PURPOSE: to grant discharge to the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) for the financial year 2012.

NON-LEGISLATIVE ACT: Decision 2014/577/EU of the European Parliament on discharge in respect of the implementation of ECHA’s budget for the financial year 2012.

CONTENT: with the present decision, the European Parliament grants discharge to the Executive Director of the European Chemicals Agency 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 called on the Agency to provide the Commission, Parliament and the Council with a detailed analysis on possible measures to improve the implementation of REACH in order to reduce administrative burden for businesses and the uncertainty in the authorisation process of placing chemical substances on the market.

The European Parliament adopted a decision concerning the discharge to be granted to the Executive Director of the European Chemicals Agency 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 503 votes to 66, 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 that the budget implementation rates for the year 2012 were satisfactory but the rate of committed appropriations carried over was high due to the multiannual nature of significant IT development projects and the start of two new activities, Biocides and PIC in the second half of 2012. It recalled that the Agency received Union subsidies of EUR 4.2 million from the Commission, as well as a pre-financing sum of EUR 500 000 from DG Environment as contractual compensation for undertaking preparatory activities for the Regulation on Biocide Products and IPA pre-financing amounting to EUR 0.2 million. It noted that for the second consecutive year, the Agency did not receive any contribution from the Union budget in 2012 in compliance with the REACH and CLP Regulation and that budgetary revenue from fees and charges in terms of cash received amounted to EUR 26.6 million. Performance : Parliament expected that the Agency provides the Commission, Parliament and the Council with a detailed analysis on possible measures to improve the implementation of REACH in order to: (i) reduce administrative burden for businesses, (ii) reduce uncertainty in the authorisation process, i.e. measures that will make the outcome of REACH procedures more predictable, (iii) improve the proportionality of REACH procedures including considerations on limiting the scope of analyses of alternative substances, (iv) ensure confidence in REACH procedures, including considerations on the avoidance of retroactive charging in the context of joint submissions and lead registrants, (v) improve legal clarity, including considerations on the definition of criteria for the admissibility of joint submissions . Parliament also requested that the Agency communicate the results and impact its work has on European citizens in an accessible way, mainly through its website.

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

Lastly, it acknowledged that the Agency will include information and statistics on the management of conflicts of interests in its 2013 annual activity report.

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 Chemicals Agency 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 the Agency’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 that the budget implementation rates for the year 2012 were satisfactory but the rate of committed appropriations carried over was high due to the multiannual nature of significant IT development projects and the start of two new activities, Biocides and PIC in the second half of 2012. Members recalled that the Agency received Union subsidies of EUR 4.2 million from the Commission, as well as a pre-financing sum of EUR 500 000 from DG Environment as contractual compensation for undertaking preparatory activities for the Regulation on Biocide Products and IPA pre-financing amounting to EUR 0.2 million.

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

Lastly, they acknowledged that the Agency will include information and statistics on the management of conflicts of interests in its 2013 annual activity report.

Having examined the revenue and expenditure accounts for the financial year 2012 and the balance sheet at 31 December 2012 of the European Chemicals Agency (ECA), and the report by the Court of Auditors 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. Carry-overs : the Council urges the Agency to continue improving its financial management by further scrutinising carry-overs of appropriations to the following budgetary year and by limiting them to the minimum necessary, taking into account the multiannual nature of some of its activities and projects, in line with the budgetary principle of annuality. Assets : furthermore, the Council encourages the Agency to remedy the weaknesses identified by the Court in the Agency's assets inventory management. It invites the Agency to enhance its processes for the safeguarding and tracking of its fixed and intangible assets.

PURPOSE: presentation of the EU Court of Auditors’ report on the annual accounts of the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) 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 Chemicals Agency (ECHA).

In the Court’s opinion, the European Chemicals Agency’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 98.9 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 :

· budgetary management: while the rate of committed appropriations carried over was high for title III at 50 % (EUR 11.3 million), this primarily relates to the multiannual nature of significant IT development projects.

The Agency’s reply:

the Agency indicates it will continue to ensure justification for carry-over operations.

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

number of dossiers processed: 9.773 ; number of confidentiality requests assessment completed: 871 ; number of enquiries received: 1 632 ; number of decisions issued on data-sharing disputes: 1 ; number of susbstances on which information made public (excluding confidential information): 7 884.