BETA


2022/2122(DEC) 2021 discharge: European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA)

Progress: Procedure completed

RoleCommitteeRapporteurShadows
Lead CONT CSEH Katalin (icon: Renew Renew) ZDECHOVSKÝ Tomáš (icon: EPP EPP), MANDA Claudiu (icon: S&D S&D), EICKHOUT Bas (icon: Verts/ALE Verts/ALE), KUHS Joachim (icon: ID ID), CZARNECKI Ryszard (icon: ECR ECR), OMARJEE Younous (icon: GUE/NGL GUE/NGL)
Committee Opinion ITRE
Lead committee dossier:

Events

2023/09/29
   Final act published in Official Journal
2023/05/10
   EP - Results of vote in Parliament
2023/05/10
   EP - Decision by Parliament
Details

The European Parliament decided to grant discharge to the Executive Director of the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (before 12 May 2021: European GNSS Agency) for the financial year 2021 and to approve the closure of the accounts for that year.

Noting that the Court of Auditors has stated that it has obtained reasonable assurance that the Agency's annual accounts for the financial year 2021 are reliable and that the underlying transactions are legal and regular, Parliament adopted, by 597 votes to 16 with 11 abstentions, a resolution containing a series of recommendations which form an integral part of the discharge decision and which complement the general recommendations set out in the resolution on the performance, financial management and control of EU agencies.

Agency’s financial statements

The Agency's final budget for the financial year 2021 was EUR 57 130 215.17, representing an increase of 61.16 % compared to 2020, due to Agency’s enlarged mandate based on the new EU Space Programme . Parliament noted that the Court presents an emphasis of matters paragraph in relation to the impact of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine in the Agency’s statement of financial performance and balance sheet.

Budgetary and financial management

Budget monitoring efforts during the financial year 2021 resulted in a budget implementation rate of current year commitment appropriations of 100 %, representing the same rate as in 2020. The execution rate of payment appropriations was 74.78 %, representing a decrease of 8.60 % compared to 2020. In addition to its core budget, the Agency continued to manage a large amount of delegated budget (earmarked appropriations), in particular under the exploitation of the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) and Galileo, as well as Horizon 2020 Delegation Agreements. In 2021, the Agency signed a contribution agreement with the Commission entrusting the Agency with additional components of the Horizon Europe programme, Copernicus, the European Union Governmental Satellite Communications (GOVSATCOM) and Space Situational Awareness (SSA). A total of EUR 6 361 705 119 was committed under the delegated budget in 2021 and EUR 1 574 943 399 was made in payments.

Other comments

Parliament also made a series of observations concerning performance, staff policy, procurement, internal controls and digitalisation.

In particular, it noted that:

- the Agency performed well during the transition. It adopted a financial framework partnership agreement (FFPA) and a contribution agreement (CA), allowing it to carry out the space programme in an efficient and effective manner;

- on 31 December 2021, the establishment plan was 100 % implemented, with 191 temporary agents appointed out of 191 temporary agents authorised under the Union budget (compared to 150 authorised posts in 2020). Once again, the lack of gender balance within the Agency’s senior management is regrettable;

- a number of procedural deficiencies in two audited recruitment procedures were highlighted which undermine the principles of transparency and equal treatment;

- the Agency continues to implement e-procurement whenever possible considering the selected procurement procedure, the nature of the documentation to be exchanged and the protection of the security interest of the Union;

- more systematic rules on transparency, incompatibilities, conflict of interests, illegal lobbying and revolving doors should be put in place. The Agency should also strengthen its internal control mechanisms, including the setting up of an internal anticorruption mechanism;

- the digitalisation of procedures should be accelerated.

Documents
2023/05/09
   EP - Debate in Parliament
2023/04/04
   EP - Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading
Documents
2023/04/04
   EP - Committee report tabled for plenary
Documents
2023/03/22
   EP - Vote in committee
2023/02/21
   EP - Amendments tabled in committee
Documents
2023/02/13
   CSL - Supplementary non-legislative basic document
Documents
2023/01/20
   EP - Committee draft report
Documents
2022/10/27
   CofA - Court of Auditors: opinion, report
2022/09/13
   EP - Committee referral announced in Parliament
2022/07/14
   EP - CSEH Katalin (Renew) appointed as rapporteur in CONT
2022/06/23
   EC - Non-legislative basic document
2022/06/23
   EC - Non-legislative basic document published

Documents

Votes

Décharge 2021: Agence de l’Union européenne pour le programme spatial (avant le 12 mai 2021: Agence du GNSS européen) - A9-0116/2023 - Katalin Cseh - Proposition de résolution #

2023/05/10 Outcome: +: 597, -: 16, 0: 11
DE FR IT PL ES RO NL CZ HU PT BG SE BE AT IE DK HR SK LT FI LV SI EL CY EE MT LU
Total
89
73
58
49
51
27
28
21
18
19
15
21
17
17
12
13
12
12
9
13
8
8
11
6
7
5
5
icon: PPE PPE
159

Hungary PPE

1

Denmark PPE

For (1)

1

Cyprus PPE

2

Estonia PPE

For (1)

1

Malta PPE

For (1)

1

Luxembourg PPE

2
icon: S&D S&D
134

Czechia S&D

For (1)

1

Belgium S&D

2

Lithuania S&D

2

Latvia S&D

2

Slovenia S&D

2

Greece S&D

1

Cyprus S&D

2

Estonia S&D

2

Luxembourg S&D

For (1)

1
icon: Renew Renew
90

Italy Renew

2

Poland Renew

1

Hungary Renew

1
3

Belgium Renew

2

Austria Renew

For (1)

1

Ireland Renew

2

Croatia Renew

For (1)

1

Lithuania Renew

1

Finland Renew

2

Latvia Renew

For (1)

1

Slovenia Renew

2

Greece Renew

1

Estonia Renew

3

Luxembourg Renew

2
icon: Verts/ALE Verts/ALE
69

Italy Verts/ALE

3

Poland Verts/ALE

For (1)

1

Romania Verts/ALE

1

Netherlands Verts/ALE

3

Czechia Verts/ALE

3

Portugal Verts/ALE

1

Sweden Verts/ALE

3

Belgium Verts/ALE

3

Austria Verts/ALE

3

Ireland Verts/ALE

2

Denmark Verts/ALE

1

Lithuania Verts/ALE

2

Finland Verts/ALE

3
icon: ECR ECR
57

Germany ECR

1

Bulgaria ECR

1

Sweden ECR

3

Croatia ECR

1

Slovakia ECR

For (1)

1

Lithuania ECR

1

Finland ECR

2

Latvia ECR

For (1)

1
icon: ID ID
49

Czechia ID

Against (1)

Abstain (1)

2

Austria ID

3

Denmark ID

Against (1)

1

Estonia ID

Abstain (1)

1
icon: The Left The Left
32

Netherlands The Left

For (1)

1

Czechia The Left

1

Portugal The Left

4

Sweden The Left

For (1)

1

Belgium The Left

For (1)

1

Ireland The Left

3

Denmark The Left

1

Finland The Left

For (1)

1

Cyprus The Left

2
icon: NI NI
34

France NI

Abstain (1)

3

Netherlands NI

Against (1)

1

Croatia NI

Against (1)

2

Slovakia NI

Against (1)

1

Latvia NI

1

History

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

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date
2023-09-29T00:00:00
type
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OJ L 242 29.09.2023, p. 0471
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EP
events/5/summary
  • The European Parliament decided to grant discharge to the Executive Director of the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (before 12 May 2021: European GNSS Agency) for the financial year 2021 and to approve the closure of the accounts for that year.
  • Noting that the Court of Auditors has stated that it has obtained reasonable assurance that the Agency's annual accounts for the financial year 2021 are reliable and that the underlying transactions are legal and regular, Parliament adopted, by 597 votes to 16 with 11 abstentions, a resolution containing a series of recommendations which form an integral part of the discharge decision and which complement the general recommendations set out in the resolution on the performance, financial management and control of EU agencies.
  • Agency’s financial statements
  • The Agency's final budget for the financial year 2021 was EUR 57 130 215.17, representing an increase of 61.16 % compared to 2020, due to Agency’s enlarged mandate based on the new EU Space Programme . Parliament noted that the Court presents an emphasis of matters paragraph in relation to the impact of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine in the Agency’s statement of financial performance and balance sheet.
  • Budgetary and financial management
  • Budget monitoring efforts during the financial year 2021 resulted in a budget implementation rate of current year commitment appropriations of 100 %, representing the same rate as in 2020. The execution rate of payment appropriations was 74.78 %, representing a decrease of 8.60 % compared to 2020. In addition to its core budget, the Agency continued to manage a large amount of delegated budget (earmarked appropriations), in particular under the exploitation of the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) and Galileo, as well as Horizon 2020 Delegation Agreements. In 2021, the Agency signed a contribution agreement with the Commission entrusting the Agency with additional components of the Horizon Europe programme, Copernicus, the European Union Governmental Satellite Communications (GOVSATCOM) and Space Situational Awareness (SSA). A total of EUR 6 361 705 119 was committed under the delegated budget in 2021 and EUR 1 574 943 399 was made in payments.
  • Other comments
  • Parliament also made a series of observations concerning performance, staff policy, procurement, internal controls and digitalisation.
  • In particular, it noted that:
  • - the Agency performed well during the transition. It adopted a financial framework partnership agreement (FFPA) and a contribution agreement (CA), allowing it to carry out the space programme in an efficient and effective manner;
  • - on 31 December 2021, the establishment plan was 100 % implemented, with 191 temporary agents appointed out of 191 temporary agents authorised under the Union budget (compared to 150 authorised posts in 2020). Once again, the lack of gender balance within the Agency’s senior management is regrettable;
  • - a number of procedural deficiencies in two audited recruitment procedures were highlighted which undermine the principles of transparency and equal treatment;
  • - the Agency continues to implement e-procurement whenever possible considering the selected procurement procedure, the nature of the documentation to be exchanged and the protection of the security interest of the Union;
  • - more systematic rules on transparency, incompatibilities, conflict of interests, illegal lobbying and revolving doors should be put in place. The Agency should also strengthen its internal control mechanisms, including the setting up of an internal anticorruption mechanism;
  • - the digitalisation of procedures should be accelerated.
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