The European Parliament decided to grant discharge to the Executive Director of the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) for the financial year 2022 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 2022 are reliable and that the underlying transactions are legal and regular, Parliament adopted, by 530 votes to 67 with 6 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 2022 was EUR 115 807 269.88 representing an increase of 9.48 % compared to 2021.

Budgetary and financial management

Budget monitoring efforts during the financial year 2022 resulted in a budget implementation of current year commitment appropriations rate of 99.80 %, representing a slight increase of 0.14 % compared to 2021 and a current year payment appropriations execution rate of 98.42 %, representing also an increase of 1.10 %.

Other observations

Parliament also made a number of observations concerning performance, staff policy and digitalisation.

In particular, it noted that:

- the Agency has become an important actor regarding the monitoring and reporting of vessels of interest after the illegal and unprovoked Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022;

- in 2022, the Agency provided the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (EUROPOL) with access to maritime and surveillance information services to support them in the areas of law enforcement and organised crime activities at sea;

- in the framework of the new mandate for European cooperation on coast guard functions, the Agency has shared information, expertise, procedures, training materials and tools with the European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA) and Frontex;

- the Agency was congratulated on developing a number of ad hoc products to assist the Member States and Commission in the implementation of EU sanctions related to the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation, such as reporting on ship calls for specific cargoes and flags;

- on 31 December 2022, the establishment plan was stable, and fulfilled by 99.06 %, with 210 officials and temporary agents appointed out of 212 authorised under the Union budget (same as in 2021);

- there is a lack of gender balance within the Agency’s senior and middle management members, the administrative board members and within the Agency’s overall staff;

- digitalisation should be encouraged in the maritime sector by facilitating the electronic transmission of data, supporting simplification and providing integrated maritime surveillance and awareness systems and services to the Commission and the Member States.