2014 discharge: Office of the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC)

The Committee on Budgetary Control adopted the report by Derek VAUGHAN (S&D, UK) on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the Office of the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications for the financial year 2014.

The parliamentary committee calls on the European Parliament to grant the Management Committee of the Office of the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications discharge in respect of the implementation of the Body’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 Agency’s accounts. They made, however, a number of recommendations that needed to be taken into account when the discharge is granted, in addition to the general recommendations that appear in the draft resolution on performance, financial management and control of EU agencies:

·         Office’s financial statements: Members note the final budget of the Office of the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (“the Office”) for the financial year 2014 was EUR 4 162 874, representing an increase of 17 % compared to 2013. That increase resulted mainly from the inclusion of the internal assigned revenue from previous years.

·         Budget and financial management: Members note with satisfaction that budget monitoring efforts during the financial year 2014 resulted in a budget implementation rate of 97.91 %, representing an increase of 8.36 % compared to the year 2012. They note furthermore that the payment appropriations execution rate was at 75.66 %, representing a decrease of 0.92 % compared to 2013.

Members also made a series of observations regarding commitments and carryovers, the prevention and management of conflicts of interest, recruitment and contract award procedures, and internal audit procedures.

Lastly, Members take note that the 2014 budget provisions for contributions from the European Free Trade Association’s (EFTA) national regulatory authorities having observer status at BEREC did not materialise in the absence of agreements with EFTA countries. They acknowledge that the 2015 budget of the Office was corrected accordingly. They invite the Office to remain prudent when forecasting the related contribution from national regulatory authorities of EFTA countries.