2014 discharge: European Banking Authority (EBA)

Having examined the revenue and expenditure accounts for the financial year 2014 and the balance sheet as at 31 December 2014 of the European Banking Authority (EBA), as well as the Court of Auditors' report on the annual accounts of the Authority for the financial year 2014, accompanied by the Authority's replies to the Court's observations, the Council recommended the European Parliament to give a discharge to the Executive Director of the Authority in respect of the implementation of the budget for the financial year 2014.

The Council welcomed the Court's opinion that, in all material respects, the Authority's annual accounts present fairly 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 the Authority's Financial Regulation, and that the underlying transactions for 2014 are legal and regular in all material respects.

Nevertheless, the Council has made some observations which may be summarised as follows:

• financial programming: the Council called on the Authority to continue improving its financial programming and monitoring of the budget implementation, in order to reduce the level of carry-overs of committed appropriations to the following financial year to the strict minimum, in line with the budgetary principle of annuality, although it noted that the carry-overs from 2014 to 2015 mainly related to the Authority's move to its new premises in mid-December 2014.