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2013 discharge: European Banking Authority (EBA)

2014/2120(DEC)

The European Parliament adopted by 554 votes to 133, with 7 abstentions, a decision to grant discharge to Executive Director of the European Banking Authority (EBA) for the financial year 2013. 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 Authority for the financial year 2013 are reliable, and that the underlying transactions are legal and regular, Parliament adopted by 561 votes to 107, with 13 abstentions, a resolution containing a number of recommendations that form an integral part of the discharge decision and as well as the general recommendations that appear in the resolution on performance, financial management and control of EU agencies:

  • Authority’s financial statements: Parliament noted that the final budget of the Authority for the financial year 2013 was year 2013 was EUR 25 967 360, representing an increase of 25.16% compared to 2012, due to the Authority’s recently established nature of which the initial contribution of the Union to the Authority’s budget for 2013 amounted to EUR 10 386 944.
  • Carry-overs: Parliament noted that the Authority managed to significantly reduce the overall level of committed appropriations carried over from EUR 6 547 808 in 2012 (36%) to EUR 3 876 564 in 2013 (17%). It noted with concern that the levels of carry-overs (36%) were relatively high, mainly due to the planned procurement of IT infrastructure and IT services, and the related services provided in 2014.

Parliament also made a series of observations on transfers, the prevention and management of conflicts of interests, recruitment, procurement procedures and internal control.

It noted that the Authority closely cooperates with the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority and the European Securities and Markets Authority across all support functions in order to reduce administrative costs where possible, to leverage synergies and to share best practices. It looked forward to further efforts from the Authority to enhance cooperation with other decentralised agencies.

Lastly, Parliament stressed that given its limited resources, the Authority must stick to the tasks assigned to it by Parliament and the Council. The Authority should carry out those assignments in full but that it must not seek to go beyond its mandate.