2020 discharge: European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA)

The European Parliament decided to grant discharge to the Executive Director of the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) for the financial year 2020 and to approve the closure of the accounts for that year.

Noting that the Court of Auditors stated that it had obtained reasonable assurance that the Authority's annual accounts for the financial year 2020 were reliable and that the underlying transactions were legal and regular, Parliament adopted, by 547 votes to 48 with 35 abstentions, a resolution containing a series of recommendations which form an integral part of the discharge decision and which complement the general recommendations contained in the resolution on the performance, financial management and control of EU agencies.

Authority’s financial statements

The Authority's final budget for the financial year 2020 was EUR 28 386 398, representing an increase of 4.60 % compared to 2019. The Authority is financed by a contribution from the Union (EUR 10 489 363, representing 36.59 %) and contributions from national supervisory authorities of the Member States (EUR 17 491 035, representing 61.63 %).

Budgetary and financial management

Parliament noted with appreciation that budget monitoring efforts during the financial year 2020 resulted in a budget implementation rate of 100 %, similar to 2019. The payment appropriations execution rate was 82.80 %, representing a decrease of 2.83 % compared to 2019.

Other observations

Parliament also made a number of observations concerning performance, staff policy, procurement and the prevention of conflicts of interest and Covid-19.

In particular, it noted that:

- all but one target has been met, despite the difficulties that the Covid-19 pandemic crisis posed and the efforts that the Authority needed to invest in crisis management, in addition to implementing its work programme;

- 295 products and services, or 88 % of the total, were delivered on time by the Authority, with a further 26 products and services experiencing minor delays and 13 not taken forward, often as a result of prioritisation of other more pressing demands caused by the pandemic;

- the Authority’s Executive Director was reappointed for a second five-year term on 29 September 2020;

- on 31 December 2020, 100% of the establishment plan was implemented, with 127 temporary agents appointed out of 127 temporary agents authorised under the Union budget (compared to 115 authorised posts in 2019); a lack of gender balance is reported for senior management;

- irregularities were found in procurement concerning the cost of virtual training courses which were initially tendered as in-person training courses;

- the Authority has neither an ex ante nor an ex post control system in place to verify whether the amount of costs reimbursed to and requested by the national authorities for seconded national experts (SNEs) is as agreed which

potentially constitutes a weakness in internal control;

- during the Covid-19 pandemic, different measures regarding staff, visitors and board members were adopted to slow down the spread of the virus and to ensure business continuity. Budget savings of around EUR 1 000 000 were reported primarily as a result of suspension of staff travel and exclusively remote meetings of staff, the management board and board of supervisors.