The European Parliament decided by 612 votes to 80, with 6 abstentions, to grant discharge to the Executive Director of the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) for the financial year 2019 and to approve the closure of the accounts for that year.

Noting that the Court of Auditors has stated that it has obtained reasonable assurance that the Agency's annual accounts for the financial year 2019 are reliable and that the underlying transactions are legal and regular, Parliament adopted, by 601 votes to 86 with 4 abstentions, a resolution containing a series of recommendations which form an integral part of the discharge decision and which complement the general recommendations set out in the resolution on the performance, financial management and control of EU agencies.

Agency’s financial statements

The Agency's final budget for the financial year 2019 was EUR 96 792 026.82, an increase of 9.35% compared to 2018.

Budgetary and financial management

Members welcomed the budget monitoring efforts during the 2019 financial year, which resulted in a budget implementation rate of 99.22%, which represents a slight increase of 0.20% compared to 2018. The implementation rate of payment appropriations was 96.44%, an increase of 3.60%.

Other observations

Members also made a number of observations concerning performance, staff policy, procurement, conflicts of interest and internal controls.

In particular, they noted that:

- the five-year strategy 2020-2024 for EMSA addresses the challenges facing the maritime sector, such as zero pollution ambition, sustainability, digitalisation, data exchange, safety and security, and compliance and enforcement;

- the tripartite working agreement between the Agency, the European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA) and the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) has been functioning well since 2017;

- in the second full year of operation of the Agency's Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS), the Agency increased its RPAS services to 642 operational days (1488 flight hours) in the context of coastguard functions and support to Member States in maritime surveillance operations;

- the Agency developed new tools for vessel traffic monitoring and made available to authorised users, as of September 2019, traffic density maps displaying vessel movement patterns;

- on 31 December 2019, the establishment plan was 96.23 % implemented, with 204 officials and temporary agents appointed out of 212 officials and temporary agents authorised under the Union budget. The Agency should ensure gender balance in staff and senior management;

- 80 procurement procedures were initiated in 2019, of which 65 were launched (36.93% open procedures, 10.77% special negotiated procedures and 52.30% negotiated procedures);

- the Agency publishes conflict of interest declarations and CVs for its Board members and senior management team, and has published conflict of interest guidelines and whistleblowing provisions in place;

- with additional resources, the Agency could play an even more active role in helping Member States to mitigate environmental risks related to maritime transport and to improve the overall sustainability of the maritime sector.

Parliament welcomed the Agency's commitment to purchase 100% of its energy from renewable sources by 2021.