2015 discharge: European Union's Judicial Cooperation Unit (Eurojust)

The European Parliament decided to grant discharge to the Administrative Director of the budget of Eurojust in respect of the implementation of its 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 stated that it had obtained reasonable assurance that the annual accounts of Eurojust for the financial year 2015 were reliable and that the underlying transactions were legal and regular, Parliament adopted by 503 votes to 96 with 16 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:

• Eurojust’s financial statements: Parliament noted that Eurojust’s final budget for the financial year 2015 was EUR 33 818 351 entirely derived from the Union budget.
• Budget and financial management: It also noted that the budget monitoring efforts during the financial year of 2015 resulted in a budget implementation rate of 99.99 %, representing an increase of 0.17 % from 2014. Parliament regretted that Eurojust faced budgetary availability issues due to known structural problems with its funding and that for the second successive year was forced to resort to mitigation measures subject to an amending budget. It equally regretted that the financial uncertainty with which Eurojust was confronted required the postponement of some of its on-going activities and the deferral of valuable technological developments and called on Eurojust and the Commission to solve these known structural problems and secure a proper level of funding for the coming years.

Parliament 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.

Eurojust’s seat: Parliament acknowledged that Eurojust is currently, together with its host Member State, in the process of preparing for the transition to its new premises. It noted that the construction of the premises started in spring 2015 and the expected move was planned for spring 2017. It invited Eurojust to report further to the discharge authority on the transition to its new premises, as well as to outline total incurred transition costs.

Eurojust’s priority actions: Parliament regretted that in its 2015 annual report, Eurojust stated that corruption is not a Union priority. Parliament encouraged Eurojust to continue to treat terrorism, trafficking and smuggling, and cybercrime as priorities.