14.12.2010   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 338/103

REPORT

on the annual accounts of the European Railway Agency for the financial year 2009, together with the Agency’s replies

2010/C 338/18

CONTENTS

 

Paragraph

Page

INTRODUCTION …

1-2

104

STATEMENT OF ASSURANCE …

3-12

104

COMMENTS ON THE BUDGETARY AND FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT …

13-17

105

Table …

106

The Agency’s replies …

107

INTRODUCTION

1.

The European Railway Agency (hereinafter ‘the Agency’), located in Lille-Valenciennes, was created by Regulation (EC) No 881/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 (1). The Agency’s aim is to enhance the level of interoperability of railway systems and to develop a common approach to safety in order to contribute to creating a more competitive European railway sector with a high level of safety (2).

2.

The Agency’s 2009 budget amounted to 21,0 million euro, compared with 18,0 million euro the previous year. The number of staff employed by the Agency at the end of the year was 127, compared with 113 the previous year.

12.

The comments which follow do not call the Court’s opinions into question.

COMMENTS ON THE BUDGETARY AND FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

13.

As in 2008, the volume of the appropriations carried forward for Titles II and III was considerable: 1 135 000 euro or 41 % of Title II appropriations, and 3 164 000 euro or 61 % of Title III appropriations. Some 75 % of these commitments concern goods and services to be delivered in 2010.

14.

The number of transfers and the large carry-overs were mainly due to cancellation and delays in procurement procedures (12), recurrent delays in the execution of payments (13) and significant changes made to the annual work programme during the year. This situation indicated delays in the implementation of the activities financed from Titles II and III of the Agency’s budget and was at odds with the budgetary principle of annuality.

15.

The Agency migrated to a new accounting and budgeting system (ABAC) in April 2009. However, no centralised system for registering incoming invoices was in place. This situation did not ensure the timely recording of all invoices and contributed significantly to the delays in processing payments (see paragraph 14).

16.

Shortcomings in the management of the fixed assets inventory were found. Physical checks carried out in the Conference Centre in Lille showed discrepancies in the current inventory list. Items were incorrectly reported in the list or were not tagged. The exact location of the items between the two sites of Lille and Valenciennes could not always be identified. Moreover, the assets are recognised at the moment invoices are paid and not when assets are delivered and accepted.

17.

The Agency decided to modify the place of origin for three members of staff retroactively and to grant a correction to their annual return trip allowance for all the years since their recruitment (14). For the staff concerned, the conditions of the Staff Regulations (15) and their implementing rules (16) were not complied with. There was not sufficient documentation to justify these changes of place of origin and the related retroactive payments made.

This Report was adopted by Chamber IV, headed by Mr Igors LUDBORŽS, Member of the Court of Auditors, in Luxembourg at its meeting of 14 and 16 September 2010.

For the Court of Auditors

Vítor Manuel da SILVA CALDEIRA

President

Table

European Railway Agency (Lille/Valenciennes)

Areas of Union competence deriving from the Treaty

Competences of the Agency as defined in Regulation (EC) No 881/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council

Governance

Resources available to the Agency in 2009

(Data for 2008)

Activities and services provided in 2009

For the purpose of implementing Article 90, and taking into account the distinctive features of transport, the European Parliament and the Council shall, acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure and after consulting the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, lay down:

(a)

common rules applicable to international transport to or from the territory of a Member State or passing across the territory of one or more Member States;

(b)

the conditions under which non-resident carriers may operate transport services within a Member State;

(c)

measures to improve transport safety;

(d)

any other appropriate provisions.

Article 91(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union

Objectives

To contribute, on technical matters, to the implementation of the Union legislation aimed at:

—

improving the competitive position of the railway systems,

—

developing a common approach to safety on the European railway system,

in order to contribute to creating a European railway area without frontiers and guaranteeing a high level of safety.

Tasks:

1 —   Address recommendations to the Commission on

—

the common safety methods (CMS) and common safety targets (CSTs) provided in the Railway Safety Directive (2004/49/EC),

—

safety certificates and measures in the field of safety,

—

development of Technical specifications for Interoperability,

—

monitoring interoperability,

—

certification of maintenance workshops,

—

vocational competencies,

—

registration of rolling stock.

2 —   Issue opinions on

—

national safety rules,

—

monitoring the quality of work of notified bodies,

—

interoperability of the trans-European network.

3 —   Coordination of national bodies

—

coordination of national safety authorities and national investigation bodies (as described in Directive 2004/49/EC, Articles 17 and 21).

4 —   Publications and databases

—

report on safety performance (every two years),

—

report on progress with interoperability (every two years),

—

public database of safety documents,

—

public register of documents on interoperability.

1 —   Administrative Board

Comprises one representative from each Member State, four representatives from the Commission and six representatives, without the right to vote, from the professional sectors concerned.

2 —   Director

Appointed by the Administrative Board on a proposal from the Commission.

3 —   External audit

Court of Auditors.

4 —   Discharge Authority

Parliament following a recommendation from the Council.

Budget

21 million euro

(18 million euro)

Staff at 31 December 2009

Posts listed in the establishment plan: 124 (116)

Posts occupied on 31.12.2009: 113 (106)

Other staff: 14 (7)

Total staff: 127 (113)

of which assigned to:

—

operational tasks: 84 (69)

—

administrative tasks: 43 (44)

Recommendations relating to Safety Certification, including the migration to a single Union safety certificate, recommendations for a Union model of a train driver licence and register, certification of maintenance workshops and entities in charge of maintenance.

Recommendations in respect of safety regulation, including evaluating the way national safety rules are made available, examination of the transposition of the Railway Safety Directive in the Member States.

Recommendations relating to Safety Reporting, including Common Safety Indicators, coordination of safety authorities’ and investigation bodies and reporting on safety performance in the Member States.

Recommendations on safety assessment, including Common Safety Methods.

Drafting Recommendations for Technical Specifications for Interoperability and their Revision, including evaluation of extension of scope and error correction.

Publish a report on interoperability and provide Technical Opinions on national rules and monitor the work of Notified Bodies.

Set up and maintain a series of registers for Interoperability.

Act as the System Authority and Change Control Manager for ERTMS assisting the Commission in evaluating ERTMS projects.

Define and compile the Reference Document of national rules for vehicle authorisation.

Accompany all recommendations with an impact assessment.

Source: Information supplied by the Agency.

THE AGENCY’S REPLIES

13.

Due to delays in the execution of payments and to the late conclusion of procurement procedures, the Agency has made important carry-overs.

14.

The Agency will continue to make efforts to improve and respect the procurement planning and to decrease the payment delays with the limited resources allocated.

15.

Following the Court of Auditors’ report and the draft report on the validation of local systems carried out by the Accounting Officer, the Agency will implement the central registration of commercial invoices as of 1 September 2010.

16.

The Agency started using ABAC ASSETS since 1 January 2010 and will reconcile the physical inventory with the accounts for the annual accounts 2010.

17.

ERA has taken measures to review the entitlements of its staff in cooperation with PMO and will make corrections as necessary.

In addition, the procedure for the establishment of individual entitlements within ERA has been reinforced and information sessions for newcomers introduced.

(1)  OJ L 220, 21.6.2004, p. 3.

(2)  The Table 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 the description of the significant 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 of 19 November 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 of 9 July 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 15 June 2010 and received by the Court on 2 July 2010. The Final Annual Accounts, consolidated with those of the Commission, are published in the Official Journal of the European Union by 15 November of the following year. They can be found on the following website http://eca.europa.eu or www.era.europa.eu

(12)  More than half of the contracts were signed after November 2009.

(13)  In 2009, 75 % of payments were made outside the time limits, with an average delay of 88 days.

(14)  The total impact is 28 258 euro for retroactive payments since 2005 and around 11 300 euro annually from 2010 onwards.

(15)  In particular, Article 7(3) of Annex VII to the Staff Regulations.

(16)  Commission Decision C(2004) 1364.