The European Parliament decided to grant discharge to the Executive Director of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) 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 Agency’s annual accounts for the financial year 2018 are reliable and that the underlying transactions are legal and regular, Parliament adopted by 607 votes to 83 with 3 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:
Agency’s financial statements
The final budget of the Agency for the financial year 2018 was EUR 15 425 700, representing a decrease of 1.47 % compared to 2017.
Budget and financial management
Budget monitoring efforts during the financial year 2018 resulted in a budget implementation rate of 99.58 %, representing an increase of 3.55 % compared to 2017. The payment appropriations execution rate was at 67.81 %, representing a decrease of 4.42 % compared to 2017.
Carry-overs
Parliament noted with regret that, according to the Court’s report, the carry-overs to 2019 for administrative expenditure stood at 35 % (compared to 40 % in 2017), while for operational expenditure they were as high as 46 % (compared to 40 % in 2017), which was in contradiction with the budgetary principle of annuality.
Other observations
Members also made a series of observations regarding performance, staff, procurement and conflicts of interest.
In particular, they noted that:
- the Agency adopted in 2018 a new framework for its key performance indicators;
- the Agency has implemented 93 % of its annual work programme;
- the EU-OSHA multi-annual strategic Programme 2014-2020 has been extended to 2023;
- on 31 December 2018, the establishment plan was 100 % executed, with 40 temporary agents (TAs) appointed out of 40 TAs authorised under the Union budget;
- further efforts are needed to achieve a gender balance among senior managers (three men and one woman) and on the management board (42 men and 35 women).