The European
Parliament adopted by 548 votes to 36, with 58 abstentions, a decision on
discharge to be granted to the Executive Director of the European Agency for
the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders of the
Member States of the European Union (FRONTEX) in respect of the implementation
of its budget for the financial year 2008.
Furthermore,
Parliament adopted a resolution with observations which are an integral part
of the decision to grant discharge.
The main
points are as follows:
- recurring
problems since the financial year 2006: Parliament
is concerned about the high level of carry-overs and cancellations of
appropriations since 2006. In 2008, EUR 30 300 000 in appropriations for
the year had to be carried over and EUR 13 000 000 in appropriations
available had to be cancelled. According to Parliament, this is
indicative of the inability of the Agency to manage so large an increase
in its budget. In this regard, it wonders whether it would not be more
responsible for the budgetary authorities, in future, to take greater
care in deciding on increases in the Agency's budget in the light of the
time needed to carry out the new activities. Parliament is also
concerned that legal commitments were entered into before the
corresponding budgetary commitments. Overall, Parliament calls for a more
rigorous application of financial rules and cashflow management, cash
holdings in 2008 having amounted to EUR 28 604 623.67 (which
is excessive);
- human
resources: Parliament regrets that
recruitment procedures depart from the rules and that their transparency
and the non-discrimination of applicants are not ensured;
- performance:
although satisfied with the Agency’s
multiannual work plan, Parliament calls on the Agency to establish a
link promptly between the plan and its financial forecasts. It also calls
on the Agency to set out a comparison of operations carried out during
the year for which discharge is to be granted and in the previous
financial year so as to enable the discharge authority to assess more
effectively its performance from one year to the next;
- transparency: noting that the Agency does not publish information about
its governing boards on its website, Parliament recommends that a list
of board members be placed on the Agency's website;
- cooperation
with the Member States: Parliament encourages
the Agency to step up its dialogue with Member States, as well as to
improve its financial management with regard to the reimbursement of
costs contracted by Member States (in the context of actions taken as
part of joint operations);
- internal
audit: Parliament calls for the rigorous
application by the Agency of the recommendations prepared by the
Internal Audit Service.
Noting that
the Agency’s annual accounts for the financial year 2008 are reliable, and
the underlying transactions are legal and regular, Parliament approves the
closure of the Agency’s accounts. However, it makes a number of
recommendations that need to be taken into account when the discharge is
granted, in addition to the general recommendations that appear in the draft
resolution on financial management and control of EU agencies (see 2010/2007(INI) adopted in parallel).