The European Parliament decided by 636 votes to 53, with 9 abstentions, to give discharge to the Director of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) for the financial year 2020 and to approve the closure of the accounts for that year.

Noting that the Court of Auditors stated that it had obtained reasonable assurance that the Centre's annual accounts for the financial year 2020 were reliable and that the underlying transactions were legal and regular, Parliament adopted, by 569 votes to 47 with 22 abstentions, a resolution containing a series of recommendations which form an integral part of the discharge decision and which complement the general recommendations contained in the resolution on the performance, financial management and control of EU agencies.

Centre’s financial statements

The EMCDDA's final budget for 2020 was EUR 18 048 883, representing a minimal decrease of 0.71 % compared to 2019.

Budgetary and financial management

Parliament welcomed the budget monitoring efforts made during the 2020 financial year, which resulted in a budget implementation rate of 100%, the same rate as in 2019. The payment appropriations execution rate was 94.73 %, representing a decrease of 3.56 % compared to the previous year.

Other observations

Members also made a series of observations concerning performance, staff, procurement and Covid-19.

In particular, they noted that:

- the Centre contributed to the development of the EU Agenda and Action Plan on Drugs 2021-2025;

- most of the Centre’s work in 2020 was dedicated to investigating the impact of Covid-19 on the drug situation in Europe and that the Centre launched twelve new resources in 2020, including special reports and web pages, in an effort to timely contribute with information and resources to the fight against the pandemic;

- on 31 December 2020, the establishment plan was 93.69 % implemented, with seven officials and 62 temporary agents appointed out of 10 officials and 66 temporary agents authorised under the Union budget;

- the Centre should rely as much as possible on permanent staff as opposed to external staff and interim workers. The Commission should ensure appropriate human resources allocations for that purpose;

- the lack of gender balance within senior management with two women and seven men and on its management board with 22 men and 10 women;

- the Centre concluded a service-level agreement in 2020 with the Commission’s Directorate-General for Informatics (DIGIT) for the provision of services relating to ICT procurement and e-procurement (e-Prior services);

- in terms of procurement execution, the 2020 procurement plan was put in place in line with the Centre’s 2020 management plan, and was successfully executed in close collaboration with all units;

- the Centre established a task force to coordinate the public health response to the pandemic in March 2020 after activating the Centre’s contingency management plan, and putting in place measures to ensure the safety of the staff and business continuity;

- the Centre has been actively monitoring its environmental performance and CO2 footprint. A considerable drop was noted for 2020 caused by a Covid-19 related reduction in missions and transport, as well as the Centre’s switch from to CO2 neutral electricity generated from renewable energy sources.