Resolution (EU) 2023/1938 of the European Parliament of 10 May 2023 with observations forming an integral part of the decision on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) for the financial year 2021
Date: 2023-05-10
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, budgetary discharge, financial year, general budget (EU)








L_2023242EN.01045201.xml










29.9.2023   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


L 242/452








            RESOLUTION (EU) 2023/1938 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
         
of 10 May 2023
         
with observations forming an integral part of the decision on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) for the financial year 2021


THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT,







—


having regard to its decision on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights for the financial year 2021,










—


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










—


having regard to the opinion of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs,










—


having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgetary Control (A9-0141/2023),












A.


whereas, according to its statement of revenue and expenditure (1), the final budget of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (the ‘Agency’) for the financial year 2021 was EUR 24 860 491, representing an increase of 2,87 % compared to 2020; whereas the Agency’s budget derives almost exclusively from the Union budget;












B.


whereas the Court of Auditors (the ‘Court’), in its report on the annual accounts of the Agency for the financial year 2021 (the ‘Court’s report’), states that it has obtained reasonable assurance that the Agency’s annual accounts are reliable and that the underlying transactions are legal and regular;








Budget and financial management









1.


Notes with appreciation that budget monitoring efforts during the financial year 2021 resulted in a budget implementation rate of 100,00 %, the same rate as in 2020; notes that the payment appropriations execution rate was 70,95 %, representing a slight increase of 0,1 % compared to 2020;












2.


Notes that, according to the Court’s report, the Agency carried over EUR 7 million (27 %) of 2021 commitment appropriations to 2022, 96 % of which related to operational activities; highlights the Court’s renewed opinion that the high level of carry overs is indicative of structural issues in the Agency’s implementation of the budget and contradict the budgetary principle of annuality; notes that this is a recurring issue; acknowledges the Agency’s reply that the high carry overs mainly reflect the nature of the Agency’s core business, which includes activities that span several months or even extend beyond the end of year and that the level of the Agency’s outturn is above 99 %; welcomes the Agency’s efforts to improve its budget planning by establishing a monitoring tool on planned carry overs from one year to the next; calls on the Agency to keep monitoring its level of carry overs and improve its implementation cycles;












3.


Regrets that the Agency’s establishment plan has not been increased since 2017 and that the budget increase mainly reflected the indexation with the inflation rate and it was not commensurate with the increased workload and requests, particularly after the entry into force of Council Regulation (EU) 2022/555 (2), which amended Council Regulation (EC) No 168/2007 (3) (the ‘Founding Regulation’) to introduce new activities in the areas of justice and police cooperation; highlights the fact that, without adequate financial and staff resources, the Agency will not be able to carry out all the tasks assigned to it and fully implement its new mandate, creating a situation that could affect the quality of work that the Agency provides;





Performance









4.


Notes with satisfaction that the Agency uses a system of key performance indicators (KPIs) as part of its performance measurement; notes that a revision of the Agency’s performance measurement framework and KPIs was completed in 2021 to better align with the requirements and needs of programming documents and activity reports; commends the high rate of achievement against its KPIs in 2021, with the Agency exceeding almost all targets set per KPI; notes, in particular, an outstanding performance regarding the number of research output produced, input delivered and output accessed, and the stakeholders’ satisfaction in relation to the Agency’s events;












5.


Welcomes the Agency’s initiatives to create synergies with other justice and home affairs (JHA) agencies in a number of fields, including digitalisation and the implementation of the European Green Deal; notes with appreciation the Agency’s active contribution to a total of 60 activities in the JHA area in 2021; welcomes the Agency’s decision to participate in various joint procurement procedures, such as on the assessment of management skills; notes in particular the Agency’s cooperation with Eurojust in agreeing on a list of concrete actions in areas of common interest (e.g. European Arrest Warrant) to be implemented in 2021–2022; further notes that the Agency signed in 2021 working agreements or memorandums of understanding with Europol, CEPOL, Eurojust and EIGE; welcomes the fundamental rights support offered by the Agency to projects related to AI and biometrics, led by the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) and Europol;












6.


Notes that the Agency contributed to a total of around 60 activities in the JHA area, including 24 in the area of migration, asylum and border management, and 16 in the area of internal security and serious and organised crime; stresses the support provided by the Agency to projects related to AI and biometrics, led by Europol and Frontex, and considers that the Agency’s recommendations should be taken into account;












7.


Welcomes the support provided by the Agency to Frontex in the establishment and recruitment of Frontex’s fundamental rights monitors (FRMs) and deputy fundamental rights officer; highlights the fact that the Agency continued its engagement with Frontex, with the Agency’s director taking part in Frontex management board meetings; further welcomes the active role played by the Agency in the training of the Frontex FRMs; recalls that, throughout 2021, the Agency provided support from a fundamental rights perspective to projects related to AI and biometrics, led by Europol and Frontex;





Staff policy









8.


Notes that, on 31 December 2021, the establishment plan was 93 % executed, with 67 temporary agents appointed out of 72 temporary agents authorised under the Union budget (the same number of authorised posts as in 2020); notes that, in addition, 30,1 contract agents (FTEs) and 6 seconded national experts (FTEs) worked for the Agency in 2021;












9.


Notes with satisfaction the gender balance among the Agency’s senior management members, with 3 men (50 %) and 3 women (50 %) at management board level, with 37 out of 64 members (58 %) being women, and within the Agency’s overall staff, with 49 out of 96 members (51 %) being women;












10.


Acknowledges the Agency’s ongoing work in developing a long-term perspective human resources framework on the basis of the outcome of three key exercises regarding a competency framework, a workload assessment and a well-being survey; welcomes, in that context, the establishment of the Agency’s new human resources management plan; calls on the Agency to finalise the remaining phases (competency assessment and gap analysis of the workforce) in order to introduce a competency-based talent management system;












11.


Welcomes the adoption of SYSPER by the Agency in 2021; notes with appreciation that the Agency has implemented 9 modules and is working towards implementing 3 more, intending to adopt additional modules from the basic and optional packages;












12.


Notes that no burnout cases were reported by the Agency in 2021; welcomes the measures taken by the Agency to support staff wellbeing, such as providing psychological support services to staff or having a medical advisor in house once per week;





Procurement









13.


Notes that in 2021 the Agency launched eight procurement procedures, three open and five negotiated, and signed 546 contracts, three of which were direct contracts representing a total of EUR 2 768 596, 480 of which were specific contracts or order forms against framework contracts for a total of EUR 9 564 632, and 63 of which were low-value contracts equal to EUR 269 428;












14.


Notes with appreciation that the Agency makes use of eNotices, eTendering and eSubmission in its procurement procedures; encourages the Agency to continue the digitalisation of its procurement procedures and welcomes the efforts of the Agency towards the implementation of the PPMT tool;





Prevention and management of conflicts of interest and transparency









15.


Welcomes the Agency’s existing measures and its ongoing efforts in relation to securing transparency, prevention and management of conflicts of interest, and regarding whistleblower protection; welcomes the actions taken by the Agency in 2021 with regards to developing specific work instructions specifying the workflow of internal whistleblowing and its subsequent communication about these rules to staff members; notes that in 2021 the Agency revised its practical guide on management and prevention of conflict of interests for staff; further notes that no cases of conflicts of interest and whistleblowing were reported in 2021; commends the Agency for having introduced its own rules to deal with the lack of provisions in Union legislation governing the activities of the members of its board;












16.


Notes with appreciation that the CVs and declarations of interest of almost all management board members and scientific committee members have been published on the Agency’s website; notes, however, that the Agency has not published the CVs of the management team members and in-house experts; notes nevertheless that the Agency publishes a short biographic description of the management team members and in-house experts; calls on the Agency to publish the remaining CVs and declarations of interests and welcomes the measures already taken to mitigate the risks;





Internal control









17.


Notes that in 2021 the Agency performed an ex post control exercise on a sample of transactions performed during the first months of the pandemic in 2020; notes the Agency’s conclusion that the activity revealed two potential minor mistakes and resulted in some formal remarks but no critical issues were identified; welcomes that in 2021 the Agency adopted an updated version of its anti-fraud strategy based on a specific risk assessment, which includes fraud prevention training, raising awareness of staff through information sessions and fraud risk assessments;












18.


Notes that the Agency performed in 2021 an assessment of the level of implementation of its new internal control framework; notes the Agency’s conclusion that all components of the system are present and functioning, with some improvements needed to principles 3, 4, 5 and 14; notes, regarding principles 3 and 5, that the update of the job descriptions for all staff was successfully completed in 2022, with their alignment to the Commission’s SYSPER template; notes, regarding principle 4, that the competency framework is under implementation and calls on the Agency to accelerate its actions in order to finalise the outsourcing of an integrated internal communication policy (principle 14);












19.


Notes, regarding the Agency’s process of registration and authorisation of exceptions, that four exceptions were registered in 2021 for an overall value of transactions of over EUR 5 000 none of which, according to the Agency’s assessment, had a financial impact;





Digitalisation and the green transition









20.


Acknowledges the Agency’s ongoing efforts to ensure a cost-effective and environmentally friendly working place; notes the Agency’s commitment to undertake an assessment on how to reduce its environmental footprint while considering the situation of the current premises;












21.


Notes that the Agency adopted cloud services (linked to telephony, video and web conferencing, online collaboration and document management) between 2020 and 2021, thereby digitising the internal financial and other workflows; commends the adoption of the Mission Processing System (MiPS), which contributes to the digitalisation efforts of the Agency and the optimisation of human and financial resources, including by replacing paper-based workflows while offering better reporting capabilities to its staff and its human resources function; further commends the Agency’s ongoing actions to ensure cyber security, as well as the new measures implemented in 2021, such as the use of two-factor authentication, geolocation connection monitoring, and installing latest product updates; encourages the Agency to work in close cooperation with ENISA (European Union Agency for Cybersecurity) and CERT-EU (Computer Emergency Response Team for the Union Institutions, bodies and agencies) and to carry out regular risk assessments of its IT infrastructure and to ensure regular audits and tests are carried out on its cyber defences;





Business continuity during the COVID-19 crisis









22.


Notes that the business continuity plan remained active in 2021 and that the Agency conducted all its meetings and events virtually; underlines that, as a consequence, out of a total of 29 planned training activities, only 13 actually took place, using online solutions, representing a low implementation rate of 45 %; further notes that, to facilitate the decision-making process in the absence of in-person meetings, a series of Management Board decisions were taken in the form of written procedures; observes that, with regard to recruitment, the Agency made use of videoconferencing technologies for candidate interviews;












23.


Notes that during 2021 the Agency performed a specific risk assessment on all 2021 projects, taking into account the risks related to the COVID-19 pandemic; commends the Agency in that context for having identified mitigating actions the implementation of which prevented major impacts on the finalisation of the planned project activities; underlines that the 2021 Fundamental Rights Forum, as the flagship event on the state of fundamental rights within the Union, was organised in a hybrid format; encourages the Agency to put the lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic into practice in order to better organise meetings, events and interviews that could be carried out more efficiently remotely than in-person in the future;





Other comments









24.


Notes the Agency’s continuous work to increase its public visibility and online presence, with a number of initiatives such as the e-media toolkit on migration, the e-learning tool on the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and the fundamental rights podcast; notes, in particular, that a total of 798 participating organisations from all Member States and candidate countries participated in the Agency’s Fundamental Rights Platform in 2021 and that it brought together over 3 000 people from all over the world; highlights the fact that the Agency continued to be the Union agency with the highest number of publication orders; notes that references to the Agency in the media increased by 35 %;












25.


Refers, for other observations of a cross-cutting nature accompanying its decision on discharge, to its resolution of 10 May 2023 (4) on the performance, financial management and control of the agencies.







(1)  
            OJ C 141, 29.3.2022, p. 60.

(2)  Council Regulation (EU) 2022/555 of 5 April 2022 amending Regulation (EC) No 168/2007 establishing a European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (OJ L 108, 7.4.2022, p. 1).

(3)  Council Regulation (EC) No 168/2007 of 15 February 2007 establishing a European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (OJ L 53, 22.2.2007, p. 1).

(4)  Texts adopted, P9_TA(2023)0190.