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2016 discharge: European Training Foundation (ETF)

2017/2156(DEC)

The Committee on Budgetary Control adopted the report by Bart STAES (Greens/EFA, BE) on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Training Foundation (ETF) for the financial year 2016.

The committee called on the European Parliament to grant the Director of the Foundation discharge in respect of the implementation of the agency’s budget for the financial year 2016.

Noting that the Court of Auditors stated that it had obtained reasonable assurance that the annual accounts of the Foundation for the financial year 2016 were reliable and that the underlying transactions were legal and regular, Members called on Parliament to approve the closure of the Foundation’s accounts.

They made, however, a number of recommendations that needed to be taken into account when the discharge is granted, in addition to the general recommendations that appear in the draft resolution on performance, financial management and control of EU agencies:

  • Foundation’s financial statements: Members noted that the final budget of the Foundation for the financial year 2016 was EUR 20 900 849.11, representing a decrease of 0.63 % compared to 2015. The budget of the Foundation derives mainly from the Union budget.
  • Budget and financial management: budget monitoring efforts during the financial year 2016 resulted in a high budget implementation rate of 99.99 %, indicating that commitments were made in a timely manner, and that the payment appropriations execution rate was at 97.66 %.
  • Commitments and carryovers: the overall carry-overs decreased from 3.3 % in the period 2015 to 2016 to 3.1 % in the period 2016 the 2017, which is an indication of the improved alignment of the Foundations’ administrative activities and their payments to its annual cycle.

Members also made a series of observations regarding the prevention and management of conflicts of interests, staff policy and internal audits and transfers.

In 2016, the Foundation took key measures to improve the efficiency of its internal control systems.

On performance, Members noted the unsatisfactory situation regarding the Foundation’s premises and the fact that this risked disrupting the Foundation’s activities. They regretted that the situation remains at a standstill since the Consortium that managed and occupied part of the complex went into liquidation in 2011 and left part of the complex empty. There is an urgent need for the host country to find a solution to this matter.