PURPOSE: to grant discharge to the European Union Agency for Network and Information Security (ENISA) for the financial year 2014.

NON LEGISLATIVE ACT: Decision (EU) 2016/1543 of the European Parliament on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Union Agency for Network and Information Security for the financial year 2014.

CONTENT: with the present decision, the European Parliament grants discharge to the Executive Director of the European Union Agency for Network and Information Security for the implementation of its budget for the financial year 2014.

This decision is in line with the European Parliament's resolution adopted on 28 April 2016 and comprises a series of observations that form an integral part of the discharge decision (please refer to the summary of the opinion of 28 April 2016).

Amongst Parliament’s main observations in the resolution accompanying the discharge decision, the latter stated that the rent for the offices in Athens is paid by the Greek authorities. It expressed concern about the constant late payment of rent, which continued in 2014 and 2015 and which presents significant reputational, financial and business-continuity risks for the Agency . It urged the Commission, the Agency and the Greek authorities to find a solution for this issue.

The European Parliament decided to grant discharge to the Executive Director of the European Union Agency for Network and Information Security (ENISA) in respect of the implementation of its budget for the financial year 2014. The vote on the decision on discharge covers the closure of the accounts (in accordance with Annex V, Article 5 (1)(a) to Parliament’s Rules of Procedure.

Noting that the Court of Auditors has stated that it has obtained reasonable assurances that the Agency’s annual accounts for the financial year 2014 are reliable and that the underlying transactions are legal and regular, Parliament adopted by 472 votes to 162 with 9 abstentions, a resolution containing a series of recommendations, which form an integral part of the decision on discharge and which add to the general recommendations set out in the resolution on performance, financial management and control of EU agencies:

Agency’s financial statements : Parliament noted the final budget of the European Union Agency for Network and Information Security for the financial year 2014 was EUR 9 708 297, representing an increase of 0.39 % compared to 2013. Commitments and carryovers : Parliament noted that the total amount of committed appropriations carried over to 2015 amounted to EUR 1 332 421 (15 % of total appropriations). Noting considerable carryovers, Members highlighted that these related to investments in IT infrastructure ordered as planned near the year end for the Agency’s two offices.

Parliament also made a series of observations regarding payment transfers, as well as contract award, recruitment and internal audit and control procedures.

It acknowledged that the Agency adopted internal policies in order to improve cost effectiveness and the environmental friendliness of its facilities and that an important step towards satisfying both requirements was the adoption of a “paperless” platform serving as workflow and storage of internal documents . Thus the Agency has practically eliminated all paper-based workflows, including financial transactions and human resources files and documents, and replaced them with electronic documents and workflows in an effort to achieve a paperless office environment.

It acknowledged that, as a follow up from the 2013 discharge of the Agency, according to the lease agreement between the Greek authorities, the Agency and the landlord, rent for the offices in Athens is paid by the Greek authorities . It is concerned by the constant late payment of rent, which continued in 2014 and 2015 and which presents significant reputational, financial and business-continuity risks for the Agency. It urged the Commission, the Agency and the Greek authorities to find a solution for this issue in order to reduce significantly the risks to which the Agency is exposed.

The Committee on Budgetary Control adopted the report by Derek VAUGHAN (S&D, UK) on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Union Agency for Network and Information Security for the financial year 2014.

The parliamentary committee calls on the European Parliament to grant the Executive Director of the Agency discharge in respect of the implementation of the agency’s budget for the financial year 2014.

Noting that the Court of Auditors issued a statement of assurance as to the reliability of the accounts and the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions for the financial year 2014, Members call on Parliament to approve 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 :

Agency’s financial statements: Members note the final budget of the European Union Agency for Network and Information Security for the financial year 2014 was EUR 9 708 297, representing an increase of 0.39 % compared to 2013. Commitments and carryovers: Members note that the total amount of committed appropriations carried over to 2015 amounted to EUR 1 332 421 (15 % of total appropriations). Noting considerable carryovers, Members highlighted that these related to investments in IT infrastructure ordered as planned near the year end for the Agency’s two offices.

Members also made a series of observations regarding payment transfers, as well as contract award, recruitment and internal audit and control procedures.

Members acknowledge that the Agency adopted internal policies in order to improve cost effectiveness and the environmental friendliness of its facilities and that an important step towards satisfying both requirements was the adoption of a “paperless” platform serving as workflow and storage of internal documents . Thus the Agency has practically eliminated all paper-based workflows, including financial transactions and human resources files and documents, and replaced them with electronic documents and workflows in an effort to achieve a paperless office environment.

They acknowledge that, as a follow up from the 2013 discharge of the Agency, according to the lease agreement between the Greek authorities, the Agency and the landlord, rent for the offices in Athens is paid by the Greek authorities . They are concerned by the constant late payment of rent, which continued in 2014 and 2015 and which presents significant reputational, financial and business-continuity risks for the Agency. They urge the Commission, the Agency and the Greek authorities to find a solution for this issue in order to reduce significantly the risks to which the Agency is exposed.

Having examined the revenue and expenditure accounts for the financial year 2014 and the balance sheet as at 31 December 2014 of the European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA), as well as the Court of Auditors' report on the annual accounts of the Agency for the financial year 2014, accompanied by the Agency's replies to the Court's observations, the Council recommended the European Parliament to give a discharge to the Executive Director of the Agency in respect of the implementation of the budget for the financial year 2014.

The Council welcomed the Court's opinion that, in all material respects, the Agency's annual accounts present fairly its financial position as at 31 December 2014 and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the year then ended, in accordance with the provisions of the Agency's Financial Regulation, and that the underlying transactions for 2014 are legal and regular in all material respects.

Nevertheless, the Council has made some observations which may be summarised as follows:

financial programming : the Council called on the Agency to continue improving its financial programming and monitoring of the budget implementation, in order to reduce the level of commitments carried over to the following year to the strict minimum, in line with the budgetary principle of annuality.

PURPOSE: presentation of the EU Court of Auditors’ report on the annual accounts of the European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA) for the year 2014, together with the Agency’s reply.

CONTENT: in accordance with the tasks conferred on the Court of Auditors by the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the Court presents to the European Parliament and to the Council, in the context of the discharge procedure, a Statement of Assurance as to the reliability of the annual accounts of each institution, body or agency of the EU, and the legality and regularity of the transactions underlying them, on the basis of an independent external audit.

This audit concerned, amongst others, the annual accounts of the European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA).

Statement of assurance : pursuant to the provisions of Article 287 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), the Court has audited:

the annual accounts of the Agency, which comprise the financial statements and the reports on the implementation of the budget for the financial year ended 31 December 2014, and the legality and regularity of the transactions underlying those accounts.

Opinion on the reliability of the accounts : in the Court’s opinion, the Agency’s annual accounts present fairly, in all material respects, its financial position as at 31 December 2014 and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the year then ended, in accordance with the provisions of its Financial Regulation and the accounting rules adopted by the Commission’s accounting officer.

Opinion on the legality and regularity of the transactions underlying the accounts : in the Court’s opinion, the transactions underlying the annual accounts for the year ended 31 December 2014 are legal and regular in all material respects.

The report also makes a series of observations on the budgetary and financial management of the Agency, accompanied by the latter’s response. The main observations may be summarised as follows:

The Court’s observations :

budgetary management : the Court noted that the committed appropriations carried over to 2015 amount to EUR 1.3 million, i.e. 15 % of total appropriations concerned mainly administrative expenditure. These were linked to investments in IT infrastructure ordered as planned near the year-end for the Agency’s two offices.

The Agency’s reply : the Agency noted that the high level of committed appropriations is explained by the EUR 500 000 carry-over in order to finance furniture and networking equipment for the Athens office which was ordered towards the year-end.

Lastly, the Court of Auditors’ report contains a summary of the Agency’s activities in 2014 . This is focused on the following:

Budget : EUR 9.7 million of which the Union subsidy is 94 %.

Activities :

support EU policy building : during 2014, ENISA provided support for the policy marking process by making available to policy makers consolidated information on the emerging threat landscape and by formulating key messages to the Member States on how to ensure that their policies and capabilities are aligned with EU objectives; support capacity building : a number of activities aimed at supporting ENISA’s key stakeholders in developing new operational and policy capabilities to address the various challenges in cybersecurity and to extend existing capabilities were carried out during 2014. ENISA’s activities carried out within this work stream were aimed at raising the level of security across Member States and the private sector by collecting and disseminating good practice for public and private sectors and for the European citizen in general; support cooperation : in 2014, ENISA supported cooperation by continuing to build trust, bridging the gap between the products and services offered in the market and their needs, and continuously updating the information provided to those implementing NIS policy. Another means to support cooperation covered in 2014 addressed the development of tools to facilitate and improve the international communication and interchange of security-relevant information within communities sharing the same interest in different Member States.

PURPOSE: presentation by the Commission of the consolidated annual accounts of the European Union for the financial year 2014, as part of the 2014 discharge procedure.

Analysis of the accounts of the European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA) .

CONTENT: this Commission document sets out the consolidated annual accounts of the European Union for the financial year 2014 as prepared on the basis of the information presented by the institutions, organisations and bodies of the EU, in accordance with Article 148 (2) of the Financial Regulation applicable to the EU's General Budget, including the European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA).

The document contains the figures on which the discharge procedure is based.

On this basis, the Financial Controller of the European Commission ensures the certification of the consolidated accounts as declared by the institutions, agencies and bodies of the European Union.

Discharge procedure of the EU agencies : the EU Budget finances a wide range of policies and programmes throughout the EU. In accordance with the priorities set by the European Parliament and the Council in the multi-annual financial framework (MFF), the European Commission carries out specific programmes, activities and projects in the field with the technical support of some specialised agencies.

The consolidated annual accounts of the EU provide information on the activities of the institutions, agencies and other bodies of the EU from a budgetary and accrual accounting perspective.

The consolidated reports on the implementation of the general budget of the EU include the budget implementation of all Institutions. Agencies do not have a separate budget inside the EU budget ; and they are partially financed by a Commission budget subsidy.

This document sets out how the Agencies spent and implemented their budget in 2014. Each agency is subject to its own discharge procedure.

ENISA : in 2014, the tasks and budget of this agency were as follows:

description of the Agency's tasks : ENISA, which is located in Heraklion, Greece, was established under Regulation 460/2004/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council. Its main task is to enhance the Community's capability to prevent and respond to network and information security problems by building on national and Community efforts; ENISA's budget for the 2014 financial year : the Agency’s budget for 2014, as presented in the Commission document on the consolidated annual accounts of the European Union, gives the following figures:

Commitment appropriations :

- committed : EUR 10 million;

- paid : EUR 10 million;

- carried-over : EUR 1 million.

Payment appropriations :

- committed : EUR 11 million;

- paid : EUR 10 million;

- carried-over : EUR 1 million.

Please refer also to the final accounts of the ENISA .

PURPOSE: presentation by the Commission of the consolidated annual accounts of the European Union for the financial year 2014, as part of the 2014 discharge procedure.

Analysis of the accounts of the European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA) .

CONTENT: this Commission document sets out the consolidated annual accounts of the European Union for the financial year 2014 as prepared on the basis of the information presented by the institutions, organisations and bodies of the EU, in accordance with Article 148 (2) of the Financial Regulation applicable to the EU's General Budget, including the European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA).

The document contains the figures on which the discharge procedure is based.

On this basis, the Financial Controller of the European Commission ensures the certification of the consolidated accounts as declared by the institutions, agencies and bodies of the European Union.

Discharge procedure of the EU agencies : the EU Budget finances a wide range of policies and programmes throughout the EU. In accordance with the priorities set by the European Parliament and the Council in the multi-annual financial framework (MFF), the European Commission carries out specific programmes, activities and projects in the field with the technical support of some specialised agencies.

The consolidated annual accounts of the EU provide information on the activities of the institutions, agencies and other bodies of the EU from a budgetary and accrual accounting perspective.

The consolidated reports on the implementation of the general budget of the EU include the budget implementation of all Institutions. Agencies do not have a separate budget inside the EU budget ; and they are partially financed by a Commission budget subsidy.

This document sets out how the Agencies spent and implemented their budget in 2014. Each agency is subject to its own discharge procedure.

ENISA : in 2014, the tasks and budget of this agency were as follows:

description of the Agency's tasks : ENISA, which is located in Heraklion, Greece, was established under Regulation 460/2004/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council. Its main task is to enhance the Community's capability to prevent and respond to network and information security problems by building on national and Community efforts; ENISA's budget for the 2014 financial year : the Agency’s budget for 2014, as presented in the Commission document on the consolidated annual accounts of the European Union, gives the following figures:

Commitment appropriations :

- committed : EUR 10 million;

- paid : EUR 10 million;

- carried-over : EUR 1 million.

Payment appropriations :

- committed : EUR 11 million;

- paid : EUR 10 million;

- carried-over : EUR 1 million.

Please refer also to the final accounts of the ENISA .