EN C 417/20 Official Journal of the European Union 11 12 2019 2 6 Concerning Frontex, the Agency managed financing agreements with cooperating countries for operational activities amounting to 171 million euros (189 million euros in 2017), representing 59 % of the AgencyŐs 2018 budget A new simplified financing scheme was introduced covering human resources expenditure declared under such financing agreements In late 2018, the Agency also introduced a new ex-post control system covering all types of expenditure, and modified its system of ex-ante checks embedded in the financial circuits The Court will assess the impact of these developments in coming audits However, the reimbursement of equipment-related expenditure (some 35 % of total expenditure for operational activities or some 60 million euros) is still based on actual cost A pilot project in 2018 to also move to unit cost-based reimbursements for this type of costs has, so far, been unsuccessful in its current form The Court has consistently reported since 2014 that proof of equipment-related cost claimed by cooperating countries is often insufficient, which was again confirmed by this yearŐs audit results FrontexŐs ex ante verifications of these costs are ineffective as long as reimbursements of costs which are not substantiated by supporting documents are continued In addition, as in the previous year, Frontex did not carry out any ex post verifications, further increasing the risk of unjustified cost reimbursements 2 7 Concerning the accounts of the SRB, we point out that administrative appeals or judicial proceedings related to Fund contributions between some credit institutions and national resolution authorities and the Board as well as legal actions brought before the Court of Justice related to decisions on the adoption of resolution schemes were not subject to our audit Their possible impact on the BoardŐs financial statements for the financial year ended 31 December 2018 (in particular on contingent liabilities, provisions and liabilities) is subject to a specific annual audit and audit results will be published by 1 December 2019, as stipulated under Article 92(4) of the SRM Regulation ÔCleanŐ opinions on the legality and regularity of the revenue underlying all agenciesŐ accounts 2 8 For all agencies, we issued unqualified (ÔcleanŐ) audit opinions on the legality and regularity of the revenue underlying the annual accounts for the year ended 31 December 2018 In our opinion, revenue was legal and regular in all material respects ÔCleanŐ opinions on the legality and regularity of the payments underlying the agenciesŐ accounts, except for EASO 2 9 For 40 agencies, we issued unqualified (ÔcleanŐ) audit opinions on the legality and regularity of the payments underlying the annual accounts for the year ended 31 December 2018 In our opinion, payments were legal and regular in all material respects for these agencies 2 10 For EASO we issued a qualified opinion in relation to our findings reported for the financial years 2016 and 2017, when we had concluded that contracts on the provision of interim workers in Greece, travel services to the Office and rent for the OfficeŐs premises in Lesbos are irregular Payments made in 2018 under these contracts amounted to 3 405 970 euros (4 % of total 2018 payments) Overall, we conclude that the unsatisfactory situation reported for the year 2017 as regards the OfficeŐs governance and internal control arrangements and the legality and regularity of transactions is only slowly improving and that the corrective actions launched by the OfficeŐs management still need to be completed This is also reflected by the fact that the major procurement procedure carried out by the Office in 2018 (contract volume of some 50 million euros) was again irregular due to major weaknesses in the procedure There were no payments made yet under the related contracts in 2018 Other matter paragraphs address issues of specific importance (EASO, EBA, ECHA, EIOPA, ESMA, SRB and GSA) 2 11 Other matter paragraphs draw the readersŐ attention to particular matters of importance not directly linked to the understanding of the accounts 2 12 For EBA, EIOPA and ESMA we draw attention to the fact that their budgets are financed partly from European Union funds and partly through direct contributions from EU Member StatesŐ supervising authorities and/or supervised entities It is possible that the AuthoritiesŐ revenue will decrease in future as a result of the UKŐs decision to leave the EU 2 13 Furthermore, as identified by ESMA already fees charged to credit rating agencies are based on their revenue as legal entities, but not as a group or group of related entities This creates a quasi-legitimate opportunity to reduce or avoid fees by transferring revenues from credit rating agencies under EU jurisdiction to their related entities outside the EU The likely financial effect of this loophole in the regulations is unknown The Authority correctly applied the Regulation, identified the risk and addressed it to the Commission 
SK C 417/20 Úradný vestník Európskej únie 11 12 2019 2.6. Pokiaľ ide o Frontex, agentúra spravovala sumu vo výške 171 mil. EUR (189 mil. EUR v roku 2017), čo predstavuje 59 % rozpočtu agentúry na rok 2018, v rámci dohôd o financovaní podpísaných so spolupracujúcimi krajinami a týkajúcich sa operačných činností.