The European Parliament decided to grant discharge to the Director of the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) for the financial year 2018 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 Institute’s annual accounts for the financial year 2018 are reliable and that the underlying transactions are legal and regular, Parliament adopted by 457 votes to 232 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 resolution on performance, financial management and control of EU agencies:
Institute’s financial statements
The final budget of the Institute for the financial year 2018 was EUR 7 981 001.45, representing an increase of 3.34 % compared to 2017.
Budget and financial management
Budget monitoring efforts during the financial year 2018 resulted in a budget implementation rate of 99.38 %, representing an increase of 0.46 % compared to 2017. The payment appropriations execution rate was 81.15 %, representing an increase of 0.20 % compared to the previous year.
Other observations
Members also made a series of observations regarding performance, staff policy, procurement and internal controls.
In particular, they noted that:
- the Institute completed 98,80 % of the single programming document activities in 2018;
- the Commission has been called upon to conduct a feasibility study in order to assess the possibility of, at the very, least setting up shared synergies with the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), if not fully merging them. Two scenarios should be evaluated: the transfer of the Institute to FRA’ headquarters in Vienna and the transfer of FRA’s headquarters to the Institute’s headquarters in Vilnius;
- on 31 December 2018, the establishment plan was 100 % executed, with 27 temporary agents appointed out of 27 temporary agents authorised under the Union budget;
- further improvements were made as regards procurement procedures in order to minimise the risk of potential dissatisfaction among unsuccessful tenderers and of future legal cases.