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2014 discharge 2014: European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA)

2015/2166(DEC)

The European Parliament decided to grant discharge to the Director of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) in respect of the implementation of its budget for the financial year 2014. The vote on the decision on discharge covers the closure of the accounts (in accordance with Annex V, 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 the Agency’s annual accounts for the financial year 2014 are reliable and that the underlying transactions are legal and regular, Parliament adopted by 510 votes to 117 with 10 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:

  • Agency’s financial statements: Parliament noted that the final budget of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights for the financial year 2014 was EUR 21 229 000, representing a decrease of 0.56 % compared to 2013. 99 % of the budget of the Agency derives from the Union budget.
  • Budget and financial management: Parliament noted that budget monitoring efforts during the financial year 2014 resulted in a budget implementation rate of 100 %. However, committed appropriations carried over to 2015 were at 25 % administrative expenditure and at 75 % for operating expenditure.

Parliament also made a series of observations regarding commitments and carryovers, preventing and managing conflicts of interest, as well as on contract award, recruitment and internal audit procedures.

Members ascertain that an independent evaluation of the Agency was undertaken in 2012 to evaluate the effectiveness, efficiency, added value, utility, coordination and coherence of the Agency’s work. They noted that one of key priorities included in the Agency’s Strategic plan 2013-2017 is to help enhance the Agency’s contribution to processes at national level. They also noted that in February 2014 the Agency launched a webpage for children as part of its website section on the rights of the child where children can find information on what their rights are, who decides on their rights, what the Agency does for children and links if they want to know more.

Lastly, Parliament called for an overall improvement in the prevention of, and the fight against, corruption through a holistic approach, commencing with better public access to documents and more stringent rules on conflicts of interest. Parliament stated that the annual reports of the Agency could play an important role in compliance regarding transparency, accountability and integrity.