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OPINION (2025/2156(DEC))

On discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Union agencies for the financial year 2024

ENVI-AD-779485

Committee on the Environment, Climate and Food Safety · Rapporteur: Antonio Decaro

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The Committee on the Environment, Climate and Food Safety gives its opinion on granting discharge to ECHA, EEA and EFSA for the 2024 budget, welcoming their work and making recommendations for improvements. It calls for continued corrective actions, better gender and geographical balance, and timely, high-quality outputs from the agencies.

Committee position. The committee recommends that discharge be granted to the Executive Directors of ECHA, EEA and EFSA for the 2024 financial year.

Key points

  1. Welcomes cooperation with ECHA, EEA and EFSA and their joint work under the One Health Approach.
  2. Notes the Court of Auditors found the agencies' 2024 accounts legal and regular; calls for continued corrective actions on 2024 observations.
  3. Calls on all Union agencies to report gender-disaggregated data by grade and staff geographical distribution in annual activity reports.
  4. For ECHA: welcomes its role in new legislation, notes its strategy 2024-2028, and calls for follow-up on organisational review and better gender balance.
  5. For ECHA: notes high budget implementation rates, calls for addressing fee income predictability, and supports non-animal methodologies.
  6. For ECHA: encourages transparency, stakeholder relations, and cooperation with other agencies, including on bee risk assessments.
  7. For EEA: welcomes its reports and monitoring of the 8th Environment Action Programme, and notes high budget execution and delivery rates.
  8. For EEA: calls for additional digitalisation funds, better staff balance, and attention to information needs of farmers and rural areas.
  9. For EFSA: welcomes its scientific advice, notes renewal of panels, but regrets geographical imbalance and calls for improved recruitment.
  10. For EFSA: calls for publishing gender-disaggregated data, including ecotoxicologists in working groups, and addressing the shortfall in closed scientific questions.
  11. For EFSA: stresses the need for adequate resources to address backlogs and maintain competitiveness, and calls for closing gaps in GMO risk assessment.
  12. Recommends granting discharge to the Executive Directors of the three agencies for 2024.

Who is affected

  • ECHA, EEA and EFSA: must implement recommendations on transparency, staff balance, and timely outputs.
  • ECHA: needs to improve gender balance and fee income predictability, and support SMEs.
  • EEA: needs to address staff imbalances and provide information for farmers and rural areas.
  • EFSA: needs to improve geographical and gender balance, include biodiversity experts, and reduce backlog.
  • The Commission: called to provide resources for EFSA to become a biotech innovation centre.

Figures and deadlines

  • 70% men and 30% women in ECHA senior management.
  • 32.3% of ECHA staff are nationals of the host member state.
  • ECHA had a 99.5% commitment rate and 99.8% of payments within legal deadlines.
  • ECHA delivered 178 outputs out of 200 planned in 2024.
  • EEA's budget execution rate was 100% and delivery rate of key reports 97%.
  • EFSA recruited only 38% of newcomers from outside the host member state.
  • Women held 37.5% of EFSA senior management posts in 2023.
  • EFSA closed 550 scientific questions in 2024, below the target of 626.