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opinion parliamentary committee draft, 13 November 2023

On discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Foundation for the improvement of living and working conditions (Eurofound)

Document EMPL-PA-752901 · (2023/2167(DEC))

Committee on Employment and Social Affairs · Rapporteur: Romana Tomc

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AI:In short

The Committee on Employment and Social Affairs gives its opinion on the discharge for the 2022 budget of the European Foundation for the improvement of living and working conditions (Eurofound). It asks the Committee on Budgetary Control to include its suggestions in the discharge resolution. The committee welcomes the Court of Auditors' finding that the Foundation's 2022 accounts are legal and regular, values its mission and surveys, and notes its EUR 26 million budget was fully executed. It notes the Foundation faced high inflation in 2022, shifted resources to staff costs, and covered its work programme through targeted savings. It welcomes the Foundation's cooperation with other EU agencies, its corrections to procurement tender templates and its traineeship rules, and recommends that discharge be granted to its Executive Director for 2022.

Position. The Committee on Employment and Social Affairs recommends that discharge be granted to the Executive Director of the Foundation for the 2022 budget, and asks the Committee on Budgetary Control to include its suggestions in the discharge resolution.

Key points

  1. The committee calls on the Committee on Budgetary Control to incorporate its suggestions into the discharge resolution.
  2. It expresses satisfaction that the Court of Auditors declared the Foundation's 2022 transactions legal and regular and its financial position fairly represented.
  3. It highly values the Foundation's mission to provide knowledge for better informed social, employment and work-related policies in Europe.
  4. It notes the Foundation's 2022 budget was EUR 26 million and was executed by 100%.
  5. It regrets the challenge of high inflation in 2022, which required shifting resources from the operational budget to staff-related costs, and acknowledges that targeted savings allowed delivery of the 2022 work programme.
  6. It reiterates the importance of high-quality data from the Foundation's monitoring tools, especially its Europe-wide surveys, for evidence-based policymaking.
  7. It appreciates the Foundation's leadership seeking close cooperation with other EU agencies to strengthen synergies and avoid overlaps.
  8. It takes note of weaknesses in the procurement procedure for networking services and welcomes the Foundation's correction of its tender templates.
  9. It takes note of weaknesses in the 2022 traineeship programme on updating trainees' remuneration, welcomes the corrections made, and notes the Foundation updated its rules for 2023.
  10. It recommends that discharge be granted to the Executive Director of the Foundation for the implementation of its 2022 budget.

Who is affected

  • The European Foundation for the improvement of living and working conditions (Eurofound): its 2022 budget implementation is the subject of the discharge.
  • The Executive Director of the Foundation: the committee recommends granting discharge for the 2022 budget.
  • The Committee on Budgetary Control: asked to incorporate the suggestions into its discharge resolution.

Figures and deadlines

  • EUR 26 million: the Foundation's budget for the 2022 financial year.
  • EUR 27 million: the Foundation's budget for 2021.
  • 100%: execution rate of the Foundation's 2022 budget.
  • 31 December 2022: date as at which the Foundation's financial position is fairly represented.

Written by AI from the full text · every figure comes from the text · ¶ opens the paragraph · 25 Sept 2026 · Report a problem

Full text

Suggestions 13 paragraphs

The Committee on Employment and Social Affairs calls on the Committee on Budgetary Control, as the committee responsible, to incorporate the following suggestions into its motion for a resolution:

–having regard to the European Court of Auditors’ Annual report on the implementation of the EU budget for the 2022 financial year;

–having regard to the European Court of Auditors’ Annual report on EU agencies for the financial year 2022;

–having regard to the European Foundation for the improvement of living and working conditions’ Consolidated Annual Activity Report (CAAR) 2022

1.Expresses its satisfaction that the European Court of Auditors (the ‘Court’) has declared the transactions underlying the European Foundation’s for the improvement of living and working conditions (Foundation) annual accounts for the financial year 2022 to be legal and regular and that its financial position as at 31 December 2022 is fairly represented;

2.Highly values the Foundation’s mission to provide knowledge to support the development of better informed social, employment and work-related policies in Europe, and appreciates work done by the Foundation in this field;

3.Notes that the budget of the Foundation for the financial year 2022 was EUR 26 million (EUR 27 million in 2021); expresses its satisfaction that the Foundation’s budget for 2022 was executed by 100% (as it was in 2021);

4.Regrets the fact that throughout 2022 the Foundation confronted a challenge because of high inflation rates; notes that this required a substantial shift in resources from the operational budget to the staff-related title; acknowledges the fact that targeted savings allowed the Foundation to deliver on its 2022 work programme;

5.Reiterates the importance of high-quality data provided by the Foundation’s ongoing monitoring tools for evidence-based policymaking, especially the Europe-wide surveys conducted by the Foundation;

6.Appreciates that Foundation’s leadership is seeking close cooperation with other European Union Agencies, including Cedefop, EU-OSHA, ETF, EIGE, FRA, and EEA, which aims at strengthening the synergies between these agencies and avoid overlaps;

7.Takes note that some weaknesses related to the procurement procedure for networking services were found; welcomes the fact that the Foundation has taken the steps to correct its tender templates accordingly;

8.Takes note that some weaknesses related to Foundation’s traineeship programme in 2022 were found related to updating trainees’ remuneration and welcomes the fact that the Foundation made the necessary corrections; also takes note of the fact that in order to avoid such issues in the future, the Foundation updated its rules for 2023 accordingly;

9.Recommends, on the basis of the facts available, that discharge be granted to the Executive Director of the Foundation in respect of the implementation of the Foundation’s budget for the financial year 2022.