BETA


2017/2174(DEC) 2016 discharge: Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER)

Progress: Procedure completed

RoleCommitteeRapporteurShadows
Lead CONT STAES Bart (icon: Verts/ALE Verts/ALE) SARVAMAA Petri (icon: PPE PPE), LIBERADZKI Bogusław (icon: S&D S&D), MARIAS Notis (icon: ECR ECR), ALI Nedzhmi (icon: ALDE ALDE), VALLI Marco (icon: EFDD EFDD), KAPPEL Barbara (icon: ENF ENF)
Committee Opinion ITRE
Lead committee dossier:

Events

2018/10/03
   Final act published in Official Journal
Details

PURPOSE: to grant discharge to the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) for the financial year 2016.

NON-LEGISLATIVE ACT: Decision (EU) 2018/1340 of the European Parliament on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators for the financial year 2016.

CONTENT: the European Parliament decided to grant discharge to the Director of the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators discharge in respect of the implementation of the Agency's budget for the financial year 2016.

This decision is accompanied by a resolution of the European Parliament containing the observations which form an integral part of the discharge decision in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2016 ( please refer to the summary dated 18.4.2018 ).

In this resolution, Parliament recalled that , according to the Seat Agreement between the Agency and the Slovenian government, a European School is to be established in Slovenia. However, it regretted once again that more than four years after the agreement, no European School has been set up.

It acknowledged that the Agency continued in 2016 to implement its policies related to ethics and integrity, such as the policy on the prevention and management of conflicts of interest, as well as its anti-fraud and whistleblowing policies.

2018/04/18
   EP - Results of vote in Parliament
2018/04/18
   EP - Debate in Parliament
2018/04/18
   EP - Decision by Parliament
Details

The European Parliament decided to grant discharge to the Director of the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) in respect of the implementation of the Agency’s budget for the financial year 2016, and to approve the closure of the accounts for the financial year in question.

Noting that the Court of Auditors has stated that it has obtained reasonable assurances that the agency’s annual accounts for the financial year 2016 are reliable and that the underlying transactions are legal and regular , Parliament adopted by 558 votes to 131 with 5 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 : the final budget of the Agency for the financial year 2016 was EUR 15 872 582, representing an increase of 40.89 % compared to 2015. The increase was due to new additional tasks expanding its mandate, including the completion of the internal energy market. Budget and financial management : budget monitoring efforts during the financial year 2016 resulted in a budget implementation rate of 98.11 %, reaching the Agency’s planned target and representing an increase of 3.02 % compared to 2015. Commitments and carry-overs : the carry-overs for operational expenditure were very high at EUR 4.9 million (86 %) of its committed appropriations, compared to EUR 1.4 million (59 %) in 2015. Members noted from the Agency’s reply that the high level of carry-overs is due to the timing of the annual contractual cycle, which was established in 2013, when a substantial additional budget for the REMIT project was received by the Agency at the end of the year. The commitment appropriation for the financial year 2016 under the budget Chapter of REMIT expenditure was implemented at the maximum 100 % level. The resolution noted that the high share of cancelled carry-overs (9.8 %) could be considered a sign of inaccurate budget planning.

Members also made a series of observations regarding staff policy and internal controls. In particular, they welcomed the decision adopted in 2017 of the administrative board on preventing psychological and sexual harassment , and the decision to create a register of meetings of the Agency's Director with external actors. They noted that women accounted for 38% of staff and men for 62%.

Lastly, Parliament recalled that, according to the Seat Agreement between the Agency and the Slovenian government, a European School is to be established in Slovenia. It regretted however that, more than four years after the agreement, no European School has been set up.

Documents
2018/04/18
   EP - End of procedure in Parliament
2018/03/22
   EP - Committee report tabled for plenary
Details

The Committee on Budgetary Control adopted the report by Bart STAES (Greens/EFA, BE) on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) for the financial year 2016.

The committee called on the European Parliament to grant the Director of the Agency discharge in respect of the implementation of the Agency’s budget for the financial year 2016.

Noting that the Court of Auditors stated that it had obtained reasonable assurance that the annual accounts of the Agency for the financial year 2016 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 2016 was EUR 15 872 582, representing an increase of 40.89 % compared to 2015. The increase was due to new additional tasks expanding its mandate, including the completion of the internal energy market. Budget and financial management : Members noted that budget monitoring efforts during the financial year 2016 resulted in a budget implementation rate of 98.11 %, reaching the Agency’s planned target and representing an increase of 3.02 % compared to 2015. Commitments and carry-overs : the carry-overs for operational expenditure were very high at EUR 4.9 million (86 %) of its committed appropriations, compared to EUR 1.4 million (59 %) in 2015. Members noted from the Agency’s reply that the high level of carry-overs is due to the timing of the annual contractual cycle which was established in 2013, when a substantial additional budget for the REMIT project was received by the Agency at the end of the year. The commitment appropriation for the financial year 2016 under the budget Chapter of REMIT expenditure was implemented at the maximum 100 % level. The report noted that the high share of cancelled carry-overs (9.8 %) could be considered a sign of inaccurate budget planning.

Members also made a series of observations regarding staff policy and internal controls. In particular, they welcomed the decision adopted in 2017 of the administrative board on preventing psychological and sexual harassment.

Lastly, Members recalled that, according to the Seat Agreement between the Agency and the Slovenian government, a European School is to be established in Slovenia. They regretted however that, more than four years after the agreement, no European School has been set up.

Documents
2018/03/20
   EP - Vote in committee
2018/03/02
   EP - Amendments tabled in committee
Documents
2018/02/09
   CSL - Supplementary non-legislative basic document
Details

Having examined the revenue and expenditure accounts for the financial year 2016 and the balance sheet as at 31 December 2016 of the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER), as well as the Court of Auditors' report on the annual accounts of the Agency for the financial year 2016, accompanied by the Agency's replies to the Court's observations, the Council recommended the European Parliament to give a discharge to the Director of the Agency in respect of the implementation of the budget for the financial year 2016.

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 2016 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 2016 are legal and regular in all material respects.

Nevertheless, the following observation was made:

financial programming : the Council regretted that, again, a high level of commitment appropriations was carried over to 2017. It called on the Agency to continue improving its financial programming and monitoring of the budget implementation, and introducing, where appropriate, the use of differentiated budget appropriations in order to reduce the level of commitments carried over to the following financial year to the minimum strictly necessary.

Documents
2018/01/24
   EP - Committee draft report
Documents
2017/09/14
   EP - STAES Bart (Verts/ALE) appointed as rapporteur in CONT
2017/09/13
   EP - Committee referral announced in Parliament
2017/09/12
   CofA - Court of Auditors: opinion, report
Details

PURPOSE: presentation of the EU Court of Auditors’ report on the annual accounts of the Agency for Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) for the year 2016, 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 focused on the annual accounts of the Agency for Cooperation of Energy Regulators ( ACER ). As a reminder, the Agency's main task is to assist National Regulatory Authorities in exercising, at Union level, the regulatory tasks that they perform in the Member States and, where necessary, to coordinate their action.

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 Authority, which comprise the financial statements and the reports on the implementation of the budget for the financial year ended 31 December 2016; 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 2016 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 2016 are legal and regular in all material respects.

The report also made 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 : as regards operational expenditure, the Court stated that the Agency carried over EUR 4.9 million. These carry-overs were mainly related to the implementation of REMIT Regulation on wholesale energy market integrity and transparency. The increasing level of carry overs is a matter of concern.

The Agency’s reply :

budgetary management : the Agency acknowledges the high level of carried-over funds resulting from the multiannual nature of REMIT-related investments, which do not fit well with the budgetary principle of annuality. The high level of carry-overs is due to the timing of the annual contractual cycle which was established in 2013, when a substantial additional budget for the REMIT project was received by the Agency at the end of the year.

Lastly, the Court of Auditors’ report contained a summary of the Agency’s key figures in 2016 :

Budget : EUR 15.9 million. Staff : 103 including officials, temporary and contract staff and seconded national experts.

2017/06/26
   EC - Non-legislative basic document
Details

PURPOSE: presentation by the Commission of the consolidated annual accounts of the European Union for the financial year 2016, as part of the 2016 discharge procedure.

Analysis of the accounts of the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) .

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.

This Commission document concerns the EU's consolidated accounts for the year 2016 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 Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators ( ACER ), 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 ACER .

The Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) : the Agency, which is located in Ljubljana (SI), was set up by Regulation (EU) No 713/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council with a view to helping the Member States’ regulatory authorities in the areas of electricity and natural gas. Its aim is to give an opinion on any of the issues relating to the purpose for which it has been established.

Despite the fact that the Agency continued to struggle with resource constraints, it largely met its main objectives set out for 2016.

As regards the Agency’s accounts , these are presented in detail in the document on the consolidated annual accounts of the European Union for 2016:

Commitment appropriations :

available: EUR 16 million; made: EUR 16 million.

Payment appropriations :

available: EUR 18 million; paid: EUR 12 million.

For further details on expenditure, please refer to the final accounts of the ACER .

2017/06/25
   EC - Non-legislative basic document published
Details

PURPOSE: presentation by the Commission of the consolidated annual accounts of the European Union for the financial year 2016, as part of the 2016 discharge procedure.

Analysis of the accounts of the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) .

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.

This Commission document concerns the EU's consolidated accounts for the year 2016 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 Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators ( ACER ), 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 ACER .

The Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) : the Agency, which is located in Ljubljana (SI), was set up by Regulation (EU) No 713/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council with a view to helping the Member States’ regulatory authorities in the areas of electricity and natural gas. Its aim is to give an opinion on any of the issues relating to the purpose for which it has been established.

Despite the fact that the Agency continued to struggle with resource constraints, it largely met its main objectives set out for 2016.

As regards the Agency’s accounts , these are presented in detail in the document on the consolidated annual accounts of the European Union for 2016:

Commitment appropriations :

available: EUR 16 million; made: EUR 16 million.

Payment appropriations :

available: EUR 18 million; paid: EUR 12 million.

For further details on expenditure, please refer to the final accounts of the ACER .

Documents

Votes

A8-0074/2018 - Bart Staes - résolution 18/04/2018 12:53:00.000 #

2018/04/18 Outcome: +: 558, -: 131, 0: 5
DE IT ES FR RO CZ SE HU NL PT BG BE AT FI HR LT IE EL LV SI SK CY MT LU EE DK PL ?? GB
Total
87
64
48
69
28
18
20
18
25
20
16
19
17
13
11
10
10
21
7
7
11
6
6
5
5
12
48
1
70
icon: PPE PPE
199

Lithuania PPE

2

Cyprus PPE

1

Luxembourg PPE

3

Estonia PPE

For (1)

1

Denmark PPE

For (1)

1

United Kingdom PPE

2
icon: S&D S&D
178

Netherlands S&D

3

Croatia S&D

2

Ireland S&D

For (1)

1

Latvia S&D

1

Slovenia S&D

For (1)

1

Cyprus S&D

2

Malta S&D

3

Luxembourg S&D

For (1)

1

Denmark S&D

2
icon: ALDE ALDE
66

Romania ALDE

2

Portugal ALDE

1

Austria ALDE

For (1)

1

Croatia ALDE

2

Ireland ALDE

For (1)

1

Latvia ALDE

1

Slovenia ALDE

For (1)

1

Luxembourg ALDE

For (1)

1

Estonia ALDE

3

United Kingdom ALDE

1
icon: Verts/ALE Verts/ALE
50

Italy Verts/ALE

For (1)

1

Hungary Verts/ALE

For (1)

1

Netherlands Verts/ALE

2

Belgium Verts/ALE

2

Austria Verts/ALE

3

Finland Verts/ALE

For (1)

1

Croatia Verts/ALE

For (1)

1

Lithuania Verts/ALE

For (1)

1

Latvia Verts/ALE

1

Slovenia Verts/ALE

For (1)

1

Estonia Verts/ALE

For (1)

1

Denmark Verts/ALE

For (1)

1
icon: GUE/NGL GUE/NGL
47

Czechia GUE/NGL

1

Sweden GUE/NGL

For (1)

1

Netherlands GUE/NGL

3

Portugal GUE/NGL

For (1)

4

Finland GUE/NGL

For (1)

1

Ireland GUE/NGL

Against (1)

4

Cyprus GUE/NGL

2

Denmark GUE/NGL

Abstain (1)

1

United Kingdom GUE/NGL

1
icon: NI NI
18

France NI

Against (1)

2

Hungary NI

For (1)

3

Denmark NI

1

NI

For (1)

1

United Kingdom NI

3
icon: EFDD EFDD
39

Germany EFDD

Against (1)

1

France EFDD

3

Czechia EFDD

Against (1)

1

Sweden EFDD

2

Lithuania EFDD

For (1)

1

Poland EFDD

1
icon: ENF ENF
32

Germany ENF

Against (1)

1

Netherlands ENF

3

Belgium ENF

Against (1)

1

Austria ENF

3

Poland ENF

2

United Kingdom ENF

Against (1)

1
icon: ECR ECR
63

Italy ECR

2

Romania ECR

Against (1)

1

Czechia ECR

2

Netherlands ECR

2

Bulgaria ECR

2
3

Finland ECR

2

Croatia ECR

Against (1)

1

Lithuania ECR

Against (1)

1

Greece ECR

Against (1)

1

Slovakia ECR

2

Cyprus ECR

1
AmendmentsDossier
8 2017/2174(DEC)
2018/03/02 CONT 8 amendments...
source: 618.232

History

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

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  • date: 2017-09-12T00:00:00 docs: url: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=OJ:C:2017:417:TOC title: OJ C 417 06.12.2017, p. 0025 title: N8-0010/2018 summary: PURPOSE: presentation of the EU Court of Auditors’ report on the annual accounts of the Agency for Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) for the year 2016, 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 focused on the annual accounts of the Agency for Cooperation of Energy Regulators ( ACER ). As a reminder, the Agency's main task is to assist National Regulatory Authorities in exercising, at Union level, the regulatory tasks that they perform in the Member States and, where necessary, to coordinate their action. 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 Authority, which comprise the financial statements and the reports on the implementation of the budget for the financial year ended 31 December 2016; 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 2016 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 2016 are legal and regular in all material respects. The report also made 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 : as regards operational expenditure, the Court stated that the Agency carried over EUR 4.9 million. These carry-overs were mainly related to the implementation of REMIT Regulation on wholesale energy market integrity and transparency. The increasing level of carry overs is a matter of concern. The Agency’s reply : budgetary management : the Agency acknowledges the high level of carried-over funds resulting from the multiannual nature of REMIT-related investments, which do not fit well with the budgetary principle of annuality. The high level of carry-overs is due to the timing of the annual contractual cycle which was established in 2013, when a substantial additional budget for the REMIT project was received by the Agency at the end of the year. Lastly, the Court of Auditors’ report contained a summary of the Agency’s key figures in 2016 : Budget : EUR 15.9 million. Staff : 103 including officials, temporary and contract staff and seconded national experts. type: Court of Auditors: opinion, report body: CofA
  • date: 2018-01-24T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=COMPARL&mode=XML&language=EN&reference=PE613.468 title: PE613.468 type: Committee draft report body: EP
  • date: 2018-02-09T00:00:00 docs: url: http://register.consilium.europa.eu/content/out?lang=EN&typ=SET&i=ADV&RESULTSET=1&DOC_ID=5941%2F18&DOC_LANCD=EN&ROWSPP=25&NRROWS=500&ORDERBY=DOC_DATE+DESC title: 05941/2018 summary: Having examined the revenue and expenditure accounts for the financial year 2016 and the balance sheet as at 31 December 2016 of the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER), as well as the Court of Auditors' report on the annual accounts of the Agency for the financial year 2016, accompanied by the Agency's replies to the Court's observations, the Council recommended the European Parliament to give a discharge to the Director of the Agency in respect of the implementation of the budget for the financial year 2016. 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 2016 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 2016 are legal and regular in all material respects. Nevertheless, the following observation was made: financial programming : the Council regretted that, again, a high level of commitment appropriations was carried over to 2017. It called on the Agency to continue improving its financial programming and monitoring of the budget implementation, and introducing, where appropriate, the use of differentiated budget appropriations in order to reduce the level of commitments carried over to the following financial year to the minimum strictly necessary. type: Supplementary non-legislative basic document body: CSL
  • date: 2018-03-02T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=COMPARL&mode=XML&language=EN&reference=PE618.232 title: PE618.232 type: Amendments tabled in committee body: EP
events
  • date: 2017-06-26T00:00:00 type: Non-legislative basic document published body: EC docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/docs_autres_institutions/commission_europeenne/com/2017/0365/COM_COM(2017)0365_EN.pdf title: COM(2017)0365 url: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/smartapi/cgi/sga_doc?smartapi!celexplus!prod!DocNumber&lg=EN&type_doc=COMfinal&an_doc=2017&nu_doc=0365 title: EUR-Lex summary: PURPOSE: presentation by the Commission of the consolidated annual accounts of the European Union for the financial year 2016, as part of the 2016 discharge procedure. Analysis of the accounts of the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) . 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. This Commission document concerns the EU's consolidated accounts for the year 2016 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 Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators ( ACER ), 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 ACER . The Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) : the Agency, which is located in Ljubljana (SI), was set up by Regulation (EU) No 713/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council with a view to helping the Member States’ regulatory authorities in the areas of electricity and natural gas. Its aim is to give an opinion on any of the issues relating to the purpose for which it has been established. Despite the fact that the Agency continued to struggle with resource constraints, it largely met its main objectives set out for 2016. As regards the Agency’s accounts , these are presented in detail in the document on the consolidated annual accounts of the European Union for 2016: Commitment appropriations : available: EUR 16 million; made: EUR 16 million. Payment appropriations : available: EUR 18 million; paid: EUR 12 million. For further details on expenditure, please refer to the final accounts of the ACER .
  • date: 2017-09-13T00:00:00 type: Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading body: EP
  • date: 2018-03-20T00:00:00 type: Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading body: EP
  • date: 2018-03-22T00:00:00 type: Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading body: EP docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=REPORT&mode=XML&reference=A8-2018-0074&language=EN title: A8-0074/2018 summary: The Committee on Budgetary Control adopted the report by Bart STAES (Greens/EFA, BE) on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) for the financial year 2016. The committee called on the European Parliament to grant the Director of the Agency discharge in respect of the implementation of the Agency’s budget for the financial year 2016. Noting that the Court of Auditors stated that it had obtained reasonable assurance that the annual accounts of the Agency for the financial year 2016 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 2016 was EUR 15 872 582, representing an increase of 40.89 % compared to 2015. The increase was due to new additional tasks expanding its mandate, including the completion of the internal energy market. Budget and financial management : Members noted that budget monitoring efforts during the financial year 2016 resulted in a budget implementation rate of 98.11 %, reaching the Agency’s planned target and representing an increase of 3.02 % compared to 2015. Commitments and carry-overs : the carry-overs for operational expenditure were very high at EUR 4.9 million (86 %) of its committed appropriations, compared to EUR 1.4 million (59 %) in 2015. Members noted from the Agency’s reply that the high level of carry-overs is due to the timing of the annual contractual cycle which was established in 2013, when a substantial additional budget for the REMIT project was received by the Agency at the end of the year. The commitment appropriation for the financial year 2016 under the budget Chapter of REMIT expenditure was implemented at the maximum 100 % level. The report noted that the high share of cancelled carry-overs (9.8 %) could be considered a sign of inaccurate budget planning. Members also made a series of observations regarding staff policy and internal controls. In particular, they welcomed the decision adopted in 2017 of the administrative board on preventing psychological and sexual harassment. Lastly, Members recalled that, according to the Seat Agreement between the Agency and the Slovenian government, a European School is to be established in Slovenia. They regretted however that, more than four years after the agreement, no European School has been set up.
  • date: 2018-04-18T00:00:00 type: Results of vote in Parliament body: EP docs: url: https://oeil.secure.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/sda.do?id=30930&l=en title: Results of vote in Parliament
  • date: 2018-04-18T00:00:00 type: Debate in Parliament body: EP docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?secondRef=TOC&language=EN&reference=20180418&type=CRE title: Debate in Parliament
  • date: 2018-04-18T00:00:00 type: Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading body: EP docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&language=EN&reference=P8-TA-2018-0134 title: T8-0134/2018 summary: The European Parliament decided to grant discharge to the Director of the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) in respect of the implementation of the Agency’s budget for the financial year 2016, and to approve the closure of the accounts for the financial year in question. Noting that the Court of Auditors has stated that it has obtained reasonable assurances that the agency’s annual accounts for the financial year 2016 are reliable and that the underlying transactions are legal and regular , Parliament adopted by 558 votes to 131 with 5 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 : the final budget of the Agency for the financial year 2016 was EUR 15 872 582, representing an increase of 40.89 % compared to 2015. The increase was due to new additional tasks expanding its mandate, including the completion of the internal energy market. Budget and financial management : budget monitoring efforts during the financial year 2016 resulted in a budget implementation rate of 98.11 %, reaching the Agency’s planned target and representing an increase of 3.02 % compared to 2015. Commitments and carry-overs : the carry-overs for operational expenditure were very high at EUR 4.9 million (86 %) of its committed appropriations, compared to EUR 1.4 million (59 %) in 2015. Members noted from the Agency’s reply that the high level of carry-overs is due to the timing of the annual contractual cycle, which was established in 2013, when a substantial additional budget for the REMIT project was received by the Agency at the end of the year. The commitment appropriation for the financial year 2016 under the budget Chapter of REMIT expenditure was implemented at the maximum 100 % level. The resolution noted that the high share of cancelled carry-overs (9.8 %) could be considered a sign of inaccurate budget planning. Members also made a series of observations regarding staff policy and internal controls. In particular, they welcomed the decision adopted in 2017 of the administrative board on preventing psychological and sexual harassment , and the decision to create a register of meetings of the Agency's Director with external actors. They noted that women accounted for 38% of staff and men for 62%. Lastly, Parliament recalled that, according to the Seat Agreement between the Agency and the Slovenian government, a European School is to be established in Slovenia. It regretted however that, more than four years after the agreement, no European School has been set up.
  • date: 2018-04-18T00:00:00 type: End of procedure in Parliament body: EP
  • date: 2018-10-03T00:00:00 type: Final act published in Official Journal summary: PURPOSE: to grant discharge to the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) for the financial year 2016. NON-LEGISLATIVE ACT: Decision (EU) 2018/1340 of the European Parliament on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators for the financial year 2016. CONTENT: the European Parliament decided to grant discharge to the Director of the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators discharge in respect of the implementation of the Agency's budget for the financial year 2016. This decision is accompanied by a resolution of the European Parliament containing the observations which form an integral part of the discharge decision in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2016 ( please refer to the summary dated 18.4.2018 ). In this resolution, Parliament recalled that , according to the Seat Agreement between the Agency and the Slovenian government, a European School is to be established in Slovenia. However, it regretted once again that more than four years after the agreement, no European School has been set up. It acknowledged that the Agency continued in 2016 to implement its policies related to ethics and integrity, such as the policy on the prevention and management of conflicts of interest, as well as its anti-fraud and whistleblowing policies.
links
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  • body: EC dg: url: http://ec.europa.eu/info/departments/budget_en title: Budget commissioner: OETTINGER Günther
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CONT/8/10830
New
  • CONT/8/10830
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title
OJ L 248 03.10.2018, p. 0162
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procedure/stage_reached
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  • 8.70.03.06 2016 discharge
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8.70.03.06
2016 discharge
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  • PURPOSE: presentation by the Commission of the consolidated annual accounts of the European Union for the financial year 2016, as part of the 2016 discharge procedure.

    Analysis of the accounts of the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER).

    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.

    This Commission document concerns the EU's consolidated accounts for the year 2016 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 Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER), 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 ACER.

    The Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER): the Agency, which is located in Ljubljana (SI), was set up by Regulation (EU) No 713/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council with a view to helping the Member States’ regulatory authorities in the areas of electricity and natural gas. Its aim is to give an opinion on any of the issues relating to the purpose for which it has been established.

    Despite the fact that the Agency continued to struggle with resource constraints, it largely met its main objectives set out for 2016.

    As regards the Agency’s accounts, these are presented in detail in the document on the consolidated annual accounts of the European Union for 2016:

    Commitment appropriations:

    • available: EUR 16 million;
    • made: EUR 16 million.

    Payment appropriations:

    • available: EUR 18 million;
    • paid: EUR 12 million.

    For further details on expenditure, please refer to the final accounts of the ACER.

activities/1/committees/0/shadows/5
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ENF
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KAPPEL Barbara
committees/0/shadows/5
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ENF
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KAPPEL Barbara
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DG
Commissioner
OETTINGER Günther
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EC
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OETTINGER Günther
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2017-09-13T00:00:00
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Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
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CONT/8/10830
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Preparatory phase in Parliament
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2017-09-14T00:00:00
committees/0/rapporteur
  • group: Verts/ALE name: STAES Bart
committees/0/shadows
  • group: EPP name: SARVAMAA Petri
  • group: S&D name: LIBERADZKI Bogusław
  • group: ALDE name: ALI Nedzhmi
  • group: GUE/NGL name: DE JONG Dennis
  • group: EFD name: VALLI Marco
activities
  • date: 2017-06-26T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/docs_autres_institutions/commission_europeenne/com/2017/0365/COM_COM(2017)0365_EN.pdf title: COM(2017)0365 type: Non-legislative basic document published celexid: CELEX:52017DC0365:EN body: EC commission: type: Non-legislative basic document published
committees
  • body: EP responsible: True committee_full: Budgetary Control committee: CONT
  • body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Industry, Research and Energy committee: ITRE
links
other
    procedure
    stage_reached
    Preparatory phase in Parliament
    subject
    8.70.03.06 2016 discharge
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    DEC - Discharge procedure
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    2017/2174(DEC)
    title
    2016 discharge: Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER)