2022 discharge: General budget of the EU - European External Action Service

PURPOSE: to grant discharge to the European External Action Service (EEAS) for the financial year 2022.

NON-LEGISLATIVE ACT: Decision (EU) 2024/2247 of the European Parliament on discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2022, Section X – European External Action Service.

CONTENT: the European Parliament decided to grant discharge to the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European External Action Service for the financial year 2022.

This decision is in line with the European Parliament's resolution adopted on 11 April 2024 and comprises a series of observations that form an integral part of the discharge decision (please refer to the summary of the opinion of 11 April 2024).

The budget for 2022 for the EEAS was EUR 786 947 220, representing an increase of 2.5 % from 2021. The EEAS also received additional contributions to cover common costs of European Development Fund staff in Delegations and other amounts bringing the total available budget for the EEAS (in commitment appropriations) to EUR 1 143.6 million, which represents an increase of 4.8 % from 2020. Members regretted that the EEAS administrative budget for 2022 was under budgeted despite the important role of the institution for the early 2022 broader international context and the increased costs that implied.

The final budget for the EEAS HQ after transfers amounted to EUR 308.1 million in 2022, which represents an increase of 4.4 % from 2021, whereas the final budget for the EEAS delegations after transfers amounted to EUR 478.9 million in 2022, which represents an increase of 1.3 % from 2021.

The total paid mission costs for the EEAS was EUR 24.065 million in 2022, which represents a significant increase from EUR 6.128 million in 2021. It called on the EEAS to inform Parliament about how many times the High Representative/Vice President travelled with commercial planes and how many times charter planes were used.

Furthermore, during 2022, the exceptional measures related to the COVID-19 pandemic were phased out and the institutions started to resume functioning normally. However, the EEAS was then affected by the Russian war of aggression on Ukraine as well as security crises in Afghanistan, Haiti and Sahel. Members noted with concern that the EEAS reports that the 2022 budget was especially challenging due to new tasks and increasing running costs. Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine created budgetary pressures for the EEAS, including through rising inflation and salary adjustments.

Parliament welcomed that as a response to the different crises during the last couple of years, the EEAS created the Crisis Response Centre in July 2022.