EN Official Journal of the European Union L 246/363

RESOLUTION (EU) 2016/1571 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

of 28 April 2016

with observations forming an integral part of the decision on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Police Office (Europol) for the financial year 2014

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT,

— having regard to its decision on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Police Office for the financial year 2014,

— having regard to Rule 94 of and Annex V to its Rules of Procedure,

— having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgetary Control and the opinion of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (A8-0122/2016),

A. whereas, according to its financial statements, the final budget of the European Police Office (the Office) for the financial year 2014 was EUR 84 339 820, representing an increase of 2,20 % compared to 2013;

B. whereas the Court of Auditors (the Court), in its report on the annual accounts of the European Police Office for the financial year 2014 (the Court's report), has stated that it has obtained reasonable assurances that the Office’s annual accounts are reliable and that the underlying transactions are legal and regular;

Budget and financial management

1. Notes with satisfaction from the Court’s report that the budget monitoring efforts during the financial year 2014 improved significantly and resulted in a high budget implementation rate of 99,70 %, indicating that commitments were made in a timely manner; takes note that the payment appropriations execution rate was 93 %, indicating an increase of 2,80 % compared to the previous year;

Commitments and carry-overs

2. Observes that the total amount of committed appropriations carried over to 2015 decreased in comparison to previous years and amounted to EUR 5 663 960 (6,72 % of total appropriations); takes note from the Court’s report that the carry-overs were at EUR 1 900 000 (27 %) for Title II (administrative expenditure), representing a decrease of 14 % compared to the previous year; acknowledges that those carry-overs mainly related to modifications of the Office’s headquarters opened in 2011;

3. Notes with concern from the Court’s report that the cancellation rate of the committed appropriations carried forward from 2013 was high at 22 %, representing an increase of 13 % compared to the previous year; acknowledges that these cancellations mainly related to delays in IT projects provided by external suppliers in the area of document and asset management as well as in the exchange of police data; acknowledges furthermore that these delays did not affect operational business delivery as existing IT solutions continued to be in use for the relevant systems; notes that, despite the delivery delay caused by external contractors, the actual nominal increase of unused carry-overs was EUR 0,9 million at the end of 2014;

4. Calls on the Office in future to keep the level of committed appropriations carried over as low as possible, in order to comply more effectively with its duties of transparency and accountability;

Procurement and recruitment procedures

5. Ascertains that in 2014 the Office completed its organisation-wide review of the overall procurement process, with a view to refining the current internal organisational set-up; takes note that, as a result of the review, the Office established a ‘Procurement’ business area under the direct responsibility of the Deputy Director in charge of the Governance Department, leading to a centralised approach of key procurement stages as well as to the respective quality controls;

6. Acknowledges from the Office that the tender criteria for its ongoing procurement procedures are published on its website, together with an annual overview of the completed contracts; takes note that the Office is to publish the procurement overview for the financial year 2015 by the end of June 2016 as required by the Financial Regulation;

7. Asks the Office to apply strictly the measures pertaining to discretion and exclusion in public procurement, with proper background checks being carried out in every instance, and to apply the exclusion criteria so as to debar companies in the event of any conflict of interest, this being essential to protect the financial interests of the Union;

Prevention and management of conflicts of interest and transparency

8. Ascertains that the curricula vitae (CVs) and declarations on the independent discharge of duties and responsibilities of the Office’s Director and Deputy Directors were published on the website of the Office; observes that the Management Board of the Office took note of the discharge authority’s recommendations on the publication of CVs and declarations of interest of its Management Board members; calls on the Office and the members of its Management Board to make those documents available on its website as soon as they have been submitted to the Office;

9. Notes that in 2014 the Office published a new code of conduct, with guidelines on the management and prevention of conflicts of interest and ‘revolving doors’;

10. Calls on those Union institutions and agencies which have introduced codes of conduct, including Parliament, to step up their implementation measures, such as checks of declarations of financial interests;

11. Calls on the Office to pay special attention to the protection of whistle-blowers in the context of the soon-to-be-adopted Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the protection of undisclosed know-how and business information (trade secrets) against their unlawful acquisition, use and disclosure;

12. Encourages the Office further to raise awareness of the conflict-of-interest policy among its staff, alongside ongoing awareness-raising activities and the inclusion of integrity and transparency as an obligatory item to be discussed during recruitment procedures and performance reviews;

13. Calls for an overall improvement in the prevention of, and the fight against, corruption through a holistic approach, commencing with better public access to documents and more stringent rules on conflicts of interest, the introduction or strengthening of transparency registers and the provision of sufficient resources for law enforcement measures, and also through improved cooperation among Member States and with relevant third countries;

14. Welcomes the provisions established by the Management Board of the Office on internal investigations and reminds the Office that it must adopt internal binding rules on whistle-blowers, according to Article 22c of the Staff Regulations, which came into force on 1 January 2014;

Internal controls

15. Takes note of the fact that the duties and responsibilities of the Internal Audit Capability (IAC) in the Office are performed by its Internal Audit Function (IAF); notes that in accordance with the audit planning endorsed by the Management Board of the Office, the IAF released a consultancy review in relation to the operational performance of the Office, resulting in five strategic themes which will be taken into account in its corporate planning and will provide key input into the Office's next multiannual strategy which will be finalised in 2016;

16. Acknowledges that the IAF supported an audit of the Office’s Forensic Laboratory regarding the examination of euro currency banknotes, which is a key step to apply for a formal accreditation of the Office’s Forensic Laboratory in this area;

Internal audit

17. Notes that in May 2014 the Management Board of the Office endorsed the strategic audit plan for the 2014-2016 period prepared by the Commission’s Internal Audit Service (IAS); takes note that the IAS carried out an assurance audit on recruitment in September 2014, which confirmed the robustness of the Office’s recruitment process; acknowledges that the IAS audit report highlighted that the Office’s recruitment and selection procedures were sound and effective and that it found management reporting to be appropriate and timely; ascertains that the IAS identified three recommendations marked as ‘Important’; acknowledges that the Office drafted an action plan in order to mitigate the identified issues, which was subsequently accepted by the IAS;

Other comments

18. Acknowledges that the Office reviewed its financial regulation (1) to bring it in line with the provisions contained in Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1271/2013 (2); acknowledges furthermore that the Office applies the implementing rules of the Commission and should continue its efforts to ensure efficient and compliant budget implementation, especially concerning carry-overs in relation to administrative expenditure;

19. Notes that the Office made publicly available its Consolidated Annual Activity Report on its website;

20. Refers, for other observations of a cross-cutting nature accompanying its decision on discharge, to its resolution of 28 April 2016 (3) on the performance, financial management and control of the agencies.

(1) https://www.europol.europa.eu/sites/default/files/publications/decision_of_the_europol_management_board_on_the_adoption_of_the_financial_regulation_applicable_to_europol.pdf

(2) Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1271/2013 of 30 September 2013 on the framework financial regulation for the bodies referred to in Article 208 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 328, 7.12.2013, p. 42).

(3) Texts adopted of that date, P8_TA(2016)0159 (see page 447 of this Official Journal).