Discharge 2024: General budget of the EU - European Data Protection Supervisor
The European Parliament decided to grant discharge to the European Data Protection Supervisor in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2024, Section IX - European Data Protection Supervisor.
In its resolution, adopted by 528 votes to 59, with 62 abstentions, Parliament made the following observations:
Budgetary and financial management
The final adopted budget for the EDPS was EUR 24 329 460 in 2024, representing an increase of 7.12 % compared to 2023. The budget monitoring and planning efforts of the EDPS in the financial year 2024 resulted in a budget implementation rate of current year commitment appropriations of 96 % in 2024 (the same as in 2023).
The EDPS’ overall missions budget decreased by 17.86 % from EUR 323 421 in 2023 to EUR 265 630 in 2024 due to a decrease in travel and related costs as a result of increased participation in remote/hybrid meetings. The number of staff missions also decreased, from 246 in 2023 to 218 in 2024.
In the context of the illegal Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, inflationary pressures on contracts and services were addressed by the EDPS by revising cost estimates during the year and reallocating resources through transfers.
Internal management, performance, and internal control
Parliament noted that increased role of the EDPS in new legislative acts, including Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 laying down harmonised rules on artificial intelligence, under which EDPS becomes the competent authority for the Union institutions, agencies, offices and bodies, and under which the EDPS has been delegated further tasks. On 1 October 2024, to address its new supervisory tasks, the EDPS established an AI unit which in 2024 was composed of two staff reassigned internally. As of 2025, for that unit the EDPS has a budget that covers two permanent posts and five contract agents, for which recruitment procedures have taken place. Parliament noted that resources remain insufficient to cover those new tasks, in particular the supervision of AI systems in the area of border control, migration, justice and law enforcement or the establishment of an AI regulatory sandbox for EU institutions, bodies and agencies. Parliament already warned that the progressive expansion of the EDPS’ mandate risked outpacing its available resources. In this regard, it underlined the importance of providing the EDPS with adequate financial and human resources to effectively supervise AI systems in high-stakes areas.
Parliament acknowledged an ever-increasing number of complaints from one year to the other. Most of the complaints relate to the Commission and are submitted by staff of the EU institutions, bodies and agencies.
The EDPS is urged to reflect on its key performance indicators and to ensure that they cover complaint handling as well as setting targets for handling complaints and inquiries, which would be similar to the practice of the European Ombudsman.
In 2024, the EDPS carried out four investigations and two pre-investigations, which is a decrease compared to 2023. Among the most notable cases a pre-investigation on automated decision-making in trainee selection, an investigation on the Commission’s use of Microsoft 365 and one pre-investigation on profiling in public access applications. The EDPS conducted three audits in 2024, with on-site visits, on topics such as health data processing, retention periods and research involving minors.
Other observations
Parliament noted that:
- at the end of 2024, the EDPS had 137 members of staff, compared to 129 in 2023. The establishment plan for 2024 reflects a high occupancy rate of 98.80 % (compared to 95.65 % in 2023) but also a high turnover rate of 12 % in 2024 (compared to 13 % in 2023). Members noted with regard to gender breakdown of EDPS staff, that 63 % were women and 37 % were men in 2024. However, Parliament regretted a continued underrepresentation of women in senior management positions;
- the EDPS has set up a framework to prevent conflicts of interest at the level of senior management and staff through codes of conduct, awareness raising and declarations of absence of conflicts of interest and confidentiality;
- the 2024 expenditure for IT equipment and projects was 10 % higher compared to 2023 due to additional cybersecurity consultancy;
- the EDPS launched two key initiatives to strengthen personal data breach management across Union institutions and a cybersecurity exercise (named PATRICIA), aimed at improving the handling of cybersecurity incidents involving personal data breaches and enhancing interinstitutional cooperation;
- the EDPS has achieved budgetary and administrative savings through interinstitutional cooperation;
- the budget for public communication and promotional activities in 2024 amounted to EUR 425 000, which represented an increase of approximately 9.20 % compared to 2023.