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2013 discharge: European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA)

2014/2089(DEC)

PURPOSE: presentation of the EU Court of Auditors’ report on the annual accounts of the European Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) for the financial year 2013, together with the Agency’s reply.

CONTENT: in accordance with the tasks conferred on the Court of Auditors by the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the Court presents to the European Parliament and to the Council, in the context of the discharge procedure, a Statement of Assurance as to the reliability of the annual accounts of each institution, body or agency of the EU, and the legality and regularity of the transactions underlying them, on the basis of an independent external audit.

This audit concerned, amongst others, the annual accounts of the European Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA).

Statement of assurance: pursuant to the provisions of Article 287 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), the Court has audited:

  • the annual accounts of the Centre, which comprise the financial statements and the reports on the implementation of the budget for the financial year ended 31 December 2013;
  • the legality and regularity of the transactions underlying those accounts.

Opinion on the reliability of the accounts: in the Court’s opinion, the Agency’s annual accounts present fairly, in all material respects, its financial position as at 31 December 2013 and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the year then ended, in accordance with the provisions of its Financial Regulation and the accounting rules adopted by the Commission’s accounting officer.

Opinion on the legality and regularity of the transactions underlying the accounts: in the Court’s opinion, the transactions underlying the annual accounts for the year ended 31 December 2013 are legal and regular in all material respects.

The report also makes a series of observations on the budgetary and financial management of the Agency, accompanied by the latter’s response. The main observations may be summarised as follows:

The Court’s observations:

  • budgetary management: the level of committed appropriations carried over to 2014 was high (27%) for administrative expenditure and 69% for operating expenditure. The carryovers mainly reflect the multi-annual nature of the Agency’s operational projects.

The Centre’s replies:

  • budgetary management: the Agency replied that the Agency plans the carry overs for the following year and closely monitors their evolution. The level of cancellations (less than 2 %) is an indicator of the precise planning and management of the carry overs. The Agency’s consumption of its EU subsidy over the past two budget years has been in excess of 99% demonstrating an excellent budgetary management.

Lastly, the Court of Auditors’ report contains a summary of the Agency’s activities in 2013. This is focused on the following:

Budget: EUR 21.62 million of which the Union subsidy is 99%.

Activities:

  • various contributions to the FRANET network (comparative analysis);
  • publication of research and annual reports;
  • conferences and events;
  • cooperation with Member States and European and international institutions.