The European Parliament adopted a decision to grant discharge to the Director of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights in respect of the implementation of the budget for the financial year 2010. This decision also approves the closure of the Agency’s accounts.
Noting that the Court of Auditors stated that it has obtained reasonable assurances that the annual accounts of the Agency for the financial year 2010 are reliable and that the underlying transactions are legal and regular, Parliament adopted a resolution containing a series of recommendations that need to be taken into account when the discharge is granted, in addition to the general recommendations that appear in the draft resolution on performance, financial management and control of EU agencies.
These recommendations may be summarised as follows:
- Budgetary and financial management: Parliament notes that the implementation rate of the Union contribution followed the previous year's trend and remained at 100 %, and that the budget execution rate in terms of payments reached 61.65 % in 2010 compared to 60.64 % in 2009. It therefore calls on the Agency to make further efforts and to take appropriate actions to ensure a greater level of budget execution in terms of payment. It notes with concern that under Title III (Operational expenditure) the budget execution rate in terms of payments reached only 28.08%;
- Carryover appropriations and transfers: Parliament urges the Agency to improve its budgetary implementation planning in order to reduce its high level of carryovers (EUR 6.9 million) with a concentration of spending in the final weeks of the year. It notes with concern the Court of Auditors' comment on the commitment of 48 % of the operational expenditure in the last month of 2010 and on the high level of carryovers as a consequence. It calls on the Agency to take measures to avoid this situation in the future. The agency is invited to take the necessary steps to determine and resolve the main obstacles related to budget expenditure, project funding, recruitment, and legal and administrative constraints, in order to ensure the efficient management of its budget;
- Human resources: Parliament notes with concern the delay in completing recruitment procedures, meaning that only 59 out of 72 posts could be filled during 2010 and calls on the Agency to take all necessary steps to prevent a recurrence of this situation. It is particularly concerned about the allegations of harassment of staff and calls on the Agency to address those allegations adequately;
- Internal audit: lastly, Parliament notes that, according to information provided by the Agency, the Internal Audit Service (IAS) performed an audit on planning and monitoring in March 2011 and formulated certain recommendations some of which were considered “important”. It calls for these recommendations to be addressed.