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2015 discharge: European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA)

2016/2187(DEC)

PURPOSE: presentation of the EU Court of Auditors’ report on the annual accounts of the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) for the year 2015, together with the EIOPA’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 Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA). To recall, the Authority’s task is to contribute to the establishment of high-quality common regulatory and supervisory standards and practices, to contribute to the consistent application of legally binding Union acts, to stimulate and facilitate the delegation of tasks and responsibilities among competent authorities, to monitor and assess market developments in the area of its competence and to foster the protection of policyholders, pension scheme members and beneficiaries.

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 Authority’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 the Authority, 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 is high for operational expenditure at EUR 2.3 million. These carry-overs are mainly related to specific contracts for operational information and data management (EUR 1.9 million), whereby contracts amounting to EUR 900 000 were signed late in the year, mainly for services to be provided in 2016.

The Authority’s reply:

  • budgetary management: the Authority noted that the relatively high carry-over percentage was mainly due to the execution of EIOPA’s multiannual IT programme supporting the Solvency II implementation. Improvements have been made in the past years which have substantially decreased the carry over levels from 2013 to 2016.

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

  • Budget: EUR 20.2 million (payment appropriations).
  • Staff: 133 including officials, temporary and contract staff and seconded national experts.