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2013 discharge: European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA)

2014/2121(DEC)

The European Parliament adopted by 556 votes to 113, with 24 abstentions, a decision to grant discharge to the Executive Director of the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) 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 Authority for the financial year 2013 are reliable, and that the underlying transactions are legal and regular, Parliament adopted by 564 votes to 87, with 35 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.

  • Authority’s financial statements: Parliament noted that the final budget of the Authority for the financial year 2013 was EUR 18 767 470, representing an increase of 19.88% compared to 2012, due to the Authority’s recently established nature.
  • Carry-overs: Parliament noted with concern that the level of committed appropriations carried over was high at 85% for operational expenditure. It acknowledged that the carry-overs resulted from the multiannual IT strategy and implementation plan and from specific contracts with services to be provided in 2014. The extent to which 2013 appropriations were used to cover 2014 activities is at odds with the budgetary principle of annuality according to Members. It called on the Authority to inform the discharge authority on the actions it will take in order to reduce the amount of carryovers.

Parliament also called on the Authority, given its limited resources, to stick to the tasks assigned to it by Parliament and the Council. It should carry out those assignments in full, but that it must not seek to go beyond its mandate, and that it must remain independent.

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