PURPOSE: presentation by the Commission of the consolidated annual accounts of the European Union for the financial year 2016, as part of the 2016 discharge procedure.
Analysis of the accounts of the EU Institutions: European Commission.
Legal reminder: the consolidated annual accounts of the European Union for the year 2016 have been prepared on the basis of the information presented by the institutions and bodies under Article 148(2) of the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Union.
This Commission document concerns the certification and the ‘signing off’ of the EU's consolidated accounts for the year 2016 by the Accounting Officer of the Commission.
It comprises the balance sheet, the statement of financial performance and the cashflow statement.
The Accounting Officer of the Commission stated that she has obtained from the authorising officers, who certified its reliability, all the information necessary for the production of the accounts that show the European Commission's assets and liabilities and the budgetary implementation.
She thereby certified that she has a reasonable assurance that the accounts present fairly, in all material aspects, the financial position, the results of the operations and the cash flow of the European Commission.
The document recalled that on 29 March 2017 the United Kingdom formally announced its intention to leave the European Union, thus activating Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union. In accordance with this article as well as the European Council guidelines on the financial agreement and negotiating directives provided by the Council, the EU shall conclude an agreement with the United Kingdom, setting out the arrangements for its withdrawal.
At the time of the signing of these accounts, the negotiation process has just begun. Therefore, there is no impact on the financial position of the Commission at 31 December 2016.