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2015 discharge: European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE)

2016/2185(DEC)

PURPOSE: presentation of the EU Court of Auditors’ report on the annual accounts of the European Institute for Gender Equality for the year 2015, together with the Institute’s reply.

CONTENT: in accordance with the tasks conferred on the Court of Auditors by the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the Court presents to the European Parliament and to the Council, in the context of the discharge procedure, a Statement of Assurance as to the reliability of the annual accounts of each institution, body or agency of the EU, and the legality and regularity of the transactions underlying them, on the basis of an independent external audit.

This audit focused on the annual accounts of the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE). To recall, the Institute’s task is to collect, analyse and disseminate information as regards gender equality and to develop, analyse, evaluate and disseminate methodological tools in order to support the integration of gender equality into all Union policies and the resulting national policies.

Statement of assurance: pursuant to the provisions of Article 287 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), the Court has audited:

  • the annual accounts of the Agency, which comprise the financial statements and the reports on the implementation of the budget for the financial year ended 31 December 2015, and
  • the legality and regularity of the transactions underlying those accounts.

Opinion on the reliability of the accounts: in the Court’s opinion, the Institute’s annual accounts present fairly, in all material respects, its financial position as at 31 December 2015 and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the year then ended, in accordance with the provisions of its Financial Regulation and the accounting rules adopted by the Commission’s accounting officer.

Opinion on the legality and regularity of the transactions underlying the accounts: in the Court’s opinion, the transactions underlying the annual accounts for the year ended 31 December 2015 are legal and regular in all material respects.

The report made a series of observations on the budgetary and financial management of EIGE, accompanied by the latter’s response. The main observations may be summarised as follows:

The Court’s observations:

  • budgetary management: the Court noted that the level of committed appropriations carried over under operational expenditure remained high mainly due to the nature of activities of the Institute which involve procuring studies that span over many months, often beyond year-end.

The Institute’s reply:

  • budgetary management: the EIGE stated that it shall put all efforts in to decrease the amount of carry overs in the operational budget, operational delays are due to circumstances often outside EIGE’s control, e.g. a delayed decision by the Presidency of the Council of the EU regarding the subject of a study.

Lastly, the Court of Auditors’ report also contained a summary of the Institute’s key figures in 2015:

  • Budget: EUR 7.9 million (payment appropriations).
  • Staff: 42 including officials, temporary and contract staff and seconded national experts.