On discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Foundation for the improvement of living and working conditions (Eurofound)

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SUGGESTIONS

The Committee on Employment and Social Affairs calls on the Committee on Budgetary Control, as the committee responsible, to incorporate the following suggestions into its motion for a resolution:

– having regard to the European Court of Auditors’ Annual report on the implementation of the EU budget for the 2022 financial year;

– having regard to the European Court of Auditors’ Annual report on EU agencies for the financial year 2022;

– having regard to the European Foundation for the improvement of living and working conditions’ Consolidated Annual Activity Report (CAAR) 2022

1. Expresses its satisfaction that the European Court of Auditors (the ‘Court’) has declared the transactions underlying the European Foundation’s for the improvement of living and working conditions (Foundation) annual accounts for the financial year 2022 to be legal and regular and that its financial position as at 31 December 2022 is fairly represented;

2. Highly values the Foundation’s mission to provide knowledge to support the development of better informed social, employment and work-related policies in Europe, and appreciates work done by the Foundation in this field;

3. Notes that the budget of the Foundation for the financial year 2022 was EUR 26 million (EUR 27 million in 2021); expresses its satisfaction that the Foundation’s budget for 2022 was executed by 100% (as it was in 2021);

4. Regrets the fact that throughout 2022 the Foundation confronted a challenge because of high inflation rates; notes that this required a substantial shift in resources from the operational budget to the staff-related title; acknowledges the fact that targeted savings allowed the Foundation to deliver on its 2022 work programme;

5. Reiterates the importance of high-quality data provided by the Foundation’s ongoing monitoring tools for evidence-based policymaking, especially the Europe-wide surveys conducted by the Foundation;

6. Appreciates that Foundation’s leadership is seeking close cooperation with other European Union Agencies, including Cedefop, EU-OSHA, ETF, EIGE, FRA, and EEA, which aims at strengthening the synergies between these agencies and avoid overlaps;

7. Takes note that some weaknesses related to the procurement procedure for networking services were found; welcomes the fact that the Foundation has taken the steps to correct its tender templates accordingly;

8. Takes note that some weaknesses related to Foundation’s traineeship programme in 2022 were found related to updating trainees’ remuneration and welcomes the fact that the Foundation made the necessary corrections; also takes note of the fact that in order to avoid such issues in the future, the Foundation updated its rules for 2023 accordingly;

9. Recommends, on the basis of the facts available, that discharge be granted to the Executive Director of the Foundation in respect of the implementation of the Foundation’s budget for the financial year 2022.