2022 discharge: European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC)

The European Parliament decided to grant discharge to the Director of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control in respect of the implementation of the Centre's budget for the financial year 2022 and to approve the closure of the accounts for that year.

Noting that the Court of Auditors stated that it had obtained reasonable assurance that the Authority's annual accounts for the financial year 2022 were reliable and that the underlying transactions were legal and regular, Parliament adopted, by 530 votes to 62 with 10 abstentions, a resolution containing a series of recommendations which form an integral part of the discharge decision and which complement the general recommendations set out in the resolution on the performance, financial management and control of EU agencies.

Qualified opinion

Parliament highlighted the Court’s qualified opinion on the legality and regularity of payments due to the inclusion of VAT as an eligible expense under grant agreements whose beneficiaries engage in activities as public authorities representing 2.8 % of the payment appropriations available in 2022. When managing grants, the Centre should ensure compliance with the applicable rules, in particular regarding the reimbursement of VAT to beneficiaries which are public authorities.

Centre's financial statements

The Centre's final budget for 2022 was EUR 99 872 000, representing a decrease of 40.59 % compared to 2021.

Budgetary and financial management

Budget monitoring efforts during the financial year 2022 resulted in a budget implementation rate of current year commitment appropriations of 98.86 %, representing an increase of 0.49 % compared to 2021. The payment appropriations execution rate was 73.61 %, representing an increase of 9.53 % compared to the previous year. The Commission is called on to grant to the Centre the necessary resources to fulfil the objectives of the Strategy 2021-2027 and to implement the Centre’s revised mandate.

Other observations

Parliament also made a number of observations concerning performance, staff policy and internal control.

In particular, it noted that:

- the Centre delivered 89 % of the outputs planned in its Single Programming Document 2022–2024. 8 % of the planned outputs were postponed, while 3 % were delayed or cancelled by the end of the year. Most of the outputs that have been postponed or delayed were dependant on the adoption and publication of the Centre’s revised mandate, which took place at the end of 2022;

- throughout 2022, for the third consecutive year, the Centre maintained its public health emergency (PHE) plan in response to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic;

- the Centre also supported simultaneously three ongoing PHEs, namely COVID-19, Mpox, and hepatitis of unknown origin in children;

- following Russia’s aggression in Ukraine and the influx of refugees fleeing the country, the Centre worked with the authorities of the five countries surrounding Ukraine providing technical and operational response activities within its remit, based on identified needs;

- in the second half of the year, the Centre’s experts were deployed to Poland and Romania in support of national authorities and the World Health Organization which were assisting Ukrainian displaced populations;

- on 31 December 2022, the establishment plan consisted of 215 temporary agents authorised under the Union budget (compared to 208 authorised posts in 2021);

- gender and geographical balance are lacking within the Centre’s senior and middle management;

- despite the visibility that the Centre developed during the pandemic, there is still room for greater visibility in the media, on the internet, and on social media in order to make its work known to citizens of the Union;

- in 2022, a number of improvements were made to the internal control framework, such as an improved control strategy, including new indicators, an improved information asset catalogue and the development of a new internal communications policy;

- the Centre moved more towards using electronic tools in the procurement process.