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2015 discharge: European Asylum Support Office (EASO)

2016/2192(DEC)

The European Parliament decided to grant the Executive Director of the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) discharge in respect of the implementation of Authority’s budget for the financial year 2015.

The vote on the decision on discharge covers the closure of the accounts (in accordance with Annex IV, Article 5 (1) (a) to Parliament’s Rules of Procedure).

Noting that the Court of Auditors has stated that it has obtained reasonable assurances that the Office’s annual accounts for the financial year 2015 are reliable and that the underlying transactions are legal and regular, Parliament adopted by 515 votes to 113 with 4 abstentions, a resolution containing a series of recommendations, which form an integral part of the decision on discharge and which add to the general recommendations set out in the resolution on performance, financial management and control of EU agencies.

These recommendations may be summarised as follows:

  • EASO’s financial statements: Parliament 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: it 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. It welcomed measures put in place to reduce late payments.

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

On performance, it noted that the Office developed further measures to assist Member States in need of special support in their asylum and reception systems and that it provided this special support to Cyprus, Bulgaria, Greece and Italy. Moreover, it noted that in 2015 the Office further developed its activities to support Member States whose asylum and reception systems are subject to particular pressure, in particular by providing support to Greece and Italy and by strengthening the Office’s capacity to respond in a timely and effective manner to emergency situations.

Lastly, Parliament 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. It 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.