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2013 discharge: EU general budget, European Commission and executive agencies

2014/2075(DEC)

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 58/2003 laying down the statute for executive agencies to be entrusted with certain tasks in the management of Community programmes and in particular Article 14(3) thereof, and to Commission Regulation (EC) No 1653/2004 on a standard financial regulation for the executive agencies, the Council addressed the following recommendations to the European Parliament as regards the discharge to the given to the executive agencies.

At its meeting on 30 January 2015, the Budget Committee examined the six specific annual reports of the European Court of Auditors related to executive agencies.

Having examined the revenue and expenditure accounts for the financial year 2013 and the balance sheet at 31 December 2013 as well as the report by the Court of Auditors on the annual accounts of the Executive Agencies, accompanied by the Executive Agency's replies, the Council hereby recommended the European Parliament to give a discharge to each of the Directors of the Executive Agencies in respect of the implementation of the budget for the financial year 2013.

The Council considered that a certain number of observations should be taken into account when granting discharge.

The Council Recommendations may be summarised as follows:

  • Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency: the Council noted that a high level of commitment appropriations was still carried over to 2014. It invited the Executive Agency to continue improving its financial management by systematically scrutinising carry-overs of appropriations to the following budgetary year and by limiting them to the minimum necessary.
  • Executive Agency for Competitiveness and Innovation: the Council urged the Executive Agency to take actions to improve its budget planning and monitoring of the budget implementation, in order to reduce the level of commitments carried over and the amounts cancelled at the end of the following year to the strict minimum.
  • Executive Agency for Health and Consumers: the Council regretted the weaknesses detected by the Court in relation to budget planning. It called to improve its financial programming and monitoring of the budget implementation, in order to reduce the level of appropriations cancelled at the end of the following year to the minimum necessary.
  • Trans-European Transport Network Executive Agency: the Council invited the Executive Agency to gather supporting documents and strengthen the ex-ante verification on the charges for its premises. Moreover, the Council regretted the shortcomings detected by the Court in field of exemption from indirect taxes. The Council urged the Executive Agency to continue to improve its financial programming and monitoring of the budget implementation, in order to reduce the level of commitments carried over to the next financial year to the strict minimum.

As regards the Research Executive Agency and the European Research Council Executive Agency, no particular comments were made by the Council.