2014 discharge: European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA)

PURPOSE: to grant discharge to the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) for the financial year 2014.

NON LEGISLATIVE ACT: Decision (EU) 2016/1549 of the European Parliament on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Securities and Markets Authority for the financial year 2014.

CONTENT: with the present decision, the European Parliament grants discharge to the Executive Director of the European Securities and Markets Authority for the implementation of the latter’s budget for the financial year 2014.

This decision is in line with the European Parliament's resolution adopted on 28 April 2016 and comprises a series of observations that form an integral part of the discharge decision (please refer to the summary of the opinion of 28 April 2016).

Amongst Parliament’s main observations in the resolution accompanying the discharge decision, the latter noted that the Authority inherited a number of IT framework contracts from its predecessor body, the Committee of European Securities Regulators (CESR). More specifically, it noted with concern that the IT contracts were not replaced with timely calls for tender which led to two contracts being extended beyond their original duration meaning non-compliance with the Financial Regulation.