PURPOSE: to grant discharge to the Administrative Director of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office for the financial year 2022.
NON-LEGISLATIVE ACT: Decision (EU) 2024/2252 of the European Parliament on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office for the financial year 2022
CONTENT: the European Parliament decided to grant discharge to the Administrative Director of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office discharge in respect of the implementation of the Office’s budget for the financial year 2022.
This decision is in line with the European Parliament's resolution adopted on 11 April 2024 and comprises a series of observations that form an integral part of the discharge decision (please refer to the summary of the opinion of 11 April 2024).
The overall final budget allocated to the EPPO for 2022 was EUR 51.2 million, reduced from the initial endowment amounting to EUR 57.1 million, and sensibly increased from the EUR 35.4 million allocated in 2021.
Noting that it is only possible to compare the budgetary performance of the EPPO for the period following its financial autonomy, which began in June 2021, Parliament welcomed the satisfactory level of budget implementation of 98.1 % of commitment appropriations (against 97.4 % in 2021) and of 76.6% of payment appropriations (compared to 78.2 % in 2021). Members appreciated that the overall execution rate for payments progressed in 2022 with 76.6 % of paid appropriations completed in the final budget, compared to 71 % in 2021.
Parliament observed that it is difficult to estimate the forecast of expenditure for the caseload related to the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) because of the unprecedented implementation mode and sheer volume of resources.
The EPPO currently has an estimated 170 active investigations in over 7 countries involving RRF cases and that the damages in these active investigations is currently estimated at EUR 530 million. Members noted that the EPPO estimates that the number of new active investigations involving recovery and resilience funds will increase as more countries become the recipients of RRF funds. The EPPO is encouraged to plan their budget and capacities accordingly.
The Commission is called on to review the EPPO budgetary framework in close cooperation with the EPPO to find adequate ways to support it in its work.