The European Parliament adopted a decision concerning
the discharge to be granted to the Executive Director of the
European Asylum Support Office discharge in respect of the
implementation of the Office's budget for the financial year 2012.
The vote on the discharge decision approved the closure of the
accounts (in accordance with Annex VI, Article 5(1) of the Rules of
Procedure of the European Parliament.
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, Parliament adopted
by 509 votes to 72, with 16 abstentions, a resolution containing a
series of recommendations that form an integral part of the
discharge decision and as well as the general recommendations that
appear in the draft resolution on performance, financial
management and control of EU agencies.
These recommendations are summarised as
follows:
- Financing, budget and financial
management: Parliament noted that the
Office was granted financial autonomy on 20 September 2012, its
budget having been implemented by the Commission until that date.
Furthermore, the Office's budget for the financial year 2012 was
EUR 10 million, and budget monitoring efforts during the financial
year 2012 resulted in a budget implementation rate of
69%.
- Carryovers: Parliament
noted that the budgetary needs for 2012 were considerably
overestimated as only EUR 4.8 million out of EUR 7 million
transferred upon receiving financial autonomy were committed. It
expressed concern that the committed appropriations of EUR 3.2 had
been carried over, representing 65.13 % of the total committed
appropriations for the period of financial autonomy. Parliament
reminded the Office that a high level of carry-overs was at odds
with the budgetary principle of annuality and invited the
Office to improve its performance in this regard. It acknowledged,
however, that the carry-overs were mostly related to invoices not
yet received or paid at the end of the year and to pending
reimbursements for costs relating to experts. It also acknowledged
that approximately EUR 800 000 concerned refurbishment work carried
out at the Office’s premises in 2012. Parliament went onto
note with concern that a carry-over of EUR 2 000 00 was not covered
by a legal commitment (contract) and was therefore irregular. It
called on the Office to inform the discharge authority on the steps
taken to prevent similar situations in the future.
- Performance: Parliament
requested that the Office communicate the results and impact its
work has on European citizens in an accessible way, mainly through
its website. It took the view that at the very minimum, the
Office’s annual activity report should be published in all
official languages of the Union, and not only in English as it is
at present.
Parliament also made a series of observations on
transfers, procurement and recruitment procedures as well as
comments on internal controls.
Lastly, it acknowledged from the Office that it had
adopted a policy on the prevention and management of conflicts of
interest, which aimed at setting out a number of principles,
procedures and tools intended to prevent, identify and manage
situations of conflicts of interest. However, they called on the
Office to make publicly available the Declarations of Interests of
certain members.