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

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SUGGESTIONS

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

1. Welcomes the fact that the Court of Auditors (the ʽCourtʼ) declared that, overall, the audit of the annual accounts of the agencies for the year ended 31 December 2022 and the revenue and payments underlying them confirmed the positive results reported in previous years and that the Court confirmed the legality and regularity of the annual accounts of all justice and home affairs (JHA) agencies and the revenue underlying those accounts for the financial year 2022;

2. Welcomes that the accounts of the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) include disclosures regarding the impact of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine on their activities; calls on the other JHA agencies to conduct similar disclosures;

3. Notes that for the 2022 financial year, the Court issued unqualified (“clean”) audit opinions on the accounts of 39 agencies; notes that the Court found that the payments underlying the accounts were legal and regular for all agencies except for the European Union Agency for the Operational Management of Large-Scale IT Systems in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (eu-LISA) and the European Union Agency of Law Enforcement Training (CEPOL) for which qualified opinions were issued;notes that this was the case for eu-LISA due to six irregular payments in relation to purchase of hardware , custom development and testing, and software licences; acknowledges the resonse of eu-LISA that it has already undertaken the necessary revisions to its contract management practice; further notes that CEPOL had irregular payments in relation to accommodation, shuttle and parking services and travel services; recalls that the CEPOL has taken corrective action to address the issues identified;

4. Stresses that the Court issued ‘emphasis on the matter’ paragraphs for eleven agencies, including (i) for the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation (Eurojust) due to the implementation of “SUMMA” a new pilot budgetary and accounting system rolled out by the Commission, (ii) for eu-LISA because of delays in the implementation of the Entry/Exit System and the related impact on eu-LISA operations; and (iii) for the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) regarding the accounting system which could not be validated because of missing information relating to an IT system, owned by the Commission, which supplies accounting data and another disclosure regarding the calculation of the contributions from Schengen associated countries;

5. Acknowledges the weaknesses in public procurement procedures which are increasing and remain the main source of irregular payments and that the Court reported shortcomings in previous years for 24 EU agencies, including in relation to contracts signed by CEPOL, EUAA, eu-LISA, Eurojust, and Frontex; calls on the agencies to further improve their public procurement procedures;

6. Is concerned that that the Court’s report on the implementation of the budget concerning the financial year 2022 does not contain any remarks about the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS); urges the Court to include the annual accounts of the EDPS in its yearly audit and issue a report, considering the importance of transparency for the proper functioning of all Union bodies;

7. Notes the Court’s observation that the agreements between the EU and the Schengen associated countries (SAC) serving as legal basis for calculating their contributions to EUAA’s and Frontex’ budget are unclear and allow divergent interpretations, resulting lower contribution by SAC and overstated contribution by the EU; recalls that this is an established practice for calculations of the SAC contributions; calls the Commission to examine these agreements;