PURPOSE: presentation of the EU Court of
Auditors’ report on the annual accounts of the European Border
and Coast Guard Agency for the financial year 2016 (Frontex),
together with the Agency’s replies.
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 focused on the annual accounts of the
European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex). The
European Border and Coast Guard Agency, was created by Regulation
(EU) 2016/1624 of the European Parliament and of the Council
(‘new founding Regulation’) repealing Council
Regulation (EC) No 2007/2004. It has been developed from the
European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at
the External Borders of the Members States and maintained the short
name ‘Frontex’ and the seat of its headquarter in Warsaw.
The new founding Regulation extends the mandate of the
Agency and entrusts it to ensure European integrated border
management at the external borders with a view to managing the
crossing of the external borders efficiently. This includes
addressing migratory challenges and potential future threats at
those borders, thereby contributing to addressing serious crime
with a cross-border dimension, to ensure a high level of internal
security within the Union in full respect for fundamental rights,
while safeguarding the free movement of persons within
it.
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
2016;
- the legality and regularity of the transactions
underlying those accounts.
Opinion on the reliability of the
accounts: in the Court’s
opinion, the Agency’s annual accounts present fairly, in all
material respects, its financial position as at 31 December
2016 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
Commission’s accounting officer.
Opinion on the legality and regularity of the
transactions underlying the accounts:
the Court considers that the transactions underlying the annual
accounts for the year ended 31 December 2016 are legal and
regular in all material respects.
The report made a series of observations on the
budgetary and financial management of the Agency, accompanied by
the latter’s response. The main observations may be summarised
as follows:
The Court’s observations:
- budgetary management:
the Agency’s previous founding Regulation which was in force
until 5 October 2016 provided for the funding of joint return
operations carried out with participating countries. National
return operations only became eligible under the new founding
Regulation. However, in the period January to October 2016 the
Agency funded national return operations for an amount of EUR 3.6
million. These payments are irregular. The Agency noted that the
level of carry-overs for committed appropriations increased for
administrative expenditure to EUR 6.4 million and for operational
expenditure to EUR 67.3 million. The main reason is contracts and
operations extending beyond the year-end. The Agency may consider
introducing differentiated budget appropriations to better reflect
inevitable delays between legal commitments, contract
implementation and operations and the related payments. Under the
Agency’s extended mandate, high importance is attached to
return operations and EUR 63 million had been assigned to that in
its 2016 budget. However, EUR 23 million were repaid to the EU
budget since fewer return operations were carried out than
envisaged. The significant delay of the procurement procedure for a
EUR 50 million framework contract to charter aircraft and related
services for Frontex return operations contributed to this
situation and continues to affect the number of return operations
arranged by the Agency. While the launch of this procurement
procedure was planned for March 2016, it had not been started by
the year end;
- staffing policy: by the
end of 2016 only 197 of 275 posts in the 2016 establishment plan
were filled, mainly due to the fact that 50 new posts were only
established in October 2016 and recruitment still has to be
completed. The Agency traditionally experiences difficulties in
finding staff with the required profile. Following the extension of
its mandate, the Agency’s staff will more than double
from 365 in 2016 to 1 000 in 2020. This increase was not based on a
thorough estimation of needs. The planned increase in staff will
require additional office space. The Agency is analysing options to
address the needs, together with the Commission and the host
country.
The Agency’s replies:
- budgetary management:
the Agency stated that it drastically beefed up the number of joint
return flights: 232 in 2016 compared to 66 in 2015 and 39 in 2014.
In 2016 this represented 10 700 people returned to third countries,
plus one thousand transported by the Agency from the Greek islands
to Turkey after the EU/Turkey statement of March 2016. Despite of
this unprecedented surge in return services provided by the Agency,
only EUR 40 million could be used out of the EUR 63 million
assigned to this activity in the 2016 budget. The remaining EUR 23
million could not be used mainly because the Framework Contract for
chartering aircrafts and related services for return operations
faced delays. Frontex noted that the use of differentiated
appropriations implies a considerable change in budget management.
Taking into consideration the changes and challenges the Agency is
facing, the pros and cons will be carefully assessed in view of a
sound internal control framework;
- staffing policy: the
Agency stated that it is contact with the relevant services of the
European Commission to find remedying measures and hopes that the
interpretation of the Staff Regulations can offer some solution to
the existing detrimental situation. The Agency had already
addressed at the beginning of 2017 the budgetary authority and
received the green light to expand in its current premises in order
to accommodate the additional staff numbers. Furthermore, once the
Headquarters Agreement will be in force, the Polish government
committed to donate a plot of land to the Agency in order to enable
it to construct a new building that will remain in the ownership of
the Agency.
Lastly, the Court of Auditors’ report also
contained a summary of the Agency’s key figures in
2016:
- Budget: EUR 251
million.
- Staff: 365 including
officials, temporary and contract staff and seconded national
experts.