16.12.2011   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 368/40

1.

The Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH Joint Undertaking) located in Brussels, was set up in May 2008 (1) for the period up to 31 December 2017.

2.

The objectives of the FCH JU include supporting research, technological development and demonstration activities in the Member States and countries associated with the Seventh Framework Programme (2) in a coordinated manner together with industry and research organisations in order to focus on developing market applications and hence facilitating additional industrial efforts towards a rapid deployment of fuel cells and hydrogen technologies. (3)

3.

The Founding Members of the Joint Undertaking are the European Union, represented by the Commission, and the European Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Joint Technology Initiative Industry Grouping (Industry Grouping).

4.

The maximum EU contribution to the FCH Joint Undertaking to cover running costs and research activities is 470 million euro financed from the budget of the Seventh Framework Programme, of which the proportion earmarked for running costs must not exceed 20 million euro. The Industry Grouping should contribute 50 % of the running costs (up to a maximum of 10 million euro) and should contribute to the funding of research activities through in-kind (4) contributions at least equal to the EU financial contribution.

5.

The Joint Undertaking was granted its financial autonomy on 15 November 2010.

6.

Pursuant to the provisions of Article 287(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the Court has audited the annual accounts (5) of the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking, which comprise the ‘financial statements’ (6) and the ‘reports on the implementation of the budget’ (7) for the financial year ended 31 December 2010, and the legality and regularity of the transactions underlying those accounts.

7.

This Statement of Assurance is addressed to the European Parliament and to the Council in accordance with Article 185(2) of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 (8).

8.

As authorising officer, the Director implements the revenue and expenditure of the budget in accordance with the Joint Undertaking’s financial rules, under his own responsibility and within the limits of the authorised appropriations (9). The Director is responsible for putting in place (10) the organisational structure and the internal management and control systems and procedures relevant for drawing up final accounts (11) that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and for ensuring that the transactions underlying those accounts are legal and regular.

9.

The Court’s responsibility is to provide, on the basis of its audit, a statement of assurance as to the reliability of the Joint Undertaking’s annual accounts and the legality and regularity of the transactions underlying them.

10.

The Court conducted its audit in accordance with the IFAC and ISSAI (12) International Auditing Standards and Codes of Ethics. Those standards require the Court to comply with ethical and professional requirements and to plan and perform the audit so as to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the accounts are free from material misstatement and whether the underlying transactions are legal and regular.

11.

The Court’s audit involves performing procedures to obtain audit evidence of the amounts and disclosures in the accounts and of the legality and regularity of the transactions underlying them. The procedures selected, including its assessment of the risks of material misstatement of the accounts or of illegal or irregular transactions, whether due to fraud or error, depend on its audit judgement. In making those risk assessments, internal controls relevant to the entity’s preparation and presentation of accounts are considered in order to design audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances. The Court’s audit also includes evaluating the appropriateness of the accounting policies used and the reasonableness of the accounting estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the accounts.

12.

The Court considers that the audit evidence obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for the opinions set out below.

13.

In the Court’s opinion, the annual accounts of the Joint Undertaking fairly present, in all material respects, its financial position as of 31 December 2010 and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the year then ended, in accordance with the provisions of its financial rules.

14.

In the Court’s opinion, the transactions underlying the annual accounts of the Joint Undertaking for the year ended 31 December 2010 are, in all material respects, legal and regular.

15.

The comments which follow do not call the Court’s opinions into question.

16.

The Court is of the view that the period of 28 months from the date the Council Regulation came into force to the date of the actual financial autonomy on 15 November 2010 is excessive. As a result of the delayed financial autonomy, all the 2010 operational payments to beneficiaries were made during the last 6 weeks of 2010.

17.

At the end of 2010, the underlying business processes had not yet been formalised and had not been validated by the Accounting Officer as required by the Joint Undertaking’s financial rules.

18.

The limited review of the IT controls showed that the Joint Undertaking has an adequate level of IT governance and practice for its size and mission, but the formalisation of policies and procedures, however, is lagging behind in certain areas (13).

19.

The methodology for evaluating contributions in kind has not yet been developed (14). The FCH Joint Undertaking is committed to developing such a methodology in the course of 2011 in order to be in a position to validate cost claims.

20.

The Court points out the need to amend the Joint Undertaking’s financial rules to include the provision referring to the powers of the Commission’s internal auditor in the Commission Framework Regulation applicable to the Joint Undertakings (15). The Commission and the Joint Undertaking have taken action to ensure that the respective operational roles of the Commission’s Internal Audit Service and the Joint Undertaking’s internal auditing function are clearly defined.

21.

Under the terms of the Council Regulation setting up the Joint Undertaking, a host agreement should be concluded between the Joint Undertaking and Belgium concerning office accommodation, privileges and immunities and other support to be provided by Belgium. However, as at the end of 2010, no such agreement had been signed.