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2014 discharge: European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA)

2015/2183(DEC)

PURPOSE: presentation of the EU Court of Auditors’ report on the annual accounts of the European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA) for the year 2014, together with the Agency’s reply.

CONTENT: in accordance with the tasks conferred on the Court of Auditors by the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the Court presents to the European Parliament and to the Council, in the context of the discharge procedure, a Statement of Assurance as to the reliability of the annual accounts of each institution, body or agency of the EU, and the legality and regularity of the transactions underlying them, on the basis of an independent external audit.

This audit concerned, amongst others, the annual accounts of the European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA).

Statement of assurance: pursuant to the provisions of Article 287 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), the Court has audited:

  • the annual accounts of the Agency, which comprise the financial statements and the reports on the implementation of the budget for the financial year ended 31 December 2014, and
  • the legality and regularity of the transactions underlying those accounts.

Opinion on the reliability of the accounts: in the Court’s opinion, the Agency’s annual accounts present fairly, in all material respects, its financial position as at 31 December 2014 and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the year then ended, in accordance with the provisions of its Financial Regulation and the accounting rules adopted by the Commission’s accounting officer.

Opinion on the legality and regularity of the transactions underlying the accounts: in the Court’s opinion, the transactions underlying the annual accounts for the year ended 31 December 2014 are legal and regular in all material respects.

The report makes no observations on the budgetary and financial management of the Agency.

Lastly, the Court of Auditors’ report contains a summary of the Agency’s activities in 2014. This is focused on the following:

Budget: EUR 9.22 million in commitment appropriations and EUR 52.7 million in payment appropriations.

Activities:

  • operational Coordination: implementation of JDP (Joint Deployment Plan) for different species in the Eastern Channel and Western Waters (West of Scotland and the Irish Sea); the Baltic Sea and in the Mediterranean Sea and Eastern Atlantic, and in the Adriatic Sea; implementation of JDP (Joint Deployment Plan) for the fisheries of regulated species by the North-West Atlantic Fisheries Organisation (NAFO) area and North-East Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC) area, in Western Waters of the European Union and in the Black Sea;
  • support to the preparation for the implementation of the landing obligation from January 2015 in the Baltic Sea, North Sea, Western Waters and Mediterranean Sea;
  • capacity building: training of trainers and training of Union inspectors before their first deployment;
  • operation, maintenance, enhancement and development of ICT monitoring capabilities: Vessel Monitoring System (VMS), Electronic Reporting System (ERS) Electronic Inspection Report system (EIR), Core Curricula Development Platform (DCCDP), Fishnet collaboration platform and JADE (planning and statistics system);
  • organisation of workshops and seminars to exchange best practices between Member States in order to combat imports originating from illegal, unreported and unregulated fisheries (IUU).