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2014 discharge: SESAR Joint Undertaking to develop the new generation European air traffic management system

2015/2197(DEC)

The Committee on Budgetary Control adopted the report by Marian-Jean MARINESCU (EPP, RO) on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the SESAR Joint Undertaking for the financial year 2014.

The parliamentary committee calls on the European Parliament to grant the joint undertaking’s Executive Director discharge in respect of the implementation of the joint undertaking’s budget for the financial year 2014.

Noting that the Court of Auditors issued a statement of assurance as to the reliability of the accounts and the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions for the financial year 2014, Members call on Parliament to approve the closure of the joint undertaking’s accounts.

They made, however, a number of recommendations that need to be taken into account when the discharge is granted. They may be summarised as follows:

  • Budget and financial management: Members note that the Joint Undertaking's final budget for the financial year 2014 included commitment appropriations of EUR 13 119 600 and payment appropriations of EUR 121 942 760. They note that the utilisation rate for commitment appropriations was 99.4 %.
  • They take into consideration that 100 % (EUR 556 million) of the Union and Eurocontrol cofinancing contributions payable to the other 15 members (since 1st January 2014) under the fourth amendment to the MFA have been committed and note furthermore that 66 % (EUR 369 million) were paid out by 31 December 2014, while the remaining 34 % (EUR 187 million) are expected to be paid by 31 December 2017.
  • Audits: Members note the lack of information regarding the ex-post audits performed by SESAR and SESAR2. They call on the Court of Auditors to include, in the future reports, information regarding the number of ex-post audits, the total amounts covered and the findings.

Members also make a series of observations on conflicts of interest within the joint undertaking, its legal framework and on procurement, as well as risk management.

As far as the role of the joint undertaking is concerned, Members recall that it plays a vital role in coordinating and implementing research into the SESAR project, which is a pillar project of the Single European Sky. They encourage the Joint Undertaking and the Deployment Manager, in collaborating with Member States, to increase the number and quality of projects proposed under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) transport programme. They recall Parliament's position during the budgetary procedure which is in favour of recovering the total amounts that were relocated from CEF to the European Fund for Strategic Investments.