Brussels, 18/03/2014 (Agence Europe) - The Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC), which is based in Riga, failed to convince the budgetary control committee of the European Parliament that its management of EU funds was in order for 2012. It may rectify its shortcomings by October, when the MEPs will return their final verdict in the framework of the discharge procedure. The budget control committee of the EP decided on Monday 17 March to grant discharge to the management of funds for 2012 for all of the other EU agencies.
The decision to postpone the budget management discharge 2012 for BEREC was taken by 18 votes to one, with two abstentions. The MEPs noted weaknesses in budgetary management and planning that resulted in significant carry-overs from 2012 and 2013. Its public procurement and recruitment practices were also found to be lacking in quality. “This agency stands out from the crowd with its poor performance in 2012. Postponing the grant of discharge is necessary to give it time to convince the European Parliament it can correct its shortcomings”, said Petri Sarvamaa (EPP, Finland), the MEP in charge of the discharge procedure for agencies. The rapporteur noted that weaknesses in budgetary planning, recruitment processes and public procurement, as well as conflicts of interest, had been recurrent problems, albeit to a lesser degree, with several other agencies. BEREC was set up in 2011. (LC)