Address https://gelex.eu/eli/EU/act/oj/L/2016/1499@2016-04-28/en

Contents

1. Preamble
2. A.
3. B.

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT,

having regard to its decision on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Police College for the financial year 2014,

having regard to Rule 94 of and Annex V to its Rules of Procedure,

having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgetary Control and the opinion of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (A8-0088/2016),

A.

whereas, according to its financial statements, the final budget of the European Police College (the College) for the financial year 2014 was EUR 8575859, representing an increase of 1,48 % compared to 2013; whereas the entire budget of the College derives from the Union budget,

B.

whereas the Court of Auditors (the Court), in its report on the annual accounts of the European Police College for the financial year 2014 (the Court’s report), has stated that it has obtained reasonable assurances that the College’s annual accounts are reliable and that the underlying transactions are legal and regular,

Notes from the Court's report that regarding two comments made in the Court's 2011 report and marked as Outstanding in the Court’s 2012 report and as Ongoing in the Court’s 2013 report, corrective actions have been taken and the comments are now marked in the Court’s report as Completed; notes furthermore that regarding three comments made in the Court’s 2012 report and marked as Outstanding or Ongoing in the Court’s 2013 report, corrective actions have been taken and two comments are now marked in the Court’s report as Completed while one is marked as Ongoing; notes that for the three notes made in the Court’s 2013 report, two are marked in the Court’s report as Ongoing while one as Not applicable; Acknowledges from the College that:

in accordance with the College’s policy on prevention and management of conflicts of interest and with the privacy statement communicated to the data subjects, the College published on its website the declarations of interest of its director, deputy director, head of corporate services and of members of its governing board; acknowledges that the declarations of interest signed by the College’s staff members, seconded national experts and other individuals directly collaborating with the College are not made public in order to limit the unnecessary exposure of personal data;

a series of measures have been put in place after the relocation of the College from Bramshill to its newly refurbished headquarters in Budapest in order to ensure the cost-effectiveness and eco-friendliness of the College’s work environment;

Notes with satisfaction that the budget-monitoring efforts during the financial year 2014 resulted in a budget implementation rate of 97,40 %, representing an increase of 2,51 % from 94,89 % in 2013; ascertains that the payment appropriations execution rate was 82,40 %, representing a decrease of 6,74 % from 89,14 % in 2013; Notes from the College's final accounts that the level of committed appropriations carried over was high at EUR 1287094, representing 15 % of the overall 2014 budget and an increase of 4 % compared to 2013; observes from the Court's report that the level of carry-overs was high for title II (administrative expenditure) at EUR 383940 (59 %), showing an increase of 29 % compared to EUR 145414 (30 %) in 2013; acknowledges, however, that the level of carry-overs is higher than in the previous year mainly due to the relocation of the headquarters that took place in October 2014 and invoices regarding training courses due in January-February 2015 not received before the closure of the financial year; Notes with concern the cancellation rate for committed appropriations carried over from 2013 at EUR 129828 (15 %); points out that the high cancellation rate resulted mainly from the cancellation of the Matrix project as well as from lower-than-estimated costs to be reimbursed under the 2013 grant agreements; calls on the College to prepare a proper user analysis for similar projects and to obtain more accurate information from its beneficiaries when estimating grant costs; points out that the high level of cancellations relating to lower-than-estimated costs to be reimbursed under the previous years' grant agreements is a recurring phenomenon in the College's budget management, and should therefore be examined by the College with extra attention; notes, moreover, that 14 % of the appropriations carried over for Title III, consisting mainly of courses and communication activities, were decommitted; Points out that the College improved its budget-monitoring system by implementing monthly budget reports and periodic meetings between all actors in the financial circuit in order to analyse and minimise potential carry-overs; notes that, as a result, the last five years have showed a continuous decrease in percentage points of the level of carry-overs and cancellations; calls on the College to reduce further the level of committed appropriations carried over to the following year and to keep it as low as possible; Ascertains from the College that it adopted guidelines on scoring applicants as well as a shortlisting matrix, both of which are used by the Selection Committee in recruitment procedures and link the scoring thresholds to the justification behind them; notes that these guidelines were applied for the recruitment rounds starting in April 2014; calls on the College to inform the discharge authority of the final assessment of the guidelines as soon as they are evaluated by the Court and the Commission’s Internal Audit Service (IAS); calls on the College to incorporate any improvements needed into its guidelines without delay; Asks the College to apply strictly the measures pertaining to discretion and exclusion in public procurement, with proper background checks being carried out in every instance, and to apply the exclusion criteria so as to debar companies in the event of any conflict of interest, this being essential to protect the financial interests of the Union; Notes that the partners and stakeholders with whom the College cooperates towards the achievement of its objectives are represented by Union bodies in the field of law enforcement and other related areas, as well as training bodies in Europe, with a significant role played by national police training colleges; acknowledges from the College that, considering the nature of its activity and specific context in which it operates, it does not work with lobbyists in legislative or other related activities; States that the annual reports of the College could play an important role in compliance regarding transparency, accountability and integrity; calls on the College to include a standard chapter on these components in its annual report; Calls on those Union institutions and agencies which have introduced codes of conduct, including Parliament, to step up their implementation measures, such as checks of declarations of financial interests; Asks for the adoption of a clear whistle-blowing strategy and rules against revolving doors; reminds the College that it must adopt binding internal rules on whistle-blowers under Article 22c of the Staff Regulations, which came into force on 1 January 2014; Acknowledges from the College's annual report that all the audit recommendations issued by the IAS have been addressed; notes that, after receiving information on improvements from the College, the IAS confirmed as closed two of its recommendations, while feedback on the remaining three recommendations is to be communicated after the next desk review or follow-up audit; calls on the College to inform the discharge authority of the results of the review as soon as they are available; Notes that the cost of relocation of the College from the United Kingdom to Hungary has been estimated at EUR 1006515, of which 43 % has been financed by the College via savings derived from the lower correction coefficient applied to staff entitlements in Hungary; ascertains that the remaining amount has been financed equally by contributions from the Commission and the United Kingdom; Notes with satisfaction that in 2014 the governing board of the College outsourced its accounting services to the Commission to reduce its administrative expenses; notes that the appointment of the Commission accounting officer as the accounting officer of the College became effective in April 2014; Calls on all the College to enhance its procedures and practices aimed at safeguarding the financial interests of the Union and to actively contribute to a results-oriented discharge process; Refers, for other observations of a cross-cutting nature accompanying its decision on discharge, to its resolution of 28 April 2016 on the performance, financial management and control of the agencies.

Versions

1. 2016-04-28