The European Parliament decided to grant the Executive
Director of the European Agency for the operational management of
large-scale IT systems in the area of freedom, security and justice
(eu-LISA) discharge in respect of the implementation of the
Agency’s budget for the financial year 2014. The vote on the
decision on discharge covers the closure of the accounts (in
accordance with Annex 5, Article 5 (1) (a) to Parliament’s
Rules of Procedure.
Noting that the Court of Auditors has stated that it
has obtained reasonable assurances that the Agency’s annual
accounts for the financial year 2014 are reliable and that the
underlying transactions are legal and regular, Parliament adopted
by 501 votes to 121 with 7 abstentions, a resolution containing a
series of recommendations, which form an integral part of the
decision on discharge and which add to the general recommendations
set out in the resolutionÂ
on performance, financial management and control of EU
agencies:
- Agency’s financial statements: Parliament noted the
Agency’s final budget for the financial year 2014 was EUR 59
380 000, representing a decrease of 3.2% compared to the year 2013.
The entire budget of the Agency derives from the Union
budget.
- Emphasis of matter: Parliament noted that the
Court's report emphasises the issues related to the valuation of
the SIS II, VIS and EURODAC systems in the Agency’s accounts.
It stated that the systems were transferred from the Commission to
the Agency in May 2013 by way of a non-exchange transaction. It
took note that in the absence of reliable and complete information
in respect of the total development cost of those systems, the
value of the systems was recorded in the Agency’s accounts at
their net book values as per the Commission’s books and
updated at year-end. It acknowledged the Agency's comment that as
long as the book value of the assets transferred by the Commission
to the Agency was established in line with the Commission’s
internal accounting rules, there was no action that the Agency
had to or could have performed in this respect. It also
acknowledged that the value of transferred assets is expected to
become immaterial in the year 2015 due to the yearly
application of depreciation of asset value and that as such, for
future discharges, this comment will no longer be
relevant.
- Commitments and carryovers: it noted that the
committed appropriations carried over to 2015 were high for
administrative expenditure at EUR 15 million (87 %). It
acknowledged that these carry-overs mainly resulted from delayed
procurements for the extension and refurbishment of the
Agency’s site in Strasbourg. The carry-overs for operational
expenditure were high at EUR 24.5 million (85 %) and mainly related
to multi-annual contracts for the maintenance of the Agency’s
IT systems. It therefore called on the Agency to reduce the high
level of carry-overs as it is at odds with the principle of
annuality.
- Associated countries:
Parliament recalled that according to Regulation (EU) No 1077/2011,
countries associated with the implementation, application and
development of the Schengen acquis and EURODAC-related measures
must make a contribution to the Agency’s
budget.
Parliament also made a series of observations
regarding the Agency’s budget and financial management,
prevention and management of conflicts of interest, as well as on
contract award, recruitment and internal audit and control
procedures.
Parliament noted that the negotiations between the
Agency and France were successfully concluded and that the seat
agreement was signed for the Agency’s operational site in
Strasbourg. It is also pleased that the negotiations between the
Agency and Estonia were successfully concluded and the seat
agreement was signed at the end of 2014.
Lastly, Parliament called for an overall improvement
in the prevention of, and the fight against, corruption through a
holistic approach, commencing with better public access to
documents and more stringent rules on conflicts of interest,
the introduction or strengthening of transparency registers and the
provision of sufficient resources for law enforcement measures, and
also through improved cooperation among Member States and with
relevant third countries.