L 191/6 Official Journal of the European Communities 27.7.2000 DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT of 13 April 2000 granting discharge to the Management Board of the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training in respect of the implementation of its budget for the 1998 financial year (2000/467 EC) THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, Having regard to the report of the Court of Auditors on the statements and management of the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop — Thessaloniki) for the financial year ended December 1998 (C5-0149/2000) (1), Having regard to the Council recommendation of 13 March 2000 (C5-0151/2000), 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 Management Board on 4 May 1999 (%) for the financial year 1997 on the basis of commitments to introduce a new budgetary and accounting system, to reduce reliance on imprest accounts, to adopt a new staff policy and to submit biannual progress reports on the state of the new premises. B. The report of the Court of Auditors for 1998 notes that the Centre still uses an old and complex system for drawing up its budget and balance sheets, relies on the imprest accounts for paying staff, does not systematically review staff entitlements and suffers from delays when issuing calls for tender. C.  The Centre is behind shedule in the completion of its own management and accounting system, begun in 1997, while a similar system was developed for decentralised Agencies for the Commission as of 1 January 1998. D.  The Centre foresees final approval of its new building in November 2000, following its official opening in November 1999. E. The relatively long contradictory procedure between the Centre and the Court of Auditors for a short report leads to the submission of the annual report for 1998 in November 1999. F. The Court of Auditors, whose mandate is not to evaluate the effectiveness of the Centre 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. () O] C 372, 22.12.1999, p. 26. () 0] €279, 1.10.1999, p. 140.