Resolution of the European Parliament of 29 April 2015 with observations forming an integral part of the decision on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority for the financial year 2013
Date: 2015-04-29
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: EU office or agency, budgetary discharge, financial year, general budget (EU), pension scheme








L_2015255EN.01025801.xml










30.9.2015   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


L 255/258








            RESOLUTION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
         
of 29 April 2015
         
with observations forming an integral part of the decision on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority for the financial year 2013


THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT,






—


having regard to its decision on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority for the financial year 2013,










—


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 Economic and Monetary Affairs (A8-0096/2015),










A.


whereas, according to its financial statements, the final budget of the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (‘the Authority’) for the financial year 2013 was EUR 18 767 470, representing an increase of 19,88 % compared to 2012, due to the Authority's recently established nature,










B.


whereas the Court of Auditors, in its report on the annual accounts of the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority for the financial year 2013 (‘the Court's report’), has stated that it has obtained reasonable assurances that the Authority's annual accounts are reliable and that the underlying transactions are legal and regular,






Follow-up of 2012 discharge









1.


Notes from the Court's report that regarding three comments made in the Court's 2011 report and marked as ‘Ongoing’ in the Court's 2012 report, corrective actions were taken and they are now marked in the Court's report as ‘Completed’; notes, furthermore, for the three comments made in the Court's 2012 report, corrective actions were taken and one comment is now marked as ‘Completed’, one as ‘Not Applicable’ and one as ‘Outstanding’;












2.


Acknowledges from the Authority that:






—


it has strengthened its procurement support capacity at corporate level, with clear definition of roles and responsibilities both for procurement officials and for operational staff, as well as with varied procurement training for all relevant staff categories,










—


it has adopted rules on management of conflicts of interests which have been revised according to the Commission guidelines on the prevention and management of conflicts of interest in EU decentralised agencies,










—


it has renewed its website with the purpose of improving the transparency and accessibility of the information provided,










—


the CVs of the members of the Management Board and the declaration of interests of the Chair and of the Executive Director have been published.




Calls on the Authority to also publish the declarations of interests of the members of the Management Board and of the Supervisors Board,





Budget and financial management









3.


Notes with concern that the level of committed appropriations carried over was high at 28 %, particularly for Title II at 30 % and Title III at 85 %, showing an increase in comparison to the previous years;





Commitments and carry-overs









4.


Acknowledges that the carry-overs resulted from the multiannual IT strategy and implementation plan and from specific contracts with services to be provided in 2014; acknowledges, furthermore, that the related commitments are legal, regular and soundly estimated according to low cancellation rates for carry-overs from 2012;












5.


Strongly agrees with the Court's observation that the extent to which 2013 appropriations were used to cover 2014 activities is at odds with the budgetary principle of annuality; calls on the Authority to inform the discharge authority on the actions it will take in order to reduce the amount of carry-overs;





Procurement and recruitment procedures









6.


Notes that no comments were made in the Court's report as regards the Authority's recruitment procedures;





Internal controls









7.


Takes note from the Court's report that the Management Board has adopted the sixteen Internal Control Standards (ICS) during 2013; ascertains that the ICS implementation is marked as ongoing on the basis of an action plan agreed with the Commission's Internal Audit Service (IAS);












8.


Regrets that the Authority's legal commitments were not always authorised by officers with a proper delegation and were not consistently preceded by a properly authorised budgetary commitment; reminds the Authority that compliance with the financial circuits as defined in the Financial Regulation is fundamental; acknowledges that corrective measures were taken in order to address those deficiencies and calls on the Authority to inform the discharge authority in detail of the results of those actions regarding the management of the financial circuits;





Internal audit









9.


Acknowledges from the Authority that in 2013 the IAS conducted a limited review of the implementation of the ICS, resulting from the Strategic Audit Plan as well as the previous IAS risk assessment;












10.


Notes that following that review, the Authority prepared an action plan to tackle the twenty recommendations identified by the IAS, three of which were rated as ‘Very Important’; acknowledges that the IAS considers that the action plan will adequately address the identified risks and will mitigate them if implemented as planned;












11.


Takes note from the Authority that the IAS followed up the implementation of its earlier recommendations and that neither critical nor very important recommendations were open as at 31 December 2013;





Other comments









12.


Recalls that Parliament was a key driver in the efforts to set up a new and comprehensive European System of Financial Supervision (ESFS) in the aftermath of the financial crisis, and in creating, as part of it, the Authority in 2011;












13.


Takes note of the observation made by the Commission, in its recent report on the operation of the European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) and the ESFS, that in spite of difficult circumstances, the ESAs have quickly established well-functioning organisations which, overall, have performed well against their broad range of tasks, while facing increasing demands with limited human resources;












14.


Underlines that the Authority's role in promoting a common supervisory regime across the single market is essential to ensure a better integrated, more efficient and safer insurance and pension sector in the Union, thus contributing to economic recovery and the creation of jobs and growth in Europe, and the prevention of future crises in the financial sector;












15.


Acknowledges that the ESFS is still in a setting-up phase and stresses that the tasks already entrusted to the Authority, as well as future tasks envisaged in on-going legislative work, require an adequate level of staff and budget to allow for high-quality supervision; emphasises that the need to combine additional tasks with additional resources should always be carefully considered; stresses, however, that any potential increases in its means should be preceded and/or complemented by adequate rationalisation efforts, wherever possible; highlights the Authority's coordinating role and the need to closely cooperate with national supervisory authorities to fulfil its mandate;












16.


Stresses that, given its limited resources, the Authority must stick to the tasks assigned to it by Parliament and the Council; underlines the fact that the Authority should carry out those assignments in full, but that it must not seek to go beyond its mandate, and that it must remain independent; highlights the fact that the Authority should check the necessity of drafting guidelines and recommendations;












17.


Emphasises that the Authority should make full use of the powers in the area of consumer protection that are granted to it by its mandate; underlines that in this area the Authority should coordinate its action more closely with the other ESAs through the Joint Committee;












18.


Concludes that the Authority's mixed financing arrangement is inflexible, burdensome and a potential threat to its independence; calls therefore on the Commission, if proven by the Commission's assessment, to propose by 2017 a financing system for the Authority solely based on the introduction of fees by market participants, or based on combining fees by market participants with basic funding from a separate budget line of the general budget of the Union;












19.


Refers, for other observations of a cross-cutting nature accompanying its decision on discharge, to its resolution of 29 April 2015 (1) on the performance, financial management and control of the agencies.






(1)  Texts adopted of that date, P8_TA(2015)0130 (see page 431 of this Official Journal).