PURPOSE: to grant discharge to the European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA) for the financial year 2014.

NON LEGISLATIVE ACT: Decision (EU) 2016/1519 of the European Parliament on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Fisheries Control Agency for the financial year 2014.

CONTENT: with the present decision, the European Parliament grants discharge to the Executive Director of the European Fisheries Control Agency 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 called on the Agency to enhance its procedures and practices aimed at safeguarding the financial interests of the Union and to actively contribute to a results-oriented discharge process.

The European Parliament decided to grant discharge to the Executive Directive of the European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA) in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Fisheries Control Agency for the financial year 2014. The vote on the discharge decision covers the closure of the accounts (in accordance with Annex V, Article 5(1)(a) to its Rules of Procedure).

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, Parliament adopted by 509 votes to 125, with 4 abstentions, a resolution containing 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 : Parliament noted that the final budget of the Agency for the financial year 2014 was EUR 9 217 150 and the entire budget of the Agency derives from the Union budget. Budget and financial management : Parliament noted budget monitoring efforts during the financial year 2014 resulted in a budget implementation rate of 99.09 %, attaining the Agency's target and representing an increase of 0.45 % compared to 2013.

Parliament also made a series of observations regarding commitments and carryovers, prevention and management of conflicts of interest, internal audit and the Agency’s performance.

Parliament noted the efforts made by the Agency in order to train Union inspectors, Member States and third countries officials. This has led to a considerable rise in the number of trained officials participating in inspections coordinated by the Agency within the framework of joint development plans. Moreover, it noted that there was an increase in such inspections to around 12 700, with more than 700 suspected infringements detected during 2014 .

It acknowledged the important contribution to the implementation of the objectives of the reformed common fisheries policy made by the Agency. It welcomed the Agency's close engagement with the Member States to organise the monitoring of the landing obligation by improving the control and surveillance of fisheries activities.

Lastly, Parliament recalled the importance of strengthening the Agency's mandate so as to put in place joint operational activities with other Union agencies in the maritime sector in order to prevent disasters at sea and to coordinate the functions of European coastguards.

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 Fisheries Control Agency 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 Agency for the financial year 2014 was EUR 9 217 150 and the entire budget of the Agency derives from the Union budget.

· Budget and financial management: Members note budget monitoring efforts during the financial year 2014 resulted in a budget implementation rate of 99.09 %, attaining the Agency's target and representing an increase of 0.45 % compared to 2013.

Members also made a series of observations regarding commitments and carryovers, prevention and management of conflicts of interest, internal audit and the Agency’s performance.

They note the efforts made by the Agency in order to train Union inspectors, Member States and third countries officials. This has led to a considerable rise in the number of trained officials participating in inspections coordinated by the Agency within the framework of joint development plans. Moreover, they note that there was an increase in such inspections to around 12 700, with more than 700 suspected infringements detected during 2014 .

Lastly, they acknowledge the important contribution to implementation of the objectives of the reformed common fisheries policy made by the Agency. They welcome the Agency's close engagement with the Member States to organise the monitoring of the landing obligation by improving the control and surveillance of fisheries activities.

Having examined the revenue and expenditure accounts for the financial year 2014 and the balance sheet at 31 December 2013 of the European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA), 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 implementation of the budget of the Agency is such as to allow a discharge to be given in respect of that implementation. The Council welcomed that the observations in the Court of Auditors' report in relation to the financial year 2014 do not call for any comments.

PURPOSE: presentation of the EU Court of Auditors’ report on the annual accounts of the European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA) 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 Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA).

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 makes no observations on the budgetary and financial management of the Agency.

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

Budget : EUR 9.22 million in c ommitment appropriations and EUR 52.7 million in payment appropriations.

Activities :

operational Coordination : implementation of JDP (Joint Deployment Plan) for different species in the Eastern Channel and Western Waters (West of Scotland and the Irish Sea); the Baltic Sea and in the Mediterranean Sea and Eastern Atlantic, and in the Adriatic Sea; implementation of JDP (Joint Deployment Plan) for the fisheries of regulated species by the North-West Atlantic Fisheries Organisation (NAFO) area and North-East Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC) area, in Western Waters of the European Union and in the Black Sea; support to the preparation for the implementation of the landing obligation from January 2015 in the Baltic Sea, North Sea, Western Waters and Mediterranean Sea; capacity building : training of trainers and training of Union inspectors before their first deployment; operation, maintenance, enhancement and development of ICT monitoring capabilities : Vessel Monitoring System (VMS), Electronic Reporting System (ERS) Electronic Inspection Report system (EIR), Core Curricula Development Platform (DCCDP), Fishnet collaboration platform and JADE (planning and statistics system); organisation of workshops and seminars to exchange best practices between Member States in order to combat imports originating from illegal, unreported and unregulated fisheries (IUU).

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 Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA) – formerly known as the CFCA.

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 Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA).

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.

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

description of EFCA's tasks : the agency, which is located in Vigo (PT), was created by Council Regulation (EC) No 768/2005 and its main task is to organise the operational coordination of fisheries control and inspection activities by the Member States in order to ensure effective and uniform application of the rules of the common fisheries policy; EFCA'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 9 million;

- paid : EUR 9 million;

- carried-over : 0.

Payment appropriations :

- committed : EUR 11 million;

- paid : EUR 9 million;

- carried-over : EUR 1 million.

Please refer also to the final accounts of the EFCA .

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 Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA) – formerly known as the CFCA.

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 Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA).

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.

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

description of EFCA's tasks : the agency, which is located in Vigo (PT), was created by Council Regulation (EC) No 768/2005 and its main task is to organise the operational coordination of fisheries control and inspection activities by the Member States in order to ensure effective and uniform application of the rules of the common fisheries policy; EFCA'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 9 million;

- paid : EUR 9 million;

- carried-over : 0.

Payment appropriations :

- committed : EUR 11 million;

- paid : EUR 9 million;

- carried-over : EUR 1 million.

Please refer also to the final accounts of the EFCA .