2022 discharge: European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA)

The European Parliament decided to grant discharge to the Director of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) for the financial year 2022 and to approve the closure of the accounts for the financial year in question.

Noting that the Court of Auditors has stated that it has obtained reasonable assurance that the Agency’s annual accounts for the financial year 2022 are reliable and that the underlying transactions are legal and regular, Parliament adopted by 470 votes to 123, with 3 abstentions, a resolution containing a series of recommendations, which form an integral part of the decision on discharge and which add to the general recommendations set out in the resolution on performance, financial management and control of EU agencies:

Agency’s financial statements

The final budget of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights for the financial year 2022 was EUR 25 857 952, representing an increase of 4.01 % compared to 2021.

Budget and financial management

Budget monitoring efforts during the financial year 2022 resulted in a budget implementation rate of current year commitment appropriations of 1000 % (same as in 2021). The current year payment appropriations execution rate was 73.59 %, representing a slight increase of 2.64 % compared to 2021.

Parliament noted with concern that, according to the Court’s report, the Agency carried over EUR 6.4 million (26 %) of available commitment appropriations from 2022 to 2023, of which EUR 5.9 million representing appropriations related to operational expenditure (74 % in 2021). The high levels of carry overs is a recurring issue for the Agency that has been observed by the Court for several financial years in a row. Parliament noted the Court’s renewed opinion that a high level of carry overs contradicts the budgetary principle of annuality and is indicative of structural issues in the budget process and implementation cycle.

Other observations

Parliament made a series of observations regarding performance, staff policy and internal controls.

In particular, it noted that:

- the Agency had a high rate of achievement against its key performance indicators in 2022, maintaining a high level of stakeholders’ satisfaction in relation to the Agency’s events and the relevance, usefulness and reliability of the Agency’s output, and contributing to a high level of understanding of fundamental rights and trends;

- the Agency has swiftly taken measures to respond to the human rights situation in Ukraine following Russia’s illegal and unprovoked invasion, through several major actions;

- regarding the monitoring of fundamental rights and rule of law situation in Hungary, the Agency decided to collaborate with and rely on the information of the National University of Public Service and the Office of the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights, even though both institutions have a track record of supporting the deterioration of fundamental rights in Hungary;

- on 31 December 2022, the establishment plan was 94 % executed with 68 temporary agents appointed out of 72 authorised under the Union budget (the same number of authorised posts as in 2021);

- in 2022, the Agency continued to automate and streamline HR processes in order to achieve further efficiencies;

- efforts were made to increase the Agency’s public visibility and online presence.