PURPOSE: to grant discharge to the European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA) for the financial year 2012.

NON-LEGISLATIVE ACT: Decision 2014/597/EU of the European Parliament on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Network and Information Security Agency for the financial year 2012.

CONTENT: with the present decision, the European Parliament grants discharge to the Executive Director of ENISA for the implementation of its budget for the financial year 2012.

This decision is in line with the European Parliament's resolution adopted on 3 April 2014 and comprises a series of observations that form an integral part of the discharge decision (please refer to the summary of the opinion of 3 April 2014).

Amongst the main observations made, Parliament noted issues concerning the physical inventory of fixed assets and called on the Agency to address this issue.

The European Parliament adopted a decision concerning the discharge to be granted to the Executive Director of the European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA) in respect of the implementation of the Agency's budget for the financial year 2012. The vote on the discharge decision approved the closure of the accounts (in accordance with Annex VI, Article 5(1) of the Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament.

Noting that the Court of Auditors stated that it has obtained reasonable assurances that the annual accounts of the Agency for the financial year 2012 are reliable, and that the underlying transactions are legal and regular, Parliament adopted by 497 votes to 71, with 16 abstentions, a resolution containing a series of recommendations that form an integral part of the discharge decision and as well as the general recommendations that appear in the draft resolution on performance, financial management and control of EU agencies.

These recommendations are summarised as follows:

Budget and financial management : Parliament noted with satisfaction that budget monitoring efforts during the financial year 2012 resulted in a budget implementation rate of 100% and that the payment appropriations execution rate was 91.45%. Prevention and management of conflicts of interests and transparency : it stated that the Management Board approved and signed the decision on practical arrangements for implementing transparency and confidentiality rules in October 2013. Performance : Parliament requested that the Agency communicate the results and impact its work has on European citizens in an accessible way, mainly through its website.

Lastly, Parliament made a series of observations on transfers, procurement and recruitment procedures as well as comments on internal controls.

The Committee on Budgetary Control adopted the report by Petri SARVAMAA (EPP, FI) in which it recommended the European Parliament to grant discharge to the Executive Director of the European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA) in respect of the implementation of the Agency's budget for the financial year 2012.

Noting that the Court of Auditors stated that it has obtained reasonable assurances that the annual accounts of the Agency for the financial year 2012 are reliable, and that the underlying transactions are legal and regular, Members approved the closure of ENISA’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.

Budget and financial management : Members noted with satisfaction that budget monitoring efforts during the financial year 2012 resulted in a budget implementation rate of 100% and that the payment appropriations execution rate was 91.45%. Prevention and management of conflicts of interests and transparency : Members stated that the Management Board approved and signed the decision on practical arrangements for implementing transparency and confidentiality rules in October 2013.

Lastly, Members also made a series of observations on transfers, procurement and recruitment procedures as well as comments on internal controls.

Having examined the revenue and expenditure accounts for the financial year 2012 and the balance sheet at 31 December 2012 of the European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA), as well as the Court of Auditors' report on the annual accounts of the Agency for the financial year 2012, accompanied by the Agency's replies to the Court's observations, the Council recommends the European Parliament to give a discharge to the Executive Director of the Agency in respect of the implementation of the budget for the financial year 2012.

The observations in the Court of Auditors' report in relation to the financial year 2012 call for some comments by the Council, which may be summarised as follows:

in general, the Council welcomes the Court's opinion that, in all material respects, the Agency's annual accounts present fairly its financial position as at 31 December 2012 and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the year then ended, in accordance with the provisions of the Agency's Financial Regulation and the accounting rules adopted by the Commission's accounting officer, and that the underlying transactions for that financial year are legal and regular. Inventories : the Council takes note of the fact that the Agency has taken corrective measures in order to address the shortcomings identified by the Court as regards the physical inventory of fixed assets.

PURPOSE: presentation of the EU Court of Auditors’ report on the annual accounts of the European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA) for the year 2012, together with the Agency’s reply.

CONTENT: in accordance with the tasks conferred on the Court of Auditors by the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the Court presents to the European Parliament and to the Council, in the context of the discharge procedure, a Statement of Assurance as to the reliability of the annual accounts of each institution, body or agency of the EU, and the legality and regularity of the transactions underlying them, on the basis of an independent external audit.

This audit concerned, amongst others, the annual accounts of the European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA).

In the Court’s opinion, ENISA ’s Annual Accounts fairly present, in all material respects, its financial position as of 31 December 2012 and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the year then ended, in accordance with the provisions of its Financial Regulation and the accounting rules adopted by the Commission’s accounting officer.

The Court also considers that the transactions underlying the annual accounts of the Agency for the financial year ended 31 December 2012 are, in all material respects, legal and regular.

The report confirms that the Agency’s 2012 budget amounted to EUR 8.2 million.

The report also makes a series of observations on the budgetary and financial management of the Agency, accompanied by the latter’s response. The main observations may be summarised as follows:

The Court’s observations :

Internal controls: whereas the Financial Regulation and the corresponding Implementing Rules provide for a physical inventory of fixed assets at least every three years, the Agency has not carried out a comprehensive physical inventory since 2009.

The Agency’s reply:

Controls: ENISA states that it launched the inventory count in late April 2013 in both offices, in Heraklion and Athens. This is the first count in the history of ENISA which occurs with the use of a dedicated electronic tool, ABAC Assets, and its functionalities (including labelling, scanning, uploading of scanned items, providing reports). The results of the count will be processed by the Accounting Officer and the final accounting entries for the differences between the accounting records and the physical inventory will occur by 31 July 2013 the latest.

Lastly, the Court of Auditors’ report contains a summary of the Agency’s activities in 2012 . This is focused on the following:

identifying and responding to the evolving threat environment ; assisting Member States to increase the level of protection of critical information infrastructures; supporting the CERT and other operational communities ; securing the digital economy.