27.7.2000 Official Journal of the European Communities L 191/3 DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT of 13 April 2000 granting discharge to the Administrative Board of the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions in respect of the implementation of its budget for the 1998 financial year (2000/466EC) THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, Having regard to the report of the Court of Auditors on the financial statements and management of the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Dublin-Foundation) for the financial year 1998 (C5-0150/2000) (}), Having regard to the Council recommendation of 13 March 2000 (C5-0152/2000), Having regard to the EC Treaty and in particular Article 276 thereof, Having regard to Rule 93 and Annex V of its Rules of Procedure, Having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgetary Control (A5-0089/2000), Whereas: A.  Parliament granted discharge to the Administrative Board of the Foundation on 4 May 1999 (3) for the financial year 1997 on the basis of commitments to separate the duties of authorising and accounting officer, to enact a memorandum of understanding with the European Agency for Health and Safety in Bilbao and to improve day-to-day management by reducing the reliance on imprest accounts and by actively controlling mission expenses and study contracts. B. The report of the Court of Auditors for 1998 notes that the Foundation relies substantially on the imprest accounts, needs to strengthen analysis and management of mission expenses, has not updated its version of the Implementation of the Financial Regulation since 1976 and needs to review its in-house translation with regard to the development of the Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union in Luxembourg. C.  The Foundation has not adopoted the budget and on-line visa system of the Commission, available for agencies since 1 January 1998. D.  The relatively long contradictory procedure between the Foundation and the Court of Auditors for a relatively short report leads to the submission of the annual report for 1998 in November 1999. E. The Court of Auditors, whose mandate is not to evaluate the effectiveness of the Foundation in meeting its goals but to audit its accounts, concludes that it has obtained reasonable assurance that the annual accounts for the financial year ended 31 December 1998 are reliable and the underlying transactions are, as a whole, legal and regular. 1. Notes the following figures for the accounts of the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions: 1998 FINANCIAL YEAR (in thousand EUR) (a) Revenue 11 448 1. Subsidy from the Commission 11262 2. Miscellaneous revenue 156 3. Revenue from services rendered against payment 30 () O] C 372, 22.12.1999, p. 38. () 0] €279, 1.10.1999, p. 139.