2015 discharge: European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE)

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 Institute for Gender Equality for the financial year 2015.

The committee called on the European Parliament to grant the Director of the Institute 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 Institute 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 Institute’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:

• Institute’s financial statements: Members noted that the final budget of the European Institute for Gender Equality for the financial year 2015 was EUR 7 658 166, representing a decrease of 4.33 % compared to 2014.
• Budget and financial management: Members noted that the budget monitoring efforts during the financial year 2015 resulted in a high budget implementation rate of 98.55 %, indicating that commitments were made in a timely manner, representing a slight decrease of 0.5 % compared to 2014. They noted that, in 2015, the Institute signed a contract with an external consultant to advise on how it could move towards project-based organisation and activity-based budgeting/costing. The services included a range of reforms to maximise workflows, assure quality and improve monitoring and management tools. They noted with satisfaction that after the successful first year of the project, the Institute continued to fully implement the approach from 2016.

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

Members noted that the Institute works closely with the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) and the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound). It held meetings with key partners such as UN Women and UNESCO on gender issues.

They welcomed that the Institute is looking for synergies by pooling certain tasks and introducing shared services with other agencies and took note of the agreement signed between the Institute and the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex), which was signed in order to exchange services on the exchange of experts between the parties in the area of ex post controls.

Lastly, Members noted the Institute’s efforts to reorganise its structure to put a focus on communication and stakeholder engagement activities.