2017 discharge: European Union Agency for Network and Information Security (ENISA)

The Committee on Budgetary Control adopted the report by Petri SARVAMAA (EPP, FI) on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Union Agency for Network and Information Security (ENISA) for the financial year 2017.

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 2017.

Noting that the Court of Auditors stated that it had obtained reasonable assurance that the annual accounts of the Agency for the financial year 2017 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:

Agency’s financial statements

Members noted the final budget of the Agency for the financial year 2017 was EUR 11 175 224.40, representing an increase of 1.28 % compared to 2017.

Budget and financial management

Budget monitoring efforts during the financial year 2017 resulted in a budget implementation rate of 99.99 %, representing an increase of 1.52 % compared to 2016. Payment appropriations execution rate was 88.19 %, representing a slight decrease of 0.99 % compared to 2016.

The cancellations of carryovers from 2016 to 2017 amounted to EUR 90 916, representing 9.39 % of the total amount carried forward, showing an increase of 3.67 % in comparison to 2016.

Members also made a series of observations regarding performance, staff policy, procurement and internal controls.

In particular, they noted that:

- the Agency started the process of helping Member States to implement Directive (EU) 2016/1148 concerning measures for a high common level of security of network and information systems across the Union and that it compiled a data breach severity assessment tool, in collaboration with several Member States’ authorities, in order to set up a coherent framework at Union level;

- on 31 December 2017, the establishment plan was only 87.5 % executed, with 42 temporary agents appointed out of 48 temporary agents authorised under the Union budget;

- the Agency finds it difficult to recruit, attract and hold suitably qualified staff, mainly due to the types of post that are being offered (contract agents posts) and the low correction coefficient factor which applies to the salaries of the Agency’s employees in Greece;

- unlike most other agencies, the Agency did not carry out a comprehensive analysis of the likely impact of the United Kingdom’s decision to withdraw from the European Union on its organisation, operations and accounts.