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Document 52011TA1215(09)
Report on the annual accounts of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work for the financial year 2010, together with the Agency’s reply
Report on the annual accounts of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work for the financial year 2010, together with the Agency’s reply
Report on the annual accounts of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work for the financial year 2010, together with the Agency’s reply
OJ C 366, 15.12.2011, p. 45–51
(BG, ES, CS, DA, DE, ET, EL, EN, FR, IT, LV, LT, HU, MT, NL, PL, PT, RO, SK, SL, FI, SV)
15.12.2011 |
EN |
Official Journal of the European Union |
C 366/45 |
REPORT
on the annual accounts of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work for the financial year 2010, together with the Agency’s reply
2011/C 366/09
INTRODUCTION
1. |
The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (hereinafter ‘the Agency’), which is located in Bilbao, was established by Council Regulation (EC) No 2062/94 of 18 July 1994 (1). The Agency's task is to collect and disseminate information on national and Union priorities in the field of health and safety at work, to support national and Union organisations involved in policymaking and implementation and provide information on preventive measures (2). |
2. |
The Agency's 2010 budget amounted to 15,5 million euro, approximately the same amount as the previous year. The number of staff employed by the Agency at the end of the year was 67 compared with 68 the previous year. |
STATEMENT OF ASSURANCE
3. |
Pursuant to the provisions of Article 287(1), second subparagraph, of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the Court has audited the annual accounts (3) of the Agency, which comprise the ‘financial statements’ (4) and the ‘reports on the implementation of the budget’ (5) for the financial year ended 31 December 2010, and the legality and regularity of the transactions underlying those accounts. |
4. |
This Statement of Assurance is addressed to the European Parliament and the Council in accordance with Article 185(2) of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 (6). |
The Director's responsibility
5. |
As authorising officer, the Director implements the revenue and expenditure of the budget in accordance with the financial rules of the Agency, under his own responsibility and within the limits of the authorised appropriations (7). The Director is responsible for putting in place (8) the organisational structure and the internal management and control systems and procedures relevant for drawing up final accounts (9) 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. |
The Court's responsibility
6. |
The Court's responsibility is to provide, on the basis of its audit, a statement of assurance as to the reliability of the annual accounts of the Agency and the legality and regularity of the transactions underlying them. |
7. |
The Court conducted its audit in accordance with the IFAC and ISSAI (10) International Auditing Standards and Codes of Ethics. Those standards require the Court to comply with ethical requirements and to plan and perform the audit so as to obtain reasonable assurance as to whether the accounts are free of material misstatement and whether the underlying transactions are legal and regular. |
8. |
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. |
9. |
The Court believes that the audit evidence obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for the opinions set out below. |
Opinion on the reliability of the accounts
10. |
In the Court's opinion, the Agency's Annual Accounts (11) 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 Regulation. |
Opinion on the legality and the regularity of the transactions underlying the accounts
11. |
In the Court's opinion, the transactions underlying the annual accounts of the Agency for the financial year ended 31 December 2010 are, in all material respects, legal and regular. |
This Report was adopted by Chamber IV, headed by Mr Igors LUDBORŽS, Member of the Court of Auditors, in Luxembourg at its meeting of 6 September 2011.
For the Court of Auditors
Vítor Manuel da SILVA CALDEIRA
President
(1) OJ L 216, 20.8.1994, p. 1. The Regulation was last amended by Council Regulation (EC) No 1112/2005 (OJ L 184, 15.7.2005, p. 5).
(2) The Annex summarises the Agency's competences and activities. It is presented for information purposes.
(3) These accounts are accompanied by a report on the budgetary and financial management during the year which gives inter alia an account of the rate of implementation of the appropriations, with summary information on the transfers of appropriations among the various budget items.
(4) The financial statements include the balance sheet and the economic outturn account, the cash-flow table, the statement of changes in capital and the annex to the financial statements, which includes a description of the main accounting policies and other explanatory information.
(5) The budget implementation reports comprise the budget outturn account and its annex.
(6) OJ L 248, 16.9.2002, p. 1.
(7) Article 33 of Commission Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2343/2002 (OJ L 357, 31.12.2002, p. 72).
(8) Article 38 of Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2343/2002.
(9) The rules concerning the presentation of the accounts and accounting by the Agencies are laid down in Chapter 1 of Title VII of Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2343/2002, as last amended by Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 652/2008 (OJ L 181, 10.7.2008, p. 23) and are integrated as such in the Financial Regulation of the Agency.
(10) International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) and International Standards of Supreme Audit Institutions (ISSAI).
(11) The Final Annual Accounts were drawn up on 30 June 2011 and received by the Court on 4 July 2011. The Final Annual Accounts can be found on the following website http://eca.europa.eu or http://osha.europa.eu/en/about/finance/
ANNEX
European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (Bilbao)
Competences and activities
Areas of Union competence deriving from the Treaty (Extracts from Articles 151 and 153 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union) |
Social provisions The Union and the Member States …, 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. With a view to achieving the objectives of Article 151, the Union shall support and complement the activities of the Member States in the following fields:
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Competences of the Agency as defined in the Council Regulation (Council Regulation (EC) No 2062 as amended by Council Regulation (EC) No 1112/2005) |
Objectives In order to improve the working environment, as regards the protection of the safety and health of workers as provided for in the Treaty and successive strategies and action programs concerning health and safety at the workplace, the aim of the Agency shall be to provide the Union and the Member States, the social partners and those involved in the field with technical, scientific and economic information of use in the field of safety and health at work. Tasks
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Governance |
1 — Governing Board Composition
Members and alternate members from the first three categories shall be appointed from the members and alternate members of the Advisory Committee on Safety and Health at Work. Task To adopt the Agency’s work programme, budget and annual general report. 2 — Bureau Composition
Task Overseeing the preparation and follow-up of the Board’s decisions. 3 — The Director Appointed by the Governing Board on a proposal from the Commission. 4 — Committees Obligatory consultation of the Commission and the Advisory Committee on Safety and Health at Work in respect of the work program and budget. 5 — External audit Court of Auditors. 6 — Discharge authority Parliament, acting on a recommendation from the Council. |
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Resources available to the Agency in 2010 (2009) |
Budget 15,5 million euro (15,0 million euro) of which:
Staff at 31 December 2010 44 (44) posts provided for in the establishment plan, of which, 41 (42) posts were occupied. Other staff:
Total staff employed: 67 (68). Allocated to:
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Activities and services provided in 2010 |
Collecting and analysing information European Risk Observatory: anticipating change
Working environment information: sharing knowledge on good practice at workplace level
Communication, campaigning and promotion
Networking and coordination
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Source: Information supplied by the Agency. |
THE AGENCY’S REPLY
1. |
The Agency has taken note of the Court’s report. |