The Committee on Budgetary Control adopted the report by Bart STAES (Greens/EFA, BE) on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction for the financial year 2016.
The committee called on the European Parliament to grant the Centre’s Director discharge in respect of the implementation of the Centre’s budget for the financial year 2016.
Noting that the Court of Auditors stated that it had obtained reasonable assurance that the annual accounts of the Centre for the financial year 2016 were reliable and that the underlying transactions were legal and regular, Members called on Parliament to approve the closure of the Centre’s accounts.
They made, however, a number of recommendations that needed to be taken into account when the discharge is granted, in addition to the general recommendations that appear in the draft resolution on performance, financial management and control of EU agencies:
- Centre’s financial statements: the final budget of the Centre for the financial year 2016 was EUR 15 421 357, representing a decrease of 16.73 % compared to 2015.
- Budget and financial management: budget monitoring efforts during the financial year 2016 resulted in a budget implementation rate of 99.95 %, representing an increase of 0.12 % compared to 2015, and that the payment appropriations execution rate was 95.64 %, representing a decrease of 1.71 % compared to 2015. Members noted with satisfaction that the high overall level of committed appropriations indicated that the commitments were made in a timely manner.
- Commitments and carry-overs: the level of committed appropriations carried over for 2016 amounts to EUR 671 266 (4.36%). Carry-overs are often justified and do not necessarily indicate weaknesses in budget planning and implementation.
Members also made a series of observations regarding procurement and staff policy, the prevention and management of conflicts of interests and internal audits and controls.
They noted that the Centre put in place a new procurement plan which was successfully executed in close collaboration with all units.
Members stressed the need for the Centre to improve the management of IT projects.
Lastly, Members encouraged the commitment of the Centre to provide improved access to its data to interested third parties, given that one of its main objectives is the dissemination of data and information on the state of the drugs problem, including data on relevant new trends.