Discharge 2024: General budget of the EU - Agencies

European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound)

5.Appreciates the Foundation’s work to enhance and disseminate knowledge and to provide evidence-based expertise supporting the development of better-informed social, employment and work-related policies in Europe; highly values its expertise on topics relevant to the European Pillar of Social Rights including the Directives on transparent and predictable working conditions, on work–life balance for parents and carers, on adequate minimum wages, on improving working conditions in platform work, and on pay transparency, as well as the European Child Guarantee; welcomes Eurofound’s key research in policy-relevant areas, including its 2024 work on the unaffordable and inadequate housing in Europe, adequate minimum wages, income inequality and the middle class, the political dimension of social cohesion in Europe;

6.Welcomes the ECA’s positive opinion on the Foundation’s annual accounts and invites the Foundation to address the ECA’s recommendations;

7.Highlights the 15.1 % carry-over rate of non-differentiated appropriations, representing a decrease compared with the previous year, and takes note of the Foundation’s clarification distinguishing between planned and unplanned carry-overs, the former being linked to multiannual projects and not creating budgetary uncertainties; encourages the Agency to continue its efforts to further reduce unplanned carry-over rates in the coming years;;

European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA)

8.Appreciates the Agency’s activities to develop, gather and provide reliable and relevant information, analyses and tools on national and EU priorities in the field of occupational safety and health; welcomes its 2024 achievements, including the publication of Occupational Safety and Health overviews on cardiovascular diseases and psychosocial risks, progress in research in the health and social care sector, and the completion of fieldwork for the European Survey of Enterprises on New and Emerging Risks;

9.Welcomes the ECA’s positive opinion on the Agency’s annual accounts and invites the Agency to address the ECA’s observations, in particular concerning management;

10.Notes with concern the carry-over rate of 22.6 %, which has improved compared with the previous year but remains well above the 15 % benchmark; recalls that recurrently high carry-over rates undermine the budgetary principle of annuality; welcomes the measures taken by EU-OSHA to strengthen its budgetary planning process and encourages the Agency to continue its efforts to further reduce unplanned carry-over rates in the coming years;

11.Acknowledges with appreciation the progress made by EU-OSHA in reducing late payments compared with 2023 through the implementation of an action plan;

European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop)

12.Appreciates Cedefop’s research, analyses and technical expertise in vocational education and training (VET), qualifications and skills policies; welcomes its 2024 achievements, including the expansion of its skills intelligence portfolio, support for inclusion, and analysis of key VET policy developments in Member States; highlights in particular the first EU-wide AI skills survey and the launch of the Labour and Skills Shortage Index (CLSSI) and the Short-Term Anticipation of Skill Trends (STAS);

13.Welcomes the ECA’s positive opinion on the Agency’s annual accounts and invites the Agency to address the ECA’s observations, in particular regarding the increase in the share of late payments compared with 2023;

14.Encourages Cedefop to promptly amend its internal rules to ensure that Greek seconded national experts required to relocate to Thessaloniki are eligible for daily subsistence allowances, in line with principle of equal treatment;

European Training Foundation (ETF)

15.Appreciates the ETF’s contribution to strengthening human capital in the EU’s neighbouring countries; acknowledges its key role in enhancing employability through reforms in education, vocational training, skills, lifelong learning and labour market systems; notes that 2024 marked the 30th anniversary of the Foundation, celebrating three decades of expertise and partnership in promoting inclusive and effective education and skills development;

16.Welcomes the ECA’s positive opinion on the Agency’s annual accounts and invites the ETF to address the ECA’s observations, in particular regarding the increase in the share of late payments compared with 2023;

17.Notes the ETF’s corrective actions to address irregularities identified in open procurement procedures;

18.Underlines the ETF’s progress in improving gender balance, with women now representing 57 % of managers, and acknowledges efforts to enhance geographical balance;

European Labour Authority (ELA)

19.Appreciates the Authority’s work to assist Member States and the Commission in ensuring a fair and effective enforcement of Union rules on labour mobility and coordination of social security systems, in facilitating effective labour mobility in Europe through European Employment Services (EURES) activities, and to raising awareness, through training and information campaigns, notably #FairHORECAinEU and #Road2FairTransport, about the rights and obligations of workers and employers in mobile sector; welcomes that the Authority entered its first year at full operational capacity in 2024, enabling it to fully implement its mandate across all areas of activity;

20.Expresses its satisfaction with the overall positive opinion of the ECA on the Authority’s accounts; notes, however, that the ECA issued a qualified opinion on the legality and regularity of payments, as it did in 2023;

21.Takes note in this context of the ECA’s qualification regarding payments amounting to EUR 2.6 million made in 2024, representing 5.7 % of the total payment appropriations and exceeding the materiality threshold; point out that these payments were linked to a contract awarded through an open procedure previously assessed as irregular in the 2022 report (EUR 2.2 million), as well as to shortcomings identified in ex-ante checks related to contract implementation (EUR 0.4 million);

22.Recognises the progress achieved in reducing the number of temporary staff since 2022, when they represented 58 % of the workforce; regrets, however, that their proportion remained high at 47 % in both 2023 and 2024; encourages ELA to continue increasing the share of permanent staff;

23.Notes with satisfaction that in 2024 the Authority reduced its carry-over rate to 15 %, reflecting improved budget implementation and financial planning; takes note of certain shortcomings in budgetary management, such as late payment interest on 11.8 % of payment requests and the incorrect booking of a budgetary amendment of EUR 266 861;

Conclusion

24.Asks the Agencies and the Commission to implement as soon as possible all outstanding ECA's recommendations;

25.Recommends, based on the facts available, that discharge be granted to the Executive Directors of the Eurofound, EU-OSHA, the CEDEFOP, the ETF, and the ELA in respect of the implementation of the Authorities’ budget for the financial year 2024.

ANNEX: DECLARATION(S) OF INPUT

Pursuant to Article 8 of Annex I to the Rules of Procedure, the rapporteur for opinion declares that she included in her draft opinion input on matters pertaining to the subject of the file that she received, in the preparation of the draft opinion, from the following interest representatives falling within the scope of the Interinstitutional Agreement on a mandatory transparency register, or from the following representatives of public authorities of third countries, including their diplomatic missions and embassies:

The list above is drawn up under the exclusive responsibility of the rapporteur for opinion.

Where natural persons are identified in the list by their name, by their function or by both, the rapporteur for opinion declares that she has submitted to the natural persons concerned the European Parliament's Data Protection Notice No 484 (https://www.europarl.europa.eu/data-protect/index.do), which sets out the conditions applicable to the processing of their personal data and the rights linked to that processing.