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2013 discharge: European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA)

2014/2100(DEC)

The European Parliament adopted by 553 votes to 125, with 6 abstentions, a decision to grant discharge to the Director of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) 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 576 votes to 102, 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 17 682 338, representing an increase of 4.5% compared to 2012. The Union's contribution to the Agency's budget amounted to EUR 15 614 775.
  • Carry-overs: Parliament noted that budget monitoring efforts during the financial year 2013 resulted in a budget implementation rate of 98.94%, and that the payment appropriations execution rate was 70.19%. It also remarked that the level of committed appropriations carried over was high for administrative and operational expenditure, due to the planned year-end purchase of goods and services related to the Agency’s move into its new premises.

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

In general, Parliament requested that the Agency adopt comprehensive policies for the management of conflicts of interests situations such as divesting the public official's interests, the recusal of the public official from involvement in an affected decision-making process, the restriction of access by the affected public official to particular information, the rearrangement of the public official's duties or the resignation of the public official from their office.

Performances: Parliament noted that 2013 was the last year of the EU-OSHA Strategy 2009-2013. It appreciated the Agency's achievements during this period, in particular the promotion of online interactive tools for small and medium-sized enterprises in the area of occupational safety and health management.