The European Parliament decided to grant discharge to the Director of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) for the financial year 2017 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 2017 are reliable and that the underlying transactions are legal and regular, Parliament adopted by 495 votes to 131 with 4 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 draft resolution on performance, financial management and control of EU agencies:
Agency’s financial statements
The final budget of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights for the financial year 2017 was EUR 22 852 250, representing an increase of 5.78 % compared with 2016.
Budget and financial management
Parliament noted with appreciation that budget monitoring efforts during the financial year 2017 resulted in a budget implementation rate of 100 %, the same rate as in 2016. The payment appropriations execution rate was low at 72.11%, representing a slight decrease of 1.1 % compared with the previous year. The cancellations of carry-overs from 2016 to 2017 amounted to EUR 117 566, representing 2.05 % of the total amount carried over, representing a decrease of 1.22 % in comparison to 2016.
Members also made a series of observations regarding performance, procurement, conflicts of interest and internal controls.
In particular, they noted that:
- the Agency’s second external evaluation took place in 2017 concluding in positive overall results;
- the Agency should be able to offer opinions on legislative proposals on its own initiative and that its remit should extend to all areas of rights protected under the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, including issues of judicial and police cooperation in criminal matters;
- the Agency’s continuous work on doing research on the situation of Roma in the Union was welcomed;
- on 31 December 2017, the establishment plan was 97.22 % executed, with 70 temporary agents appointed out of 72 temporary agents authorised under the Union budget;
- the Agency should conduct appropriate market research before launching call for tenders for studies and to continue to improve the efficiency of its public procurement procedures;
- the Agency assessed and mitigated a number of potential and perceived conflicts of interest in 2017.