9.12.2015 |
EN |
Official Journal of the European Union |
C 409/216 |
REPORT
on the annual accounts of the European Maritime Safety Agency for the financial year 2014, together with the Agency’s reply
(2015/C 409/24)
INTRODUCTION
1. |
The European Maritime Safety Agency (hereinafter ‘the Agency’, aka ‘EMSA’), which is located in Lisbon, was set up by Regulation (EC) No 1406/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council (1). The Agency's tasks are to ensure a high level of maritime safety and to prevent pollution by ships, provide the Commission and the Member States with technical assistance, and monitor the implementation of Union legislation, as well as to evaluate its effectiveness (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 Agency’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
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FOLLOW-UP OF PREVIOUS YEARS’ COMMENTS
10. |
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
(2) Annex II summarises the Agency’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).
ANNEX I
Follow-up of previous years’ comments
Year |
Court's comment |
Status of corrective action (Completed/Ongoing/Outstanding/N/A) |
2011 |
The Court identified the need to improve the Agency’s asset management. There are unexplained differences between the recorded annual and cumulated depreciation. For internally created intangible assets, accounting procedures and information on costs are not reliable. Evidence of a physical inventory of administrative equipment within the required period is lacking. |
Completed for physical inventory Ongoing for internally-created intangible assets |
2012 |
Accounting procedures and information in respect of costs for internally generated intangible assets are not fully reliable. |
Ongoing |
ANNEX II
European Maritime Safety Agency (Lisbon)
Competences and activities
Areas of Union competence deriving from the Treaty (Article 100 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union) |
Common transport policy ‘The European Parliament and the Council, acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure, may lay down appropriate provisions for sea and air transport’. |
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Competences of the Agency (Regulation (EC) No 1406/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council, as amended by Regulations (EC) No 1644/2003 and (EC) No 724/2004 and Regulation (EU) No 100/2013) |
Objectives The European Maritime Safety Agency has been established for the purpose of ensuring a high, uniform and effective level of maritime safety, maritime security and prevention and response of pollution by ships within the Union. The Agency provides the Member States and the Commission with the technical and scientific assistance needed, and with a high level of expertise, in order to help them:
The Agency also provides operational means, upon request, as well as technical and scientific assistance, to help Member States and the Commission respond to marine pollution by ships within the EU. Tasks The last amendment has further fine-tuned the Agency’s mandate, enabling EMSA to better assist the Commission and the Member States in its core tasks and make broader use of its resources to help EU Member States respond to pollution caused by ships as well as respond to marine pollution caused by oil and gas installations. Moreover, ancillary tasks have been introduced, with the possibility for the Agency to use its expertise and tools for other EU activities related to the Union maritime transport policy. The Agency’s tasks are broadly divided into four key areas in line with its founding Regulation and relevant EU legislation. Firstly, the Agency assists the Commission in monitoring the implementation of EU legislation relating, among other things, to ship survey and certification, the certification of marine equipment, ship security, the training of seafarers and port state control. Secondly, the Agency develops and operates maritime information capabilities at EU level. Significant examples are SafeSeaNet, the vessel traffic monitoring system to enable EU-wide tracking of vessels and their cargoes, and accidents and incidents; the EU LRIT cooperative data centre, to ensure the identification and tracking of EU-flagged ships worldwide; and Thetis, the information system to support the new port state control regime. In parallel, marine pollution preparedness, detection and response capability is provided by EMSA to coastal states. This includes a European network of stand-by oil spill response vessels as well as a European satellite oil spill and vessel detection service (CleanSeaNet), contributing to an effective system for protecting EU coasts and waters from pollution by ships. Finally, the Agency provides technical and scientific advice to the Commission in the field of maritime safety and prevention of pollution by ships in the continuous process of evaluating the effectiveness of the measures in place, and in the updating and development of new legislation. It also provides support to, and facilitates co-operation between, the Member States, and disseminates information on best practice. |
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Governance |
Administrative Board Composition One representative per Member State, four representatives of the Commission and four representatives without the right to vote from the professional sectors concerned. Tasks
Executive Director Appointed by the Administrative Board. The Commission may propose one or more candidates. External audit European Court of Auditors. Internal audit
Discharge authority European Parliament, acting on a recommendation from the Council. |
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Resources made available to the Agency in 2014 (2013) |
Final Budget Commitment Appropriations (C1) 52,4(57,8) million euro Payment Appropriations (C1) 52,7(54,0) million euro Amending budgets published in the Official Journal of the European Union cover a variety of fund sources, with C1 being almost the exclusive fund source. For the sake of clarity and transparency, only predominant and therefore relevant C1 budget appropriations are quoted. Figures reflect the final figures (amended budget). Staff as at 31 December 2014 Statutory Staff 210 (213) posts authorised in the establishment plan, of which occupied: 198 (203) Contract staff 30 (29) posts planned in the budget, of which occupied: 27 (25). The Agency also recruited five additional project-financed contract staff. Seconded National Experts 18 (15) posts planned in the budget, of which occupied: 15 (14) N.B.: As regards statutory posts, EMSA has taken into consideration the target of 207 posts to be implemented on 1 January 2015 rather than the number of posts (210) authorised in the establishment plan for 2014. |
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Products and services 2014 (2013) |
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Source: Annex supplied by the Agency. |
THE AGENCY’S REPLY
The Agency has taken note of the Court’s report.