5.12.2008   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 311/1

REPORT

on the annual accounts of the Community Fisheries Control Agency for the financial year 2007, together with the Agency's replies

(2008/C 311/01)

CONTENTS

1-2

 INTRODUCTION

3-6

 STATEMENT OF ASSURANCE

7-10

 OBSERVATIONS

Tables 1 to 4

The Agency's replies

INTRODUCTION

1.

The Community Fisheries Control Agency (hereinafter the Agency) was created by Council Regulation (EC) No 768/2005 (1) of 26 April 2005. The Agency's main task is to organise the operational coordination of fisheries control and inspection activities by the Member States in order to ensure effective and uniform application of the rules of the Common Fisheries Policy. The Agency acquired its financial independence on 11 November 2007.

2.

Table 1 summarises the Agency's competences and activities. Key data taken from the financial statements drawn up by the Agency for the financial year 2007 are presented in Tables 2, 3 and 4 for information purposes.

STATEMENT OF ASSURANCE

3.

This Statement is addressed to the European Parliament and the Council in accordance with Article 185(2) of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002 (2); it was drawn up following an examination of the Agency's accounts, as required by Article 248 of the Treaty establishing the European Community.

4.

The Agency's accounts for the financial year ended 31 December 2007 (3) were drawn up by its Executive Director, pursuant to Article 36 of Regulation (EC) No 768/2005, and sent to the Court, which is required to give a statement of assurance 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, 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 Agency'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 Agency'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 Agency's 2007 budget was 5 million euro. Due to the fact that the Agency only acquired its financial independence in November 2007, the Commission managed more than half of its budget. There is no official handover report concerning the part of the Agency's budget managed by the Commission. Table 2 shows the part of the budget managed by the Agency which is financed by subsidies from the European Commission.

8.

The Agency had not established efficient year end procedures for determining the appropriations to be carried over. Appropriations amounting to at least 125 000 euro were carried over (5) without legal commitments.

9.

The internal control procedures required by article 38 of the Financial Regulation to ensure transparency and sound financial management have not yet all been documented. The Administrative Board did not formally adopt any internal control standards.

10.

The description of the accounting systems was prepared by the authorising officer at the year end which has been not yet validated by the accounting officer.

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 128, 21.5.2005, p. 1.

(2)  OJ L 248, 16.9.2002, p. 1.

(3)  These accounts were drawn up on 17 June 2008 and received by the Court on 2 July 2008.

(4)  International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) and International Standards of Supreme Audit Institutions (ISSAI).

(5)  Title I, 67 000 euro and Title III, 58 000 euro.

 

Table 1

Community Fisheries Control Agency (Brussels)

Areas of Community competence deriving from the Treaty

Competences of the Agency as defined in Council Regulation (EC) No 768/2005

Governance

Resources available to the Agency in 2007

Activities and services provided in 2007

Article 37 of the Treaty establishing the European Community.

Article 28 of Council Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002 on the conservation and sustainable exploitation of fisheries resources under the common fisheries policy requires Member States to ensure effective control, inspection and enforcement of the rules of the common fisheries policy and to cooperate with each other and with third countries to this end.

Council Regulation (EC) No 768/2005 establishing a Community Fisheries Control Agency and amending Regulation (EEC) No 2847/93 establishing a control system applicable to the Common Fisheries Policy.

Objectives

The Regulation establishes a Community Fisheries Control Agency, the objective of which is to organise operational coordination of fisheries control and inspection activities by the Member States and to assist them to cooperate so as to comply with the rules of the Common Fisheries Policy in order to ensure its effective and uniform application.

Mission and Tasks

Mission

(i)

To coordinate the control and inspection obligations of the Community;

(ii)

To coordinate the deployment of the national means of control and inspection pooled by the Member States concerned;

(iii)

To assist Member States in reporting information on fishing activities and control and inspection activities;

(iv)

To assist Member States to fulfil their tasks and obligations under the rules of the common fisheries policy;

(v)

To assist Member States and the Commission in harmonising the application of the common fisheries policy throughout the Community;

(vi)

To contribute to the work of Member States and the Commission on research into and development of control and inspection techniques;

(vii)

To contribute to the coordination of inspector training and the exchange of experience between Member States;

(viii)

To coordinate operations to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, in conformity with Community rules.

1.   Administrative Board

Comprises one representative from each MemberState and six representatives of the Commission.

2.   Executive Director

Appointed by the Administrative Board from a list of at least two candidates proposed by the Commission.

3.   External Audit

Court of Auditors

4.   Discharge Authority

The Parliament following a recommendation from the Council.

Final Budget:

5 million euro

Available to the CFCA at financial independence: 2,2 million euro

Establishment plan in 2007:

38 staff

Total staff at 31.12.2007:

17 Temporary Staff (Recruitment slowed down in anticipation of the relocation to Vigo early 2008.)

Other posts:

8 Contract staff

During 2007 the CFCA launched its first operational activities in three areas in accordance with the 2007 Work Programme and prepared for operational activities in two more areas.

1.   North Sea and adjacent waters

On the basis of the existing cooperation between some Member States (the so called operations ‘Shark’ and ‘Saint Pierre’), in 2007, the CFCA elaborated a Joint Deployment Plan (JDP) together with the Member States surrounding the North Sea.

2.   NAFO Regulatory Area (RA)

The CFCA ensured throughout 2007 the coordination of inspection and surveillance in the NAFO RA under the NAFO Conservation and Enforcement Measures (CEM) by (NAFO) Community Inspectors, with the presence of one CFCA Coordinator on board the EU-inspection vessel ‘Jean Charcot’ in the NAFO RA chartered by the Commission.

3.   Baltic Sea

Between May and December 2007 six joint inspection and surveillance campaigns coordinated by the CFCA were carried out. The JISS campaigns were set up in the same way as the ones in the North Sea and each campaign was coordinated by one of the coordination centres of the MS concerned with a CFCA coordinator present in this centre.

4.   Bluefin tuna

In 2007 the CFCA started the preparatory work for the coordination of control, inspection and surveillance activities by Member States.

5.   IUU

Pending the adoption of new legislation, some preparatory work has been started.

Source: Information submitted by the Agency.


Table 2

Community Fisheries Control Agency (Brussels) — Implementation of the budget for the financial year 2007

(1000 euro)

Revenue

Expenditure

Source of revenue

Revenue entered in the final budget for the financial year

Revenue collected

Allocation of expenditure

Final budget appropriations

Appropriations managed by the Agency

entered

available

committed

paid

carried over

cancelled

Community subsidies

5 000

2 292

Title I

Staff

2 650

923

391

223

168

532

Title II

Administration

1 250

963

804

55

750

159

 

 

 

Title III

Operating activities

 

 

 

 

 

 

— CA

1 100

407

192

—

—

215

— PA

1 100

407

—

19

—

388

Total

5 000

2 292

Total CA

5 000

2 293

1 387

278

918

906

Total PA

5 000

2 293

—

297

918

1 079

CA

:

commitment appropriations in a system of differentiated appropriations.

PA

:

payment appropriations in a system of differentiated appropriations.

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


Table 3

Community Fisheries Control Agency (Brussels) — Economic outturn account for the financial year 2007

(1000 euro)

 

2007

Operating revenue

Community subsidies

1 148

Other revenues

39

Total (a)

1 187

Operating expenditure

Staff expenditure

306

Fixed asset related expenditure

2

Other administrative expenditure

563

Operational expenditure

34

Total (b)

905

Economic result for the year (c = a – b)

282

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


Table 4

Community Fisheries Control Agency (Brussels) — Balance sheet at 31 December 2007

(1000 euro)

 

2007

Non-current assets

Intangible fixed assets

0

Tangible fixed assets

37

Current assets

Short-term receivables

4

Cash and cash equivalents

2 002

Total assets

2 043

Current liabilities

Provisions for risks and charges

79

Accounts payable

1 682

Total liabilities

1 761

Net assets

282

Reserve

Accumulated surplus/deficit

0

Economic result for the year

282

Net capital

282

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

THE AGENCY'S REPLIES

8.

In order to strengthen the year end procedures and avoid similar circumstances, additional follow up tools have been put in place by the Agency since January 2008.

9.

The Administrative Board of the CFCA has adopted the Internal Control Standards (16) in March 2008. The organizational structure and the internal control systems necessary for the implementation of the Internal Control Standards will be put in place in 2008.

10.

The financial procedures put in place by the authorising officer have yet to be validated by the accounting officer due to the very tight time delay between the financial independence of the Agency and the year end. The Agency is currently defining a plan for this validation, with the intention to carry it out in 2008.