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Document 52008TA1205(023)
Report on the annual accounts of the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions for the financial year 2007 together with the Foundation's replies
Report on the annual accounts of the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions for the financial year 2007 together with the Foundation's replies
Report on the annual accounts of the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions for the financial year 2007 together with the Foundation's replies
IO C 311, 5.12.2008, p. 156–163
(BG, ES, CS, DA, DE, ET, EL, EN, FR, IT, LV, LT, HU, MT, NL, PL, PT, RO, SK, SL, FI, SV)
5.12.2008 |
EN |
Official Journal of the European Union |
C 311/156 |
REPORT
on the annual accounts of the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions for the financial year 2007 together with the Foundation's replies
(2008/C 311/23)
CONTENTS
1-2 |
INTRODUCTION |
3-6 |
STATEMENT OF ASSURANCE |
7-10 |
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 2007 are 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 2007 (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 ISSAI (4) International Auditing Standards and Codes of Ethics, in so far 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 2007 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 Foundation's 2007 budget amounted to 20,2 million euro, as compared to 19,8 million euro for the previous year. It included contributions from the Commission to prepare the future membership of Croatia and Turkey. These contributions should have been treated as assigned revenue in the budget, but that was not the case. This situation was not in conformity with the Financial Regulation. |
8. |
Recoverable VAT for the 2007 financial year of 376 611 euro was not claimed by the year end. VAT claims should be recovered from time to time during the year. This situation was at odds with the principle of sound financial management. |
9. |
In the case of recruitment procedures, neither the weighting of the selection criteria nor the minimal scores to be achieved were decided by the Selection Board from the outset. Moreover, in one case, the selection criteria defined were either not in conformity with the vacancy notice or remained vague. This did not ensure transparent and non-discriminatory procedures. |
10. |
With regard to procurement procedures, the following anomalies were observed: financial evaluation procedure for a contract not clearly specified in the tender documents and selection criteria not allowing proper performance of an evaluation of the financial capacity of the candidates (5). These weaknesses undermined the quality of the procedure and risked biasing the final selection. |
This report was adopted by the Court of Auditors in Luxembourg at its meeting of 18 September 2008.
For the Court of Auditors
Vítor Manuel da SILVA CALDEIRA
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 30 June 2008 and received by the Court on 18 July 2008.
(4) International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) and International Standards of Supreme Audit Institutions (ISSAI).
(5) Three cases.
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 as amended by Regulation (EC) No 1111/2005 |
Governance |
Resources available to the Foundation (Data for 2006) |
Activities and services provided in 2007 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
‘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:
|
Tasks
|
1. The Governing Board (GB)
2. The Bureau of the GB
5. External audit Court of Auditors. 6. Discharge authority Parliament acting on recommendation of the Council. |
Final Budget 2007: 20,2 million Euro (19,8 million euro) Staff in December 2007: 94 (94) posts provided for in the establishment plan, of which 84 (89) were occupied Other Staff: Seconded National Experts and employment agency staff: 3 (1) Contract Agents: 10 (9) Total Staff employed: 97 (99) Operating activities: 55 (58) Administrative tasks: 30 (32) Mixed: 4 (4) |
Monitoring and surveys:
Employment and restructuring:
Work–life balance and working conditions:
Industrial relations and partnership:
Social cohesion and quality of life:
Communication and sharing ideas and experience:
|
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Source: Information supplied by the Foundation. |
Table 2
European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Dublin) — Implementation of the budget for the financial year 2007
(1000 euro) |
|||||||||||
Revenue (1) |
Expenditure (1) |
||||||||||
Source of revenue |
Revenue entered in the final budget for the financial year |
Revenue collected |
|
Appropriations for the financial year |
Appropriations carried over from previous financial year |
||||||
entered |
committed |
paid |
carried over |
cancelled |
available |
paid |
cancelled |
||||
Community subsidy |
19 600 |
19 600 |
Title I Staff |
10 687 |
10 260 |
10 084 |
243 |
360 |
120 |
94 |
26 |
Other subsidies |
300 |
340 |
Title II Administration |
1 272 |
1 190 |
892 |
370 |
10 |
635 |
567 |
68 |
Other revenue |
280 |
321 |
Title III Operating activities |
8 221 |
7 943 |
3 712 |
4 397 |
112 |
3 557 |
3 410 |
147 |
Total |
20 180 |
20 261 |
Total |
20 180 |
19 393 |
14 688 |
5 010 |
482 |
4 312 |
4 071 |
241 |
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 2007 and 2006
(1000 euro) |
||
|
2007 |
2006 |
Operating revenue |
||
Community subsidies |
19 600 |
19 000 |
Other subsidies |
340 |
517 |
Other revenue |
884 |
248 |
Total (a) |
20 824 |
19 765 |
Operating expenses |
||
Staff expenses |
9 132 |
8 908 |
Fixed asset related expenses |
608 |
724 |
Other administrative expenses |
2 416 |
2 106 |
Operational expenses |
8 597 |
7 409 |
Total (b) |
20 753 |
19 147 |
Surplus/(deficit) from operating activities (c = a – b) |
71 |
618 |
Financial operations revenue (e) |
0 |
0 |
Financial operations expenses (f) |
4 |
10 |
Surplus/(deficit) from non-operating activities (g = e – f) |
–4 |
–10 |
Economic result for the year (h = c + g) |
67 |
608 |
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 4
European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Dublin) — Balance sheet at 31 December 2007 and 2006
(1000 euro) |
||
|
2007 |
2006 |
Non-current assets |
||
Intangible fixed assets |
46 |
84 |
Tangible fixed assets |
3 327 |
2 388 |
Current assets |
||
Short-term pre-financing |
732 |
344 |
Short-term receivables |
1 095 |
690 |
Cash and cash equivalents |
4 635 |
3 111 |
Total assets |
9 835 |
6 617 |
Current liabilities |
||
Provisions for risks and charges |
141 |
274 |
Accounts payable |
3 695 |
1 643 |
Total liabilities |
3 836 |
1 917 |
Net assets |
5 999 |
4 700 |
Reserve |
||
Accumulated surplus/deficit |
5 932 |
4 092 |
Economic result for the year |
67 |
608 |
Net capital |
5 999 |
4 700 |
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. |
(1) Includes assigned revenue.
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.
THE FOUNDATION'S REPLIES
7. |
From 2008 on, we have set up budget lines for assigned revenues in ABAC and will proceed according to the Court's recommendation. |
8. |
Due to introduction of the new financial software ABAC, the VAT recovery for 2007 was delayed. It was processed in April 2008 and fully recovered. |
9. |
In 2008 Eurofound has already adapted the recruitment procedure to address the issues highlighted by the Court. |
10. |
The Foundation used the criticised procedure due to budgetary uncertainties. However, the Foundation is confident that best value for money was achieved. In future, price evaluation methods will be defined in a way that avoids discretionary power from the outset. With regard to the financial capacity, Article 135(2) of the Implementing Rules stipulates that the Foundation may lay down minimum capacity levels. In future, the Foundation will lay down criteria for the application of minimum financial capacity levels. |