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2015 discharge: European Asylum Support Office (EASO)

2016/2192(DEC)

The Committee on Budgetary Control adopted the report by Inés AYALA SENDER (S&D, ES) on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) for the financial year 2015.

The committee called on the European Parliament to grant the Executive Director of the Office discharge in respect of the implementation of the agency’s budget for the financial year 2015.

Noting that the Court of Auditors stated that it had obtained reasonable assurance that the annual accounts of the Office for the financial year 2015 were reliable and that the underlying transactions were legal and regular, Members called on Parliament to approve the closure of the Office’s accounts. They made, however, a number of recommendations that needed to be taken into account when the discharge is granted, in addition to the general recommendations that appear in the draft resolution on performance, financial management and control of EU agencies:

  • EASO’s financial statements: Members noted that the final budget of the EASO for the financial year 2015 was EUR 15 944 846 of which 94 % derives from the Union budget.
  • Budget and financial management: Members noted with concern that in 2015 the Office made 1 024 payments after the time limits set out in the Financial Regulation, representing an increase of 0.6 % compared to 2014. They welcomed measures put in place to reduce late payments.

Members also made a series of observations regarding commitments, carry-overs, procurement, recruitment procedures, the prevention and management of conflicts of interests and internal audits.

Lastly, Members recognised that the growth of the Office’s budget in 2016 was significant in order to cope with additional tasks relating to the European Agenda on Migration, the hotspots approach, decisions of the EU Leaders Summit on Western Balkans and the EU-Turkey statement. They noted with satisfaction that a range of steps were taken by the Office to deal with such an unprecedented increase in tasks and recalled that in 2015 a record number of almost 1.4 million applications for international protection were made.