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Document 52013TA1213(31)
Report on the annual accounts of the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions for the financial year 2012, together with the Foundation’s reply
Report on the annual accounts of the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions for the financial year 2012, together with the Foundation’s reply
Report on the annual accounts of the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions for the financial year 2012, together with the Foundation’s reply
OJ C 365, 13.12.2013, p. 221–227
(BG, ES, CS, DA, DE, ET, EL, EN, FR, HR, IT, LV, LT, HU, MT, NL, PL, PT, RO, SK, SL, FI, SV)
13.12.2013 |
EN |
Official Journal of the European Union |
C 365/221 |
REPORT
on the annual accounts of the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions for the financial year 2012, together with the Foundation’s reply
2013/C 365/31
INTRODUCTION
1. |
The European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (hereinafter ‘the Foundation’, aka ‘Eurofound’), which is located in Dublin, was established by Council Regulation (EEC) No 1365/75 (1). The Foundation’s task is to contribute to the planning and establishment of better living and working conditions in the Union by increasing and disseminating knowledge which is relevant to this subject (2). |
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 Foundation’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
3. |
Pursuant to the provisions of Article 287 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), the Court has audited:
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The management’s responsibility
4. |
In accordance with Articles 33 and 43 of Commission Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2343/2002 (5), the management is responsible for the preparation and fair presentation of the annual accounts of the Foundation and the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions:
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The auditor’s responsibility
5. |
The Court’s responsibility is, on the basis of its audit, to provide the European Parliament and the Council (7) with a statement of assurance as to the reliability of the annual accounts and the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions. The Court conducts its audit in accordance with the IFAC International Standards on Auditing and Codes of Ethics and the INTOSAI International Standards of Supreme Audit Institutions. These standards require the Court to plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance as to whether the annual accounts of the Foundation are free from material misstatement and the transactions underlying them are legal and regular. |
6. |
The audit involves performing procedures to obtain audit evidence about the amounts and disclosures in the accounts and the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions. The procedures selected depend on the auditor’s judgement, which is based on an assessment of the risks of material misstatement of the accounts and material non-compliance by the underlying transactions with the requirements in the legal framework of the European Union, whether due to fraud or error. In assessing these risks, the auditor considers any internal controls relevant to the preparation and fair presentation of the accounts, as well as the supervisory and control systems that are implemented to ensure the legality and regularity of underlying transactions, and designs audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances. The audit also entails evaluating the appropriateness of accounting policies, the reasonableness of accounting estimates and the overall presentation of the accounts. |
7. |
The Court considers that the audit evidence obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for its statement of assurance. |
Opinion on the reliability of the accounts
8. |
In the Court’s opinion, the Foundation’s annual accounts present fairly, in all material respects, its financial position as at 31 December 2012 and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the year then ended, in accordance with the provisions of its Financial Regulation and the accounting rules adopted by the Commission’s accounting officer. |
Opinion on the legality and regularity of the transactions underlying the accounts
9. |
In the Court’s opinion, the transactions underlying the annual accounts for the year ended 31 December 2012 are legal and regular in all material respects. |
10. |
The comments which follow do not call the Court’s opinions into question. |
COMMENTS ON BUDGETARY AND FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT
11. |
Budget implementation rates for titles I and II were high at 98 % and 82 %, respectively. While the carry-over of committed appropriations for title III is high at 50 % (3 688 996 euro), this corresponds to payment schedules and reflects the multiannual nature of the Foundation’s operations. A large part of the carry-overs for title III (71 %) concern two projects (8) for which the activities were implemented as planned and as set out in the Annual Work Programme. |
FOLLOW-UP OF PREVIOUS YEAR'S COMMENTS
12. |
An overview of the corrective actions taken in response to the Court's previous year's comments is provided in Annex I. |
This Report was adopted by Chamber IV, headed by Dr Louis GALEA, Member of the Court of Auditors, in Luxembourg at its meeting of 10 September 2013.
For the Court of Auditors
Vítor Manuel da SILVA CALDEIRA
President
(1) OJ L 139, 30.5.1975, p. 1.
(2) Annex II summarises the Foundation’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 budgetary outturn account and the annex to the budgetary outturn account.
(5) OJ L 357, 31.12.2002, p. 72.
(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 185(2) of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 (OJ L 248, 16.9.2002, p. 1).
(8) Network of European Observatories (NEO) project and the European Company Survey project.
ANNEX I
Follow-up of previous year’s comments
Year |
Court’s comment |
Status of corrective action (Completed / Ongoing / Outstanding / N/A) |
2011 |
The Foundation carried over 47 % of title III appropriations (operational expenditure). This situation is at odds with the budgetary principle of annuality. |
Completed |
2011 |
The Court identified a need to improve the transparency of recruitment procedures: selection board meetings were not always sufficiently documented and there is no evidence that questions for interviews or written tests were set before the examinations. |
Completed |
ANNEX II
European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Dublin)
Competences and activities
Areas of Union competence deriving from the Treaty (Article 151 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union) |
The Union and the Member States, having in mind fundamental social rights such as those set out in the European Social Charter signed at Turin on 18 October 1961 and in the 1989 Community Charter of the Fundamental Social Rights of Workers, shall have as their objectives the promotion of employment, improved living and working conditions, so as to make possible their harmonisation while the improvement is being maintained, proper social protection, dialogue between management and labour, the development of human resources with a view to lasting high employment and the combating of exclusion. […] |
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Competences of the Foundation (Council Regulation (EEC) No 1365/75, as amended by Regulation (EC) No 1111/2005) |
Objectives The aim of the Foundation shall be to contribute to the establishment of better living and working conditions by increasing and disseminating knowledge which is relevant to this subject. In particular, it is required to consider the following areas:
Tasks
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Governance |
The Governing Board (GB)
The Bureau of the GB
The Director and Deputy Director are appointed by the Commission from a list of candidates submitted by the GB. The Director implements the decisions of the GB and its Bureau and manages the Foundation. Internal audit European Commission’s Internal Audit Service (IAS). External audit European Court of Auditors. Discharge authority European Parliament acting on recommendation of the Council. |
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Resources available to the Foundation in 2012 (2011) |
Budget 21,4 (20,6) million euro Staff at 31 December 2012 Officials and temporary staff: 101 posts provided for in the establishment plan, of which 98 (97) were occupied at 31 December 2012 Other staff:
Allocated to:
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Activities and services provided in 2012 |
Monitoring and surveys Network of European Observatories (NEO):
Surveys:
Employment and competitiveness
Industrial relations and workplace development
Social cohesion and quality of life
Communication and sharing ideas and experience
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Source: Information supplied by the Foundation. |
THE FOUNDATION’S REPLY
11. |
The Court’s comment is welcomed as it confirms the multiannual nature of most of Eurofound’s research projects. Eurofound will continue to scrutinise the carry-over of committed appropriations by annually establishing an amount of appropriations to be carried over on the basis of its Annual work programme (‘planned carry-overs’) and comparing it to the unplanned amount due to delays or changes in the work programme implementation (‘unplanned carry-overs’). |