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having regard to the final annual accounts of the Community Fisheries Control Agency for the financial year 2009,

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having regard to the Court of Auditors’ report on the annual accounts of the Community Fisheries Control Agency for the financial year 2009, together with the Agency’s replies (1),

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having regard to the Council’s recommendation of 15 February 2011 (05892/2011 — C7-0052/2011),

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having regard to Article 276 of the EC Treaty and Article 319 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

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having regard to Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities (2), and in particular Article 185 thereof,

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having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 768/2005 of 26 April 2005 establishing a Community Fisheries Control Agency (3), and in particular Article 36 thereof,

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having regard to Commission Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2343/2002 of 19 November 2002 on the framework Financial Regulation for the bodies referred to in Article 185 of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities (4), and in particular Article 94 thereof,

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having regard to Rule 77 of, and Annex VI to, its Rules of Procedure,

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having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgetary Control and the opinion of the Committee on Fisheries (A7-0118/2011),

A.

whereas the Court of Auditors stated that it has obtained reasonable assurances that the annual accounts for the financial year 2009 are reliable and that the underlying transactions are legal and regular,

B.

whereas on 5 May 2010 Parliament granted the Executive Director of the Community Fisheries Control Agency discharge for implementation of the Agency’s budget for the financial year 2008 (5), and in its resolution accompanying the discharge decision, inter alia:

C.

whereas the budget of the Agency for the year 2009 was EUR 10 100 000, which is an increase of 18 % on the financial year 2008,

1.

Congratulates the Agency for having adopted its multiannual work programme for 2011-2015 on 19 October 2010; stresses, in fact, the importance of such a document so that the Agency can make effective organisational arrangements to implement its strategy and achieve its goals;

2.

Calls once more on the Agency to set out, in a table to be annexed to the Court of Auditors’ next report, a comparison of the operations that were carried out during the year for which discharge is to be granted and during the previous financial year so as to enable the discharge authority to assess more effectively the Agency’s performance from one year to the next;

3.

Urges the Agency to improve its annual work programme by including specific and measurable objectives both at policy area level and at operational activity level, and by establishing SMART indicators; calls also on the Agency to develop key performance indicators within the administrative support functions;

4.

Calls further on the Agency to consider making a Gantt diagram part of the programming for each of its operational activities, with a view to indicating in concise form the amount of time spent by each staff member on a project and encouraging an approach geared towards achieving results; requests, therefore, the Agency to inform the discharge authority of the progress made in this respect;

5.

Recalls that a delegation from the Committee on Fisheries visited the Agency in June 2010 and was very satisfied with the general state of the Agency’s affairs, particularly the execution of the Joint Deployment Plans;

6.

Calls on the Agency to redress its weaknesses in recruitment planning; notes, in fact, that the Court of Auditors reported that only 44 out of 55 temporary posts planned have been filled (80 %);

7.

Welcomes the Agency’s initiative to revise its budgetary procedures and associated financial circuits, to designate authorising officers and invest in staff training on financial management;

8.

Congratulates the Agency for having set up in 2008 an Internal Audit function (Internal Audit Capability-IAC) which is dedicated to providing support and advice to the Agency’s Executive Director and management on internal control, risk assessment and internal audit; notes that the Agency does not employ a full time IAC but shares this service with the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) in Lisbon; acknowledges, to this end, that a Service Level Agreement between the Agency and EMSA was signed on 17 June 2008; considers, therefore, this shared service to be an example of best practice to be promoted by other agencies;

9.

Acknowledges that the IAC performed two audits in 2009, one on the implementation of the Internal Control Standards and the other on the payment cycle; calls on the Agency to inform the discharge authority of the recommendations made by the IAC and the action taken by the Agency;

10.

Urges the Executive Director of the Agency to fully fulfil his obligation to include, in his report to the discharge authority summarising the Internal Audit Service (IAS) Report, all recommendations made (including the ones which could possibly be refused by the Agency) and all action taken on these recommendations; calls therefore on the Executive Director of the Agency to provide information on the content of the four ‘very important’ IAS recommendations and the action taken by the Agency;

11.

Calls on the Agency to review its Internal Control System to underpin its Executive Director’s annual declaration of assurance and to review all its procedures, both administrative and operational with subsequent documentation of the workflow and key controls; encourages, furthermore, the Agency to establish a risk management function for registering risks and creating plans for mitigating actions;

12.

Refers, in respect of the other observations accompanying its Decision on discharge, which are of a horizontal nature, to its resolution of 10 May 2011 (6) on the performance, financial management and control of the agencies.