Activites

• 2014/04/03 Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
  • T7-0300/2014 summary

    The European Parliament adopted a decision concerning the discharge to be granted to the Director of the European Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators discharge in respect of the implementation of the Agency’s budget for the financial year 2012. The vote on the discharge decision approved the closure of the accounts (in accordance with Annex VI, Article 5(1) of the Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament. 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, Parliament adopted by 524 votes to 67, with 9 abstentions, a resolution containing a series of recommendations that form an integral part of the discharge decision and as well as the general recommendations that appear in the draft resolution on performance, financial management and control of EU agencies. These recommendations are summarised as follows: Legality and regularity: Parliament noted with concern that in order to cover higher school fees, the Agency grants staff whose children attend primary or secondary school a top-up allowance which amounted to some EUR 23 000 in 2012, in addition to the education allowances provided for in the Staff Regulations. For the Parliament, these allowances are not covered by the Staff Regulations and are, therefore, considered irregular even though they acknowledge that this situation is due to the lack of European Schools in the city where the Agency is based. Budget and financial management: Parliament noted that budget monitoring efforts during the financial year 2012 resulted in a budget implementation rate of 93.75% and that the payment appropriations execution rate was 66.8%. It regretted that the Agency carried over committed appropriations amounting to EUR 1.7 million, representing 81% of total committed appropriations relating mainly to the implementation of the REMIT regulation. It noted with concern that the Agency held EUR 4.2 million in cash at the end of the year, including the 2011 budget surplus of EUR 1.6 million resulting from an excessive call for funds in 2011. Parliament called on the Agency to report on its progress within the framework of the 2012 discharge follow-up. Performance: Parliament requested that the Agency communicate the results and impact its work has on European citizens in an accessible way, mainly through its website. It also made a series of observations on transfers, procurement and recruitment procedures as well as comments on internal controls. Lastly, Parliament acknowledged that the Agency is reviewing its policy on the prevention and management of conflicts of interests on the basis of the Commission's Guidelines on the Prevention and Management of Conflict of Interest in EU Decentralised Agencies. It called on the Agency to inform the discharge authority of the assessment results once available.

• 2014/04/02 Debate in Parliament
  • Debate in Parliament
• 2014/03/20 Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading
  • A7-0208/2014 summary

    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 Director of the European Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators discharge 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. Legality and regularity: Members noted with concern that in order to cover higher school fees, the Agency grants staff whose children attend primary or secondary school a top-up allowance which amounted to some EUR 23 000 in 2012, in addition to the education allowances provided for in the Staff Regulations. For Members, these allowances are not covered by the Staff Regulations and are, therefore, considered irregular even though they acknowledge that this situation is due to the lack of European Schools in the city where the Agency is based. Budget and financial management: Members noted that budget monitoring efforts during the financial year 2012 resulted in a budget implementation rate of 93.75% and that the payment appropriations execution rate was 66.8%. They regretted that the Agency carried over committed appropriations amounting to EUR 1.7 million, representing 81% of total committed appropriations relating mainly to the implementation of the REMIT regulation. They noted with concern that the Agency held EUR 4.2 million in cash at the end of the year, including the 2011 budget surplus of EUR 1.6 million resulting from an excessive call for funds in 2011. Members called on the Agency to report on its progress within the framework of the 2012 discharge follow-up. 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 is reviewing its policy on the prevention and management of conflicts of interests on the basis of the Commission's Guidelines on the Prevention and Management of Conflict of Interest in EU Decentralised Agencies. They called on the Agency to inform the discharge authority of the assessment results once available.

• 2014/03/17 Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
• 2013/10/22 Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
• 2013/07/26 Non-legislative basic document published
  • COM(2013)0570 summary

    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 Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER). 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 Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER). In 2012, the tasks and budget of this agency were as follows: description of ACER's tasks: ACER, which is located in Ljubljana, was set up by Regulation (EU) No 713/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council with a view to helping the Member States’ regulatory authorities in the areas of electricity and natural gas to carry out their regulatory tasks in line with the applicable Community texts, if necessary by coordinating their action. Its aim is to give an opinion on any of the issues relating to the purpose for which it has been established; ACER's budget for the 2012 financial year: ACER’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 7 million; - paid : EUR 7 million; - carried-over : 0. §         Payment appropriations : - committed : EUR 8 million; - paid : EUR 5 million; - carried-over : EUR 2 million. Please refer also to the final accounts of the Agency for cooperation of Energy Regulators.

  • DG {'url': 'http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/budget/', 'title': 'Budget'}, ŠEMETA Algirdas

Documents

• Non-legislative basic document published: COM(2013)0570
• Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading: A7-0208/2014
• Debate in Parliament: Debate in Parliament
• Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading: T7-0300/2014

Amendments

Dossier

14

2013/2240(DEC) 2014/02/25 CONT 14 amendments... Amendment 1 # Petri SARVAMAA Proposal for a decision 1 Paragraph 1 1. Grants the Director of the European Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators discharge in respect of the implementation of the Agency’s budget for the financial year 2012 / Postpones its decision on granting the Director of the European Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators discharge in respect of the implementation of the Agency’s budget for the financial year 2012; Amendment 10 # Monica MACOVEI Motion for a resolution Subheading 5 a (new) Prevention and management of conflicts of interests and transparency Amendment 11 # Monica MACOVEI Motion for a resolution Paragraph 9 a (new) 9a. Acknowledges that the Agency is reviewing its policy on the prevention and management of conflicts of interests based on the Commission's Guidelines on the Prevention and Management of Conflict of Interest in EU Decentralised Agencies; calls on the Agency to inform the discharge authority of the assessment results once available; Amendment 12 # Monica MACOVEI Motion for a resolution Paragraph 9 b (new) 9b. Observes that the CVs and Declarations of Interests of the Board of Regulators' members, the Executive Director, senior management and the experts participating in the Agency's expert groups, as well as the CVs of the Administrative Board and Board of Appeal's members are not publicly available; calls on the Agency to remedy the situation as a matter of urgency; Amendment 13 # Gerben-Jan GERBRANDY, Jan MULDER, Chris DAVIES Motion for a resolution Subheading 6 a (new) Performance Amendment 14 # Gerben-Jan GERBRANDY, Jan MULDER, Chris DAVIES Motion for a resolution Paragraph 10 a (new) 10a. Requests that the Agency communicate the results and impact its work has on European citizens in an accessible way, mainly through its website; Amendment 2 # Ryszard CZARNECKI, Marta ANDREASEN, Andrea ČEŠKOVÁ, Derk Jan EPPINK, Philip BRADBOURN Proposal for a decision 1 Paragraph 1 1. Grants the Director of the European Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators discharge in respect of the implementation of the Agency’s budget for the financial year 2012 / Postpones its decision on granting the Director of the European Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators discharge in respect of the implementation of the Agency’s budget for the financial year 2012; Amendment 3 # Karin KADENBACH Proposal for a decision 1 Paragraph 1 1. Grants the Director of the European Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators discharge in respect of the implementation of the Agency’s budget for the financial year 2012 / Postpones its decision on granting the Director of the European Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators discharge in respect of the implementation of the Agency’s budget for the financial year 2012; Amendment 4 # Ryszard CZARNECKI, Marta ANDREASEN, Andrea ČEŠKOVÁ, Derk Jan EPPINK, Philip BRADBOURN Proposal for a decision 2 Paragraph 1 1. Approves the closure of the accounts of the European Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators for the financial year 2012 / Postpones its decision on the closure of the accounts of the European Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators for the financial year 2012; Amendment 5 # Petri SARVAMAA Proposal for a decision 2 Paragraph 1 1. Approves the closure of the accounts of the European Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators for the financial year 2012 / Postpones its decision on the closure of the accounts of the European Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators for the financial year 2012; Amendment 6 # Karin KADENBACH Proposal for a decision 2 Paragraph 1 1. Approves the closure of the accounts of the European Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators for the financial year 2012 / Postpones its decision on the closure of the accounts of the European Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators for the financial year 2012; Amendment 7 # Elena BĂSESCU Motion for a resolution Citation 10 a (new) - having regard to the previous discharge reports of the Parliament, Amendment 8 # Monica MACOVEI Motion for a resolution Recital A A. whereas, according to its financial statements, the final budget of the European Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (‘"the Agency’") for the financial year 2012 was EUR 7 241 850, representing an increase of 51, 11 % compared to 2011; whereas the entire budget of the Agency derives from the Union budget, Amendment 9 # Ryszard CZARNECKI, Marta ANDREASEN, Andrea ČEŠKOVÁ, Derk Jan EPPINK, Philip BRADBOURN Motion for a resolution Paragraph 1 1. Notes from the Court of Auditors' report that regarding the three comments made in 2011, two corrective actions taken in response to the previous year's comments are still marked as 'ongoing' and one as 'completed'; source: PE-521.757

History

(these mark the time of scraping, not the official date of the change)