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From · opinion parliamentary committee · 2024-02-12 ENVI-AD-754666 on discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control for the financial year 2022

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To · Adopted text · 2024-04-11 TA-9-2024-0251 Discharge 2022: European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control

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P9_TA(2024)0251

~~SUGGESTIONS~~

Discharge 2022: European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control

The Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety calls on the Committee on Budgetary Control, as the committee responsible, to incorporate the following suggestions into its proposal for a decision:

Committee on Budgetary Control

1. Recalls that the mission of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (the ‘Centre’) is to identify, assess and communicate current and emerging threats to human health posed by infectious diseases and works within the six following fields, namely surveillance, outbreak preparedness and response support, scientific advice, microbiology surveillance, public health training and communication;

PE753.515

~~2. Notes that the core budget of the~~1. European ~~Centre for Disease Prevention and Control~~Parliament ~~(the~~decision ~~‘Centre’)~~of ~~for~~11 ~~2022~~April ~~was~~2024 toon ~~EUR~~discharge ~~99,9~~in ~~million~~respect ~~(the~~of ~~40%~~the ~~decrease~~implementation ~~compared~~of tothe ~~2021~~budget ~~being~~of ~~due~~the toEuropean ~~changes~~Centre infor ~~HERA~~Disease ~~grants)~~Prevention and ~~that 96,6%~~Control offor the ~~total revenue derives from~~financial ~~the~~year ~~Union~~2022 ~~budget;~~(2023/2147(DEC))

3 Welcomes the working agreement between the Centre and the European Health Emergency Response Authority on 16th March 2023 in order to further eliminate possible unnecessary overlaps and working towards using available resources more efficiently;

– having regard to the final annual accounts of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control for the financial year 2022,

4. Welcomes the Centres continuous work on monitoring antimicrobial resistance and its efforts to support the Unions work towards its five targets as adopted on 13 June 2023 by the Council within its Recommendation on stepping up EU actions to combat antimicrobial resistance in a One Health approach to be achieved by 2030. These targets encompass a reduction in overall antibiotic consumption, specific antibiotic group preferences, and the mitigation of bloodstream infections caused by pathogens that are often resistant to several antibiotics at the same time; Recalls that Antimicrobial resistance is a major public health challenge in Europe and globally killing more than 35 000 people annually throughout the European Union, Iceland and Norway;

– having regard to the Court of Auditors’ annual report on EU agencies for the financial year 2022, together with the agencies’ replies,

5. Notes that during the year 2022, the overall budget execution in terms of commitment appropriations was 98,86% (representing an decrease of 0,49% compared to 2021), while, in terms of payments, budget execution increased by 9,5% compared to 2021 and reached 73,61% of the total 2022 budget;

– having regard to the statement of assurance as to the reliability of the accounts and the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions provided by the Court of Auditors for the financial year 2022, pursuant to Article 287 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

6. Notes that the additional posts allocated to the Centre following the extension of the Centre’s mandate have been filled in 2022; Underlines that the addition of new tasks and its increasing workload must be accompanied by adequate corresponding increases in the Centre’s staff and resources, and that a shortage of staff puts the continuity of its operations under significant pressure and threatens the quality of the Centre’s work;

– having regard to the Council’s recommendation of 22 February 2024 on discharge to be given to the Centre in respect of the implementation of the budget for the financial year 2022 (06180/2024 – C90085/2024),

~~7. Notes with concern the overlapping mandate between the ECDC and HERA and calls for reduction of duplication of efforts between the two entities and clear division of tasks;~~

– having regard to Article 319 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

8. Welcomes the Centre’s modalities for the implementation of the reinforced mandate of ECDC which came into force in December 2022, as well as the transformation programme ASPIRE (Anticipate, Support, Prepare, Inform, Respond and Empower) developed to aid the implementation;

– having regard to Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 July 2018 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union, amending Regulations (EU) No 1296/2013, (EU) No 1301/2013, (EU) No 1303/2013, (EU) No 1304/2013, (EU) No 1309/2013, (EU) No 1316/2013, (EU) No 223/2014, (EU) No 283/2014, and Decision No 541/2014/EU and repealing Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012, and in particular Article 70 thereof,

9. Notes that in 2022, the Centre maintained its public health emergency (PHE) plan in response to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, which, due to the relatively stable epidemiological situation, was downgraded to ‘maintenance phase’ in June 2022; notes that ECDC’s pandemic-related workload remained high throughout the year, although the focus shifted towards longer-term monitoring, prevention and control of SARS-CoV-2;

– having regard to Regulation (EC) No 851/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 April 2004 establishing a European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, and in particular Article 23 thereof,

10. Notes that the Centre simultaneously operated two additional PHEs in 2022, for monkey pox and hepatitis of unknown origin, which put severe demands on the Centre’s expert capacity to cover the activities required for all three emergencies;

– having regard to Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/715 of 18 December 2018 on the framework financial regulation for the bodies set up under the TFEU and Euratom Treaty and referred to in Article 70 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046 of the European Parliament and of the Council, and in particular Article 105 thereof,

11 Highlights the Centre's rapid response to the Russian aggression against Ukraine, in particular the fact that the Centre supported Member States by actively coordinating and delivering technical and operational response activities related to the influx of refugees;

– having regard to Rule 100 of and Annex V to its Rules of Procedure,

12. Notes that the Centre delivered 89% of the outputs programmed for 2022 under the Centre’s Strategy 2021-2027, with a total of 8% of planned outputs postponed and 3% delayed or cancelled, including the update of its Surveillance Atlas of Infectious Diseases and Annual Epidemiological Report chapters, the new ECDC surveillance portal EpiPulse, and the publication of 210 scientific outputs as well as 65 peer-reviewed articles;

– having regard to the opinion of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety,

13. Calls on the Centre to ensure full transparency in publishing of scientific studies and to enhance its external communications capacity towards the general public, by ensuring that all key information, especially related to public health emergencies is available in all EU languages and making it easily accessible and understandable to EU citizens;

– having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgetary Control (A9-0109/2024),

~~14. Calls on the Commission to grant to the Centre the necessary resources to fulfil the objectives of the Strategy 2021-2027 and to implement the Centre’s revised founding Regulation;~~

1. Grants the Director of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control discharge in respect of the implementation of the Centre’s budget for the financial year 2022;

15. Notes that 3% of the appointed Management Board members/alternates) as well as 3% of the appointed Advisory Forum members/alternates did not file their annual Declaration of Interest (DoI). calls on the Centre to ensure that all management board members, advisory forum members and their alternates have dutifully submitted the required annual declarations of interest; calls on the Centre to ensure that appropriate experts are engaged in the Centre’s work throughout its activities and that a high level of compliance with conflict of interest rules is maintained;

2. Sets out its observations in the resolution below;

16. Notes that an in-depth exchange of information and know-how between the ECDC, Member States and other partners, as well as facilitating exchanges between Member States, is essential for the protection of public health;

3. Instructs its President to forward this decision, and the resolution forming an integral part of it, to the Director of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, the Council, the Commission and the Court of Auditors, and to arrange for their publication in the Official Journal of the European Union (L series).

~~17. Welcomes the fact that overall stakeholder satisfaction with the ECDC's work reached 86% in 2022;~~

2. European Parliament decision of 11 April 2024 on the closure of the accounts of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control for the financial year 2022 (2023/2147(DEC))

18. Highlights the fact that the Centre ensures that its scientific outputs are freely available both on its website and in scientific journals, with 98% of ECDC publications in peer-reviewed journals being freely accessible in 2022;

– having regard to the final annual accounts of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control for the financial year 2022,

19. Commends the continued work in 2022 to identify new antimicrobial-resistant strains that are of particular concern, such as multidrug-resistant strains, bacteria producing extended-spectrum beta-lactamases and/or carbapenemases, and highlights the importance of this issue for public health protection;

– having regard to the Court of Auditors’ annual report on EU agencies for the financial year 2022, together with the agencies’ replies,

20. Recommends, based on the facts available, that discharge be granted to the Director of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control in respect of the implementation of the Centre's budget for the financial year 2022.

~~ANNEX: ENTITIES OR PERSONS FROM WHOM THE RAPPORTEUR HAS RECEIVED INPUT~~

The Chair in his capacity as rapporteur declares under his exclusive responsibility that he did not receive input from any entity or person to be mentioned in this Annex pursuant to Article 8 of Annex I to the Rules of Procedure.

– having regard to Article 319 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

~~INFORMATION ON ADOPTION IN COMMITTEE ASKED FOR OPINION~~

~~Date adopted~~

~~24.1.2024~~

~~Result of final vote~~

– having regard to Rule 100 of and Annex V to its Rules of Procedure,

– having regard to the opinion of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety,

–:

– having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgetary Control (A9-0109/2024),

1. Approves the closure of the accounts of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control for the financial year 2022;

2. Instructs its President to forward this decision to the Director of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, the Council, the Commission and the Court of Auditors, and to arrange for its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union (L series).

3. European Parliament resolution of 11 April 2024 with observations forming an integral part of the decision on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control for the financial year 2022 (2023/2147(DEC))

– having regard to its decision on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control for the financial year 2022,

~~Members present for the final vote~~

– having regard to Rule 100 of and Annex V to its Rules of Procedure,

Catherine Amalric, Maria Arena, Hildegard Bentele, Sergio Berlato, Michael Bloss, Delara Burkhardt, Pascal Canfin, Sara Cerdas, Mohammed Chahim, Nathalie Colin-Oesterlé, Maria Angela Danzì, Esther de Lange, Bas Eickhout, Pietro Fiocchi, Heléne Fritzon, Malte Gallée, Gianna Gancia, Catherine Griset, Teuvo Hakkarainen, Martin Hojsík, Jan Huitema, Karin Karlsbro, Javi López, César Luena, Elżbieta Katarzyna Łukacijewska, Marian-Jean Marinescu, Liudas Mažylis, Silvia Modig, Dolors Montserrat, Alessandra Moretti, Ville Niinistö, Ljudmila Novak, Francesca Peppucci, Stanislav Polčák, Jessica Polfjärd, Erik Poulsen, Frédérique Ries, María Soraya Rodríguez Ramos, Silvia Sardone, Günther Sidl, Ivan Vilibor Sinčić, Maria Spyraki, Achille Variati, Petar Vitanov, Alexandr Vondra, Emma Wiesner, Michal Wiezik

– having regard to the opinion of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety,

~~Substitutes present for the final vote~~

– having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgetary Control (A9-0109/2024),

~~Asger Christensen, Christophe Clergeau, Margarita de la Pisa Carrión, Martin Häusling, Billy Kelleher, Ska Keller, Danilo Oscar Lancini, Sara Matthieu, Dace Melbārde, Manuela Ripa~~

A. whereas, according to its statement of revenue and expenditure, the final budget of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (the ‘Centre’) for the financial year 2022 was EUR 99 872 000, representing a decrease of 40,59 % compared to 2021, as a result of changes in European Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) grants; whereas the Centre’s budget derives mainly from the Union budget;

~~Substitutes under Rule 209(7) present for the final vote~~

B. whereas the Court of Auditors (the ‘Court’), in its report on the Centre’s annual accounts for the financial year 2022 (the ‘Court’s report’), states that it has obtained reasonable assurance that the Centre’s annual accounts are reliable and that the underlying transactions as regards revenue are legal and regular; whereas the Court audited four grant agreements with a total value of EUR 7,9 million and detected that three of those included VAT to the value of EUR 0,6 million (8,1 %) among the eligible costs; whereas the beneficiaries were engaging in activities as public authorities and consequently VAT is not an eligible cost under Article 186(4), second subparagraph, point (c), of the Financial Regulation; whereas the estimated total amount of non-compliant expenditure based on the rate and amount of VAT found in the sample described above represents 2,8 % of the total payment appropriations available in 2022 which exceeds the materiality threshold set for the audit and, consequently, resulted in a qualified opinion on the legality and regularity of payments underlying the Centre’s accounts; whereas, except for the matter explained above, the Court concluded that the revenue and payments underlying the accounts of the Centre for the financial year that ended 31 December 2022 are legal and regular in all material respects;

Mazaly Aguilar, Katarina Barley, Daniel Buda, Ana Collado Jiménez, Marie Dauchy, Matthias Ecke, Paola Ghidoni, Anja Hazekamp, Peter Jahr, Petros Kokkalis, Peter Liese, Thierry Mariani, Lydie Massard, Nora Mebarek, Marina Mesure, Nicola Procaccini, Maria Veronica Rossi, Sara Skyttedal, Michaela Šojdrová, Edina Tóth, Idoia Villanueva Ruiz, Veronika Vrecionová, Thomas Waitz, Mick Wallace, Jörgen Warborn, Stefania Zambelli

C. whereas with regard to the Centre’s procurement sector, no issues requiring corrective actions were reported for 2022, nor are there ongoing or outstanding corrective actions from previous years’ audits and assessments;

~~FINAL VOTE BY ROLL CALL IN COMMITTEE ASKED FOR OPINION~~

Budget and financial management

~~Key to symbols:~~

1. Notes with satisfaction that the budget monitoring efforts during the financial year 2022 resulted in a budget implementation rate of current year commitment appropriations of 98,86 %, representing an increase of 0,49 % compared to 2021; notes that the current year payment appropriations execution rate was 73,61 %, representing an increase of 9,53 % compared to the previous year;

2. Calls on the Commission to grant to the Centre the necessary resources to fulfil the objectives of the Strategy 2021-2027 and to implement the Centre’s revised mandate in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2022/2370;

Performance

3. Recalls that the mission of the Centre is to identify, assess and communicate current and emerging threats to human health posed by infectious diseases and works within the six following fields, namely surveillance, outbreak preparedness and response support, scientific advice, microbiology surveillance, public health training and communication;

4. Notes that the Centre delivered 89 % of the outputs planned in its Single Programming Document 2022–2024; notes that 8 % of the planned outputs were postponed, while 3 % were delayed or cancelled by the end of the year; takes note that most of the outputs that have been postponed or delayed were dependant on the adoption and publication of the Centre’s revised mandate, which took place at the end of 2022; calls on the Centre to analyse the postponed outputs and report back to the discharge authority about its plan to deliver them;

5. Notes that throughout 2022, for the third consecutive year, the Centre maintained its public health emergency (PHE) plan in response to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic; takes note that in June the PHE level was gradually downgraded from Level 2 (Acute Phase) to Level 1 (Maintenance Phase); is of the opinion that the Centre acted speedily and efficiently throughout the entire period of the pandemic; considers that there could be a larger role for the Centre in shaping the European crisis response agenda for the future;

6. Notes that following Russia’s aggression in Ukraine and the influx of refugees fleeing the country, the Centre worked with the authorities of the five countries surrounding Ukraine providing technical and operational response activities within its remit, based on identified needs; takes note that in the second half of the year, the focus shifted from operational response to more medium-/longer-term and strategic response actions and the Centre’s experts were deployed to Poland and Romania in support of national authorities and the World Health Organization which were assisting Ukrainian displaced populations;

7. Observes that during the spring and summer of 2022, the Centre supported simultaneously three ongoing PHEs, namely COVID-19, Mpox, and hepatitis of unknown origin in children; notes with satisfaction that this experience was unique for the Centre and tested the limits of the Centre’s capacity to develop risk assessments and guidance for multiple health threats;

8. Welcomes the Centre’s modalities for the implementation of its reinforced mandate which entered into force in December 2022, as well as the transformation programme ASPIRE (Anticipate, Support, Prepare, Inform, Respond and Empower) developed to aid the implementation;

Efficiency and gains

9. Recalls the importance of increasing the digitalisation of the Centre in terms of internal operation and management but also in order to speed up the digitalisation of procedures; stresses the need for the Centre to continue to be proactive in this regard in order to avoid a digital gap between the agencies; draws attention, however, to the need to take all the necessary security measures to avoid any risk to the online security of the information processed and insists on the need to step up action against cyberattacks or infiltration attempts particularly those originating from Russia or China;

10. Welcomes the fact that the Centre continued its efforts towards delivering efficiency gains with the introduction of new methodologies, including the automation of support and operational processes; notes that during the year, four new administrative processes were automated through electronic workflows and a new cost-effective solution for the electronic workflows platform was also implemented to replace K2; notes that an overall analysis of the use of the electronic workflows already shows that a significant number of users have adopted them and that they have markedly reduced processing time, due to the elimination of unnecessary steps, while ensuring legal compliance;

Staff policy

11. Notes that, on 31 December 2022, the establishment plan consisted of 215 temporary agents authorised under the Union budget (compared to 208 authorised posts in 2021); notes that, in addition, 112 contract agents and 5 seconded national experts worked for the Centre in 2022;

12. Notes with concern the lack of gender balance within the Centre’s senior and middle management, with four out of six (66,67 %) being men; notes the gender distribution among the Centre’s overall staff, with 198 out of 331 (60 %) being women and 133 out of 331 (40 %) being men; welcomes the fact that the Centre is in the process of adopting the charter on diversity and inclusion and it will be in place by Q4 2023; recalls the importance of ensuring gender balance and calls on the Centre to take that aspect into consideration with regard to future recruitment of staff and appointments within its senior and middle management; asks the Commission and the Member States to take into account the importance of ensuring gender balance when nominating their members for appointment to the Centre’s management board;

13. Raises concerns about the geographical balance within the Centre’s senior and middle management; asks the Centre to report back on this to the discharge authority;

14. Notes that the first draft of the ‘People Strategy’ was developed in 2022, which aims to guide the modernisation and consolidation of the Centre’s HR management services; notes, furthermore, that individual strategy projects, such as the e-recruitment tool and the online induction programme were finalised in 2022, while others are underway; calls on the Centre to report to the discharge authority on any development in that regard; takes note that the Centre further enhanced its support to staff learning and development by increasing the allowance for individual training and facilitating staff access to e-learning platforms (EU Learn, LinkedIn Learning and the Centre’s Virtual Academy);

15. Notes that the Centre has a policy on protecting the dignity of the person and preventing psychological and sexual harassment, and that the Centre is part of the interagency task force of confidential counsellors; looks forward to receiving their report and recommendations; notes that there were no reported cases of harassment in 2022 and encourages the Centre to continue to develop the work to prevent cases in the future as well;

16. Notes that the additional posts allocated to the Centre following the extension of its mandate have been filled in 2022; underlines that the addition of new tasks and its increasing workload must be accompanied by adequate corresponding increases in the Centre’s staff and resources, and that a shortage of staff puts the continuity of its operations under significant pressure and threatens the quality of the Centre’s work;

17. Notes with concern the overlapping mandate between the Centre and HERA and calls for reduction of duplication of efforts between the two entities and clear division of tasks;

Prevention and management of conflicts of interest, and transparency

18. Notes that the Centre continued to apply and strengthen its independence policy for non-staff and staff members; observes that in 2022, the Centre lacked a small percentage of declarations of interest; notes furthermore that all external experts consulted during the production of rapid risk assessments declared their interests before publication; notes that all members of the management board and advisory forum attending the meetings and thus contributing to the discussions had valid annual declarations of interest and the director and heads of unit filled their annual declarations of interest as well as 99 % of external experts attending the Centre’s meetings that required a conflicts of interest check submitted an annual declaration of interest;

19. Calls on the Centre to ensure that all management board members, advisory forum members and their alternates have dutifully submitted the required annual declarations of interest; calls on the Centre to ensure that appropriate experts are engaged in the Centre’s work throughout its activities and that a high level of compliance with conflict of interest rules is maintained;

20. Takes note that the Centre’s independence policy for persons that are not members of staff provides for the procedure to be followed to identify and avoid potential conflicts of interest; notes that in summary, this involves the collection of declarations of interest in particular circumstances, for example when a scientific output will be produced, which are then assessed by the Centre’s member of staff responsible for the relevant activity, with support of the Centre’s compliance officer; notes that no actual conflict of interest was reported in 2022;

21. Notes that the internal procedure for the Centre’s meetings with commercial organisations active in the field of its mandate was developed in 2022 and formally implemented in January 2023; notes, furthermore, that the Centre did not, however, hold any such meetings in 2022;

22. Acknowledges the visibility the Centre has developed during the pandemic; is of the opinion that there is still room for greater visibility in the media, on the internet, and on social media in order to make its work known to citizens of the Union;

23. Calls on the Centre to ensure there is full transparency in the publishing of scientific studies and to enhance its external communications capacity as regards the general public, by ensuring that all key information, especially related to public health emergencies is available in all official languages of the Union and making it easily accessible and understandable to citizens of the Union;

Internal control

24. Highlights the Court’s qualified opinion on the legality and regularity of payments due to the inclusion of VAT as an eligible expense under grant agreements whose beneficiaries engage in activities as public authorities representing 2,8 % of the payment appropriations available in 2022; recalls that when managing grants, the Centre should ensure compliance with the applicable rules, in particular regarding the reimbursement of VAT to beneficiaries which are public authorities;

25. Notes that the Centre assesses the effectiveness of the internal control system at least once a year by assessing the implementation of the internal control framework, including the implementation of the indicators defined, and by evaluating the main shortcomings identified by the Centre itself or reported by others, including the Internal Audit Service and the Court; notes, furthermore, that in 2022, a number of improvements were made to the internal control framework, such as an improved control strategy, including new indicators, an improved information asset catalogue and the development of a new internal communications policy;

Other comments

26. Welcomes the fact that the Centre aimed to be EMAS registered in 2023 and is planning a project for CO2 offsetting (to commence in Q1 2024) that will include measures on calculating its CO2 impact and how to minimise it; notes that specific targets will be part of the EMAS implementation, commencing in 2024;

27. Commends the Centre for moving in 2022 more towards using electronic tools in the procurement process; notes that the Centre now uses the Commission Public Procurement Management Tool (PPMT) for the registration and publication of all procurement procedures, including ex ante publications; notes that the PPMT system is linked to eTendering, where the publication as well as Q&A during the publication is handled; notes, furthermore, that the Centre also uses an internal eWorkflow for purchases under framework contracts and for the review before launch;

28. Welcomes the fact that overall stakeholder satisfaction with the Centre’s work reached 86 % in 2022;

° °

29. Refers, for other observations of a cross-cutting nature accompanying its decision on discharge, to its resolution of 11 April 2024 on the performance, financial management and control of the agencies.