Changes from report parliamentary committee draft to plenary report

1. MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION

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on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Union agencies for the financial year 2022: performance, financial management and control

(2023/2182(DEC))

The European Parliament,

– having regard to its decisions on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Union agencies for the financial year 2022,

Changed– having regard to the Commission’s report on the follow-up to the discharge for the 20222021 financial year (COM(2024)0000), and to the accompanying Commission staff working document (SWD(2024)0000),(COM(2023)0384),

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– having regard to the Court of Auditors’ annual report on EU agencies for the financial year 2022, together with the agencies’ replies,

– having regard to Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 July 2018 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union, amending Regulations (EU) No 1296/2013, (EU) No 1301/2013, (EU) No 1303/2013, (EU) No 1304/2013, (EU) No 1309/2013, (EU) No 1316/2013, (EU) No 223/2014, (EU) No 283/2014, and Decision No 541/2014/EU and repealing Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012, and in particular Articles 68 and 70 thereof,

– having regard to Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/715 of 18 December 2018 on the framework financial regulation for the bodies set up under the TFEU and Euratom Treaty and referred to in Article 70 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046 of the European Parliament and of the Council, and in particular Article 105 thereof,

– having regard to Rule 100 of and Annex V to its Rules of Procedure,

– having regard to the opinions of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs, and the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs,

Changed– having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgetary Control (A90000/2024),(A9-0118/2024),

A. whereas this resolution contains, for each body within the meaning of Article 70 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046, cross-cutting observations accompanying the discharge decisions in accordance with Article 262 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046 and Article 3 of Annex V to Parliament’s Rules of Procedure;

B. whereas this resolution also contains, for the Euratom Supply Agency, cross-cutting observations accompanying the discharge decision in accordance with Article 262 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046 and Article 3 of Annex V to Parliament’s Rules of Procedure;

C. whereas Union agencies should focus on missions with clear European added value and the organisation of such missions should be optimised to avoid overlaps in the best interests of the Union taxpayer;

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AddedD. whereas in the context of the discharge procedure, the discharge authority aims to emphasize the significant importance of enhancing the democratic legitimacy of Union institutions; whereas this involves enhancing transparency and accountability, as well as implementing performance-based budgeting and ensuring good governance of human resources;

1. Notes that for the 33 decentralised Union agencies, the cumulative total for the 2022 budget amounted to around EUR 3 471 million in commitment appropriations, representing an increase of 8,2 % compared to 2021, and amounted to EUR 3 035 million in payment appropriations, a decrease of 1,78 % compared to 2021; notes moreover that of the EUR 3 035 million in payment appropriations, approximately EUR 2 781 million were financed from the general budget of the Union, representing 74,85 % of the agencies’ total financing in 2022 (compared to 77,27 % in 2021); acknowledges furthermore that approximately EUR 935 million were financed by fees and charges and by direct contributions from participating countries (an increase of 28,23 % compared to 2021);

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Changed2. Notes that the total final budget for 2022 (after amending budgets) of all decentralised Union agencies was approx. 16 % higher than that for 2021, while the inflation rate in the Union reached up to 11,5 % in October 2022; notesnotes, in this contextcontext, that the increase in the budget of some agencies from 2021 to 2022 has been significant, representing more than + 60 % (for ENISA, eu-LISA, ECA),EFCA), approximately 30 % or more (for ELA, EEA, Frontex) and more than +20 % (for EUSPA, EUAA);

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3. Notes the conclusion of the European Court of Auditors (the ‘Court’) in its annual report on Union agencies for the financial year 2022 (the ‘Court’s report’), that the Court’s audit of the annual accounts of the agencies for the financial year ended 31 December 2022 had less positive results than the previous year (2021), with weaknesses in public procurement procedures having remained the main source of irregular payments;

Main risks identified by the Court

4. Notes from the Court’s report the overall risk to the reliability of agencies’ accounts, as established by applying the accounting rules adopted by the Commission’s accounting officer and based on international accounting standards, to be generally low, as was the case in 2021;

5. Underlines that, according to its report, the Court considers the overall risk to the legality and regularity of revenue underlying the agencies’ accounts to be low for most agencies, and to be medium for the partly self-financed agencies where specific regulations are applicable to collection of fees and other revenue contributions, as was the case in 2021;

6. Remarks that the Court considers the risk to the legality and regularity of payments underlying the agencies’ accounts overall to be medium, varying from low to high for specific budget titles; notes that the Court considers the risk for Title I (Staff Expenditure) to be generally low, for Title II (Administrative Expenditure) to be medium, and for Title III (Operational Expenditure) to be low to high, depending on the agency in question and the nature of its operational expenditure; points out that the Court considers the risk as regards Title III similar to the risk of Title II, but since there are far higher amounts at stake under Title III, the impact is considered to be higher;

7. Notes with concern that the Court, for a fifth year in a row, considers the risk to sound financial management to be medium, primarily associated with public procurement procedures that did not ensure that the best possible value for money was achieved; further notes that public funds must always be used effectively, taking into account taxpayers’ interests;

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Changed8. Notes that the Court considers the risk to budget management to be low, with the Court’s audit showing high carryovers of committed appropriations, which were, however, justified according to the Court by the multiannual nature of operations or for reasons beyond the agencies’ control; calls on the Agencies to strengthstrengthen their budget management and financial planning by setting ambitious financial KPIs and actively monitoring the financial and budgetary performance throughout the year in order to maintainkeep the carryovers in an acceptable percentage;

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Changed9. Recalls that, in 2020, the Court piloted automated audit procedures in the area of the audit of the accounts of several executive agencies; notes that, in 2021, the Court extended the use of such procedures to all agencies, however - in the case of decentralised agencies - the Court applied ten procedures relating to salaries only; recognises the Court’s commitment into expanding the use of digital audit technology to other areas and to all agencies; welcomeswelcomes; in this contextcontext; the pilot project launched by the Court in 2022 to digitalise aspects of the audit on agencies’ public procurement; calls on the Court to keep the discharge authority informed of the outcome of that pilot project;

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Changed10. Welcomes the fact that the Court has declared that in most cases (67 out of 121 observations that had not been completed at the end of 2021) the agencies have taken corrective actionsaction to address previous years' audit observations; notes with concern, however, an increase in the number of observations from previous years that remained open at the end of the year, from 48 in 2021 to 54 in 2022; calls on all the agencies concerned to identify the proper corrective actions and to continue their efforts to follow up on the Court's observations that are ongoing or outstanding;

Budget and financial management

11. Underlines with satisfaction that, according to the Court’s report, an unqualified audit opinion on the reliability of the accounts of all agencies was issued; notes in addition that the Court issued an unqualified opinion on the legality and regularity of the revenue underlying the accounts for all agencies; observes that the Court issued an unqualified opinion on the legality and regularity of the payments underlying the accounts for all agencies, except for four agencies: the Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union (CdT), the Agency for Law Enforcement Training (CEPOL), the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the Agency for the Operational Management of Large-Scale IT Systems in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (eu-LISA); notes with concern that the qualified opinions were issued by the Court due to non-compliant expenditures of EUR 1,3 million (for CdT), EUR 4,26 million (for CEPOL), EUR 0,6 million (for ECDC) which led the Court to estimate a total amount of non-compliance expenditure representing 2,8 % of the total payment appropriations available in 2022 and EUR 17,8 million (for eu-LISA);

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Changed12. Notes that, as regards the reliability of accounts, the Court issued an ‘emphasis of matter’ paragraph for the European Medicines Agency (EMA), the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA), the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA), the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation (Eurojust), eu-LISA, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex); notes that the ‘emphasis of matter’ paragraph for EMA was related to the ongoing issue regarding the lease agreement for its former premises in London that lasts until 2039, with no provision for early termination and potential liabilities estimated at EUR 366 million on 31 December 2022, as well as to uncertainties surrounding the financial performance of the ultimate parent company of the subtenant of those premises; is aware that, on 11 January 2024, the European Parliament Budget Committee on Budgets held an exchange of views with the Authority regarding potential amendment to EMA’s sub-underlease for the Agency’s former premises in London; notes that the ‘emphasis of matter’ paragraph for ERA and Eurojust was related to the implementation of a new budgetary, accounting and financial system (SUMMA) as a pilot for the Commission; notes that the ‘emphasis of matter’ paragraph for the EUAA was related to the impact of the Russian’s illegal and unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine on the EUAA’s activities; notes that the ‘emphasis of matter’ paragraph for eu-LISA was related to delays in the implementation of the Entry/Exit System and the related impact on eu-LISA’s operations; notes that the ‘emphasis of matter’ paragraph for Frontex was related to the fact that its accounting system was not validated for the second year in a row, as well as to an incorrect calculation of the contributions from non-EU Schengen area countries with EUR 3,2 million less than they should have paid to the budget of Frontex for 2022; notes that the ‘emphasis of matter’ paragraph for ESMA was related to the uncertainty related to the outcome of a lawsuit and, as per Court’s report, that paragraph also applies in full for the legality and regularity of ESMA’s payments;

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Changed13. Notes the Court’s recurrent observation, related to the contributions from Schengen associated countries (SAC), that different methods in the agreements for calculating contributions entail a risk of erroneous implementation of those contribution agreements; notesnotes; from the Court’s reportreport; its invitation to the EUAA and Frontex to work with the Commission to clarify the legal basis for calculating SAC contributions to thosethe agencies’budgets budgets,of those agencies, if necessary by re-negotiating agreements with SAC, so that their contributions correctly reflect the size of SAC’ economies compared to the size of the Union’s economy; calls in this context on the Commission to address this issue in the coming negotiations with the SAC on new agreements that will cover SAC’s participation in the work of the EUAA and Frontex, with a view to ensuring more clarity therein;

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Changed14. Notes with concern the Court’s observation regarding weaknesses related to various aspects of budgetary management such as excessive levels of carry-over of appropriations, high rates of late payments and fee/revenue related issues in the case of sixteen16 agencies; notes in particularparticular; the Court’s observation with regard to structural and recurrent high carry-overs in the case of five agencies (ACER, EFCA, ELA, eu-LISA and FRA); renews its call on thefor respect offor the budgetary principle of annuality; echoes the Court’s recommendation that the agencies concerned should further improve their budget planning and their implementation cycles to avoid excessive delays in the implementation of work programmes or procurement plans; welcomes the actions launched and measures implemented in 2022 by several agencies (e.g. ACER, eu-LISA and FRA) aiming atto improvingimprove their budget planning and implementation cycles;

15. Recalls, nevertheless, that in certain cases the level of high carryovers is also a result of factors that are outside of the Agencies' control such as the nature of their activities expanding on multi-annual periods, or the necessity to recur to external contractors over periods that extend beyond the financial year, due to understaffing;

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Changed16. NotesNotes, from the Court’s reportreport, the observation wherebythat, in 20222022, several agencies (e.g. ECDC and Europol) included in their payments to the grant beneficiaries a reimbursement of the value-added tax (VAT) associated with the claimed costs, thereby contravening Article 186(4) of the Financial Regulation, because, in the Court’s view, the beneficiaries were public authorities in activities of a public authority and therefore they were not entitled to VAT reimbursement; notes the arguments of the agencies concerned as to why they differ from the Court’s position on this issue; echoes the Court’s recommendation to the agencies to manage grants by ensuring compliance with the applicable rules, in particular regarding reimbursement of VAT to beneficiaries whichthat are public authorities; calls on the European Union Agencies Network (EUAN) to establish a common understanding on VAT reimbursement according to the financial regulation;

17. Recalls the importance of establishing and maintaining an active dialogue between the Commission and the agencies over the allocation of appropriate resources and the design of the respective establishment plans, especially with regard to the grade at which posts are allocated;

Performance

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Changed18. Notes that all agencies use various systems of key performance indicators (KPIs), planned outputs or strategic targets set as part of their performance measurement; stresses that EUAN could help agencies to use a common system of KPIs; notes that for 15 agencies, the implementation rate of their Annual Working Programme (AWP) exceeded 95 %, while for 14 agencies that rate was below 95 % in 2022; reiterates its call on all the agencies to report to the discharge authority on the implementation rate of their AWP as a consolidated figure expressed in percentage; appreciates the KPI’s fulfilled by the Agencies and the fact that the Agencies have drawn attention to measures that can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their work; however calls on the Agencies to take note of the indicators that have not yet been achieved or are lagging behind; encourages the agencies to use the EUAN facilities to improve the achievement of these indicators;

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Changed19. Notes the achievements and successes of all agencies in 2022, the first year of the unprovoked and unjustified Russian militarywar attackof aggression against Ukraine; commendscommends, in this contextcontext, the swift actions taken by the agencies, in various areas such justice and home affairs (e.g. EUAA, Frontex, Europol, FRA), supervision of financial systems (e.g. ESMA), security and defence (e.g. EASA), and employment, social affairs and inclusion (e.g. Eurofound), despite the challenges posed not only by the illegal war in Ukraine, but also record-high inflation rates across the Union and the energy crisis;

20. Stresses the valuable role played by Union agencies in helping Union institutions design and implement Union policies, and in carrying out specific technical, scientific, operational and managerial tasks, as well as evidence-based research; reiterates in this regard the need to equip the agencies at a level commensurate to the assigned tasks, with a sufficient number of staff, employed in a stable manner and having sufficient material resources; reiterates therefore the need to ensure adequate human and financial resources to allow them to continue implementing their work programmes with a very high activity completion rate;

21. Highlights the important role of the EU Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) agencies, as they are indispensable for the implementation of Union policies, and the important support they ensure to the Union institutions and bodies and Member States in the sectors of fundamental rights, security and justice, by carrying out operational, analytical, managerial and monitoring tasks; reiterates therefore the need to ensure adequate financial and human resources to JHA agencies;

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Added22. Appreciates the high quality work performed by the agencies working in the area of employment, social affairs and inclusion (CEDEFOP, Eurofound, EU-OSHA, ETF and ELA); recalls the particular mandates of these agencies and the specific composition of their management bodies based on the tripartite principle and thus including representatives of the national authorities and social partners; recognises that, through their members, the management bodies ensure the necessary alignment between the agencies’ work and stakeholder needs and priorities; notes with satisfaction the introduction of hybrid meetings and the use of written procedures which contribute to reducing the cost of in-person meetings;

23. Stresses that the agencies are the most qualified in assessing the use of resources in order to implement their annual work programmes and perform their mandates effectively; stresses the need for agencies to co-operate with each other in order to allocate resources correctly; highlights that the agencies play a crucial role in supporting the right projects in line e.g. with the European Green Deal, the European Pillar of Social Rights or the Union’s New Pact on Migration and Asylum;

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Removed23. Notes with concern, from the Court’s report, the disclosures of two agencies (EUAA and EUSPA) reporting on the impact that the unprovoked and unfair aggression against Ukraine had on their activities; notes in this context the increased demand for assistance from Member States accepting refugees from Ukraine and the interruption in the use of Russian Soyuz launchers for Galileo satellites;

Added24. Welcomes the cooperation and coordination of the work between agencies dealing in the same field, such as the European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs), the JHA agencies, the agencies in the area of employment, social affairs and inclusion, as well as others, but also cross-cutting cooperation between agencies from different policy areas;

Added25. Notes with concern, from the Court’s report, the disclosures of two agencies (the EUAA and EUSPA) reporting on the impact that the unprovoked and unfair aggression against Ukraine had on their activities; notes, in this context, the increased demand for assistance from Member States accepting refugees from Ukraine and the interruption in the use of Russian Soyuz launchers for Galileo satellites;

Efficiency and gains

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Changed24.26. Calls on the agencies to continue developing synergies (in areas such as human resources, procurement, digitalisation, building management, IT services and cyber-security), as well as cooperation and exchange of good practices with other Union agencies with a view to improving efficiency, in particular given the impact of the war in Ukraine and inflationary strains; calls on all the agencies to put a system and criteria in place to monitor in objective and granular ways and report to the discharge authority on the evolution, from one year to the next, of the gains and/or savings registered by the agencies in terms of time, staff, energy used, etc.; invites all agencies to coordinate, including with the European Union Agencies Network (EUAN),EUAN, in order to identify and use a common tool allowing for the reporting of such gains/savings in a comparable way;

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Changed25.27. AcknowledgesInsists on the important role of the EUAN in the development of synergies, including by helping the agencies to optimise the use of their budgets through coordinationcoordination, inter alia, of joint procurement procedures, partnerships, reassessment of priorities, cost reductions, among other;reductions; acknowledgesacknowledges, in this contextcontext, the work done by the ten thematic EUAN’EUAN sub-networks; further remindsrecalls that joint initiatives bring together diverse perspectives, reduce duplication of effort, enhance learning and strengthen relationships between the participants; encourages the EUAN to strengthen its role of coordination and to propose more common tools that can help the agencies;

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Changed26.28. Welcomes the Court’s horizontal audit providing an analysis of the agencies’ responseresponses to the climate and energy crises and how they reported on their climate and energy performance; notes from the Court’s report and from the agencies replies to Parliament’s written questions that, at the end of 2022, 10 agencies (6 in 2021) were EMAS (Eco-Management and Audit Scheme)-certified and 22 agencies were not EMAS-certified (of which for 15 agencies the process for EMAS certification was ongoing); calls on all the agencies concerned to speed up the process for receiving the EMAS registration;certification;

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Changed27.29. Notes with appreciation that all agencies have put measures in place to varying degrees in order reduce their environmental impact and make a positive contribution to sustainable development; commends the agencies (e.g. ACER) which have formally adopted (and implemented) a greening action plan; reiterates its recommendation for all agencies to adopt multiannual action plans that include commitments regarding CO2 reductions which can be achievedachieved, inter alia, by using sustainable buildings and working spaces, optimising energy consumption, promoting low carbon travel modes, using hybrid working methods, prioritising the purchase of sustainable products and services, among other;services; calls on all the agencies to consider environmental aspects when looking for new office space; reiterates the potential role of EUAN in this context to assist the agencies by establishing an had hoc multiannual action plan;

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Changed28.30. NotesWelcomes moreoverthat 19 out of 33 decentralised Agencies have implemented corporate plans to improve energy efficiency and climate neutrality; regrets however from the Court’s report that, 1814 agenciesout of 33 decentralised Agencies have not yet implemented any corporate plans to improve energy efficiency and climate neutrality and 12 agencies issue anof environmentaltheir statement;operations; notes thatthat, in 20222022, no agency published a sustainability report, with Cedefop, EIT and Eurofound having plans to do so by 2024; echoesechoes, in this contextcontext, the Court’s recommendation forand urges all agencies to improve their climate neutrality and energy efficiency through up-to-date corporate plans that foresee clearly defined, quantified baselines and targets for reducing carbon footprint and energy consumption, as well as to report on their climate, energy and environmental performance through the publication of sustainability reports or environmental statements;

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Changed29.31. Recalls the importance of increasing the level of digitalisation of the agencies in terms of internal operation and management, as well procedures, in order transition to paperless processes; notes that this positive development has an impact on cost-effectiveness; is pleased that, in 2022, further progress has been made with regard to digitalisation and optimisation of their workflows and procedures, in particular in the fields of HR and procurement procedures; encourages all agencies to adopt and implement the Advanced Qualified Signature and Qualified Electronic Signature software to obtain approvals and signatures from both internal and external counterparties in procurement and contractual documents; asks the EUAN to support all initiatives to speed up this process of digitalisation and to keep reporting to the discharge authority on the progress made in digitalisation matters;

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Added32. Calls on the Commission to ensure better use of the Agencies’ expertise in relevant policy areas regarding, for example, elaboration of reports and studies, conducting research and surveys, which can allow for more efficient utilisation of Union budget resources compared to alternative solutions; stresses, in this regard, the unused potential of the agencies working in the area of employment, social affairs and inclusion in providing for specific, relevant information and the same quality products as external consultants, when their mandates allow it;

Staff policy

33. Notes that, in 2022, the 33 decentralised agencies reported that they employ a total of 10 146 members of staff, comprising officials, temporary agents, contract agents and seconded national experts (SNEs) (compared to 9 631 in 2021), representing an increase of 5,34 % compared to 2021; notes from the Court's report that most of the increase in the number of staff members employed since 2021 is attributable to the continuing build-up of the agencies set up recently (e.g. ELA) and to the growth of agencies which were assigned new tasks (EFCA, the EUAA and Frontex); commends the agencies (EIGE and EUSPA) having achieved a 100 % execution rate of their establishment plan in 2022;

34. Notes that burnout cases (in total 16) were registered in 5 agencies and overtime was taken by several employees in 19 agencies in 2022 (13 in 2021); highlights that not all burnout cases are recorded officially; notes in particular that a high number of employees haven taken overtime in EFSA (81 % of staff) and Eurofound (97 % of staff);

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Changed32.35. Notes with concern that, in 2022, the staff turnover rate was more than 5 % in 15 out of 33 agencies, whereas four of them exceeded the 10 % rate; commends the agencies (e.g. EBA) for the targeted measures they took to prevent high staff turnover rates; highlights the importance for all agencies to implement measures with a view to improveimproving talent management and retention; counts on the EUAN to be a forum for its member agencies with regard to exchanging good practices and, where possible, joining forces in this matter;

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Changed33.36. Notes that the geographical balance of staff of Union decentralised agencies follows the population of the Member States as a percentage of the EU27 more closely than the geographical balance of staff of the Commission; regrets an under-representation for seven Member States, an over-representation for seventeen Member States and an approximate balance for three Member States; remindsrecalls that the Agencies need to take concrete measures for geographical balance to be improved; takes notenotes from the study on ‘The use of contract agents in decentralised agencies’ published on 15 May 2023 (hereinafter the ‘Study’) fthatthat the financial attractiveness of the CA posts in various regions can impact the geographical diversity of applicants;

37. Highlights that geographical balance is still a challenge for several agencies for which considerable percentages of their staff are nationals of the Member State where the agencies are located, e.g. BEREC (58 % Latvians), CEDEFOP (47 % Greeks), EFSA (49 % Italians), EU-OSHA (46 % Spanish); acknowledges that the agencies use merit-based selection procedures, whereby in presence of equal merits, the agencies would favour the under-represented nationalities; calls on the agencies to take the necessary measures to have a balanced and fair geographical representation;

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Changed35.38. Acknowledges that attracting talent and ensuring a geographically diverse work forceworkforce are linked to agencies’ individual specificities (e.g. location, infrastructure, schooling, policy area), as well as to external limiting factors (e.g. competition with the private sector, job uncertainty due to short term contracts, low correction coefficients); notenotes with appreciation from the EUAN’s follow-up report to the discharge for 2021, the actions taken by the EUAN to remedy the lack of attractiveness and improve the representativeness of the agencies’ staff in terms of age, gender and geographical origin;