The Committee on Budgetary Control adopted the
report by Bart STAES (Greens/EFA, BE) on discharge in respect of
the implementation of the budget of the European Border and Coast
Guard Agency (Frontex) for the financial year 2016.
The committee called on the European Parliament
to grant the Executive Director of the Agency discharge in respect
of the implementation of the Agency’s budget for the financial
year 2016.
Noting that the Court of Auditors stated that
it had obtained reasonable assurance that the annual accounts of
the Agency for the financial year 2016 were reliable and that the
underlying transactions were legal and regular, Members called on
Parliament to approve
the closure of the Agency’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:
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Agency’s financial
statements: Members noted that the final
budget of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency for the
financial year 2016 was EUR 232 757 000, representing an increase
of 62.43 % compared to 2015. In response to the migration crisis
faced by the Union, the mandate of the Agency was considerably
extended in 2016.
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Budget and financial management: Members welcomed that the budget-monitoring efforts
during the financial year 2016 resulted in a budget implementation
rate of 97.90 %. They noted that 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 was repaid to the Union budget
since fewer return operations were carried out than envisaged.
On 22 December
2015, the Commission and the Agency signed a grant agreement
amounting to EUR 5.5 million on regional support to
protection-sensitive migration management in the Western Balkans
and Turkey for a three year period starting on 1 January 2016.
However, cooperation agreements with those three partners which
amounted to EUR 3.4 million were only signed between August and
November 2016. Members noted from the Agency’s reply that in
order to document the fact that the legal commitment for all three
project partners was made prior to the budgetary commitment, the
Agency duly documented this as an exception.
Members also made a series of observations
regarding commitments and carry-overs, the prevention and
management of conflicts of interests, internal audits and
controls.
Lastly, they noted that the Agency sees no
financial risks influencing its operations caused by the
Brexit.