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2016 discharge: European Police Office (Europol)

2017/2169(DEC)

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 Police Office (Europol) for the financial year 2016.

The committee called on the European Parliament to grant the Executive Director of the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation discharge in respect of the implementation of the Europol’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 Office 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 Europol’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:

  • Financial statements of Europol: Members noted that the final budget of the European Police Office for the financial year 2016 was EUR 104 274 784, representing an increase of 9.27 % compared to 2015. This increase was due to new or additional tasks which expanded the mandate of Europol.
  • Commitments and carry-overs: Members took note of the carry-overs of committed appropriations for administrative expenditure reached EUR 3.5 million (39 %), compared to EUR 4.2 million (41 %) in 2015. They noted that these carry-overs mainly concerned Europol’s headquarters, which were only invoiced by the host state in 2017 (EUR 2 million). These carry-overs may be justified and do not necessarily indicate weaknesses in budget planning and implementation.

Members also made a series of observations regarding budgetary and financial management, procurement and staff policy, internal audits and controls. It deeply regretted that having regard to the total number of posts occupied on 31 December 2016, gender balance has not been achieved since the ratio is more than two to one – 32.4 % female to 67.6 % male.

They report welcomed the establishment of the European Counter Terrorism Centre and the European Migrant Smuggling Centre, including the on-the-spot deployment of staff to perform over 4 800 secondary security checks in migration hotspots by the end of 2016.

Lastly, they noted that, according to Europol, there are substantial financial and operational risks due to the Brexit. Europol is called on to remain proactive in identifying and addressing those risks and to keep the discharge authority fully informed of the future impact of Brexit on Europol.