BETA

Procedure completed, awaiting publication in Official Journal



2014/2139(DEC) 2013 discharge: performance, financial management and control of EU agencies
RoleCommitteeRapporteurShadows
Opinion AFCO
Opinion AFET
Opinion AGRI
Opinion BUDG
Lead CONT CZARNECKI Ryszard (ECR) ZDECHOVSKÝ Tomáš (EPP), VAUGHAN Derek (S&D), ALI Nedzhmi (ALDE), DE JONG Dennis (GUE/NGL), JÁVOR Benedek (Verts/ALE), VALLI Marco (EFD)
Opinion CULT
Opinion DEVE
Opinion ECON
Opinion EMPL HARKIN Marian (ALDE)
Opinion ENVI
Opinion FEMM
Opinion IMCO
Opinion INTA
Opinion ITRE
Opinion JURI
Opinion LIBE GUILLAUME Sylvie (S&D)
Opinion PECH
Opinion PETI
Opinion REGI
Opinion TRAN
Lead committee dossier: CONT/8/01688

Activites

  • 2015/04/29 Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
    • T8-0130/2015
  • 2015/04/28 Debate in Parliament
  • 2015/03/30 Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading
    • A8-0070/2015 summary
  • 2015/03/23 Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
  • 2014/10/23 Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
  • 2013/07/26 Non-legislative basic document published
    • COM(2013)0570
    • DG {'url': 'http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/budget/', 'title': 'Budget'}, GEORGIEVA Kristalina

Documents

  • Non-legislative basic document published: COM(2013)0570
  • Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading: A8-0070/2015
  • Debate in Parliament: Debate in Parliament
  • Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading: T8-0130/2015
AmendmentsDossier
49 2014/2139(DEC)
2014/12/10 EMPL 5 amendments...
source: 544.287
2015/01/13 LIBE 1 amendments...
source: 541.436
2015/03/06 CONT 43 amendments...
source: 541.338

History

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

activities/5/docs/0/text
  • The European Parliament adopted by 597 votes to 83, with 10 abstentions, a resolution on the discharge of the implementation of the budget of the European Union agencies for the financial year 2013: performance, financial management and control.

    Role of the agencies: Parliament reiterated the importance of the tasks performed by agencies and their direct impact on the daily lives of Union citizens, the autonomy of the agencies, in particular of the regulatory agencies and those with the function of independent information collection. It recalled that the main reason for establishing agencies was for the purpose of making independent technical or scientific assessments. The role of the decentralised agencies is to help the Commission implement Union policies on behalf of the Union itself and to improve their communication policies to ensure agencies communicate effectively with citizens.

    Parliament recalled that there had been a substantial increase in the number of agencies over the last decade, from three in 2000 to 32 in 2013 and that the high number of agencies that had been set up in the area of freedom, security and justice but reiterated that all the new agencies responded to a specific need.

    Increasing budget: Parliament noted that the agencies’ 2013 budget amounted to some EUR 2 billion, representing an increase of 25% compared to 2012 and about 1.4% of the Union’s general budget. The agencies employed around 6 500 permanent and temporary officials.

    It recalled that the reputational risk related to the agencies is high for the Union, as they had significant influence on policy and decision making.

    The resolution noted a high level of cancellations of carry-overs from previous years and stated that such carry-overs indicate that the appropriations carried over were made on the basis of over-estimated needs or were otherwise not justified.

    In this regard, Parliament called upon the agencies to do everything in their power, especially to implement better budgetary planning processes, to prevent future carry-overs, in particular concentrating on those agencies that cancelled carry-overs from previous year.

    Human resources management: Parliament noted that the Commission adopted in July 2013 a Communication to establish a programming of human and financial resources for decentralised agencies for the 2014-2020 period, with a view to ensuring compatibility of resources with the constraints set in this regard by the multiannual financial framework 2014-2020. It ascertained from the Network that most of the agencies have already implemented, although with great difficulty, the requested staff reduction of 5% in their respective multiannual staff policy plans. It regretted the fact that the Commission has created an additional redeployment pool of 5% of the staff, thus effectively imposing additional cuts to the agencies' establishment plans and going beyond the agreed 5% target. Parliament stated that some agencies are already facing serious difficulties in fulfilling their mandates with the limited resources at their disposal. It will be difficult for the agencies to provide the same level of quality of work if this process of additional staff reductions continues as the Union is entrusting an increasing number of tasks and responsibilities to them.

    It urged the Commission to review its plan regarding the additional staff reductions and to adapt it according to the workload and resource demands of each agency. It recalled its position on the budgetary procedure that staff financed by fees paid by industry, and consequently not financed by the Union budget, should not be affected by the 1% yearly cut applied by the Union. It considered that the Commission should treat agencies financed primarily by the Union budget as a separate case and put forward a specific framework for agencies financed mainly by industry, which should be in proportion to the services provided by the agency concerned.

    Common approach and Commission roadmap: Parliament recalled that in July 2012, Parliament, the Council and the Commission adopted a Common Approach on decentralised agencies, a political agreement concerning the future management and reform of the agencies. It welcomed the Commission's 'Roadmap on the follow-up to the Common Approach on EU decentralised agencies' containing a detailed plan of how to perform the follow-up to the Common Approach, its agenda for 2013 and beyond, as well as the efforts made jointly by the Commission and the decentralised agencies (in terms of internal audits and controls and the fight against fraud). The completion rate of the agency-relevant roadmap actions was 96%.

    Parliament observed, however, that 10 agencies still did not have a headquarter agreement. It exhorted these agencies to tackle the issue effectively. It also wanted a serious assessment to evaluate the possibility of merging agencies, not only to avoid wasting resources but also to create a critical mass that made the agencies truly effective. It welcomed the services offered by the Commission to rationalise the functioning of the agencies and avoid pointless expenditure.

    Other recommendations: Parliament made a series of recommendations on technical issues regarding:

    • management of budgetary resources, stressing the principle of annuality and regretting the high level of commitments carried over by most of the agencies (24 out of 32);
    • cooperation among agencies and shared services and synergies, expressing doubts about the geographical locations of agencies, many of which were located far away from the other European institutions, which damages their efficiency. Members welcomed increasing synergies and shared services;
    • performance, welcoming positive developments that stressed effectiveness and results achieved;
    • management of human resources, pointing to the recurring problems on recruitment procedures, where improvements must be made;
    • conflicts of interests and transparency, welcoming the “Guidelines on the prevention and management of conflicts of interest in EU decentralised agencies" but regretting the lack of guidelines for seconded national experts, and external and interim staff;
    • the lack of visibility and democratic accountability of the agencies, as they were seen to be vulnerable in respect of external influences from specialist lobbyists, in particular from those representing big business. Members also referred to the issues of multilingualism, noting that few applied multilingual policies apart from the Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union;
    • internal controls, with certain agencies not applying the rules fully.

    Lastly, Parliament stressed that a solution must be found to the problem of budgetary surpluses, and the possibility of re-allocating the money to the Union budget should be explored.

activities/5
date
2015-04-29T00:00:00
docs
type: Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading title: T8-0130/2015
body
EP
type
Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
procedure/stage_reached
Old
Awaiting Parliament 1st reading / single reading / budget 1st stage
New
Procedure completed, awaiting publication in Official Journal
activities/1/committees/4/shadows
  • group: EPP name: ZDECHOVSKÝ Tomáš
  • group: S&D name: VAUGHAN Derek
  • group: ALDE name: ALI Nedzhmi
  • group: GUE/NGL name: DE JONG Dennis
  • group: Verts/ALE name: JÁVOR Benedek
  • group: EFD name: VALLI Marco
activities/2
date
2015-03-23T00:00:00
body
EP
type
Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
committees
activities/2/committees
  • body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Constitutional Affairs committee: AFCO
  • body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Foreign Affairs committee: AFET
  • body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Agriculture and Rural Development committee: AGRI
  • body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Budgets committee: BUDG
  • body: EP shadows: group: EPP name: ZDECHOVSKÝ Tomáš group: S&D name: VAUGHAN Derek group: ALDE name: ALI Nedzhmi group: GUE/NGL name: DE JONG Dennis group: Verts/ALE name: JÁVOR Benedek group: EFD name: VALLI Marco responsible: True committee: CONT date: 2014-10-21T00:00:00 committee_full: Budgetary Control rapporteur: group: ECR name: CZARNECKI Ryszard
  • body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Culture and Education committee: CULT
  • body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Development committee: DEVE
  • body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Economic and Monetary Affairs committee: ECON
  • body: EP responsible: False committee: EMPL date: 2014-11-03T00:00:00 committee_full: Employment and Social Affairs rapporteur: group: ALDE name: HARKIN Marian
  • body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Environment, Public Health and Food Safety committee: ENVI
  • body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Women’s Rights and Gender Equality committee: FEMM
  • body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Internal Market and Consumer Protection committee: IMCO
  • body: EP responsible: False committee_full: International Trade committee: INTA
  • body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Industry, Research and Energy committee: ITRE
  • body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Legal Affairs committee: JURI
  • body: EP responsible: False committee: LIBE date: 2014-11-10T00:00:00 committee_full: Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs rapporteur: group: S&D name: GUILLAUME Sylvie
  • body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Fisheries committee: PECH
  • body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Petitions committee: PETI
  • body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Regional Development committee: REGI
  • body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Transport and Tourism committee: TRAN
activities/2/date
Old
2015-04-29T00:00:00
New
2015-03-23T00:00:00
activities/2/type
Old
Vote in plenary scheduled
New
Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
activities/4/docs
  • url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?secondRef=TOC&language=EN&reference=20150428&type=CRE type: Debate in Parliament title: Debate in Parliament
activities/4/type
Old
Debate scheduled
New
Debate in Parliament
committees/4/shadows
  • group: EPP name: ZDECHOVSKÝ Tomáš
  • group: S&D name: VAUGHAN Derek
  • group: ALDE name: ALI Nedzhmi
  • group: GUE/NGL name: DE JONG Dennis
  • group: Verts/ALE name: JÁVOR Benedek
  • group: EFD name: VALLI Marco
activities/4/type
Old
Debate in plenary scheduled
New
Debate scheduled
activities/3/docs/0/text
  • The Committee on Budgetary Control adopted the report by Ryszard CZARNECKI (ECR, PL) on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Union agencies for the financial year 2013: performance, financial management and control.

    Members began by recalling that there had been a substantial increase in the number of agencies over the last decade, from three in 2000 to 32 in 2013. They reiterated the importance of the tasks performed by agencies and their direct impact on the daily lives of Union citizens, and acknowledged the role of the agencies in supporting Union policies.

    They recognised the high number of agencies that had been set up in the area of freedom, security and justice but reiterated that all the new agencies responded to a specific need.

    Increasing budget: Members noted that the agencies’ 2013 budget amounted to some EUR 2 billion, representing an increase of 25 % compared to 2012 and about 1.4 % of the Union’s general budget. The agencies employed around 6 500 permanent and temporary officials.

    Members recalled that the reputational risk related to the agencies is high for the Union, as they had significant influence on policy and decision making.

    Common approach and Commission roadmap: the committee recalled that in July 2012, Parliament, the Council and the Commission adopted a Common Approach on decentralised agencies, a political agreement concerning the future management and reform of the agencies. It welcomed the Commission's 'Roadmap on the follow-up to the Common Approach on EU decentralised agencies' containing a detailed plan of how to perform the follow-up to the Common Approach, its agenda for 2013 and beyond, as well as the efforts made jointly by the Commission and the decentralised agencies (in terms of internal audits and controls and the fight against fraud).

    The completion rate of the agency-relevant roadmap actions was 96 %.

    Members observed, however, that 10 agencies still did not have a headquarter agreement. They exhorted these agencies to tackle the issue effectively. They also wanted a serious assessment to evaluate the possibility of merging agencies, not only to avoid wasting resources but also to create a critical mass that made the agencies truly effective. They welcomed the services offered by the Commission to rationalise the functioning of the agencies and avoid pointless expenditure.

    Other recommendations: Members made a series of recommendations on technical issues regarding:

    ·         management of budgetary resources, stressing the principle of annuality and regretting the high level of commitments carried over by most of the agencies (24 out of 32);

    ·         cooperation among agencies and shared services and synergies, expressing doubts about the geographical locations of agencies, many of which were located far away from the other European institutions, which damages their efficiency. Members welcomed increasing synergies and shared services;

    ·         performance, welcoming positive developments that stressed effectiveness and results achieved;

    ·         management of human resources, pointing to the recurring problems on recruitment procedures, where improvements must be made;

    ·         conflicts of interests and transparency, welcoming the “Guidelines on the prevention and management of conflicts of interest in EU decentralised agencies" but regretting the lack of guidelines for seconded national experts, and external and interim staff;

    ·         the lack of visibility and democratic accountability of the agencies, as they were seen to be vulnerable in respect of external influences from specialist lobbyists, in particular from those representing big business. Members also referred to the issues of multilingualism, noting that few applied multilingual policies apart from the Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union;

    ·         internal controls, with certain agencies not applying the rules fully.

    Lastly, Members stressed that a solution must be found to the problem of budgetary surpluses, and the possibility of re-allocating the money to the Union budget should be explored.

activities/5
date
2015-04-29T00:00:00
body
EP
type
Vote in plenary scheduled
activities/3/docs
  • url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=REPORT&mode=XML&reference=A8-2015-0070&language=EN type: Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading title: A8-0070/2015
activities/3
date
2015-03-30T00:00:00
body
EP
type
Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading
procedure/stage_reached
Old
Awaiting committee decision
New
Awaiting Parliament 1st reading / single reading / budget 1st stage
activities/2
date
2015-03-23T00:00:00
body
EP
type
Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
committees
activities/2
date
2015-03-23T00:00:00
body
EP
type
Vote scheduled in committee, 1st reading/single reading
activities/3/type
Old
Indicative plenary sitting date, 1st reading/single reading
New
Debate in plenary scheduled
activities/0/docs/0/celexid
CELEX:52013DC0570:EN
activities/2/date
Old
2015-03-24T00:00:00
New
2015-03-23T00:00:00
activities/0/docs/0/celexid
CELEX:52013DC0570:EN
activities/0/commission/0
DG
Commissioner
GEORGIEVA Kristalina
other/0
body
EC
dg
commissioner
GEORGIEVA Kristalina
activities/1/committees/15/date
2014-11-10T00:00:00
activities/1/committees/15/rapporteur
  • group: S&D name: GUILLAUME Sylvie
committees/15/date
2014-11-10T00:00:00
committees/15/rapporteur
  • group: S&D name: GUILLAUME Sylvie
activities
  • date: 2013-07-26T00:00:00 docs: url: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/smartapi/cgi/sga_doc?smartapi!celexplus!prod!DocNumber&lg=EN&type_doc=COMfinal&an_doc=2013&nu_doc=0570 celexid: CELEX:52013DC0570:EN type: Non-legislative basic document published title: COM(2013)0570 body: EC type: Non-legislative basic document published commission:
  • date: 2014-10-23T00:00:00 body: EP type: Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading committees: body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Constitutional Affairs committee: AFCO body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Foreign Affairs committee: AFET body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Agriculture and Rural Development committee: AGRI body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Budgets committee: BUDG body: EP responsible: True committee: CONT date: 2014-10-21T00:00:00 committee_full: Budgetary Control rapporteur: group: ECR name: CZARNECKI Ryszard body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Culture and Education committee: CULT body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Development committee: DEVE body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Economic and Monetary Affairs committee: ECON body: EP responsible: False committee: EMPL date: 2014-11-03T00:00:00 committee_full: Employment and Social Affairs rapporteur: group: ALDE name: HARKIN Marian body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Environment, Public Health and Food Safety committee: ENVI body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Women’s Rights and Gender Equality committee: FEMM body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Internal Market and Consumer Protection committee: IMCO body: EP responsible: False committee_full: International Trade committee: INTA body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Industry, Research and Energy committee: ITRE body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Legal Affairs committee: JURI body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs committee: LIBE body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Fisheries committee: PECH body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Petitions committee: PETI body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Regional Development committee: REGI body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Transport and Tourism committee: TRAN
  • date: 2015-03-24T00:00:00 body: EP type: Vote scheduled in committee, 1st reading/single reading
  • date: 2015-04-28T00:00:00 body: EP type: Indicative plenary sitting date, 1st reading/single reading
committees
  • body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Constitutional Affairs committee: AFCO
  • body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Foreign Affairs committee: AFET
  • body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Agriculture and Rural Development committee: AGRI
  • body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Budgets committee: BUDG
  • body: EP responsible: True committee: CONT date: 2014-10-21T00:00:00 committee_full: Budgetary Control rapporteur: group: ECR name: CZARNECKI Ryszard
  • body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Culture and Education committee: CULT
  • body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Development committee: DEVE
  • body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Economic and Monetary Affairs committee: ECON
  • body: EP responsible: False committee: EMPL date: 2014-11-03T00:00:00 committee_full: Employment and Social Affairs rapporteur: group: ALDE name: HARKIN Marian
  • body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Environment, Public Health and Food Safety committee: ENVI
  • body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Women’s Rights and Gender Equality committee: FEMM
  • body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Internal Market and Consumer Protection committee: IMCO
  • body: EP responsible: False committee_full: International Trade committee: INTA
  • body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Industry, Research and Energy committee: ITRE
  • body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Legal Affairs committee: JURI
  • body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs committee: LIBE
  • body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Fisheries committee: PECH
  • body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Petitions committee: PETI
  • body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Regional Development committee: REGI
  • body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Transport and Tourism committee: TRAN
links
other
    procedure
    dossier_of_the_committee
    CONT/8/01688
    reference
    2014/2139(DEC)
    title
    2013 discharge: performance, financial management and control of EU agencies
    stage_reached
    Awaiting committee decision
    Modified legal basis
    Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament EP 150
    type
    DEC - Discharge procedure
    subject
    8.70.03.03 2013 discharge