Resolution (EU) 2022/1756 of the European Parliament of 4 May 2022 with observations forming an integral part of the decision on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) for the financial year 2020
Date: 2022-05-04
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: European Institute for Gender Equality, budgetary discharge, financial year, general budget (EU)








L_2022258EN.01028301.xml










5.10.2022   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


L 258/283








            RESOLUTION (EU) 2022/1756 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
         
of 4 May 2022
         
with observations forming an integral part of the decision on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) for the financial year 2020


THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT,







—


having regard to its decision on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Institute for Gender Equality for the financial year 2020,










—


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










—


having regard to the opinion of the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality,










—


having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgetary Control (A9-0091/2022),











A.


whereas, according to its statement of revenue and expenditure (1), the final budget of the European Institute for Gender Equality (the ‘Institute’) for the financial year 2020 was EUR 7 749 900, representing a decrease of 1,24 % compared to 2019; whereas the entire budget of the Institute derives from the Union budget;










B.


whereas the Court of Auditors (the ‘Court’), in its report on the annual accounts of the European Institute for Gender Equality for the financial year 2020 (the ‘Court’s report’), states that it has obtained reasonable assurance that the Institute’s annual accounts are reliable and that the underlying transactions are legal and regular;










C.


whereas, pursuant to Article 8 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the Union is to aim to eliminate inequalities, and to promote equality, between men and women in all its activities, thereby establishing the principle of gender mainstreaming, including via gender budgeting at all levels of the budgetary process;










D.


whereas women are disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly women working in precarious employment, feminised sectors and the informal economy as well as women affected by increased gender-based violence and harassment, unpaid and unequal care and domestic responsibilities, and restricted access to sexual and reproductive health and rights; whereas the COVID-19 pandemic threatens to roll back progress with regard to gender equality, especially in Member States where the pre-pandemic indicators of gender equality were lower; whereas the 2021 Gender Equality Index registered a minuscule increase of just 0,6 points in comparison with the previous year (2);





Budget and financial management







1.


Notes with satisfaction that the budget monitoring efforts during the financial year 2020 resulted in a budget implementation rate of 97,75 %, representing a decrease of 1,21 % compared to 2019; notes that the payment appropriations execution rate was 74,82 %, representing a decrease of 7,68 % compared to 2019;










2.


Notes an increase in the Institute’s carry-over operating expenditure to 49,49 % in 2020 (compared to 28,01 % in 2019);










3.


Observes from the Court’s report that, on 17 December 2019, the Institute signed an amendment to the agreement with the Commission’s Directorate-General for Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations for the provision of EUR 378 950 under the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance for the implementation of the action entitled ‘Increased capacity of EU candidate countries and potential candidates to measure and monitor the impact of gender equality policies (2018 to 2021)’, and that the amount was received on 27 December 2019 but that information relating to that amount was not included in the budget; remarks that, pursuant to Article 157 of the Financial Regulation, such information must be reported; regrets that the Institute did not publish an amendment to its 2020 budget in order to include the amount cashed and did not include it in the 2020 budget published on 31 March 2021, and that a similar issue was previously reported in 2019; notes that. at the end of 2021, the Institute implemented the Court’s observation on budgetary management in the audit of the 2020 accounts and that the Institute proceeded with the publication of a corrigendum (3) to its 2020 budget regarding the contribution from the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance; notes that the action is currently under follow-up by the Court; calls on the Institute, as the Courts notes this is indicative of a systemic issue, to provide the discharge authority with an explanation for the reoccurrence of the reporting issue in 2020; calls on the Institute to inform the discharge authority about other measures it has taken to prevent it from happening again;










4.


Recalls that the Institute was established in order to contribute to and strengthen the promotion of gender equality in the Union and to support the integration of gender equality in all Union policies and the resulting national policies; acknowledges the specialisation and great expertise of the Institute in studies, research, the collection of high-quality data, the development of methodological tools and the assessment of national policies, especially in relation to gender-based violence and femicides across all Member States; recalls that, especially in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on gender equality and the backlash against women’s rights and gender equality, increased budget and human resources, including more staff, are needed for the Institute to adequately carry out its functions;





Performance







5.


Welcomes the ongoing cooperation between the Institute and Parliament’s Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality (the ‘FEMM Committee’) and the Institute’s contribution to the ongoing work of the FEMM Committee such as work on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, gender-based violence, equal pay, gender budgeting and the development of a gender-sensitive parliament tool; stresses the valuable contribution that the Institute can make to all of Parliament’s committees, and encourages Parliament to establish an ever closer cooperation with the Institute; encourages collaboration between the Institute and other Union agencies;










6.


Notes with satisfaction that the Institute uses certain key performance indicators in relation to operational objectives and the management of financial and human resources to assess the added value provided by its activities; welcomes the fact that the majority of targets have been achieved and that the Institute designed specific indicators for measuring the performance of horizontal services in the annual section of the 2022–2024 single programming document;










7.


Welcomes the publication and translation of the Institute’s step-by-step gender-budgeting toolkit in 2020, which is destined to help those working with Union Funds to integrate gender equality into their programmes; welcomes also the online release of the Gender Equality Index in October 2020 as a useful benchmarking tool that allows Member States to easily monitor and compare their progress over time and understand where improvements are most needed;










8.


Welcomes the fact that in 2020, the management board approved the composition of the steering committee for the Institute’s second external evaluation, which was postponed in 2019 and scheduled to take place in 2022, and welcomes the terms of reference for the Institute to commission the independent external evaluation of its achievements;










9.


Welcomes the fact that the Institute cooperates closely with Union agencies by means of bilateral collaboration and active participation in established networks and that the Regulation establishing the Institute provides for agreements to cooperate with the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound), the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training, and the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights; notes that, in addition, the Institute actively participates in the Justice and Home Affairs agencies network; welcomes that cooperation and those synergies as an example for other agencies and institutions worth following;





Staff policy







10.


Notes that, on 31 December 2020, the establishment plan was 100 % executed, with 27 temporary agents appointed out of 27 temporary agents authorised under the Union budget (compared with 27 authorised posts in 2019); notes that 11 calls for applications were launched, including two for contract agent posts, eight for seconded national experts and one for a trainee position; notes that during the course of 2020, the turnover rate was 11 %; welcomes the measures taken by the Institute to reduce the turnover;










11.


Notes with concern the unbalanced gender distribution in senior management, with one man (25 %) and three women (75 %), on the management board, with seven men (21,9 %) and 25 women (78,1 %) and among staff overall, with 11 men (23,4 %) and 36 women (76,6 %); reiterates its call on the Institute to ensure gender balance at senior management level in the future; reminds the Institute that in the selection of candidates, competence, knowledge and experience are important, as well as geographical and gender balance among staff members; reiterates its call on the Commission and the Member States to take the importance of ensuring gender balance into account when nominating their members to the management board of the Institute; notes that the Institute, excluding applications for traineeships and seconded national expert posts, received 142 applications in 2020, 67 % of which were submitted by women, representing a change compared to 2019, when 87 % of the applications were submitted by women;










12.


Welcomes the efforts made in staff policy to promote teleworking and healthy life and continues to encourage the Institute to pursue the development of a long term human resources policy framework which addresses work-life balance, lifelong guidance and career development, gender balance, teleworking, geographical balance and recruitment and integration of people with disabilities;










13.


Notes that in 2020 the Institute continued using the framework contract for the provision of interim personnel; notes that, at the beginning of 2018, some interim workers challenged their working conditions with the contracted company and that the case was dealt with by the Lithuanian labour dispute committee, which decided in favour of the interim staff; notes that the decision of the Lithuanian labour dispute committee was contested by the contracted company; remarks that the Institute acted as a third party in that case; remarks moreover that Directive 2008/104/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (4) did not provide a priori legal clarity about whether Union agencies fall under its scope as regards employing temporary workers; notes that on 30 December 2019 the Lithuanian Supreme Court addressed questions to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in Case C-948/19; notes that, according to the Court’s report, the fact that the CJEU was ruling on the matter might have an impact on the Court’s position concerning the Institute’s use of interim workers and that observations on the matter would be provided when the CJEU issued a final ruling in the case; notes that the case was resolved in November 2021, as the CJEU ruled that Union agencies fall under the scope of Directive 2008/104/EC when they employ temporary agency workers through temporary employment agencies;










14.


Notes that, according to the Court’s report, in the 2019 audit, the procedures used for selecting and contracting external experts lacked a solid audit trail (as required by Article 36(3) of the Financial Regulation) and that, as a result, all subsequent payments associated with those contracts were irregular; highlights the fact that in 2020, the related payments amounted to EUR 4 400;





Procurement







15.


Notes that 47 administrative procurement procedures and 61 operational procurement procedures were completed in 2020; notes with satisfaction that the Institute provided regular internal training sessions to staff on procurement matters; notes that, in accordance with Procurement Directives and the Financial Regulation, the Institute applied uniform standards for the electronic exchange of information with third parties participating in procurement procedures by using an e-tendering and e-submission tool;





Prevention and management of conflicts of interests and transparency







16.


Notes with satisfaction the Institute’s existing measures and ongoing efforts to secure transparency, the prevention and management of conflicts of interest and whistleblower protection; welcomes the fact that the 2021–2023 Anti-Fraud Strategy was adopted in 2020 and several training sessions in the area of ethics and integrity were conducted; notes the publication of the CV of the Institute’s director on its website;





Internal control







17.


Notes that, following the Commission’s Internal Audit Service’s 2019–2021 Strategic Internal Audit Plan, the audit on the implementation of the project-led organisation approach in the Institute took place in 2020 and that the final audit report contained one important and two very important recommendations that were accepted by the Institute; notes that the very important recommendations concern improvements to the Institute’s project management framework and underline the need to communicate the Institute’s project management approach as staff had not been following the guidelines; notes that the important recommendation calls on the Institute to analyse and consider enhancing its project management;










18.


Notes that the Court presented three observations on the legality and regularity of transactions, budgetary management and internal controls in 2019; notes that, regarding the first observation related to the assignment of tasks to external experts on the basis of pre-defined selection criteria, as set out in Article 36(3) of the Financial Regulation, the Institute examined the current processes and prepared a new call for expression of interest that takes into account the Court’s suggestion; notes that the second observation was related to the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance and that the Institute contacted the Commission’s Directorate-General for Budgets on the issue of presenting project-based funds in the annual budget; calls on the Institute to provide a coordinated approach to the Court on the way it intends to deal with that specific issue in the future in order to ensure that the Court’s finding is properly addressed; notes that the third observation concerned the fact that the authorising officer may, by delegation, put in place ex-post controls to detect errors and irregularities, but that the Institute has not carried out such ex-post controls; notes that the actions taken by the Institute to address that observation were ongoing in 2020;










19.


Notes with concern the conclusion of the internal control assessment for the year 2020 that states that the internal control system is partially effective due to an issue in component 3, ‘control activities’, as the business continuity plan is obsolete, and that there has been a lack of business continuity testing since 2015; recalls the findings and recommendations of both the Commission’s Internal Audit Service and the Court and calls on the Institute to reflect those findings in the assessment of the internal control system, if not already done; welcomes the mitigating measures taken by the Institute and calls on the Institute to keep the discharge authority informed about the progress made; notes with concern that the Institute has not carried out any ex post controls of operations and budgetary implementation since September 2016;





COVID-19 response and business continuity







20.


Notes that the Institute reprioritised and reorganised its activities to mitigate the risks on business continuity and staff well-being posed by the COVID-19 pandemic; notes that the measures taken, such as teleworking, reinforced security for remote access, the introduction of digital workflows and e-signature, have been reported in the amended 2020–2022 single programming document;










21.


Appreciates the fact that the Institute supported Member States during the COVID-19 pandemic in their effort to tackle violence against women and that, in 2020, it launched a webpage on the impact of COVID-19 on gender equality and produced 63 publications with the aim of assisting policymakers in delivering on gender equality;





Other comments







22.


Acknowledges that in 2020 a new director took office; acknowledges that a new vice-president of the Institute’s management board was also elected;










23.


Notes the Institute’s efforts to ensure a cost-effective and environmentally friendly workplace; welcomes the fact that the Institute nominated a green officer to work on reducing the impact of its operations on the environment; encourages the Institute to share its challenges and lessons learned in the EU Agencies Network; notes the Institute’s improvement on disseminating the results of its research to the public and to reach out to the public via social media and other outlets;










24.


Calls for buildings to be modernised in order to meet zero-emission standards, in particular by installing solar panels on all buildings belonging to the Institute;










25.


Recalls the importance of increasing the digitalisation of the Institute in terms of internal operation and management and the importance of speeding up the digitalisation of procedures; stresses the need for the Institute to continue to be proactive in that regard in order to avoid a digital gap between Union agencies at all costs; draws attention, however, to the need to take all the necessary security measures to avoid any risk to the online security of the information processed; calls on the Institute to develop its cybersecurity policy more quickly and to deliver it without delay;










26.


Refers, for other observations of a cross-cutting nature accompanying its decision on discharge, to its resolution of 4 May 2022 (5) on the performance, financial management and control of the agencies.







          
      



(1)  
            OJ C 114, 31.3.2021, p. 135.

(2)  https://eige.europa.eu/gender-equality-index/2021

(3)  Statement of revenue and expenditure of the European Institute for Gender Equality for the financial year 2020 – amending budget No 1 (OJ C 114, 31.3.2021, p. 238).

(4)  Directive 2008/104/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 November 2008 on temporary agency work (OJ L 327, 5.12.2008, p. 9).

(5)  Texts adopted, P9_TA(2022)0196.