2015 discharge: European Railway Agency (ERA)

PURPOSE: to grant discharge to the European Railway Agency (ERA) for the financial year 2015.

NON-LEGISLATIVE ACT: Decision (EU) 2017/1693 of the European Parliament on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Railway Agency (now European Union Agency for Railways) for the financial year 2015.

CONTENT: with the present decision, the European Parliament grants discharge to the Executive Director of the European Railway Agency for the implementation of its budget for the financial year 2015.

This decision is in line with the European Parliament's resolution adopted on 27 April 2017 and comprises a series of observations that form an integral part of the discharge decision (please refer to the summary of the opinion of 27 April 2017).

Amongst Parliament’s main observations in the resolution accompanying the discharge decision, it welcomed the fact that the Agency’s new policy on prevention and management of conflicts of interest for its administrative board members was approved.

On internal controls, Parliament noted that the 2015 risk assessment exercise highlighted risks related to the extension of the Agency's mandate in view of the entry into force of the technical pillar of the Fourth Railway Package as well as risks regarding potential security issues impacting interoperability and innovation challenges affecting railway competitiveness.

On communication, the Agency will present a new public website by early 2017.

Lastly, Parliament supported the initiative taken by the Agency in 2015 to put in place a new process to get stronger engagement from Member States and stakeholders in the development of the 2016 work programme and welcomed the launch of the ERTMS Stakeholder platform.