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2012 discharge: European Environment Agency (EEA)

2013/2212(DEC)

The Committee on Budgetary Control adopted the report by Petri SARVAMAA (EPP, FI) in which it recommended the European Parliament to grant discharge to the Executive Director of the European Environment Agency in respect of the implementation of the Agency's budget for the financial year 2012.

Noting that the Court of Auditors stated that it has obtained reasonable assurances that the annual accounts of the Agency for the financial year 2012 are reliable, and that the underlying transactions are legal and regular, Members approved the closure of the Agency’s accounts. They made, however, a number of recommendations that needed to be taken into account when the discharge is granted, in addition to the general recommendations that appear in the draft resolution on performance, financial management and control of EU agencies.

  • Budget and financial management: Members noted that budget monitoring efforts during the financial year 2012 resulted in a budget implementation rate of 99.19% and that the payment appropriations execution rate was 89.41%. They regretted that for the year 2012, the mission expenses of the Executive Director of the Agency were remarkably higher than those of the executive directors of other agencies. They called on the Agency to provide further explanation for this situation to the discharge authority in the framework of the 2012 discharge follow-up.
  • Prevention and management of conflicts of interests and transparency: they stated that the Agency will carry out an assessment to identify its degree of exposure with a view to strengthening or supplementing its policy on the management and prevention of conflicts of interests and with a view to assessing its implementation, monitoring and reporting during the first quarter of 2014 on the basis of the Commission's Guidelines on the matter. They noted that the Agency has revised its policy for dealing with potential conflicts of interest. Respective details are part of the obligations of the Agency's officials and other servants under the Staff Regulations and Conditions for Employment. This information should be clearly presented on the Agency's website.

Lastly, Members also made a series of observations on transfers, procurement and recruitment procedures as well as comments on internal controls.