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DRAFT OPINION (2023/2182(DEC))

On discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the Agencies for the financial year 2022: performance, financial management and control

EMPL-PA-752899

Committee on Employment and Social Affairs · Rapporteur: Romana Tomc

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The Committee on Employment and Social Affairs calls on the Committee on Budgetary Control to include its suggestions in a resolution on discharge for the 2022 budget of EU agencies. It praises the agencies' work, welcomes unqualified audit opinions, lists audit observations and asks agencies to fix them. It asks for adequate staff and funding for the employment and social affairs agencies, more social dialogue funding, gender balance in agency management, and gender equality in the EU Agencies Network strategy.

Committee position. The rapporteur proposes that the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs call on the Committee on Budgetary Control to incorporate these suggestions into its motion for a resolution on discharge for the 2022 budget of the agencies.

Key points

  1. The committee calls on the Committee on Budgetary Control to incorporate its suggestions into its motion for a resolution.
  2. It stresses the role of Union agencies in designing and implementing policies and praises Cedefop, Eurofound, EU-OSHA, ETF and ELA.
  3. It asks for enough staff, employed in a stable manner, and sufficient material, human and financial resources for the agencies to keep a very high activity completion rate.
  4. It welcomes the European Court of Auditors' unqualified audit opinions on the reliability of all agencies' accounts and on the legality and regularity of their revenue and payments.
  5. It recalls that the yearly exchange of views in the EMPL committee on agencies' work programmes and multiannual strategies helps align them with political priorities, the European Pillar of Social Rights and the Porto targets.
  6. It welcomes the first-time participation of the Executive Directors of ETF, FRA and EIGE in Eurofound's Management Board meeting, joining EU-OSHA and Cedefop.
  7. It calls on the Commission to ensure funding that supports EU agencies in securing social dialogue, and notes the agencies' role in supporting sustainable projects under the European Green Deal.
  8. It highlights that transparency and citizens' awareness of the agencies are essential for their democratic accountability.
  9. It lists audit observations made to Cedefop, ELA, ETF, EU-OSHA and Eurofound and urges the agencies to take measures to address them and improve internal procedures.
  10. It welcomes the agencies' corrective actions on the Court's 2021 observations and calls on them to complete the actions that remain open.
  11. It recalls that gender balance must be ensured in the agencies, regrets the absence of gender equality in the EUAN multiannual strategy 2021-2027, and asks the EUAN to integrate it and the agencies to collect gender balance data.
  12. It reiterates its call on the agencies to align their ambition with the Commission's aim of 50 % gender balance at all management levels by the end of 2024 and to pursue gender mainstreaming in all fields.

Who is affected

  • Cedefop, Eurofound, EU-OSHA, ETF and ELA: praised for their work and asked to address audit observations and ensure adequate resources.
  • The EU Agencies Network: asked to integrate gender equality into its strategies.
  • The Commission: asked to ensure funding supporting EU agencies in securing social dialogue.
  • The Committee on Budgetary Control: asked to incorporate the suggestions into its motion for a resolution.

Figures and deadlines

  • 2022 financial year: the year covered by the discharge and the European Court of Auditors' annual reports.
  • 2021 financial year: the year of the Court's observations for which corrective actions were undertaken.
  • 2021-2027: the period of the EU Agencies Network multiannual strategy.
  • 50 %: the gender balance target at all levels of Commission management by the end of 2024.
  • end of 2024: the deadline for the Commission's gender balance aim.