The Committee on Budgetary Control adopted the report by Petri SARVAMAA (EPP, FI) in which it recommended the European Parliament to grant discharge to the Executive Director of the European Chemicals Agency in respect of the implementation of the Agency’s budget for the financial year 2012.

Noting that the Court of Auditors stated that it has obtained reasonable assurances that the annual accounts of the Agency for the financial year 2012 are reliable, and that the underlying transactions are legal and regular, Members approved the closure of the Agency’s accounts. They made, however, a number of recommendations that needed to be taken into account when the discharge is granted, in addition to the general recommendations that appear in the draft resolution on performance, financial management and control of EU agencies.

• Budget and financial management: Members noted that the budget implementation rates for the year 2012 were satisfactory but the rate of committed appropriations carried over was high due to the multiannual nature of significant IT development projects and the start of two new activities, Biocides and PIC in the second half of 2012. Members recalled that the Agency received Union subsidies of EUR 4.2 million from the Commission, as well as a pre-financing sum of EUR 500 000 from DG Environment as contractual compensation for undertaking preparatory activities for the Regulation on Biocide Products and IPA pre-financing amounting to EUR 0.2 million.

Members also made a series of observations on transfers, procurement and recruitment procedures as well as comments on internal controls.

Lastly, they acknowledged that the Agency will include information and statistics on the management of conflicts of interests in its 2013 annual activity report.

PURPOSE: presentation by the Commission of the consolidated annual accounts of the European Union for the financial year 2012, as part of the 2012 discharge procedure.

Analysis of the accounts of the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA).

CONTENT: this Commission document sets out the consolidated annual accounts of the European Union for the financial year 2012 as prepared on the basis of the information presented by the institutions, organisations and bodies of the EU, in accordance with Article 129 (2) of the Financial Regulation applicable to the EU's General Budget, including the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA).

In 2012, the tasks and budget of this agency were as follows:

description of ECHA's tasks: ECHA, located in Helsinki, was set up by Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council and its main tasks are to : (i) help businesses comply with the legislation in force; (ii) promote the safe use of chemicals; (iii) provide information on chemicals; (iv) assess hazardous substances;

ECHA's budget for the 2012 financial year: the Agency’s budget for 2012, as presented in the Commission document on the consolidated annual accounts of the European Union, gives the following figures:

§         Commitment appropriations :

- committed : EUR 99 million;

- paid : EUR 96 million;

- carried-over : 0.

§         Payment appropriations :

- committed : EUR 113 million;

- paid : EUR 94 million;

- carried-over : EUR 15 million.

Please refer also to the final accounts of the ECHA.