Report on discharge in respect of the implementation of the European Union general budget for the financial year 2010, Section IX – European Data Protection Supervisor
(COM(2011)0473 – C7-0264/2011 – 2011/2209(DEC))

This report, by Inés Ayala SENDER (S&D, ES), was written for and adopted by the Committee on Budgetary Control. The opinion of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs was sought and indeed was provided. Some of the major issues raised in this report are summarised below.

The European Parliament (EP) expresses “satisfaction” that the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) alongside the European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO), held a competition concerning data protection in order to recruit highly specialised staff. It is also pleased to note that payments for the year ending 31st December 2010 were “free from material error”, and that the most likely error estimated by the Court for administrative expenditure in general is 0.4%.

It was noted that in 2010 the EDPS had a total of EUR 7,104,351 in commitment appropriations (EUR 7,000,000 in 2009), and that the implementation rate of these appropriations was 82.73% (81.44% in 2009). The report stresses that the budget of the EDPS is purely administrative, with the breakdown of expenditure being 65% on persons working with the institution and 35% on buildings, furniture, equipment and miscellaneous operating expenditures.

The European Parliament “notes with satisfaction” the recommendations made by the Court of Auditors Commission concerning the 2009 financial year were acted upon. These were:

- An additional, new internal financial verification system for the financial workflow plan

- The appointment of an accounting adviser

- The introduction of a central register of exceptions

Finally, the aspiration is recorded that the annual activity report for 2011 would also include details of the staffing available, broken down by category, grade, sex, participation in professional training and nationality.

The European Parliament asked to be regularly updated on activities and changes made within the organization relating to these matters.

The European Parliament voted to approve the report on the 10th May 2012 with 549 for, 70 against and 20 abstentions.

To read the report click here

Alternatively visit the website at www.europarl.europa.eu

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