On discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the EU joint undertakings for the financial year 2023

PA_NonLegDec

OPINION

The Committee on Transport and Tourism calls on the Committee on Budgetary Control, as the committee responsible, to incorporate the following into its motion for a resolution:

1. Welcomes the ‘clean’ opinion for the 2023 financial year provided by the European Court of Auditors (‘the Court’) in relation to the reliability of the annual accounts, as well as the legality and regularity of the revenues and payments underlying the accounts of the Clean Aviation Joint Undertaking (CAJU), the Single European Sky ATM Research 3 Joint Undertaking (SESAR 3 JU), and the Europe’s Rail Joint Undertaking (EU Rail);

2. Notes the Court’s observations directed at all three Joint Undertakings (JU) concerning their outdated business continuity and disaster recovery plans; welcomes the measures taken by the JUs following the Court’s assessment to ensure that these plans are regularly updated and adapted to organisational changes and emerging risks in the operating environment;

3. Takes notice of the back-office arrangements signed by the three JUs in 2023, facilitating their collaboration with the other joint undertakings for efficiency gains in various shared areas, including human resources, accounting, ICT, and procurement.

Part I – Discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the Clean Aviation Joint Undertaking (CAJU)

1. Takes notice of the reduced 2023 commitment budget of CAJU (EUR 269 million, down from EUR 411,2 million in 2022), reflecting the lower value of the Horizon Europe calls launched in 2023; points out that its increased 2023 payment budget (EUR 468,4 million, up from EUR 415,3 million in 2022) covered the interim payments for the ongoing Horizon 2020 projects and the significant pre-financing for grant agreements planned by the end of 2023 under the Horizon Europe programme;

2. Observes that the members’ commitments for the JU’s operational and additional activities under Horizon 2020 programme exceeded their operational contribution targets, therefore, at the end of 2023, CAJU still had to pay around EUR 41 million (or 2,4 %) in the coming years for projects yet to be completed, and to validate in-kind contributions to its operational activities of EUR 244,3 million and in-kind contributions to additional activities of EUR 153,4 million;

3. Notes that the implementation rate for the 2023 operational payment appropriations under the Horizon Europe programme decreased to 51 %, primarily due to the slower start of the CAJU’s technically complex activities and delays in ongoing Horizon 2020 activities; notes that in 2023, CAJU requested EUR 178 million in additional EU financial contributions, exceeding the cash needs and resulting in a EUR 237 million cash surplus, which indicates shortcomings in its cash planning.

Part II – Discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the Single European Sky ATM Research 3 Joint Undertaking (SESAR 3 JU)

1. Takes notice of the reduced 2023 commitment budget of SESAR 3 JU (EUR 111,2 million, down from EUR 158,8 million in 2022), reflecting the lower number of calls for Horizon Europe projects; points out that its increased 2023 payment budget (EUR 241,5 million, up from 146,9 million in 2022) covered the interim payments for the ongoing Horizon 2020 projects and the significant pre-financing payments for the grant agreements and contracts planned by the end of 2023 under the Horizon Europe programme;

2. Highlights that by the end of 2022, EU and the JU’s private members met their operational contribution targets, while Eurocontrol committed only 70 % of its target; notes that this shortfall prevented SESAR 3 JU from receiving all planned contributions necessary for the full implementation of its part of the Horizon 2020 programme; further notes that by the end of 2023, the JU had EUR 36,8 million (6,6 %) in outstanding payments for incomplete projects and contracts, and needed to validate in-kind contributions of EUR 105,1 million;

3. Notes that at the end of 2023, SESAR 3 JU still lacked a policy on the management of sensitive functions, essential to prevent or mitigate the risk of inappropriate actions and corruption, in accordance with the European Commission’s Internal Control Principles.

Part III – Discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the Europe’s Rail Joint Undertaking (EU Rail)

1. Notes that the reduced commitment and payment budgets for 2023 (respectively, EUR 102,6 million and 120.3 million, down from EUR 171,4 million and 180,8 million in 2022) reflected the lower value of calls for Horizon Europe projects and the diminishing level of payments related to Horizon 2020 projects;

2. Observes that the members’ commitments for the JU’s operational and additional activities under the Horizon 2020 programme exceeded their operational contribution targets, noting that at the end of 2023, EU Rail still had to pay around EUR 40,5 million (or 10.8 %) for projects and contracts yet to be completed, and to validate in-kind contributions to its operational activities of EUR 44,7 million;

3. Remarks that although the 2023 implementation rate for operational payment appropriations of Horizon 2020 programme increased to 67 % (from 47 % in 2022), it remained below expectations; points out that EU Rail postponed final payments to 2024 due to technical issues experienced by beneficiaries; takes notice of the several projects that did not fully claim their budgets, reducing the need for operational payments by approximately EUR 4,1 million