2012 discharge: European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA)

The Committee on Budgetary Control adopted the report by Petri SARVAMAA (EPP, FI) on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Maritime Safety Agency for the financial year 2012, and called on the European Parliament to approve the closure of the accounts of the Agency for the financial year 2012.

Noting that the Court of Auditors stated that it has obtained reasonable assurances that the annual accounts of the Agency for the financial year 2012 are reliable, and that the underlying transactions are legal and regular, Members approved the closure of the Agency’s accounts. They made a number of recommendations that needed 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.

·        Financing, budget and financial management: Members recalled that the budget of the European Maritime Safety Agency (“the Agency”) for the financial year 2012 was EUR 55million, and noted with concern that the Court of Auditors’ audit had found a budget commitment amounting to EUR 800 000 which was not related to an existing legal commitment and was thus irregular;

·        Budget implementation: the committee noted that the budget monitoring efforts during the financial year 2012 resulted in a budget implementation rate of 94 % and it commended the Agency for adhering to the principle of annuality and for the timely execution of its budget.

Members also made a series of observations ontransfers, procurement and recruitment procedures as well as comments on internal controls.

Lastly, they asked the Agency to strengthen transparency and prevent conflicts of interests, as well as make publicly available the Declarations of Interests of certain members.