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2015 discharge: SESAR Joint Undertaking

2016/2195(DEC)

The European Parliament decided to grant the Executive Director of the SESAR Joint Undertaking discharge in respect of the implementation of the Joint Undertaking’s budget for the financial year 2015.

Based on the statement of assurance provided by the Court of Auditors concerning the reliability of the accounts and the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions, it decided to approve the closure of the accounts of the Joint Undertaking for the same financial year.

Noting that the Court of Auditors has stated that it has obtained reasonable assurances that the Joint Undertaking’s annual accounts for the financial year 2015 are reliable and that the underlying transactions are legal and regular, Parliament adopted by 499 votes to 105 with 9 abstentions, a resolution containing a series of recommendations which form an integral part of the decision on discharge.

General: 2015 was the first year of real transition from SESAR 1 (funded from FP 7 and TEN-T) to SESAR 2 (funded from Horizon 2020). Members noted research and innovation in the field of Air Traffic Management (ATM) continued beyond the initial 2007-2013 financial framework into the 2014-2020 financial framework under Horizon 2020. They noted the transition to the SESAR 2 Programme and the launch and execution of exploratory research, industrial research and innovation projects within the framework of SESAR 2020.

  • Budget and financial management: the final budget for SESAR1 for the financial year 2015 included commitment appropriations of EUR 30 229 774 and payment appropriations of EUR 126 733 842. The final budget for SESAR 2020 for the financial year 2015 included commitment appropriations of EUR 51 470 000 and payment appropriations of EUR 10 300 000. Members noted that:
  • the utilisation rates for commitment and payment appropriations were 100 % and 82.3 %, respectively. The payment appropriations rate of 82.3 % was due to delay of two months for the first Horizon 2020. Related unused 2015 payment appropriations were fully reintroduced into the 2016 budget;
  • of the total operational commitments made in 2015, 29 % were individual commitments based on completed award procedures for grants and contracts and that the remaining 71 % were global commitments for which the award procedure was not completed.

Other observations: the resolution also contained a series of observations on procurement and recruitment procedures, the adoption of an anti-fraud strategy and prevention and management of conflicts of interests, calls for proposal, internal audits and control systems.

In July 2015, the Commission issued guidelines to the Joint Undertakings related to rules on conflicts of interest. Members urged the Joint Undertaking to report to the discharge authority on the issue.

Parliament noted that the Administrative Board adopted in December 2015 the ATM Master Plan (2015 Edition) covering both SESAR development and deployment. It welcomed the development of a SESAR vision 2035+.

Members welcomed the successful delivery of the work mandated by the Commission concerning the Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) definition phase. Lastly, they highlighted the vital role of the Joint Undertaking in coordinating and implementing research into the SESAR project.