2. CHAIRMAN'S ANNOUNCEMENTS

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1 Issue 4/2013 CONT News Committee on Budgetary Control MEETING MONDAY 18 FEBRUARY h00-19h30 PUBLIC MEETING TUESDAY 19 FEBRUARY h00-12h30 PUBLIC MEETING 15h00-17h00 IN CAMERA 17h00-18h30 PUBLIC MEETING BRUSSELS BRUSSELS PAUL-HENRI ALTIERO SPIN SPAAK ELLI BU BUILDING ILDING ROOM ROOM 3C050 3G2 2. CHAIRMAN'S ANNOUNCEMENTS The Chairman draws the attention of Members to the following points: 2.1 Languages available: BG, CS, DA, DE, EL, EN, ES, FI, FR, HU, IT, LT, NL, PL, RO and SV. 2.2 Webstreaming: Members are informed that this CONT meeting will be webstreamed via the following link: MONDAY 18 FEBRUARY H00-19H30 (PUBLIC MEETING) 1. ADOPTION OF DRAFT AGENDA The draft agenda (in EN) was ed to Members on 5 February 2013 and is in the file for this meeting. Please be aware that each time a speaker activates the microphone to make an intervention, the camera will be automatically directed to the speaker. 2.3 E-meeting: We are pleased to announce that DG ITEC has invited our committee to test a new application for easy access to our meeting documents. Plese see ANNEX I of these CONT News. 1

2 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF CONT MEETINGS The file contains minutes of the meetings of - 10 January 2013 which was ed to CONT Members on 15 January 2013, January 2013 which was ed to CONT Members on 7 February 2013 and - 24 January 2013 which was ed to CONT Members on 13 February If no objections are received before the end of the meeting, the minutes will be deemed approved DISCHARGE: EU GENERAL BUDGET, EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT CONT/7/10318 Rapporteur: Eva Ortiz Vilella (PPE) Administrator responsible: Mauro de Oliveira Consideration of draft report The European Parliament 2011 discharge draft report is based on the following documents containing information on Parliament's financial management related to the 2011 financial year and available on CONT's website: 2011 Parliament's accounts, the report on budgetary and financial management, the Secretary-General's Statement of Assurance, the annual activity reports by the Authorising Officers, the 2011 European Court of Auditors' Annual Report, the reports drawn up by the Administration in response to the previous year's discharge resolution, the questionnaire with the Secretary-General's replies ed to Members on 16 January 2013 and the exchange of views in CONT on 22 January with Vice-President Pittella, the Secretary General, Mr Welle, and the Internal Auditor, Mr Galvin. The Rapporteur, Ms Ortiz, will present, the draft report on the Parliament's management during 2011 containing recommendations based, inter alia, on the Court of Auditors' findings concerning the financial year. The report main points of concern are the building policy, Europarl TV, the need to guarantee best value for money with competitive prices for the travel services, EP safety and the importance of generate smart savings that do not affect the efficiency of Parliament s activities. In her draft report the Rapporteur also points out that public procurement processes are consistent with and help to meet Parliament's needs and stresses that even non-material shortcomings may result in considerable reputational damage overshadowing Parliament's policy achievements. All language versions of the draft report will be available on the CONT website: 4/organes/cont/cont_ _1600.htm The deadline for amendments is set for Tuesday 26 February 2013, at 12h00. Adoption in CONT is scheduled for 18 March 2013 and the vote in plenary is foreseen for the session of April FIGHT AGAINST TAX FRAUD, TAX EVASION AND TAX HAVENS CONT/7/11731 Rapporteur for opinion: Bart Staes (Verts/ALE) Administrator responsible: Urszula Mojkowska Consideration of draft opinion Main committee: ECON In his opinion the Rapporteur points out that ever since VAT was introduced its collection model has remained unchanged and stresses that this model is outdated, given the many changes in the technological and economic environment that have taken place. In his draft opinion Mr Staes also underlines the potential of e-government to increase transparency 2

3 and combating fraud and corruption, thereby helping protect public funds. CONT/7/10381 Rapporteur: Ryszard Czarnecki (ECR) CONT committee has been interested in the subject of tax evasion and tax fraud due to its impact on the collection of the EU's own resources. A number of special reports by the European Court of Auditors highlight the problem. Therefore, when the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs decided to draw an own-initiative report on this important subject, CONT committee requested an opinion. The deadline for amendments to this opinion is on Monday 4 March 2013, at 12h00, and vote in CONT on 22 April DISCHARGE : EU GENERAL BUDGET, ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE CONT/7/10401 Rapporteur: Andrea Češková (ECR) DISCHARGE : EU GENERAL BUDGET, COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS CONT/7/10421 Rapporteur: Andrea Češková (ECR) 2011 DISCHARGE: OTHER INSTITUTIONS DISCHARGE: EU GENERAL BUDGET, COUNCIL CONT/7/10341 Rapporteur: Andrea Češková (ECR) DISCHARGE : EU GENERAL BUDGET, EUROPEAN EXTERNAL ACTION SERVICE CONT/7/10503 Rapporteur: Ryszard Czarnecki (ECR) DISCHARGE : EU GENERAL BUDGET, EUROPEAN OMBUDSMAN CONT/7/10441 Rapporteur: Andrea Češková (ECR) DISCHARGE: EU GENERAL BUDGET, EUROPEAN DATA PROTECTION SUPERVISOR CONT/7/10461 Rapporteur: Andrea Češková (ECR) Administrator responsible: Tereza Pinto de Rezende Consideration of draft reports DISCHARGE : EU GENERAL BUDGET COURT OF JUSTICE CONT/7/10361 Rapporteur: Ryszard Czarnecki (ECR) DISCHARGE : EU GENERAL BUDGET, COURT OF AUDITORS All the institutions listed above - submitted documents with regard to the budget execution during the financial year EEAS and the Council were submitted questions by CONT Members and the EEAS replied within the deadline by the end of December The Vice-President/High Representative Catherine Ashton came to CONT on 10 January 2013 for an exchange of views on the first discharge exercise of the External Action Service. 3

4 Subsequently, the committee held an exchange of views with the heads of administrations of the other institutions (except the Council) on 22 January The Rapporteurs prepared their reports based on the documents submitted, and in case of the EEAS, questions answered. Members received the original language version of the draft reports on 31 January Other language versions were made available on the CONT website as of 13 February The deadline for amendments is set for Tuesday, 26 February 2013, at The vote in CONT is scheduled for Tuesday 19 March 2013, and the vote in plenary for the April session The debate will take place in the order in which the institutions appear on the agenda. CONT/7/ DISCHARGE: TRANSLATION CENTRE FOR THE BODIES OF THE EUROPEAN UNION CONT/7/ DISCHARGE: CEDEFOP, THE EUROPEAN CENTRE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF VOCATIONAL TRAINING CONT/7/ DISCHARGE: AGENCIES DISCHARGE: PERFORMANCE, FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL OF EU AGENCIES CONT/7/10823 Rapporteur: Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy (ALDE) Administrator responsible: Rudolfs Verdins Consideration of draft report DISCHARGE: EUROPEAN POLICE COLLEGE (CEPOL) CONT/7/ DISCHARGE: EUROPEAN BANKING AUTHORITY - EBA CONT/7/ DISCHARGE: EUROPEAN AGENCY FOR THE COOPERATION OF ENERGY REGULATORS - ACER CONT/7/ DISCHARGE: EUROPEAN AVIATION SAFETY AGENCY CONT/7/ DISCHARGE: BODY OF EUROPEAN REGULATORS FOR ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS - BEREC DISCHARGE: EUROPEAN CENTRE FOR DISEASE PREVENTION AND CONTROL (ECDC) 4 CONT/7/10533

5 DISCHARGE : EUROPEAN CHEMICALS AGENCY CONT/7/ DISCHARGE : EUROPEAN CONT/7/10621 INSTITUTE OF INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY - EIT DISCHARGE: EUROPEAN ENVIRONMENT AGENCY CONT/7/ DISCHARGE : EUROPEAN MEDICINES AGENCY CONT/7/ DISCHARGE : COMMUNITY FISHERIES CONTROL AGENCY CONT/7/ DISCHARGE: EUROPEAN MONITORING CENTRE FOR DRUGS AND DRUG ADDICTION CONT/7/ DISCHARGE: EUROPEAN FOOD SAFETY AGENCY CONT/7/ DISCHARGE: EUROPEAN MARITIME SAFETY AGENCY CONT/7/ DISCHARGE : EUROPEAN CONT/7/10559 INSTITUTE FOR GENDER EQUALITY - EIGE DISCHARGE: EUROPEAN CONT/7/10535 NETWORK AND INFORMATION SECURITY AGENCY - ENISA DISCHARGE : EUROPEAN CONT/7/10613 INSURANCE AND OCCUPATIONAL PENSIONS AUTHORITY - EIOPA DISCHARGE: EUROPEAN RAILWAY AGENCY CONT/7/ DISCHARGE : EUROPEAN SECURITIES AND MARKETS AUTHORITY - ESMA 5 CONT/7/10615

6 DISCHARGE : EUROPEAN TRAINING FOUNDATION CONT/7/ DISCHARGE : EUROPEAN AGENCY FOR HEALTH AND SAFETY AT WORK CONT/7/ DISCHARGE : EUROPEAN CONT/7/10544 AGENCY FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF OPERATIONAL COOPERATION AT THE EXTERNAL BORDERS OF THE MEMBER STATES OF THE EUROPEAN UNION (FRONTEX) DISCHARGE : EURATOM SUPPLY AGENCY CONT/7/ DISCHARGE: EUROPEAN FOUNDATION FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF LIVING AND WORKING CONDITIONS CONT/7/ DISCHARGE : EUROJUST CONT/7/ DISCHARGE: EUROPOL CONT/7/ DISCHARGE: EUROPEAN UNION AGENCY FOR FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS CONT/7/ DISCHARGE : EUROPEAN GNSS AGENCY CONT/7/ DISCHARGE: AGENCIES Rapporteur: Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy (ALDE) Administrator responsible: Rudolfs Verdins Consideration of draft report The rapporteur, Mr Gerbrandy, will present the draft reports on the 30 decentralised agencies which are subject to Parliament's discharge for financial year 2011, and the draft report containing horizontal observations on the agencies. The draft reports are based on the European Court of Auditors' Annual Reports on agencies, and the following documents submitted by the agencies: reports on 2011 budgetary and financial management, 2011 annual activity reports, 2011 internal audit summaries, the reports on the follow-up of the previous year's discharge resolutions, as well as the agencies' answers to the written questions by the Rapporteur and the shadow Rapporteurs (sent to CONT Members on 16 January 2012), and the oral replies provided in the course of the CONT hearing of 24 January All language versions of the draft reports are available on the CONT website: 4/organes/cont/cont_ _1600.htm 6

7 The deadline for amendments has been set for Tuesday 26 February 2013, at (noon). Adoption in CONT is scheduled for 19 March 2013 and the vote in plenary is foreseen for the session of April DISCHARGE : JOINT UNDERTAKING FOR ITER AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF FUSION ENERGY CONT/7/ DISCHARGE: JOINT UNDERTAKINGS DISCHARGE : ARTEMIS - EMBEDDED COMPUTING SYSTEMS CONT/7/ DISCHARGE: CLEAN SKY - AERONAUTICS + ENVIRONMENT CONT/7/ DISCHARGE : ENIAC ELECTRONIC NUMERICAL INTEGRATOR AND COMPUTER CONT/7/ DISCHARGE : FUEL CELLS & HYDROGEN FUEL CELL (FCH) CONT/7/ DISCHARGE : INITIATIVE ON INNOVATIVE MEDICINES (IMI) CONT/7/ DISCHARGE : SESAR JOINT UNDERTAKING CONT/7/ DISCHARGE: JOINT UNDERTAKINGS Rapporteur: Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy Administrator responsible: Mauro De Oliveira Consideration of draft reports For the financial year 2011, seven Joint Undertakings (JU's) are subject to discharge by the Parliament. Six Joint Undertakings (IMI, ARTEMIS, ENIAC, CLEAN SKY, FCH and ITER-F4E) are in the research area under the Commission s DGs RTD and INFSO and one (SESAR) is charged to develop the new air traffic management system whose activities are supervised by DG MOVE. The draft reports, the Court of Auditors' reports and other relevant information (including annual reports, final accounts etc.) can be found on CONT's website at the following link: 4/organes/cont/cont_ _1600.htme The draft reports were ed to Members on 31 January The deadline for amendments has been set for Tuesday 26 February 2013, at Adoption in CONT is scheduled for 19 March 2013 and the vote in plenary is foreseen for the session of April * * * 7

8 TUESDAY 19 FEBRUARY H00-12H30 (PUBLIC MEETING) DISCHARGES: PRESENTATION OF THE COUNCIL RECOMMENDATIONS BY BRIAN HAYES, MINISTER OF STATE OF THE REPUBLIC OF IRELAND, IN THE PRESENCE OF ALGIRDAS ŠEMETA, COMMISSIONER FOR TAXATION AND CUSTOMS UNION, AUDIT AND ANTI-FRAUD Presentation of the Council recommendations by Brian Hayes Minister for State of the Republic of Ireland, in the presence of Algirdas Šemeta, Commissioner for Taxation and Customs Union, Audit and Anti-Fraud. The Council recommendations were ed to Members on 13 February Further language versions of the Council recommendations are available on the CONT website: rganes/cont/cont_ _1600.htm DISCHARGE: EU GENERAL BUDGET, SECTION III, COMMISSION CONT/7/10295 Rapporteur: Jens Geier (S&D) Administrator responsible: Philippe Godts Consideration of draft report in the presence of Algirdas Šemeta, Commissioner for Taxation and Customs Union, Audit and Anti-Fraud, In his 2011 Commission draft discharge report the Rapporteur tackled the following questions: 1. Have the Commission and the Member States created the necessary policies and structures to accomplish the objectives of the EU 2020 initiative (a more competitive economy and higher employment)? In this context it should be noted that the next multi-annual financial framework coincides with the programming period of the EU 2020 initiative. 2. Are EU policies sufficiently economic, effective and efficient to make best use of the money available: a. on the revenue side, b. in agriculture, under the structural funds and in research, c. in external policies? 3. Are the necessary instruments in place to measure progress, and to present progress made in a transparent way? The Rapporteur identified a number of priority actions which he would like the Commission to undertake. These actions are regrouped under point 1. of discharge resolution. Furthermore the draft report deals with the followup to last year s report, the audit work of the Court of Auditors, a number of horizontal and sector related issues, along the line of previous discharge reports. The Rapporteur met with the shadow rapporteurs of the other political groups for an unofficial discussion of his report on 6 February in Strasbourg. The comments were constructive and supportive. The English version of the 2011 Commission draft discharge report was sent to Members on 31 January. Other language versions will be available on the CONT website as soon as possible. Deadline for tabling amendments: Tuesday 26 February 2013, 12h THE COURT OF AUDITORS' SPECIAL REPORTS IN THE CONTEXT OF THE 2011 COMMISSION DISCHARGE CONT/7/11720 Rapporteur: Jens Geier (S&D) Administrator responsible: Philippe Godts Consideration of draft report in the presence of Algirdas Šemeta, Commissioner for Taxation and Customs Union, Audit and Anti-Fraud 8

9 As in previous years CONT s observations and recommendation with regard to the European Court of Auditors' findings in their special reports were compiled in a separate discharge report. The Rapporteur has principally integrated the conclusion and demands. The English version of the 2011 Commission draft discharge report, part two, was sent to members on 7 February. Other language versions will be published on the CONT website when they become available. Deadline for tabling amendments: 26 February 2013, 12h DISCHARGE: 8TH, 9TH AND 10TH EUROPEAN DEVELOPMENT FUNDS (EDF) CONT/7/10315 Rapporteur: Søren Bo Søndergaard (GUE/NGL) Administrator responsible: Urszula Mojkowska Consideration of draft report In the course of the preparation of the EDF discharge report for 2011, the Committee submitted written questions to the Member of the European Commission responsible for Development, Andris Piebalgs, and to the Director General of the European Investment Bank for Operations outside the European Union, Tamsyn Barton, and held exchanges of views with Commissioner Piebalgs on 12 January 2013, and with Ms Barton on 21 January The draft report was sent to Members on 31 January In accordance with the discharge timetable, the deadline for amendments is on 26 February 2013, the vote in committee will take place on 18 March 2013, and the plenary vote in April. All language versions of the draft report and the reference documents can be consulted on the Committee's website: 4/organes/cont/cont_ _1600.htm 56. RECOMMANDATION TO THE EEAS AND TO THE COUNCIL ON THE 2013 REVIEW OF THE ORGANISATION AND THE FUNCTIONING OF THE EEAS CONT/7/11087 Rapporteur for opinion: Ivailo Kalfin (S&D) Administrator responsible: Tereza Pinto de Rezende Consideration of draft opinion Main committee: AFET The EEAS was created in 2011 to support the High Representative in her mandate to conduct EU foreign policy, represent externally the EU and coordinate other aspects of EU external action. The service was also mandated to support and cooperate with Member States' diplomatic services, the General Secretariat of the Council and the Commission to ensure consistency between the different areas of the Union's external action and those areas and other policies like development cooperation or humanitarian aid. Established by Council Decision of 26 July 2010, the EEAS should be reviewed by 2013 according to article 13 which states "By mid-2013, the High Representative shall provide a review of the organisation and functioning of the EEAS...". The CONT committee is dealing for the first time with the discharge exercise of the EEAS, and the Rapporteur, integrated in the draft report many elements resulting from the exchange of views with the High Representative last January in CONT meeting as well as recommendations for the future. Deadline for tabling amendments is Tuesday 26 February at noon, the adoption in CONT is on 19 March and the vote of the report in AFET is scheduled for 21 March to be voted during the April plenary session. Rapporteur in AFET is Elmar Brok. * * * 9

10 TUESDAY 19 FEBRUARY H00-17H00 (IN CAMERA) 57. COORDINATORS' MEETING (IN CAMERA) 17H00-18H30 (PUBLIC MEETING) 58. WORK PROGRAMME 2013 OF THE EUROPEAN COURT OF AUDITORS CONT/7/11795 Presentation by Vítor Manuel da Silva Caldeira, President of the European Court of Auditors The Work Programme 2013 of the European Court of Auditors and the Strategy was e- mailed to Members in EN, FR and DE on 14 February These documents are available on the following website: pages/home 59. ANY OTHER BUSINESS 60. DATE OF NEXT MEETINGS The next meetings of the Committee on Budgetary Control will take place in Brussels on: 21 February 2013, , 18 March 2013, , 19 March 2013, and

11 ANNEX I Communication to CONT Members, group staff and assistants Dear CONT Members and substitute Members, Dear group staff and assistants, We are pleased to announce that DG ITEC has invited our committee to test a new application for easy access to our meeting documents. This application is called "emeeting". Its main advantages are: improved accessibility and readability of meeting documents on tablets and laptops, irrespective of the device; meeting documents may be annotated and saved locally for further personal use; support for mobility: emeeting can be used anywhere and any time through Wi-Fi or 3G connection; contribution to minimizing paper waste - Members who are satisfied with this application will be proposed later to renounce to paper files during meetings; last minute documents can be made quickly available on emeeting. emeeting is actually the sister application of CONTnet - accessible via: - CONT's own intranet site. CONT Members and all persons to whom this is addressed may access and try out the emeeting application under the following link: The access is provided through EPnet, i.e. you will have to login with your normal username and password. Member's assistants are kindly asked to send an to the following mailbox: DGITEC-CPOonline@ep.europa.eu, with the subject field "emeeting", to be registered nominally and will then be granted access within 24 hours. Practical explanations are provided in the attached information note. "emeeting" is still in a pilot phase. Therefore your feedback on any aspects of the application is extremely important, because it will help DG ITEC to develop the application further so that it can be made available for all users in the European Parliament. Please do not hesitate to contact DG ITEC should you need further explanation or information on this application. Kind regards, CONT Secretariat and DG ITEC Intranet Services Unit 11