Activites

• 2017/04/27 Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
  • T8-0160/2017 summary

    The European Parliament decided to grant discharge to the Executive Director of the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Training discharge in respect of the implementation of its budget for the financial year 2015. The vote on the decision on discharge covers the closure of the accounts (in accordance with Annex IV, 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 2015 are reliable and that the underlying transactions are legal and regular, Parliament adopted by 502 votes to 108 with 13 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. These recommendations may be summarised as follows: Agency’s financial statements: Parliament noted that the final budget of the Agency for the financial year 2015 was EUR 8 471 000, representing an increase of 1.22 % compared to 2014. Commitments and carry-overs: It noted that, following the signature of the grant agreement with the Commission on the EU/MENA Counter-Terrorism Training Partnership, a budget of EUR 2.5 million was agreed, out of which EUR 300 000 was inscribed in the Agency’s budget as assigned revenue in 2015 with the remaining EUR 2.2 million being transferred during 2016 and 2017. It requested a thorough evaluation of this project and its added value for the security of the Union, and if beneficial, requests the continuation and extension of the project in the coming years. Relocation of the Agency to Hungary: Parliament noted that the cost of the relocation from Bramshill, UK to Budapest, Hungary was estimated at approximately EUR 1 006 515, to be spent during 2014 and 2015. It noted moreover that in accordance with the agreement between the Commission and the UK, the amount of EUR 570 283 was financed with 50 % from the UK authorities and with 50 % from the Commission. It acknowledged the fact that the UK contribution to the relocation funds was inscribed in the Agency’s budget as assigned revenue, which was fully used. It welcomed the fact that the remaining relocation funds corresponding to 35 % of the final relocation budget were financed with the Agency’s budget by savings deriving from the lower correction coefficient applied to staff entitlements in Hungary. A number of staff members initiated a legal dispute against the Agency concerning the conditions in which the relocation had been carried out and its financial impact on their income. Members acknowledged that the final amount for the cost of relocation needs to cover the financial obligation arising from the Court’s judgement and invites the Agency to report on the outcome and the final financial figure of the relocation. Parliament also made a series of observations regarding budgetary and financial management, transfers, procurement and recruitment procedures, the prevention and management of conflicts of interests and internal audits and controls. On performance, Parliament stated that in 2015 the Agency’s training portfolio encompassed 151 training activities, including 85 residential activities and 66 webinars, 428 exchanges in the framework of the European Police Exchange Programme (EPEP), 24 online modules, one online course, and nine common curricula. It noted with satisfaction that for the fifth year in a row the outreach of the Agency has increased, resulting in the Agency training 12 992 law enforcement professionals in 2015 compared to 10 322 in 2014. Parliament welcomed that in 2015 the Agency organised webinars to provide law enforcement officials with up-to-date information and best practice on identifying and investigating hate crimes and different forms of gender-based violence, and offered trainings to raise awareness about the challenges experienced by Roma communities and LGBTI persons (such as over- and under-policing and the lack of trust towards members of the police force). Lastly, Parliament noted that, with regard to the Agency’s expanded responsibilities and increased mandate, the current resource levels are insufficient. There is a significant need for reinforcement in both human and financial resources. Therefore, the Commission is called upon to take this into account in its budget proposals for the Agency.

• 2017/04/26 Debate in Parliament
  • Debate in Parliament
• 2017/03/28 Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading
  • A8-0081/2017 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 Police College for the financial year 2015. The committee called on the European Parliament to grant the Director of the College discharge in respect of the implementation of the College’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 College 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 College’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: College’s financial statements: Members noted that the final budget of the European Police College for the financial year 2015 was EUR 8 471 000, representing an increase of 1.22 % compared to 2014. Commitments and carry-overs: Members noted that, following the signature of the grant agreement with the Commission on the EU/MENA Counter-Terrorism Training Partnership, a budget of EUR 2.5 million was agreed, out of which EUR 300 000 was inscribed in the College’s budget as assigned revenue in 2015 with the remaining EUR 2.2 million being transferred during 2016 and 2017. They requested a thorough evaluation of this project and its added value for the security of the Union, and if beneficial, requests the continuation and extension of the project in the coming years. Relocation of CEPOL to Hungary: Members noted that the cost of the relocation from Bramshill, UK to Budapest, Hungary was estimated at approximately EUR 1 006 515, to be spent during 2014 and 2015. They noted moreover that in accordance with the agreement between the Commission and the UK, the amount of EUR 570 283 was financed with 50 % from the UK authorities and with 50 % from the Commission. They acknowledged the fact that the UK contribution to the relocation funds was inscribed in the College’s budget as assigned revenue, which was fully used. They welcomed the fact that the remaining relocation funds corresponding to 35 % of the final relocation budget were financed with the College’s budget by savings deriving from the lower correction coefficient applied to staff entitlements in Hungary. A number of staff members initiated a legal dispute against the College concerning the conditions in which the relocation had been carried out and its financial impact on their income. Members acknowledged that the final amount for the cost of relocation needs to cover the financial obligation arising from the Court’s judgement and invites the College to report on the outcome and the final financial figure of the relocation. Members also made a series of observations regarding budgetary and financial management, transfers, procurement and recruitment procedures, the prevention and management of conflicts of interests and internal audits and controls. On performance, Members stated that in 2015 the College’s training portfolio encompassed 151 training activities, including 85 residential activities and 66 webinars, 428 exchanges in the framework of the European Police Exchange Programme (EPEP), 24 online modules, one online course, and nine common curricula. They noted with satisfaction that for the fifth year in a row the outreach of the College has increased, resulting in the College training 12 992 law enforcement professionals in 2015 compared to 10 322 in 2014. Lastly, Members noted that, with regard to the College’s expanded responsibilities and increased mandate, the current resource levels are insufficient. There is a significant need for reinforcement in both human and financial resources. Therefore, the Commission is called upon to take this into account in its budget proposals for the College.

• 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 Police College (CEPOL). 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 Police College (CEPOL), 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 CEPOL. CEPOL: CEPOL which is located in Budapest (HU) since October 2014 was established by Council Decision 2005/681/JHA. Its main task is to provide training sessions, based on common standards, for senior police officers. As regards CEPOL’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 9 million; -          paid: EUR 9 million; -          carried-over: 0. Payment appropriations: -          committed: EUR 10 million; -          paid: EUR 8 million; -          carried-over: EUR 2 million. For further details on expenditure, please refer to the final accounts of CEPOL.

  • 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: A8-0081/2017
• Debate in Parliament: Debate in Parliament
• Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading: T8-0160/2017

History

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