PURPOSE: presentation of the EU Court of
Auditors report on the annual accounts of the European
Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) for the year
2014, together with the EIOPAs reply.
CONTENT: in accordance with the tasks conferred on the
Court of Auditors by the Treaty on the Functioning of the European
Union, the Court presents to the European Parliament and to the
Council, in the context of the discharge procedure, a Statement of
Assurance as to the reliability of the annual accounts of each
institution, body or agency of the EU, and the legality and
regularity of the transactions underlying them, on the basis of an
independent external audit.
This audit concerned, amongst others, the annual
accounts of the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions
Authority (EIOPA).
Statement of assurance:
pursuant to the provisions of Article 287 of the Treaty on the
Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), the Court has
audited:
- the annual accounts of the Agency, which comprise the
financial statements and the reports on the implementation of the
budget for the financial year ended 31 December 2014,
and
- the legality and regularity of the transactions
underlying those accounts.
Opinion on the reliability of the
accounts: in the Courts
opinion, the Authoritys annual accounts present fairly, in
all material respects, its financial position as at 31 December
2014 and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the
year then ended, in accordance with the provisions of its Financial
Regulation and the accounting rules adopted by the
Commissions accounting officer.
Opinion on the legality and regularity of the
transactions underlying the accounts:
in the Courts opinion, the transactions underlying the annual
accounts for the year ended 31 December 2014 are legal and regular
in all material respects.
The report also makes a series of observations on the
budgetary and financial management of the Authority, accompanied by
the latters response. The main observations may be summarised
as follows:
The Courts observations:
- budgetary management:
the level of committed appropriations carried over also remained
high (26 %) particularly for the operational budget related to
specific contracts with a cumulative value of EUR 2.4 million
signed late in the year, particularly for the on-going development
and maintenance of a database and other IT services to be provided
in 2015. The transfers were intended to compensate for shortfalls
in the Authoritys 2015 budget following substantial budget
cuts decided by the discharge authorities. The transfers were
intended to compensate for shortfalls in the Authoritys 2015
budget following substantial budget cuts decided by the discharge
authorities. These shortfalls would not have allowed the Authority
to continue implementing its multiannual IT strategy, which was one
of its core operational activities. Although budget transfers,
carry-overs and related commitments are in line with the specific
provisions of the EU Financial Regulation and were executed
following Management Board decisions, the extent to which 2015
activities will be covered by 2014 appropriations is at odds with
the budgetary principle of annuality. There is a need to better
align the funds made available in the agencys annual budgets
with the financial needs for the implementation of its multiannual
IT strategy.
The
Authoritys reply:
- budgetary management:
EIOPA acknowledged that the percentage of carried-over
appropriations from 2013 to 2014 and from 2014 to 2015 for
operational expenditure was high due to the multiannual nature of
the work, the challenging time frame (mainly driven by the Solvency
II calendar with the preparatory phase starting in 2015 and full
implementation in 2016). EIOPA is also aware that part of the 2015
activities are covered by a relatively high proportion of
carried-over appropriations from 2014. This is explained by the
need to finance its complex and multiannual IT plan, ensuring a
proper implementation of Solvency II. In addition, in order to
better align the budgetary funds available for the given year,
EIOPAs budget and procurement processes have already been
revised to guarantee a full integration into the overall planning
and coordination processes of EIOPA.
Lastly, the Court of Auditors report contains a
summary of the Authoritys activities in 2014. This is
focused on the following:
Budget: EUR
21 595 704.
Activities:
- regulatory tasks:
amongst others, 18 drafts implementing technical standards prepared
on Solvency II and the finalisation of around 500 guidelines
relating to Solvency II, report on an EU single market in personal
pensions;
- supervisory tasks:
excellent examples of an approach to forming a shared view have
been observed in 6 different National Competent
Authorities;
- consumer protection and financial innovation:
consultation papers on cross selling, product oversight and
governance arrangements by insurance undertakings; Key Information
Documents (KIDs) and insurance-based investment
products;
- common
supervisory culture;
- financial stability: two
bi-annual Financial Stability Reports, completion of quantitative
tools for modelling reserves and premiums;
- crisis management: implementation of process for
regular consideration of the need for EIOPA preventive action in
response to adverse developments and risks;
- external relations:
number of dialogues with important third countries including US and
China and professional secrecy & gap analysis reports for Isle
of Man, Canada, Albania, FYR Macedonia, Montenegro and
Turkey;
- conferences and other public events.