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Document 52015TA1209(03)
Report on the annual accounts of the Office of the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications for the financial year 2014 together with the Office’s reply
Report on the annual accounts of the Office of the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications for the financial year 2014 together with the Office’s reply
Report on the annual accounts of the Office of the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications for the financial year 2014 together with the Office’s reply
OJ C 409, 9.12.2015, p. 27–32
(BG, ES, CS, DA, DE, ET, EL, EN, FR, HR, IT, LV, LT, HU, MT, NL, PL, PT, RO, SK, SL, FI, SV)
9.12.2015 |
EN |
Official Journal of the European Union |
C 409/27 |
REPORT
on the annual accounts of the Office of the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications for the financial year 2014 together with the Office’s reply
(2015/C 409/03)
INTRODUCTION
1. |
The Office of the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (hereinafter ‘the Office’), which is located in Riga, was established by Regulation (EC) No 1211/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council (1). The Office’s main task is to provide professional and administrative support services to the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) and, under the guidance of the Board of Regulators, to collect and analyse information on electronic communications and to disseminate among National Regulatory Authorities regulatory best practices such as common approaches, methodologies or guidelines on the implementation of the EU regulatory framework (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 Office’s supervisory and control systems. This is supplemented by evidence provided by the work of other auditors 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
|
10. |
The comments which follow do not call the Court’s opinions into question. |
COMMENTS ON BUDGETARY MANAGEMENT
11. |
The overall level of committed appropriations improved to 98 % (2013: 87 %). However, the level of committed appropriations carried over increased to 0,9 million euro, i.e. 23 % (2013: 0,5 million euro, 13 %), particularly in relation to operational activities (Title III) such as ongoing studies on electronic communications. |
12. |
The large number of budget transfers changed the structure of the initial budget considerably: Title I (staff costs) was reduced by 17 %, Title II (administrative expenditure) was reduced by 44 % and Title III (operational expenditure) was increased by 60 %, mainly in order to finance ongoing studies (paragraph 11). |
13. |
The 2014 budget provision for contributions from EFTA’s (9) national regulatory authorities having observer status at BEREC did not materialise in the absence of agreements with EFTA countries. |
FOLLOW-UP OF PREVIOUS YEARS’ COMMENTS
14. |
An overview of the corrective actions taken in response to the Court’s comments from the previous years 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 September 2015.
For the Court of Auditors
Vítor Manuel da SILVA CALDEIRA
President
(1) OJ L 337, 18.12.2009, p. 1.
(2) Annex II summarises the Office’s competences and activities. It is presented for information purposes.
(3) These include the balance sheet and the statement of financial performance, 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 39 and 50 of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1271/2013 (OJ L 328, 7.12.2013, p. 42).
(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 107 of Regulation (EU) No 1271/2013.
(8) Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 298, 26.10.2012, p. 1).
(9) European Free Trade Association
ANNEX I
Follow-up of previous years’ comments
Year |
Court’s comment |
Status of corrective action (Completed/Ongoing/Outstanding/N/A) |
2011 |
The Office had not yet adopted and implemented all the internal control standards. |
Completed (adoption) Ongoing (implementation) |
2012 |
The Office had not yet implemented the Internal Control Standards on ‘Objectives and performance indicators’ (ICS 5), ‘Process and procedures’ (ICS 8), ‘Document management’ (ICS 11) and ‘Information and Communication’ (ICS 12). |
Completed |
2012 |
Some 1 01 000 euro, 45 % of the committed appropriations carried over from 2011, were cancelled. Appropriations for 2012 of 5 45 000 euro, 17 % of total 2012 appropriations, were not used and also had to be cancelled. The level of carry-overs of committed appropriations to 2013 was high at 6 11 000 euro or 19 % of the total. This indicates difficulties in the planning and/or implementation of the Office’s activities. The carry-overs for 2012 were mostly related to delayed recruitments and the absence of an effective policy to ensure the timely presentation and reimbursement of mission costs claimed by experts. |
N/A |
2013 |
Budget implementation rates improved considerably, which indicates better planning and more timely implementation of activities. Although the level of cancelled carry-overs from 2012 is still relatively high at 28 % (2012: 45 %), carry-overs of committed appropriations decreased to 4 61 983 euro or 13 % (2012: 6 11 223 euro or 19 %). Carry-overs were mostly related to contracts signed in the second half of 2013 for planned activities in 2013 and 2014. |
N/A |
2013 |
Of the 1 183 reimbursements for experts made in 2013, 1 078 were late. Where payments were late, they were overdue by an average delay of 78 days in the first half of 2013 as compared with 33 days in the second half of 2013. |
Ongoing |
ANNEX II
Office of the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (Riga)
Competences and activities
Areas of Union competence deriving from the Treaty (Article 114 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union) |
Approximation of laws in the field of electronic communications. |
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Competences of the Office (Regulation (EC) No 1211/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council) |
The Office’s powers as defined in Regulation (EC) No 1211/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council. The Office referred to in Article 6 shall provide administrative and professional support services to BEREC. It shall perform its functions under the guidance of the Board of Regulators. |
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Governance |
The Office has a Management Committee and an Administrative Manager. They share all administrative and financial responsibilities, including the management of staff. However, the Management Committee has sole responsibility for the appointment of staff (Article 7(4)). The Board of Regulators provides guidance on the services and products specified below in the section ‘Products and services in 2014’. |
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Resources made available to the Office in 2014 (2013) |
Final Budget:4 1 62 874,00 euro (3 5 57 218,93 euro) (amended budget and including internal assigned revenue) Staff as at 31 December: 24 (25) |
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Products and services in 2014 |
Under the guidance of the Board of Regulators, the Office provided the following services:
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Source: Annex supplied by the Office. |
THE OFFICE’S REPLY
11. |
The BEREC Office takes note of the budgetary management comment on committed appropriations improvement to 98 % compared to 2013: 87 %. The 2014 budget was drafted in 2012 where the BEREC Office was in its early phase of the budget management. Since then, tools are being used to improve the regular monitoring that has led to a better planning. The BEREC Office acknowledges the high relevance of the matter brought forward by the Court’s observation regarding the level of committed appropriations carried over increased to 0,9 million euro, i.e. 23 % (2013: 0,5 million euro, 13 %), particularly in relation to operational activities (Title III) such as ongoing studies on electronic communications. This was due to significant requests by the Management Committee to launch operational projects (Net Neutrality study, approximately 3 90 000 euro, BEREC-Net of 1 05 000 euro, sectoral studies of approximately more than 2 60 000 euro). Also, the significant management changes delayed an early implementation of the abovementioned projects, as a new Administrative Manager was appointed in April 2014, and a new Head of the Programme Management Unit appointed in August 2014. The BEREC Office has set as target to reduce the level of committed appropriations carried over in 2015. |
12. |
The BEREC Office understands the high importance of the matter brought forward by the Court’s observation regarding the large number of budget transfers changed the structure of the initial budget considerably: Title I (staff costs) was reduced by 17 %, Title II (administrative expenditure) was reduced by 44 % and Title III (operational expenditure) was increased by 60 %, mainly in order to finance ongoing studies. The Office is working continuously to improve an activity-based planning system that could lead to further reduction of budget transfers. |
13. |
The BEREC Office takes note of the comment, that the 2014 budget provision for contributions from EFTA’s (1) national regulatory authorities having observer status at BEREC, did not materialise in the absence of agreements with EFTA countries. Consequently, the 2015 budget has been corrected accordingly. However, the EFTA agreement is negotiated between the Commission and countries concerned and the BEREC Office does not have power to influence the negotiations and agreement signing process. |
(1) European Free Trade Association