40 Annual activity reports of the Commission's
Directorates-General and Services
| (24834)
12090/03
COM(03) 391
| Commission Communication — Synthesis of annual activity reports for 2002 of Directorates-General and Services.
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| Legal base | — |
| Document originated | 9 July 2003
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| Deposited in Parliament | 8 September 2003
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| Department | HM Treasury |
| Basis of consideration | EM of 1 October 2003
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| Previous Committee Report | None
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| To be discussed in Council | Not known
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| Committee's assessment | Politically important
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| Committee's decision | Cleared, but relevant to the debate recommended on the Commission's Reports on OLAF and on the protection of the financial interests of the Communities and the fight against fraud (see paragraph 3 above)
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Background
40.1 The Commission now publishes a synthesis of all the annual
reports produced by the different Directorates-General (DGs) and
Services. The synthesis is a management tool which gives a concise
view of policy achievements in the last year, takes stock and
shows the progress of follow-up actions previously agreed.
The document
40.2 The document is the synthesis of the annual activity reports
for 2002. It is divided into six sections:
· Introduction:
this section discusses the sources used and methodological problems
with the annual report process and gives an overview of progress
on reform;
· Overview of
main policy results: showing the key goals and achievements of
the DGs and Services, by policy area, in 2002. Policy highlights
include reform of the Staff Regulations (modernising the pay and
conditions of EU civil servants), the adoption of detailed implementing
rules for the new Financial Regulation, the successful completion
of enlargement negotiations, and the introduction of euro notes
and coins in all eurozone Member States;
· Overview of
the Services' management and controls in 2002;
· Stabilisation
of annual report process;
· On-going work
and new corrective actions required: this is the longest section
in the report and contains detailed synopses of ongoing work,
and the corrective measures that need to be taken, in a variety
of areas of Commission work; and
· Conclusion:
containing a brief round-up of the lessons learned in the second
year of annual activity reports.
40.3 The document also gives a tabular presentation
of all the tasks and actions resulting from the synthesis of 2002.
The Government's view
40.4 The Financial Secretary to the Treasury (Ruth
Kelly) tells us:
"The UK Government welcomes the publication
of the Synthesis of Annual Activity Reports 2002. It is a useful
way of appreciating, 'at a glance', what the policy achievements
of DGs and Services have been in the previous year and —
even more importantly — which areas still need improvement,
and what commitments have been given to achieve such improvements.
"The UK reflects with particular satisfaction
on the achievements in reforming the Staff Regulation (which will
save hundreds of millions of euros in pension costs by 2030),
the recasting of the Financial Regulation (which came into force
in January 2003) and the recent agreement by OLAF to improve information
flows between it and the Commission in order to speed up the response
to fraud allegations.
"However, the UK would like to see DGs and
Services continue to improve management and control practices
— and to draw lessons from the [annual activity report]
process in order to better embed the principles of management
responsibility, accountability and transparency into the way that
the European institutions work."
Conclusion
40.5 This document is a useful background to discussion
of the reform process in the Communities' institutions. We are
content to clear it, but note that it is relevant to the debate
we have recommended in European Standing Committee B on the Commission's
Reports on OLAF and on the protection of the financial interests
of the Communities and the fight against fraud.[85]
85 See headnote. Back
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