EN Official Journal of the European Union L 246/211

RESOLUTION (EU) 2016/1505 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 Asylum Support Office 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 Asylum Support 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 (A8-0133/2016),

A. whereas, according to its financial statements, the final budget of the European Asylum Support Office (‘the Office’) for the financial year 2014 was EUR 15 663 975; whereas 94 % of the budget of the Office derives from the Union budget;

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

Follow-up of 2013 discharge

1. Notes from the Court’s report that two comments made in the Court's 2012 and 2013 reports respectively are marked as ‘Outstanding’; notes furthermore that three comments made in the Court’s 2012 and 2013 reports are marked as ‘Ongoing’, while three comments made in the Court’s 2013 report are marked as ‘Not Applicable’;

2. Acknowledges from the Office that: — it has included the information on accruals for staff expenses in the appropriate forms together with the necessary justifications for the financial year 2014, — measures have been put in place to tackle the recurrent issues of misestimating budgetary needs and late payments as well as the matters of transparency and conflicts of interest, — a conflict of interest policy was endorsed by the Management Board by the end of 2013 and all members of the Management Board as well as the Executive Director have signed the Office's conflict of interest form and confirmed the absence of conflicts of interest;

Comments on the legality and regularity of transactions

3. Notes with concern that the Office carried over budget commitments of EUR 1 300 000 which were not covered by legal commitments; reminds the Office that this is in contradiction with the Financial Regulation; acknowledges the decision of the Office to correct these irregular carry-overs in the budget management system in 2015, due to the financial period having already been closed for the financial year of 2014;

Budget and financial management

4. Notes that budget monitoring efforts during the financial year 2014 resulted in a budget implementation rate of 84,69 %, representing a decrease of 2,65 % compared to 2013; notes furthermore that the payment appropriations execution rate was 71,33 %, representing a decrease of 15,85 % compared to 2013;

5. Draws attention to the fact that 1 062 payments, representing 28,6 %, were made after the time limit set in the Financial Regulation, representing an increase of 10,6 % compared to 2013; notes with concern that the average delay for late payments increased by three days to 24 days from 2013 to 2014; notes from the Office that a series of measures were introduced to reduce late payments as well as that the rate of late payments in 2015 was reduced in 2015; requests the Office to report to the discharge authority on measures taken in order to tackle this issue;

6. Notes from the Office that it will review its annual budget at least twice a year starting in the second quarter of 2015 with the aim of improving budget planning and the implementation process, as well as reducing the disproportionate amount of carry-overs; notes furthermore that the Office introduced a new format for monthly budget status reports as well as internal workshops on budget implementation and financial management; calls on the Office to report to the discharge authority on the effectiveness of the measures taken;

Commitments and carry-overs

7. Takes note that 21,2 % (EUR 146 417) of the non-differentiated committed appropriations carried over from 2013 were cancelled in 2014, representing an increase of 4,7 % compared to 2013; observes that those cancellations are mainly related to interim services, staff training courses, administrative support and translation costs; reminds the Office that these cancellations are at odds with the budgetary principle of annuality and that a high amount of cancellations of carry-overs from the previous year indicates weaknesses in budgetary planning; acknowledges from the Office that measures have been put in place to improve its budget planning and implementation process and reduce any disproportionate carry-overs at the end of financial year;

8. Takes note that the level of committed appropriations for Title II (administrative expenditure) carried over to 2015 was high at 27,9 %; notes that these carry-overs are mainly related to advisory and IT consultancy services delivered in 2014 although not invoiced or delivered during 2015;

Procurement and recruitment procedures

9. Takes note of the updated recruitment policy which reflects the changes to the Staff Regulations; acknowledges from the Office that it revised the recruitment and selection guidelines in 2015 by introducing further steps and controls to ensure transparency and equal treatment; notes with concern that the comment on transparency of recruitment procedures, raised in the Court’s 2012 report, is marked as ‘Outstanding’ in the Court’s report; calls on the Office to provide a report to the discharge authority on the effectiveness of measures taken; looks forward to the next audit of the Court and its evaluation of the corrective actions taken;

10. Ascertains from the Court’s report that the Office has a high staff turnover, with 14 staff members leaving in 2014 including four in key positions; agrees with the Court that this high turnover causes a considerable risk to the achievement of the objectives set in the annual and multi-annual programme of the Office; acknowledges from the Office that it has recruited replacements for the staff members that left in 2014, as well as that all posts are now occupied or recruitment procedures are being carried out; asks that the Office look into reasons for the high level of staff turnover and report back to the discharge authority on actions taken to address this;

Prevention and management of conflicts of interest and transparency

11. Notes with concern that the Office failed to make publically available both its policy on prevention and management of conflicts of interest as well as the conflict of interest forms signed by the members of the Management Board and the Executive Director; urges the Office to complete this action as soon as possible;

12. 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;

13. Asks the Office to adopt clear rules on whistle-blowers and against ‘revolving doors’;

Internal controls

14. Takes note that out of six outstanding and not fully implemented Internal Control Standards (ICS), two were implemented; ascertains that the implementation of the four remaining ICS is ongoing with assistance from external consultancy; calls on the Office to report to the discharge authority on the full implementation of the outstanding ICS;

Internal audit

15. Takes note that, further to the limited review of the implementation of ICS made by the Commission’s Internal Audit Service (IAS), eleven recommendations were noted as adequately implemented and were to be closed by the IAS; notes, furthermore, that seven recommendations from previous years remain open, four rated as ‘very important’ and three rated as ‘important’; asks the Office to report to the discharge authority on the implementation of the remaining recommendations;

Other comments

16. Acknowledges the difficulties in managing the current refugee crisis; acknowledges, in addition, that the tasks of the Office are likely to increase further and its budget and staffing levels will need to increase correspondingly; requests the Office, therefore, to increase its efforts and to improve its budgetary management and to present an action plan to perform optimally in the coming years;

17. Refers, for other observations of a cross-cutting nature accompanying its decision on discharge, to its resolution of 28 April 2016 (1) on the performance, financial management and control of the agencies.

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