| added | activities | -
- date
- 2002-04-29
- docs
-
- url
- http://eur-lex.europa.eu/smartapi/cgi/sga_doc?smartapi!celexplus!prod!DocNumber&lg=EN&type_doc=COMfinal&an_doc=2002&nu_doc=0211
- text
PURPOSE : to present the balance sheets and accounts of the
6th, 7th and 8th European Development Funds for the financial year
2001.
CONTENT : the balance sheets and revenue and expenditure accounts
were drawn up in accordance with the Financial Regulations
applicable to the 6th, 7th and 8th EDFs.
The relevant documents must be presented to the European
Parliament, the Council and the Court of Auditors as provided for
in Article 71 of the Financial Regulation applicable to the 7th EDF
and Articles 66, 67 and 68 of the Financial Regulation applicable
to the to the 8th EDF.
The consolidated accounts of the 6th, 7th and 8th EDF is EUR
13.545.263.120 as opposed to EUR 15.186.554.430 at the end of
2000.
These Financial Regulations stipulate that the accounts be kept
according to the following principles:
- Universality : all operations pertaining to each Fund are
recorded. Each country has a separate record. There is a single
treasury;
- Justification : all operations are substantiated by supporting
documents;
- No set-off policy : there is no set-off between revenue and
expenditure;
- Calendar year : the accounts are kept by calendar year. All
expenditure and revenue is registered according to the value date
given on the bank statement. The balances thus established are not
adjusted at the year-end;
- Double-entry bookkeeping : each operation is registered to the
debit of one or more accounts and to the credit of one or more
accounts, so that the total amount registered on the debit side is
equal to the total amount registered on the credit side;
- Unity of currency : the accounts for the various EDFs are kept in
euro. Assets denominated in currencies belonging to the euro zone
are converted in accordance with the exchange rates fixed by the
European Central Bank at 31 December 1998. The other currencies are
converted at the rates in force on 31 December 2001;
- Revenue : financial contributions are paid either in euro or,
where Member States show due reason, in national currencies into
special accounts opened with the treasuries of the Member States.
The Commission makes transfers from the above accounts to
operational accounts held in euro or a Member State's currency to
meet the cash requirements of projects and programmes. In addition,
the Member States' contributions for an EDF must be used up before
the contributions relating to the following EDF are called
in;
- Expenditure : expenditure takes into account all payment orders
executed by banks up to 31 December 2001. However, in the case of
local expenditure in the ACP States and for those payments for
which information was not communicated to the Commission's
accounting departments before the end of the financial year,
payments are based on the information received for the latest
period prior to 31 December. The amounts of payments in question
not included in the 2001 accounts are not considered to be
material.
Expenditure by delegations is not finally entered into the EDF
accounts until validated by the authorising officer and the
financial controller. Expenditure not yet validated is shown under
the heading "expenditure to be regularised" in the balance
sheet;
- Payments on account/Advances : payments on account (any amount
paid on the basis of supporting documents pending final payment)
and advances paid within the framework of the implementation of the
contracts are included in the expenditure of the year and do not
appear under assets in the balance sheet. However, advances for
study awards and advances for technical assistance are regarded as
a receivable and consequently appear under assets in the balance
sheet;
- Recording of operations : EDF appropriations are not subject to
any time limit. Once granted, they are available until they are
used up or reassigned. Consequently, expenditure and revenue are
booked at the time of payment or actual receipt.
In addition, the financial statements are drawn up on the basis of
the balances as at 31 December of each year without recourse to
year-end adjustment;
The obligation under the rules to present a balance sheet of the
EDF's assets and liabilities means that the entitlements due from
the Member States (mainly contributions for which payment has been
deferred or interest on late payment) must be entered in the
accounts. These headings are contained in the balance sheets for
the various EDFs;
- Single treasury : for reasons of efficiency, there is a single
treasury for all the EDFs being implemented; this leads to
operations between the various EDFs, which are balanced out in the
liaison accounts between the various balance sheets.
- title
- COM(2002)0211
- type
- Non-legislative basic document published
- celexid
- CELEX:52002DC0211:EN
- body
- type
- Non-legislative basic document published
-
- date
- 2002-04-29
- docs
-
- url
- http://eur-lex.europa.eu/smartapi/cgi/sga_doc?smartapi!celexplus!prod!DocNumber&lg=EN&type_doc=COMfinal&an_doc=2002&nu_doc=0211
- text
PURPOSE : to present the balance sheets and accounts of the
6th, 7th and 8th European Development Funds for the financial year
2001.
CONTENT : the balance sheets and revenue and expenditure accounts
were drawn up in accordance with the Financial Regulations
applicable to the 6th, 7th and 8th EDFs.
The relevant documents must be presented to the European
Parliament, the Council and the Court of Auditors as provided for
in Article 71 of the Financial Regulation applicable to the 7th EDF
and Articles 66, 67 and 68 of the Financial Regulation applicable
to the to the 8th EDF.
The consolidated accounts of the 6th, 7th and 8th EDF is EUR
13.545.263.120 as opposed to EUR 15.186.554.430 at the end of
2000.
These Financial Regulations stipulate that the accounts be kept
according to the following principles:
- Universality : all operations pertaining to each Fund are
recorded. Each country has a separate record. There is a single
treasury;
- Justification : all operations are substantiated by supporting
documents;
- No set-off policy : there is no set-off between revenue and
expenditure;
- Calendar year : the accounts are kept by calendar year. All
expenditure and revenue is registered according to the value date
given on the bank statement. The balances thus established are not
adjusted at the year-end;
- Double-entry bookkeeping : each operation is registered to the
debit of one or more accounts and to the credit of one or more
accounts, so that the total amount registered on the debit side is
equal to the total amount registered on the credit side;
- Unity of currency : the accounts for the various EDFs are kept in
euro. Assets denominated in currencies belonging to the euro zone
are converted in accordance with the exchange rates fixed by the
European Central Bank at 31 December 1998. The other currencies are
converted at the rates in force on 31 December 2001;
- Revenue : financial contributions are paid either in euro or,
where Member States show due reason, in national currencies into
special accounts opened with the treasuries of the Member States.
The Commission makes transfers from the above accounts to
operational accounts held in euro or a Member State's currency to
meet the cash requirements of projects and programmes. In addition,
the Member States' contributions for an EDF must be used up before
the contributions relating to the following EDF are called
in;
- Expenditure : expenditure takes into account all payment orders
executed by banks up to 31 December 2001. However, in the case of
local expenditure in the ACP States and for those payments for
which information was not communicated to the Commission's
accounting departments before the end of the financial year,
payments are based on the information received for the latest
period prior to 31 December. The amounts of payments in question
not included in the 2001 accounts are not considered to be
material.
Expenditure by delegations is not finally entered into the EDF
accounts until validated by the authorising officer and the
financial controller. Expenditure not yet validated is shown under
the heading "expenditure to be regularised" in the balance
sheet;
- Payments on account/Advances : payments on account (any amount
paid on the basis of supporting documents pending final payment)
and advances paid within the framework of the implementation of the
contracts are included in the expenditure of the year and do not
appear under assets in the balance sheet. However, advances for
study awards and advances for technical assistance are regarded as
a receivable and consequently appear under assets in the balance
sheet;
- Recording of operations : EDF appropriations are not subject to
any time limit. Once granted, they are available until they are
used up or reassigned. Consequently, expenditure and revenue are
booked at the time of payment or actual receipt.
In addition, the financial statements are drawn up on the basis of
the balances as at 31 December of each year without recourse to
year-end adjustment;
The obligation under the rules to present a balance sheet of the
EDF's assets and liabilities means that the entitlements due from
the Member States (mainly contributions for which payment has been
deferred or interest on late payment) must be entered in the
accounts. These headings are contained in the balance sheets for
the various EDFs;
- Single treasury : for reasons of efficiency, there is a single
treasury for all the EDFs being implemented; this leads to
operations between the various EDFs, which are balanced out in the
liaison accounts between the various balance sheets.
- title
- COM(2002)0211
- type
- Non-legislative basic document
- celexid
- CELEX:52002DC0211:EN
- body
- EC
- commission
- type
- Non-legislative basic document
-
- date
- 2002-05-13
- body
- EP
- type
- Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
- committees
-
- body
- EP
- responsible
- False
- committee_full
- Budgets
- committee
- BUDG
-
- body
- EP
- responsible
- True
- committee
- CONT
- date
- 2002-09-10
- committee_full
- Budgetary Control
- rapporteur
-
- group
- ELDR
- name
- SØRENSEN Ole B.
-
- body
- EP
- responsible
- False
- committee
- DEVE
- date
- 2002-06-20
- committee_full
- Development and Cooperation
- rapporteur
-
- group
- PPE-DE
- name
- DEVA Nirj
-
- date
- 2002-10-10
- docs
-
- text
PURPOSE : to present the Annual Report form the Court of
Auditors on the implementation of the 6th, 7th and 8th European and
Development Funds for the financial year 2001 and the Statement of
Assurance concerning the EDF.
CONTENT :this annual report concentrates on the implementation of
the sixth, seventh and eighth EDFs in 2001.
In its report, the court recalls that the EDFs are the result of
international conventions between the Member States of the European
Union and 77 ACP countries (after the ninth EDF) as well as 24
overseas countries and territories. The Commission is responsible
for the management of the EDFs in association with the ACP states.
The duration of the ACP-EU conventions corresponds neither to the
initial duration of the EDFs that they set up nor to the real
duration of the implementation of the latter. The Court has noted
both the growing delay in the entry into force of the conventions
(resulting in a corresponding delay in the start of the EDFs) and
the very long duration of the implementation of the EDFs. Thus,
during the financial year 2001, the three EDFs still in force
entered their 16th, 11th and 4th years of implementation
respectively.
In 2001, the Commission provided an analysis of their financial
management. This document is more detailed than the one for the
financial year 2000. There is still room for improvement, in
particular with regard to the explanation of the slow
implementation of the EDFs.
As stated, in 2001, the implementation rate of the EDFs was
characterised by slower financing decisions and faster payments.
The balance in hand for new decisions still accounts for 14 % of
total appropriations, as compared with 19 % at the end of 2000. The
amount of outstanding commitments at the end of the year went down
from EUR 8 982 million in 2000 to EUR 8 469 million in 2001.
Some of the causes of the under-implementation of the EDFs are
short-term, like the reduction or even suspension of aid due to
problems in the beneficiary countries (such as arm conflicts, etc).
The reasons are essentially structural (overdiversification,
insufficient preparation of the projects, cumbersome procedures and
the weakness of the national administrations in the recipient
countries). Apart from its use of fast disbursement instruments,
the reforms undertaken by the Commission to improve programming,
simplify the public contract procedures, decentralise the
management of aid and help strengthen the institutions of the ACP
countries will only be able fully to produce results in the medium
term.
The Court notes once again the difficult transition between the
eighth and ninth EDFs and that the ACP Council of Ministers decided
to apply the Cotonou agreement without waiting for the entry into
force of either the agreement or the financial protocol creating
the ninth EDF.
To summarise, the Court recognises that development aid policy
involves constraints that are likely to make implementation slow.
It therefore asks the Commission to show more realism in
establishing its forecasts so as not to give rise to unjustified
expectations. At the same time, it asks the Commission to give more
emphasis to reforms aimed at limiting this slowness, so that the
eighth and the ninth EDFs do not suffer from the same excessive
implementation delays found for the previous EDFs.
The Court also provides a Statement of Assurance on thereliability
of the EDF accounts and on the legality and regularity of the
underlying transactions.
As regards the reliability of the accounts, the Court is of the
opinion that the revenue entered in the accounts, the amounts
allocated to the EDFs' commitments and payments for the financial
year are, taken as a whole, legal and regular. However, because it
did not carry out on-the-spot audits and because it cannot rely on
the results of the audits initiated by the Commission, the Court is
not in a position to provide assurance regarding the reality of
work, supplies and services underlying the payments at the level of
the local beneficiaries.
- type
- Court of Auditors: opinion, report
- title
- N5-0539/2002
-
- url
- http://eur-lex.europa.eu/JOHtml.do?uri=OJ:C:2002:295:SOM:EN:HTML
- type
- Court of Auditors: opinion, report
- title
- OJ C 295 28.11.2002, p. 0289-0313
- body
- type
- Court of Auditors: opinion, report
-
- date
- 2002-12-20
- docs
-
- url
- http://eur-lex.europa.eu/smartapi/cgi/sga_doc?smartapi!celexplus!prod!DocNumber&lg=EN&type_doc=COMfinal&an_doc=2002&nu_doc=0726
- type
- Supplementary non-legislative basic document
- title
- COM(2002)0726
- body
- EC
- commission
- type
- Supplementary non-legislative basic document
-
- date
- 2003-02-13
- docs
-
- type
- Committee draft report
- title
- PE315.834
- body
- EP
- type
- Committee draft report
-
- body
- CSL
- meeting_id
- 2493
- docs
-
- url
- http://register.consilium.europa.eu/servlet/driver?page=Result&lang=EN&typ=Advanced&cmsid=639&ff_COTE_DOCUMENT=1398%2F03&fc=REGAISEN&srm=25&md=100
- text
PURPOSE : to present the Council recommendation on the
discharge to be given to the Commission in respect of the
implementation of the operations of the 6th, 7th and 8th European
Development Fund (EDF) for the financial year 2001.
CONTENT : having examined the revenue and expenditure account and
the balance sheet relating to the operations of the 6th, 7th and
8th European Development Fund as at 31 December 2001 and the Court
of Auditors' report relating to the financial year 2001, the
Council recommends that the European Parliament give the Commission
a discharge in respect of the implementation of the operations of
the three EDF for the financial year 2001.
This recommendation is not accompanied by any commentary in
particular, the Council considers that the implementation is on the
whole satisfactory.
- type
- Supplementary non-legislative basic document
- title
- 01398/2003
-
- url
- http://eur-lex.europa.eu/JOHtml.do?uri=OJ:L:2003:071:SOM:EN:HTML
- type
- Supplementary non-legislative basic document
- title
- OJ L 071 15.03.2003, p. 0016-0016
-
- url
- http://register.consilium.europa.eu/servlet/driver?page=Result&lang=EN&typ=Advanced&cmsid=639&ff_COTE_DOCUMENT=1399%2F03&fc=REGAISEN&srm=25&md=100
- text
PURPOSE : to present the Council Recommendation
concerning the discharge to be given to the Commission in respect
of the implementation of the operations of the 7th European
Development Funds for the financial year 2001.
CONTENT : having examined the revenue and expenditure account and
the balance sheet relating to the three EDFs as at 31 December 2001
and the Court of Auditors' report relating to the financial year
2001, the Council recommends that the European Parliament should
give discharge to the Commission in respect of the implementation
of the operations of the 7th EDF for the financial year 2001.
It should be noted that this recommendation is not accompanied by
any particular comments the Council considers that, for its part,
the overall implementation by the Commission of the operations of
the budget has been satisfactory.
- type
- Supplementary non-legislative basic document
- title
- 01399/2003
-
- url
- http://register.consilium.europa.eu/servlet/driver?page=Result&lang=EN&typ=Advanced&cmsid=639&ff_COTE_DOCUMENT=1400%2F03&fc=REGAISEN&srm=25&md=100
- text
PURPOSE: to present the Council Recommendation
concerning the discharge to be given to the Commission in respect
of the implementation of the operations of the 8th European
Development Funds for the financial year 2001.
CONTENT: having examined the revenue and expenditure account and
the balance sheet relating to the three EDFs as at 31 December 2001
and the Court of Auditors' report relating to the financial year
2001, the Council recommends that the European Parliament should
give discharge to the Commission in respect of the implementation
of the operations of the 8th EDF for the financial year 2001.
It should be noted that this recommendation is not accompanied by
any particular comments. The Council considers that for its
part the overall implementation by the Commission of the operations
of the budget has been satisfactory.
- type
- Supplementary non-legislative basic document
- title
- 01400/2003
- council
- Economic and Financial Affairs ECOFIN
- date
- 2003-03-07
- type
- Council Meeting
-
- date
- 2003-03-19
- docs
-
- url
- http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=REPORT&mode=XML&reference=A5-2003-0072&language=EN
- type
- Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading
- title
- A5-0072/2003
- body
- type
- Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading
-
- date
- 2003-03-19
- docs
-
- url
- http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=REPORT&mode=XML&reference=A5-2003-0072&language=EN
- type
- Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading
- title
- A5-0072/2003
- text
The committee adopted the report by Ole SØRENSEN (ELDR,
DK) recommending that Parliament grant discharge to the Commission
for the 6th, 7th and 8th European Development Fund budgets as part
of the 2001 discharge procedure. However, the report made a number
of criticisms in its accompanying resolution.
It expressed reservations over the increasing use of budget support
and called on the Commission to supply more detailed information on
when and under which circumstances this was a suitable instrument
to use and to monitor closely the quality of public finance
management in beneficiary countries. As regards development aid to
sector programmes provided in conjunction with other donors, the
report pointed out that this kind of aid created specific problems
of control and monitoring and that, before any support was
provided, the Commission should establish measurable indicators for
progress drawn up in relation to objectives and a solid and
reliable baseline, obtain sufficient guarantees that the planned
programme fell inside EU development objectives and be satisfied
that the financial reporting system used by the multilateral
organisation corresponded to the standards of the European Court of
Auditors and that accounts would be forwarded on time.
Other points raised in the report included: a call for greater
coordination and complementarity of national aid programmes and EU
development policy priorities; the need to reform the management of
external assistance; the need to rectify weaknesses in internal
control and monitoring systems at the Commission; and the need for
a better definition of the "frontiers of human rights, democracy
and good governance" and for more information on the criteria for
suspending aid due to violation of the human rights clause. Lastly,
the committee repeated Parliament's previous calls for the EDF to
be included in the EU budget and regretted that no progress had
been made on this issue.
- body
- EP
- type
- Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading
-
- date
- 2003-04-08
- docs
-
- url
- http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=MOTION&reference=B[%g]-2003-0406&language=EN
- text
PURPOSE: To close
the accounts of the 6th. 7th and
8th European Development Funds for the 2001 financial
year.
LEGISLATIVE ACT:
European Parliament Decision 2003/406/EC on the closing of the
6th, 7th and 8th European
Development Funds for the 2001 financial year.
CONTENT: With this
Decision, the European Parliament effectively closes the 2001 EDF
accounts following the discharge to the Commission. (Please see EP
resolution of 8 April 2004).
- title
- 32003B0406
- type
- Implementing legislative act
- celexid
- CELEX:32003B0406:EN
-
- url
- http://eur-lex.europa.eu/JOHtml.do?uri=OJ:L:2003:148:SOM:EN:HTML
- type
- Implementing legislative act
- title
- OJ L 148 16.06.2003, p. 0013-0015
- body
- CSL
- type
- Implementing legislative act
-
- date
- 2003-04-08
- docs
-
- url
- http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&language=EN&reference=P5-TA-2003-0139
- text
The European Parliament adopted a resolution based on the
draft report by Ole SOREBSEN (ELDR, Denmark) on closing the
accounts of the sixth, seventh and eighth EDFs for the 2001
financial year discharge. (Please refer to the document dated
19/03/03.) The main points were as follows:
- the need to reform the nature of the relationship between donors
and developing countries has fostered the concept of "ownership"
which should give primacy to the developing countries in the
development process; The Commission is asked to interpretation this
concept, and whether it has a negative influence on EU priorities
for development policy. The Commission is also asked to provide
information on the involvement of representative parliamentary
institutions, civil
society organisations and minorities in the drawing up of the
countries' development policies in order to ensure that effective
consultation is taking place so as to justify reference to
'national ownership';
- macro-economic budgetary support has become part of the
Community's financial cooperation with ACP countries. Since 1992
the Community has provided budgetary support amounting to EUR 2 604
million. In 2001, EUR 270 million was spent on ACP macro-economic
support. Parliament noted that EDF budget support is controlled
according to national control procedures in the ACP States, and not
the EDF procedures. The support, therefore, is subject to the same
risks as expenditure financed from national income. Budget support
differs in this respect from project aid, which is implemented
according to the procedures imposed by individual fund providers.
The shift from specific project aid to programme budget support
places transparent management of public finance in the developing
countries in the centre of the development strategy to provide
assurance that resources are used as intended. Parliament wanted
the Commission to keep the use of budget support at a minimum until
it has evidence that public finance management in beneficiary
countries is of such a standard that the inherent risk of the
budget support approach has been considerably reduced;
- the quality of public finance management was of the utmost
importance for the effectiveness with which resources are mobilised
and used. A step forward is to support the creation of strong,
efficient and independent Supreme Audit Institutions in the
beneficiary countries;
- on the question of complementarity, the Council must consider
whether maintaining roughly 50 management committees is an
appropriate way to ensure that EC aid better complements aid from
Member States;
- Parliament asks the Commission to provide it by 1 June 2003 with
satisfactory and detailed information concerning disbursements to
these management committees and to put forward proposals as to how
this area may be rationalised;
- Parliament expressed its concern about the level of financial
expertise in the deconcentrated delegations, especially as they are
to be the focus of future audit activity. The Commission is asked
to implement effective training programmes, especially in the area
of audits.
- type
- Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
- title
- T5-0139/2003
-
- url
- http://eur-lex.europa.eu/JOHtml.do?uri=OJ:C:2004:064E:SOM:EN:HTML
- type
- Text adopted by Parliament, single reading
- title
- OJ C 064 12.03.2004, p. 0023-0113 E
- body
- EP
- type
- Text adopted by Parliament, single reading
-
- date
- 2003-04-08
- docs
-
- url
- http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=MOTION&reference=B[%g]-2003-0406&language=EN
- text
PURPOSE: To close
the accounts of the 6th. 7th and
8th European Development Funds for the 2001 financial
year.
LEGISLATIVE ACT:
European Parliament Decision 2003/406/EC on the closing of the
6th, 7th and 8th European
Development Funds for the 2001 financial year.
CONTENT: With this
Decision, the European Parliament effectively closes the 2001 EDF
accounts following the discharge to the Commission. (Please see EP
resolution of 8 April 2004).
- title
- 32003B0406
- type
- Implementing legislative act
- celexid
- CELEX:32003B0406:EN
-
- url
- http://eur-lex.europa.eu/JOHtml.do?uri=OJ:L:2003:148:SOM:EN:HTML
- type
- Implementing legislative act
- title
- OJ L 148 16.06.2003, p. 0013-0015
- body
- EC
- commission
- type
- Implementing legislative act
-
- date
- 2004-03-12
- text
PURPOSE : to grant discharge to the Commission on the
implementation of the 6th, 7th and 8th EDF for the financial year
2001 and to close the account of the EDF for the year 2001.
COMMUNITY MEASURE : European Parliament Decisions 2003/405/EC and
2003/406/EC concerning discharge to the Commission in respect of
the implementation of the budget of the sixth, seventh and eighth
European Development Funds for the 2001 financial year and on the
closing of the account of the sixth, seventh and eighth European
Development Funds for the same year.
CONTENT : with the present Decisions, the European Parliament
grants discharge to the Commission in respect of the implementation
of the budget of the sixth, seventh and eighth European Development
Funds for the financial year 2001 and closes the accounts for the
period in question. There is an accompanying resolution which
conforms to the European Parliament's opinion of 8 April
2003.
- type
- Final act published in Official Journal
- docs
-
- url
- http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=MOTION&reference=B[%g]-2003-0405&language=EN
- title
- Budget 2003/405
-
- url
- http://eur-lex.europa.eu/JOHtml.do?uri=OJ:L:2003:148:SOM:EN:HTML
- title
- OJ L 148 16.06.2003, p. 0001-0002
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