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2013 discharge: Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC)

2014/2124(DEC)

The European Parliament adopted by 551 votes to 131, with 3 abstentions, a decision to grant discharge to the Director of the Office of the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) for the financial year 2013. The vote on the discharge decision approved the closure of the accounts (in accordance with Annex VI, Article 5(1) of the Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament).

Noting that the Court of Auditors stated that it has obtained reasonable assurances that the annual accounts of the Office for the financial year 2013 are reliable, and that the underlying transactions are legal and regular, Parliament adopted by 575 votes to 101, with 11 abstentions, a resolution containing a number of recommendations that form an integral part of the discharge decision and as well as the general recommendations that appear in the resolution on performance, financial management and control of EU agencies:

  • Office’s financial statements: Parliament noted that the final budget of the Office for the financial year 2013 was EUR 3 557 219, representing an increase of  11.51% compared to 2012, due to the Body’s recently established nature. The overall contribution of the Union to the budget of the Office for 2013 amounted to EUR 3 556 000.
  • Budget and financial management: Parliament noted that budget monitoring efforts during the financial year 2013 resulted in a budget implementation rate of 89.55% and that the payment appropriations execution rate was 76.58%. The Office's budget implementation rates improved considerably. However, Members noted with concern that the level of cancelled carry-overs from 2012 remained relatively high. Overall, Parliament welcomed the Office’s efforts to improve its budgetary planning accuracy and to have as a target to eliminate the need for cancellation of commitment appropriations.

Parliament also made a series of observations on the prevention and management of conflicts of interests, recruitment, procurement procedures and internal control.

Lastly, it noted with concern that 91% of reimbursements for experts made in 2013 were late. It noted furthermore that in the first half of 2013, the late payments were overdue by an average delay of 78 days. It called on the Office to resolve this issue as a matter of urgency and to report to the discharge authority on the measures taken to do so and on their results.