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2015 discharge: European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders (Frontex)

2016/2179(DEC)

PURPOSE: to grant discharge to the European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders of the Member States of the European Union (FRONTEX) for the financial year 2015.

NON-LEGISLATIVE ACT: Decision (EU) 2017/1723 of the European Parliament on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders of the Member States of the European Union (now European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex)) for the financial year 2015.

CONTENT: with the present decision, the European Parliament grants discharge to the executive director of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency discharge in respect of the implementation of the Agency's 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 noted that, according to the Court's report, Frontex did not sufficiently address the existing potential for conflicts of interest when setting up teams managing the negotiations of joint operation grants. It called on the Agency to introduce measures and an appropriate policy to safeguard the principles of transparency and ensure the absence of conflicts of interest on the part of negotiation teams. Formal conflict of interest policies for external experts, internal staff and governing board members should be set up.

Parliament welcomed the contribution of the Agency to saving more than 250 000 people at sea in 2015 and the increase in the Agency's search and rescue capacity following the tragic events of spring 2015.

As regards the headquarters, Parliament noted with satisfaction that on 23 January 2017 the Agency and the Polish Government initialled the draft headquarters agreement.