Activites

• 2017/04/26 Debate in Parliament
  • Debate in Parliament
• 2017/03/31 Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading
  • A8-0130/2017 summary

    The Committee on Budgetary Control adopted the report by Inés AYALA SENDER (S&D, ES) on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) for the financial year 2015. The committee called 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 2015. Noting that the Court of Auditors stated that it had obtained reasonable assurance that the annual accounts of the Agency for the financial year 2015 were reliable and that the underlying transactions were legal and regular, Members called 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 noted that the final budget of the Agency for the financial year 2015 was EUR 54 611 883, representing an increase of 4.21 % compared to 2014. Budget and financial management: Members took note that the Agency restructured its budget structure in 2014 with effect on budget 2015 to better support the business needs of the Agency. They observed that the second phase of the restructuring will have an effect on the budget in 2016 and invited the Agency to inform the discharge authority on the practical impact and efficiencies gained with the new budget structure. Members also made a series of observations regarding commitment and carry-overs, transfers, the prevention and management of conflicts of interests, procurement and recruitment procedures and internal audits and controls. The report stated that the Agency has cooperated extensively on the operational level, in the field of maritime monitoring, surveillance and information sharing, with other Union agencies and bodies (EFCA, Frontex, EU NAVFOR, MAOC-N), in order to capitalise on existing expertise and services in mutually beneficial ways. Since December 2014, the Agency has been hosting the Business Continuity Facility of the Fusion for Energy Joint Undertaking (F4E) in Madrid. It has continued cooperating with European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA) so that it can also use the Agency’s business continuity centre. Members acknowledged the fact that it has worked closely with European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) with a view to increasing effectiveness, efficiency and saving costs, given the geographical proximity of the agencies. Lastly, they highlighted the Agency’s contribution to maritime safety, the prevention of pollution from ships as well as from offshore installations for gas and oil exploitation in Europe, and the assistance provided to Member States and the Commission under international and Union law.

• 2017/03/22 Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
• 2016/10/04 Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
• 2016/07/11 Non-legislative basic document published
  • COM(2016)0475 summary

    PURPOSE: presentation by the Commission of the consolidated annual accounts of the European Union for the financial year 2015, as part of the 2015 discharge procedure. Analysis of the accounts of the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA). CONTENT: the organisational governance of the EU consists of institutions, agencies and other EU bodies whose expenditure is included in the general budget of the Union. The EU's operational expenditure of these institutions takes different forms, depending on how the money is paid out and managed. From 2014 onwards, the Commission classifies its expenditure as follows: Direct management: the budget is implemented directly by the Commission services. Indirect management: the Commission confers tasks of implementation of the budget to bodies of EU law or national law, such as the EU agencies. Shared management: under this method of budget implementation tasks are delegated to Member States. About 80 % of the expenditure falls under this management mode covering such areas as agricultural spending and structural actions. This Commission document concerns the EU's consolidated accounts for the year 2015 and details how spending by the EU institutions and bodies was carried out. The consolidated annual accounts of the EU provide financial information on the activities of the institutions, agencies and other bodies of the EU from an accrual accounting and budgetary perspective. It is the responsibility of the Commission's Accounting Officer to prepare the EU's consolidated annual accounts and ensure that they present fairly, in all material aspects, the financial position, the result of the operations and the cash flows of the EU institutions and bodies, including the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA), with a view to granting discharge. Discharge procedure: the final step of a budget lifecycle is the discharge of the budget for a given financial year. It represents the political aspect of the external control of budget implementation and is the decision by which the European Parliament, acting on a Council recommendation, "releases" the Commission (and other EU bodies) from its responsibility for management of a given budget by marking the end of that budget's existence. The European Parliament is the discharge authority within the EU. The discharge procedure may produce three outcomes: (i) the granting; (ii) postponement or; (iii) the refusal of the discharge. The final discharge report including specific recommendations to the Commission for action is adopted in plenary by the European Parliament and are subject to an annual follow up report in which the Commission outlines the concrete actions it has taken to implement the recommendations made. Each agency is subject to its own discharge procedure, including the EMSA. The European Maritime Safety Agency: the Agency, which is located in Lisbon (PT), was established by was set up by Regulation (EC) No 1406/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council. The Agency’s tasks are to prevent pollution by ships and provide the Commission and Member States with appropriate technical assistance. As regards the Agency’s accounts, these are presented in detail in the document on the consolidated annual accounts of the European Union for 2015: Commitment appropriations: -          committed: EUR 70 million; -          paid: EUR 64 million; -          carried-over: EUR 6 million. Payment appropriations: -          committed: EUR 70 million; -          paid: EUR 58 million; -          carried-over: EUR 10 million. For further details on expenditure, please refer to the final accounts of the EMSA.

  • DG {'url': 'http://ec.europa.eu/info/departments/budget_en', 'title': 'Budget'}, GEORGIEVA Kristalina

Documents

• Non-legislative basic document published: COM(2016)0475
• Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading: A8-0130/2017
• Debate in Parliament: Debate in Parliament

Amendments

Dossier

18

2016/2172(DEC) 2017/02/03 TRAN 5 amendments... Amendment 1 # Pavel TELIČKA, Dominique RIQUET, Jozo RADOŠ Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3. Welcomes the adoption by the Administrative Board of a Fraud prevention and detection strategy, based on the methodology and guidance of OLAF and on the Anti-fraud strategy of DG MOVE, and expects it to be fully and speedily implemented; Amendment 2 # Marie-Christine ARNAUTU Draft opinion Paragraph 6 6. Highlights the Agency’s contribution to maritime safety, the prevention of ship pollution in Europe, and the assistance provided to Member States and the Commission under international and Union law; welcomes and encourages the Agency collaboration with other European Agencies regarding the refugees crisis and reaffirms that the Agency has to be given the financial, material and human resources it needs in order to perform its tasks effectively, including when dealing with critically important activities outside its mandate, i.e. contribution with know- how, operational support and staff of the Agency to the refugee crisis; deplores the fact, however, that that support merely encourages illegals to cross over to the Union rather than being safely taken back to where their crossing started; Amendment 3 # Karima DELLI, Keith TAYLOR Draft opinion Paragraph 6 6. Highlights the Agency’s contribution to maritime safety, the prevention of ship pollution from ships as well as from offshore installations for gas and oil exploitation in Europe, and the assistance provided to Member States and the Commission under international and Union law; welcomes and encourages the Agency collaboration with other European Agencies regarding the refugees crisis and reaffirms that the Agency has to be given the financial, material and human resources it needs in order to perform its tasks effectively, including when dealing with critically important activities outside its mandate, i.e. contribution with know- how, operational support and staff of the Agency to the refugee crisis; Amendment 4 # Marie-Christine ARNAUTU Draft opinion Paragraph 7 7. Notes the results of the second benchmarking exercise on the Agency's posts, with 21,67% of the jobs dedicated to administrative support and coordination, 71,29% to operational tasks and 7,05% to control and financial tasks; regretswelcomes the fact that the continuous reduction of staffing level, while at the same times, at a time when tasks given to the Agency are increasing, is not having a detrimental effect on the quality of missions carried out; Amendment 5 # Jill SEYMOUR Draft opinion Paragraph 9 9. Acknowledges the progress of the Agency with regard to the publication on the Agency’s website of the CVs and declarations of interests of the Administrative Board members and alternates; regrets, however, that declarations of interest have not been provided by all members and alternates as it has been requested by the Parliament and recommended by the Court of Auditors; invites thereforesists that the Agency to publishes without delay all declarations of interests of the Administrative Board members and alternates and publishes the names of the Administrative Board members and alternates who have failed to submit their declarations of interest; source: 599.581 2017/03/06 CONT 13 amendments... Amendment 1 # Inés AYALA SENDER Proposal for a decision 1 1 Paragraph 1 1. Grants the Executive Director of the European Maritime Safety Agency discharge in respect of the implementation of the Agency’s budget for the financial year 2015 / Postpones its decision on granting the Executive Director of the European Maritime Safety Agency discharge in respect of the implementation of the Agency’s budget for the financial year 2015; Amendment 10 # Benedek JÁVOR Motion for a resolution Paragraph 10 10. Notes with concern that the Agency has not taken specific initiatives in order to increase transparency relating to its contacts with stakeholders and lobbyists; calls on the Agency to enact a proactive lobby transparency policy, to refuse meetings with unregistered lobbyists that fall within the scope of the Transparency Register, and to maintain a balance between economic and non-economic actors in their contacts with interest representatives; Amendment 11 # Barbara KAPPEL Motion for a resolution Paragraph 10 10. Notes with concern that the Agency has not taken specific initiatives in order to increase transparency relating to its contacts with stakeholders and lobbyists; points out that possible conflicts of interest in such contacts should be very closely scrutinised in order better to meet transparency and accountability requirements; Amendment 12 # Petri SARVAMAA Motion for a resolution Paragraph 14 14. Notes with concern a significant gender imbalance of 20 % / 80 % within the Agency’s Management Board members and alternate members; Amendment 13 # Benedek JÁVOR Motion for a resolution Paragraph 14 14. Notes with concern a significant gender imbalance in the Agency’s Management Board members; urges the Agency for this imbalance to be corrected and the results communicated to the Parliament as quickly as possible; Amendment 2 # Ryszard CZARNECKI, Raffaele FITTO, Notis MARIAS Proposal for a decision 1 Paragraph 1 1. Grants the Executive Director of the European Maritime Safety Agency discharge in respect of the implementation of the Agency’s budget for the financial year 2015 / Postpones its decision on granting the Executive Director of the European Maritime Safety Agency discharge in respect of the implementation of the Agency’s budget for the financial year 2015; Amendment 3 # Inés AYALA SENDER Proposal for a decision 2 2 Paragraph 1 1. Approves the closure of the accounts of the European Maritime Safety Agency for the financial year 2015 / Postpones the closure of the accounts of the European Maritime Safety Agency for the financial year 2015; Amendment 4 # Ryszard CZARNECKI, Notis MARIAS, Notis MARIAS Proposal for a decision 2 Paragraph 1 1. Approves the closure of the accounts of the European Maritime Safety Agency for the financial year 2015 / Postpones the closure of the accounts of the European Maritime Safety Agency for the financial year 2015; Amendment 5 # Benedek JÁVOR Motion for a resolution Recital B a (new) B a. whereas in the context of the discharge procedure, Parliament stresses the special importance of further strengthening the democratic legitimacy of the institutions of the Union by improving transparency and accountability, implementing the concept of performance based budgeting and good governance of human resources; Amendment 6 # Petri SARVAMAA Motion for a resolution Paragraph 3 3. Acknowledges the fact that according to the Court of Auditors' annual audit, as well as to the Agency’s annual accounts report, no notable issues as regards the level of carryovers in 2015 were identified; observes that out of the total amount carried forward from 2014 to 2015 (EUR 35 987 101), 46 % were consumed, 50 % remained as “open amount” (amount due, not yet paid) and 4% of the total has been cancelled; points outnotes that carryovers aremay often be partly or fully justified by the multiannual nature of the agencies’ operational programmes, and do not necessarily indicate weaknesses in budget planning and implementation nor are they always at odds with the budgetary principle of annuality, in particular if they are planned in advance by the Agency and communicated to the Court; Amendment 7 # Benedek JÁVOR Motion for a resolution Paragraph 8 8. Notes with concern that the declarations of interest of its Administrative Board members are not published on its website and that the Agency has not foreseen any check or update of the declarations of interest of its management board members; calls on the Agency to publish such documents with no exceptions, introduce the regular checks and updates of its management board members' declarations of interest and allows the public the necessary overview on its senior management; Amendment 8 # Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ Motion for a resolution Paragraph 8 8. Notes with concern that the declarations of interest of its Administrative Board members are not published on its website and that the Agency has not foreseen any check or update of the declarations of interest of its management board members; encourages the Agency to remedy the situation; Amendment 9 # Barbara KAPPEL Motion for a resolution Paragraph 8 8. Notes with concern that the declarations of interest of its Administrative Board members are not published on its website and that the Agency has not foreseen any check or update of the declarations of interest of its management board members; regrets that declarations of conflicts of interest of management board members are outstanding; notes that this practice does not further transparency and the declarations should therefore be published without delay; source: 600.884

History

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