2016 discharge: European Chemicals Agency (ECHA)

Having examined the revenue and expenditure accounts for the financial year 2016 and the balance sheet as at 31 December 2016 of the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), as well as the Court of Auditors' report on the annual accounts of the Agency for the financial year 2016, accompanied by the Agency's replies to the Court's observations, the Council recommended the European Parliament to give a discharge to the Executive Director of the Agency in respect of the implementation of the budget for the financial year 2016.

The Council welcomed the Court's opinion that, in all material respects, the Agency's annual accounts present fairly its financial position as at 31 December 2016 and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the year then ended, in accordance with the provisions of the Agency's Financial Regulation, and that the underlying transactions for 2016 are legal and regular in all material respects.

Nevertheless, the following observations were made:

• carry-overs: as last year, the Council regretted that a very high level of commitment appropriations was carried over to 2017. It called on the Agency to continue improving its financial programming, monitoring of the budget implementation, and further increasing the use of differentiated budget appropriations, in order to reduce the level of commitments carried over to the following financial year to the minimum strictly necessary, in line with the budgetary principle of annuality;
• revenues: the Council invited the Agency, in consideration of the nature of its revenues, to take due account of the possible future decrease of part of these revenues resulting from the United Kingdom's decision to leave the EU.