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2013 discharge: European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA)

2014/2115(DEC)

The European Parliament adopted by 559 votes to 128, with 7 abstentions, a decision to grant discharge to the Executive Director of the European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA) 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 Agency for the financial year 2013 are reliable, and that the underlying transactions are legal and regular, Parliament adopted by 581 votes to 107, with 6 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:

  • Agency’s financial statements: Parliament noted that the final budget of the Agency for the financial year 2013 was EUR 9 216 900, deriving entirely from the Union budget.
  • Commitments and carry-overs: Parliament noted that budget monitoring efforts during the financial year 2013 resulted in a budget implementation rate of 98.64% and that the payment appropriations execution rate was 83.85%. It observed, however, that for operational expenditure, the level of committed appropriations carried over was high, resulting mainly from the large number of IT projects that were either launched or ongoing during 2013.

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

It noted that the Agency’s obligation to publish declarations of interests did not apply to the members of its Advisory Board. It called on the Agency to publish the CVs of the Executive Director, Heads of Units and members of the Administrative Board and declarations of interests of members of the Advisory Board in order to contribute to transparency.

Lastly, Parliament emphasized the importance of the Agency's role in the implementation of the common fisheries policy and in achieving the objectives thereof, particularly in light of the landing obligation and demands in terms of the monitoring, control and surveillance of fisheries activities.