A.

whereas the Court of Auditors states that it has obtained reasonable assurances that the annual accounts for the financial year 2008 are reliable and that the underlying transactions are legal and regular,

B.

whereas on 23 April 2009 Parliament granted the Director of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction discharge for implementation of the Centre’s budget for the financial year 2007 (5), and in its resolution accompanying the discharge decision, inter alia:

1.

Is pleased to note that the Court of Auditors has been able to obtain reasonable assurances that the annual accounts of the Centre for the financial year ended 31 December 2008 are, in all material respects, reliable, and that the underlying transactions, taken as a whole, are legal and regular;

2.

Stresses how important it is for the Centre to set SMART objectives and RACER indicators in its programming, with a view to assessing its performance; notes, however, the assertion by the Centre that it took those observations into consideration in its 2009 work programme;

3.

Calls, further, on the Centre to consider making a Gantt diagram part of the programming for each of its operational activities, with a view to indicating in concise form the amount of time spent by each staff member on a project and encouraging an approach geared towards achieving results;

4.

Notes that in the coming years the discharge for the implementation of the budget for the Centre should be further based on the Centre’s performance throughout the year;

5.

Acknowledges that the Centre has implemented 15 of the 41 recommendations made by the Internal Audit Service (IAS) since 2006; notes that, of the 26 that are still in progress, 14 are considered to be ‘very important’ and mainly concern preparedness for the move (as regards quality control of the new location, precautions against damage from flooding, a business continuity plan and investment in equipment) and the implementation of the internal control standards (as regards staff promotions, staff appraisal, risk management and the recording of exceptions);

6.

Notes that the Centre’s accounts for the financial year 2008 show income from interest in the amount of EUR 107 591,31; concludes from the annual closure of accounts and the amount of interest payments that the Centre maintains high cash reserves over long periods; notes that as of 31 December 2008 the Centre’s cash reserves amounted to EUR 1 635 537,86 and that appropriations totalling EUR 354 051,31, which, as result of a bank book-keeping error, had been included in the Centre’s accounts as an amount receivable, were credited to the Centre’s bank account early in 2009; calls on the Commission to examine ways of ensuring that the principle of needs-based cash management, as laid down in Article 15(5) of Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2343/2002, is implemented in full and what changes in approach are needed to ensure that the Centre’s cash reserves are kept as low as possible on a long-term basis;

7.

Refers, for other observations accompanying its Decision on discharge, which are of a horizontal nature, to its resolution of 5 May 2010 (6) on the performance, financial management and control of the agencies.