2013 discharge: European Environment Agency (EEA)

PURPOSE: presentation by the Commission of the consolidated annual accounts of the European Union for the financial year 2013, as part of the 2013 discharge procedure.

Analysis of the accounts of the European Environment Agency (EEA).

CONTENT: this Commission document sets out the consolidated annual accounts of the European Union for the financial year 2013 as prepared on the basis of the information presented by the institutions, organisations and bodies of the EU, in accordance with Article 129 (2) of the Financial Regulation applicable to the EU's General Budget, including the European Environment Agency (EEA).

The document contains the figures on which the discharge procedure is based.

Discharge procedure of the EU agencies: the EU Budget finances a wide range of policies and programmes throughout the EU. In accordance with the priorities set by the European Parliament and the Council in the multi-annual financial framework (MFF), the European Commission carries out specific programmes, activities and projects in the field with the technical support of some specialised agencies.

The consolidated annual accounts of the EU provide information on the activities of the institutions, agencies and other bodies of the EU from a budgetary and accrual accounting perspective.

The consolidated reports on the implementation of the general budget of the EU include the budget implementation of all Institutions. Agencies do not have a separate budget inside the EU budget; and they are partially financed by a Commission budget subsidy.

Each agency is subject to its own discharge procedure.

EEA: in 2013, the tasks and budget of this agency were as follows:

• description of the Agency's tasks: the European Environment Agency, which is located in Copenhagen, was established by Council Regulation (EEC) No 1210/90. It is responsible for setting up an observation network to provide the Commission, the Parliament, the Member States and, more generally, the public with reliable information on the state of the environment. This information should, in particular, enable the European Union and the Member States to take action to safeguard the environment and assess the effectiveness of such action. Its main task is to report on: (i)  the quality of the environment and; (ii) the pressures on the environment within the territory of the Union;
• the Agency's budget for the financial year 2013: the Agency’s budget for 2013, as presented in the Commission document on the consolidated annual accounts of the European Union, gives the following figures:

§         Commitment appropriations :

- committed : EUR 72 million;

- paid : EUR 54 million;

- carried-over : EUR 17 million.

§         Payment appropriations :

- committed : EUR 76 million;

- paid : EUR 47 million;

- carried-over : EUR 27 million.

Please refer also to the final accounts of the EEA.