchers to cooperate freely across borders and at enabling undertakings to exploit the internal market potential to the full, in particular through […] the definition of common standards and the removal of legal and fiscal obstacles to that cooperation. […] In pursuing these objectives, the Union shall carry out the following activities, complementing the activities carried out in the Member States:
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Competences of the Agency (Commission Decision 2008/46/EC) |
Objectives The objective of the Agency is to manage the programmes entrusted to it under the seventh framework programme of the Union for Research, Technological Development and Demonstration Activities (2007-2013) (hereafter FP7) (the People Specific Programme, the SME actions of the Capacities Specific Programme, and the Space and Security themes of the Cooperation Specific Programme) efficiently and effectively, to deliver efficient and effective services to the research community and to provide centralised FP7 support services to the respective Commission services for all areas of the Cooperation, Capacities and People Specific Programmes. With regard to efficient and effective programme implementation, the Agency — as promoter of the European Research Area — aims at improving project management, establishing close contact with final beneficiaries and providing high visibility for the European Union. Tasks With regard to the management of projects, the Agency concludes and manages grant agreements, involving the following operations:
With regard to FP7 Support Services, the Agency performs the following tasks:
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Governance |
Steering Committee Comprises five members appointed by the European Commission. It adopts the Agency's organisation chart and its Annual Work Programme after approval by the Commission. In addition, it adopts the administrative budget of the Agency and its Annual Activity Report. Director Appointed by the Commission, manages the Agency together with the Steering Committee, implements the administrative budget, sets up management and internal control systems adapted to the tasks entrusted to the Agency and prepares the reports to be presented to the Commission. External audit European Court of Auditors. Discharge authority European Parliament acting on a recommendation from the European Council. With respect to the Agency's implementation of its administrative budget, the discharge decision is addressed to the Director. For the implementation of the operational budget delegated by the Commission to the Agency, the Commission remains accountable. |
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Resources made available to the Agency in 2013 (2012) |
Operational Budget 2013 (2012) 1 759,2(1 479,9) million euro of commitment appropriations and 1 443,6(1 459,6) million euro of payment appropriations. The Agency implements the Commission's operational budget under a delegation decision of the Commission. Administrative Budget 2013 (2012) 46,8(46,4) million euro. The Agency implements the administrative budget autonomously. Staff at 31 December 2013(2012) Establishment plan posts: 140 (128) of which 138 (122) occupied. Contract staff: 418 (385) staff planned of which 407 (374) were in place as of 31 December 2013. Total staff in place: 545 (496) undertaking the following tasks:
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Products and services 2013 (2012) |
For the People Programme, 9 (10) calls were closed in 2013 and 10 (10) evaluations completed. 1 874(1 899) new grant agreements were signed and 3 787(3 599) payments made (excluding payments for expert evaluators). The Agency now manages a total of 6 090(5 492) projects under this programme. For the SME actions of the Capacities Programme, 1 (1) call was closed and 1 (1) evaluation completed. 204 (201) new grant agreements were signed and 577 (508) payments made (excluding payments for expert evaluators). The Agency now manages a total of 691 (625) projects under this scheme. For the Space and Security themes of the Cooperation Programme, 2 (2) calls were closed in 2013 and 2 (2) evaluations completed. 79 (80) new grant agreements were signed and 294 (258) payments made (excluding payments to expert evaluators). The Agency now manages a total of 348 (317) projects under these themes. As regards the FP7 support services, the results obtained for 2013 are as follows:
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Source: Annex supplied by the Agency. |
THE AGENCY’S REPLY
The Agency has taken note of the Court's Report