On discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Training Foundation

The Committee on Employment and Social Affairs calls on the Committee on Budgetary Control, as the committee responsible, to incorporate the following suggestions into its motion for a resolution:

–having regard to the European Court of Auditors’ Annual report on the implementation of the EU budget for the 2022 financial year;

–having regard to the European Court of Auditors’ Annual report on EU agencies for the financial year 2022;

–having regard to the European Training Foundation’s Consolidated Annual Activity Report (CAAR) 2022;

1.Expresses its satisfaction that the European Court of Auditors (the ‘Court’) has declared the transactions underlying the European Training Foundation’s (Foundation’s) annual accounts for the financial year 2022 to be legal and regular and that its financial position as of 31 December 2022 is fairly represented;

2.Welcomes the Foundation’s activities in helping Union partner countries harness the potential of their human capital and improve the employment prospects of their citizens through the reform of education, vocational training, skills and labour market systems, in the context of the Union’s external relations policies;

3.Welcomes in particular the Foundation’s new concept of entrepreneurial centres of vocational excellence (CoVEs) that have been developed to contribute to the international debate in the entrepreneurial learning community, and to inspire training centres to better respond to the changing needs of citizens, economies and societies;

4.Welcomes that the budget of the Foundation for the financial year 2022 increased up to EUR 25 million (EUR 21 million in 2021); expresses its satisfaction that the Foundation’s budget for 2022 was executed by 97.7%; highlights the need to keep ensuring adequate human and financial resources allowing the Foundation to fulfill its mandate and continue implementing its work programme with a very high activity completion rate;

5.Welcomes the fact that despite the budget crisis caused by inflation and utilities prices in 2022, the Foundation has been able to effectively manage its expenses, introduce cost-saving measures and reprioritise without major disruptions to is work programme;

6.Stresses the importance of the Foundation’s work and added value in its field of expertise; recognises that the Foundation’s objectives and actions are closely aligned with EU policies and activities in the field of vocational education and training, human development, skills and migration; welcomes the Foundation’s continued cooperation and sharing of resources with other agencies, in particular with Cedefop and Eurofound, which enables significant knowledge sharing;

7.Notes with concern that the Court reported weaknesses in two public procurement procedures, in particular on the legality and regularity of transactions, related to the lack of financial solvency of the tenderers proposed by the Foundation; calls on the Foundation to further improve its public procurement procedures, ensuring full compliance with the applicable rules, to ensure they achieve the best possible value for money, notably by simplifying its methodology and together with relevant Commission services discuss possible alternative methods to implement activities in the Foundation’s partner countries;

8.Commends the Foundation for having established a corporate plan to improve energy efficiency and climate neutrality of its operations;

9.Recommends, on the basis of the facts available, that discharge be granted to the Director ad Interim of the European Training Foundation’s in respect of the implementation of the Foundation’s budget for the financial year 2022.