2016 discharge: European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA)

The European Parliament decided to grant discharge to the Executive Director of the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) in respect of the implementation of the Agency’s budget for the financial year 2016, and to approve the closure of the accounts for the financial year in question.

Noting that the Court of Auditors has stated that it has obtained reasonable assurances that the agency’s annual accounts for the financial year 2016 are reliable and that the underlying transactions are legal and regular, Parliament adopted by 578 votes to 114 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 resolution on performance, financial management and control of EU agencies:

• Authority’s financial statements:  the final budget of the Authority for the financial year 2016 was EUR 21 762 500, representing an increase of 7.67 % compared to 2015.
• Budget and financial management: budget monitoring efforts during the financial year 2016 resulted in a budget implementation rate of 99.68 %, reaching the Authority’s planned target and representing a decrease of 0.29 % compared to 2015.
• Members noted the Authority’s efforts to reallocate the Authority’s budget and manpower internally, as the Authority’s workload is increasingly shifting from regulatory tasks to supervisory convergence and enforcement. They regard it as essential that the Authority have sufficient resources to carry out its assignments in full, including dealing with any additional workload necessitated by such assignments, whilst ensuring an appropriate level of prioritisation as regards resource allocation and budgetary efficiency.
• Commitments and carryovers: the commitments carried forward to the following year reduced from 16.21 % in 2015 to 10.71 % in 2016, demonstrating the Authority’s stricter budget monitoring. 94.55% of the credits carried over from 2015 to 2016 were used. Members welcomed the fact that in 2016, the Authority achieved the lowest carry-forward percentage ever.

Members also made a series of observations regarding transfers, procurement, staff policy, the prevention and management of conflicts of interests and internal audits.

The resolution stressed that a quarter of the Authority’s staff is now working in an open office environment in order to accommodate the increase in staff within the existing premises and reduce building related costs. The issues with recruitment might be related to the high cost of housing in the Authority’s seat in Frankfurt, as well as to the lack of financial attractiveness of the Authority compared to other European bodies such as the European Central Bank and the Single Supervisory Mechanism. The Authority was asked to report to the discharge authority on the measures taken to address this issue.

Members welcomed the fact that the Authority proactively engages with its members to understand the extent of the impact of the United Kingdom’s decision to withdraw from the Union on the supervision of insurance and pension activity as well as the impact on the Authority as an institution. A future decrease in the Authority’s revenue resulting from the United Kingdom’s decision to withdraw from the Union is likely.