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2014 discharge: European Police Office (Europol)

2015/2186(DEC)

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 European Police Office (Europol) for the financial year 2014.

The parliamentary committee calls on the European Parliament to grant the Director of Europol discharge in respect of the implementation of the Europol’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 Europol’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:

·         Financial statements of Europol: Members note that the final budget of the European Police Office for the financial year 2014 was EUR 84 339 820, representing an increase of 2.2 % compared to 2013;

·         Budget and financial management: Members note that the budget monitoring efforts during the financial year 2014 improved significantly and resulted in a high budget implementation rate of 99.7 %. They note with concern that the cancellation rate of the committed appropriations carried forward from 2013 was high at 22 %, representing an increase of 13 % compared to the previous year.

Members also made a series of observations regarding the prevention and management of conflicts of interest, as well as regarding procurement, audit and control procedures. In this context, they call on the Office to pay special attention to the protection of whistleblowers in the context of the soon-to-be-adopted Directive on the protection of undisclosed know-how and business information (trade secrets) against their unlawful acquisition, use and disclosure.

Lastly, Members note that Europol reviewed its financial regulation to bring it in line with the provisions contained in Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1271/2013.