The Committee on Budgetary Control adopted the report by Derek VAUGHAN (S&D, UK) on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) for the financial year 2014.
The parliamentary committee calls on the European Parliament to grant the Executive Director of the Office discharge in respect of the implementation of the agency’s budget for the financial year 2014.
Noting that the Court of Auditors issued a statement of assurance as to the reliability of the accounts and the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions for the financial year 2014, Members call on Parliament to approve the closure of the Office’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:
· EASO’s financial statements: Members note the final budget of the European Asylum Support Office for the financial year 2014 was EUR 15 663 975 and that 94 % of the budget of the Office derives from the Union budget.
· Legality and regularity of transactions: Members notes with concern that the Office carried over budget commitments of EUR 1 300 000 which were not covered by legal commitments. They remind the Office that this is in contradiction with the Financial Regulation and acknowledge the decision of the Office to correct these irregular carry-overs in the budget management system in 2015, due to the financial period having already been closed for the financial year of 2014.
· Budget and financial management: Members draw attention to the fact that 1 062 payments, were made after the time limit set in the Financial Regulation, representing an increase of 10.6 % compared to 2013. They note with concern the late payments situation and call on the Office to report to the discharge authority on measures taken in order to tackle this issue.
Members also made a series of observations regarding commitments and carryovers, the prevention and management of conflicts of interest, as well as on contract award, recruitment and internal audit and control procedures.
Lastly, Members acknowledge the difficulties in managing the current refugee crisis. They acknowledge, in addition, that the tasks of the Agency are likely to increase further and its budget and staffing levels will need to increase correspondingly. They request the Agency, therefore, to increase its efforts and to improve its budgetary management and to present an action plan to perform optimally in the coming years.