2014 discharge: European Banking Authority (EBA)

The European Parliament decided to grant the Executive Director of the European Banking Authority (EBA) discharge in respect of the implementation of EBA’s budget for the financial year 2014. The vote on the decision on discharge covers the closure of the accounts (in accordance with Annex 5, Article 5 (1) (a) to Parliament’s Rules of Procedure.

Noting that the Court of Auditors has stated that it has obtained reasonable assurances that EBA’s annual accounts for the financial year 2014 are reliable and that the underlying transactions are legal and regular, Parliament adopted by 512 votes to 103 with 26 abstentions, a resolution containing a series of recommendations, which form an integral part of the decision on discharge and which add to the general recommendations set out in the resolution  on performance, financial management and control of EU agencies:

• Authority’s financial statements: Parliament noted that the final budget of the European Banking Authority for financial year 2014 was EUR 33 599 863 representing an increase of 29.39 % compared to 2013, due to the Authority’s recently established nature.
• Budget and financial management: Parliament noted that the budget monitoring efforts during the financial year 2014 resulted in a budget implementation rate of 99.81 %, resulting from improvements in budget planning and monitoring;

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

As regards performance, Parliament noted that the Authority closely cooperates with the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority and the European Securities and Markets Authority. This cooperation is across all support functions in order to reduce administrative costs were possible, to leverage synergies and to share best practices. It looked forward to further efforts from the Authority to enhance its cooperation with other decentralised agencies.

Parliament underlined that the Authority’s role in promoting a common supervisory regime across the internal market is essential in order to ensure financial stability. It pointed out that it is of particular importance that provisions drafted by the Authority are designed in a way that allows them to be equally applied by smaller entities.

Transparency: Parliament noted the conclusion of the Court, in its special report 2014/05, that, overall, the Authority’s resources during its start-up phase were insufficient to allow it to fulfil its mandate. Additional tasks envisaged in on-going legislative work require an adequate level of staff, in terms of both numbers and qualifications, and funding to allow for satisfactory supervision. Parliament emphasised, however, that any potential increase in the Authority’s means must be explained thoroughly and accompanied by rationalisation measures wherever possible.

Furthermore, Parliament considered that the Authority must carefully stick to the tasks assigned to it by the Union legislator and must not seek to de facto broaden its mandate beyond those assignments. The Authority should also regularly and comprehensively inform the Parliament on a timely basis about its activities in order to ensure transparency and Parliament regretted that that this has not always been done in the past.