2022 discharge: European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA)

The European Parliament decided to grant discharge to the Executive Director of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) in respect of the implementation of the Agency's budget for the financial year 2022.

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 536 votes to 32 and 37 abstentions, a resolution containing a series of recommendations which form an integral part of the discharge decision and which complement the general recommendations set out in the resolution on the performance, financial management and control of EU agencies.

Agency’s financial statements

The final budget of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work for the financial year 2022 was EUR 16 405 100, representing a slight increase of 1.81 % compared to 2021.

Budgetary and financial management

The budget monitoring efforts during the financial year 2022 resulted in a budget implementation of current year commitment appropriations rate of 98.65 %, representing a slight increase of 1.39 % compared to 2021. The current year payment appropriations execution rate was at 72.07 %, representing an increase of 8.54 % compared to 2021.

Other observations

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

In particular, it noted that:

- the Agency’s implementation rate of its work programme in 2022 was 98 % whereas the target was 90 %;

- the Agency’s research paying particular attention to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on psychosocial risks and mental health was welcomed;

- on 31 December 2022, the establishment plan was 97.5 % implemented, the same as in 2021, with 39 temporary agents posts filled out of 40 temporary agents posts authorised under the Union budget;

- geographical balance should be treated with utmost priority in its recruitment procedure;

- the Agency drafted and finalised the Agency’s anti-fraud strategy 2022-2026 focusing on the consolidation of the existing anti-fraud framework of the Agency;

- in 2022, the internal audit service concluded its audit on human resources and ethics according to the plan with no critical findings and a number of actions have been agreed with the Agency to further improve its human resources and ethic areas.