19.12.2007   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 309/116

REPORT

on the annual accounts of the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions for the financial year 2006 together with the Foundation's replies

(2007/C 309/20)

CONTENTS

1-2

 INTRODUCTION

3-6

 STATEMENT OF ASSURANCE

7-9

 OBSERVATIONS

Tables 1 to 4

The Foundation's replies

INTRODUCTION

1.

The European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Foundation’) was set up by Council Regulation (EEC) No 1365/75 of 26 May 1975 (1). Its aim is to contribute to the planning and establishment of better living and working conditions in the European Union by increasing and disseminating knowledge which is relevant to this subject.

2.

Table 1 summarises the Foundation's competences and activities. Key data summarised from the financial statements drawn up by the Foundation for the financial year 2006 is presented in Tables 2, 3 and 4 for information purposes.

STATEMENT OF ASSURANCE

3.

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 (2). It was drawn up following an examination of the Foundation's accounts, as required by Article 248 of the Treaty establishing the European Community.

4.

The Foundation's accounts for the financial year ended 31 December 2006 (3) were drawn up by its Director, pursuant to Article 16 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 1365/75, and sent to the Court, which is required to provide a statement on their reliability and on the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions.

5.

The Court conducted its audit in accordance with the IFAC and INTOSAI International Auditing Standards and Codes of Ethics, insofar as these are applicable in the European Community context. The audit was planned and performed to obtain reasonable assurance that the accounts are reliable and that the underlying transactions are legal and regular.

6.

The Court has thus obtained a reasonable basis for the Statement set out below.

Reliability of the accountsThe Foundation's accounts for the financial year ended 31 December 2006 are, in all material respects, reliable.Legality and regularity of the underlying transactionsThe transactions underlying the Foundation's annual accounts, taken as a whole, are legal and regular.The observations which follow do not call the Court's Statement into question.

OBSERVATIONS

7.

The implementation rate for 2006 commitment appropriations was more than 97 %. Carryover rates were 43 % for administrative expenditure (Title II) and 45 % for operating activities (Title III). Thus, the budgetary principle of annuality was not strictly observed.

8.

At the year-end 2006, the Foundation signed two contracts for services to be rendered in 2007 for a total value of 305 987 euro. These contracts were covered by 2006 commitment appropriations from Title II — Administrative expenditure. Despite the fact that the above contracts related to services to be rendered exclusively in 2007, they were not charged to the budget of the related financial year.

9.

For recruitment procedures the selection criteria were neither decided by selection boards at the outset nor defined in conformity with the vacancy notice. This did not ensure transparent and non-discriminatory procedures.

This report was adopted by the Court of Auditors in Luxembourg at its meeting of 27 September 2007.

For the Court of Auditors

Hubert WEBER

President

(1)  OJ L 139, 30.5.1975, p. 1.

(2)  OJ L 248, 16.9.2002, p. 1.

(3)  These accounts were drawn up on 15 May 2007 and received by the Court on 3 July 2007.

 

Table 1

European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Dublin)

Areas of Community competence deriving from the Treaty

Competences of the Foundation as defined in Council Regulation (EEC) No 1365/75 of 26 May 1975; amended by Council Regulation (EC) No 1111/2005 of 24 June 2005

Governance

Resources available to the Foundation

(2005 data)

Activities and services provided

‘The Community and the Member States, having in mind fundamental social rights, … shall have as their objectives… improved living and working conditions, … the Community shall support and complement the activities of the Member States in the following fields; … b) working conditions; c) social security and the social protection of workers; d) protection of workers where their employment contract is terminated; e) the information and consultation of workers; f) representation and the collective defence of the interests of workers and employers, including co-determination; g) conditions of employment for third-country nationals; h) the integration of persons excluded from the labour market; i) equality between men and women…’

(Articles 136 and 137 of the Treaty)

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:

—

man at work,

—

organisation of work and particularly job design,

—

problems peculiar to certain categories of workers,

—

long-term aspects of the improvement of the environment,

—

the distribution of human activities in space and in time.

Tasks

—

to foster the exchange of information and experience in these fields,

—

to facilitate contact between universities, study and research institutes, economic and social administrations and organisations,

—

to carry out studies or to conclude study contracts and to provide assistance for pilot projects,

—

to cooperate as closely as possible with existing specialised institutes in the Member States and at international level.

1.

 The Governing Board (GB)

—

from each Member State: 1 government representative, 1 representative from employers' organisations and 1 workers' representative,

—

3 representatives from the Commission.

2.

 The Bureau of the GB

—

consists of 11 members; 3 members from each of the social partners and the governments, 2 from the Commission,

—

it monitors the implementation of decisions of the GB and takes measures to ensure proper management between GB meetings.

3.

The Director is appointed by the Commission from a list of candidates submitted by the GB, he implements the decisions of the GB and the Bureau of the GB and manages the Foundation.

4.

The Advisory Committees are composed of up to 3 members from the Commission, governments and the social partners, with the aim of advising on the implementation of major projects and the assessment of results.

5.

 External audit

The Court of Auditors.

6.

Discharge given by the Parliament on a recommendation by the Council.

Final Budget for 2006

19,8 million euro (19,3)

Including a Community subsidy of: 98,9 % (98,8%)

Staff in December 2006

94 (94) posts provided for in the establishment plan; Posts occupied: 89 (82)

Other staff:

Seconded National Experts and employment-agency staff: 1 (12)

Contract staff: 9 (3)

Total staff employed: 99 (94)

assigned to the following tasks:

—

operational: 58 (54)

—

administrative: 32 (32)

—

mixed: 4 (5)

Monitoring and surveys

—

Establishment of one Network of European Observatories (NEO) covering the former three networks attached to the European Industrial Relations Observatory (EIRO), the European Working Conditions Observatory (EWCO) and the European Restructuring Monitor (ERM),

—

Fourth Working Conditions Survey: first results,

—

First Company Survey: first results.

Employment and restructuring

—

Studies on the Food & Beverage sector and Knowledge Intensive Businesses Services,

—

Geographical and Labour Market Mobility in Europe: report,

—

Attractive Workplaces for All: a contribution to the Lisbon Strategy at company level,

—

Labour Supply in Care Services: report.

Work-life balance and Working Conditions

—

Fourth Working Conditions Survey,

—

15 years of European working surveys: trend report,

—

Measuring Job Satisfaction in surveys,

—

Working-time reports based on the Company survey.

Industrial Relations (IR) and Partnership

—

Working Time and Pay Developments,

—

European Works Councils: reports and case studies,

—

IR Country Profiles,

—

Capacity Building for Social Dialogue: reports on New Member States and Turkey.

Social Cohesion and Quality of Life

—

EurLIFE database updates,

—

Ageing Workforce and Age Management: reports and case studies,

—

Employment guidance services for people with disabilities.

Communication and sharing ideas and experience

—

332 publications, 53 press releases, 40 % increase in web use, 16 % increase of press cuttings

—

Promotion campaigns ‘Your work, your life; balance company needs with worker satisfaction’ and ‘Fourth Working Conditions survey: what workers say’,

—

Foundation Forum 2006 ‘Competitive Europe, Social Europe — Partners or Rivals?’

—

Company Network Seminars

—

Foundation Seminar Series ‘Flexicurity and Employability’

—

National Outreach Centres covering AU, BE, ES, FI, FR, HU, IT, LUX, SP, UK,

—

Exhibitions at Employment week in Brussels and at the PES conference in Oporto.

Source: Information supplied by the Foundation.

Source: Data supplied by the Foundation — This table summarises the data provided by the Foundation in its annual accounts: these accounts are drawn up on an accrual basis.

Table 2

European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Dublin) — Implementation of the budget for the financial year 2006

(1000 euro)

Revenue

Expenditure

Source of revenue

Revenue entered in the final budget for the financial year

Revenue collected

Allocation of expenditure

Appropriations for the financial year

Appropriations carried over from previous financial year

entered

committed

paid

carried over

cancelled

available

paid

cancelled

Community subsidy

19 000

19 000

Title I

Staff (NDA)

9 931

9 894

9 774

120

37

157

152

5

Other subsidies

540

241

Title II

Administration (NDA)

1 530

1 463

862

634

34

507

482

24

Other revenue

220

265

Title III

Operating activities (NDA)

8 299

7 860

4 612

3 558

129

3 954

3 713

241

Total

19 760

19 506

Total

19 760

19 217

15 248

4 312

200

4 618

4 347

270

Source: Data supplied by the Foundation — This table summarises the data supplied by the Foundation in its annual accounts. Revenue collected and payments are estimated on a cash basis.


Table 3

European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Dublin) — Economic outturn account for the financial years 2006 and 2005

(1000 euro)

 

2006

2005

Operating revenue

Community subsidies

19 000

18 600

Other subsidies

517

—

Other revenue

248

366

Total (a)

19 765

18 966

Operating expenses

Staff expenses

8 908

8 035

Fixed asset related expenses (1)

724

576

Other administrative expenses

2 106

2 117

Operational expenses

7 409

8 581

Total (b)

19 147

19 309

Surplus/(deficit) from operating activities (c = a – b)

618

– 343

Financial operations revenue (e)

—

—

Financial operations expenses (f)

10

9

Surplus/(deficit) from non-operating activities (g = e – f)

–10

–9

Economic result for the year (h = c + g)

608

– 352


Table 4

European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Dublin) — Balance sheet at 31 December 2006 and 2005

(1000 euro)

 

2006

2005

Non-current assets

Intangible fixed assets

84

22

Tangible fixed assets

2 388

2 778

Current assets

Short-term pre-financing

344

539

Short-term receivables

690

505

Cash and cash equivalents

3 111

3 244

Total assets

6 617

7 088

Current liabilities

Provisions for risks and charges

274

189

Accounts payable

1 643

2 806

Total liabilities

1 917

2 995

Net assets

Accumulated surplus/deficit

4 093

4 445

Economic result for the year

608

– 352

Total net assets

4 701

4 093

Total liabilities and net assets

6 618

7 088

(1)  Increase due to corrections following a physical inventory done in 2006.

THE FOUNDATION'S REPLIES

7.

Measures will be taken to reduce significantly the carry-over rate for Title II in 2007. Taking into account the average duration of our study contracts (18 months) and our payments schedule, unavoidably about 35 % of Title 3 credits had to be carried over.

8.

Due to the fact that the mentioned contracts had to start on 1 January 2007 and that the budget 2007 was not yet established at the time, the mentioned services had to be committed at the latest in December 2006. However, from 2007 onwards they will be committed against the appropriations of the following year.

9.

Since March 2007, all vacancy notices include a clear indication of whether success in tests is a precondition for success in the competition.