Legislative Observatory
European Parliament
Please fill in this field to find a procedure

2016 discharge: European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA)

2017/2158(DEC)

PURPOSE: to grant discharge to the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) in respect of the Agency’s budget for the financial year 2016.

NON-LEGISLATIVE ACT: Decision (EU) 2018/1355 of the European Parliament on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Aviation Safety Agency for the financial year 2016.

CONTENT: the European Parliament decided to grant discharge to the Executive Director of the European Aviation Safety Agency for the implementation of its budget for the financial year 2016.

This decision is accompanied by a resolution of the European Parliament containing the observations which form an integral part of the discharge decision in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2016 (please refer to the summary dated 18.4.2018).

In this resolution, Parliament noted that the internal control standards of the Agency were revised and adopted by the Management Board in 2016 to align them with the latest version of the ISO 9001:2015 standards.

It also noted with satisfaction that the Agency completed its move to a new, purpose-designed premises during 2016 without any disruption to business. It stressed that concerning the seat of the Agency, the headquarters agreement between the Agency and the host Member state has been finalised and came into effect on 17 August 2017.

Parliament stated that a future decrease of the Agency’s revenue resulting from the United Kingdom’s decision to leave the Union is likely and might have a considerable impact on the Agency business plan. A working groups should be established to look into this matter.

In addition, Parliament hopes to see an acceleration of the entry into force of the European regulation on drones. In the context of fast-developing civil aviation services, exemplified by the increasingly widespread use of drones, the Agency should be given the necessary financial, material and human resources to successfully perform its regulatory and executive tasks in the fields of safety and environmental protection, but without compromising its independence and impartiality.