2017 discharge: European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA)

The Committee on Budgetary Control adopted the report by Petri SARVAMAA (EPP, FI) on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) for the financial year 2017.

The committee called on the European Parliament to grant the Director of the Agency discharge in respect of the implementation of the agency’s budget for the financial year 2017.

Noting that the Court of Auditors stated that it had obtained reasonable assurance that the annual accounts of the Agency for the financial year 2017 were reliable and that the underlying transactions were legal and regular, Members called on Parliament to approve the closure of the Agency’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:

Agency’s financial statements

The final budget of the Agency for the financial year 2017 was EUR 15 656 308, representing a decrease of 6.10 % compared to 2016.

Budget and financial management

The budget monitoring efforts during the financial year 2017 resulted in a budget implementation rate of 96.03 %, representing a slight decrease of 0.28 % compared to 2016. The payment appropriations execution rate was at 72.23 %, representing only a slight increase of 1.88 % compared to the previous year.

The cancellations of carryovers from 2016 to 2017 amounted to EUR 194 467.98 representing 4.93 % of the total amount carried over.

Members also made a series of observations regarding performance, staff, procurement and conflicts of interest.

In particular, they noted that:

- the Agency needed adequate staff and financial resources in order to implement its tasks;

- on 31 December 2017, the establishment plan was 97.5 % filled, with 39 temporary agents appointed out of 40 authorised under the Union budget;

- the Agency is making ongoing efforts to secure transparency and the prevention and management of conflict of interest. It plans to adopt the model decision on whistle-blowing for which the Commission has given an ex ante agreement;

- the Agency was not yet using any of the tools launched by the Commission aimed to introduce a single solution for the electronic exchange of information with third parties participating in public procurement procedures (e-procurement); - the Agency carried out an analysis of the likely impact of the United Kingdom’s decision to withdraw from the Union on its organisation, operations and accounts.