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Official Journal EN
of the European Union L series
2024/2271 10.10.2024
RESOLUTION (EU) 2024/2271 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
of 11 April 2024
with observations forming an integral part of the decision on discharge in respect of the
implementation of the budget of the European Union Aviation Safety Agency for the financial year
2022
THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT,
— having regard to its decision on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Union
Aviation Safety Agency for the financial year 2022,
— having regard to Rule 100 of and Annex V to its Rules of Procedure,
— having regard to the opinion of the Committee on Transport and Tourism,
— having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgetary Control (A9-0116/2024),
A. whereas, according to its statement of revenue and expenditure(1), the final budget of the European Union Aviation
Safety Agency (the ‘Agency’) for the financial year 2022 was EUR 224 265 965, representing an increase of 10,04 %
compared to 2021; whereas EUR 39 678 000 of the Agency’s budget derives from the Union budget and
EUR 120 435 031is revenue from fees and charges;
B. whereas the Court of Auditors (the ‘Court’), in its report on the annual accounts of the European Union Aviation
Safety Agency for the financial year 2022 (the ‘Court's report’), states that it has obtained reasonable assurance that
the Agency’s annual accounts are reliable and that the underlying transactions are legal and regular;
Budget and financial management
1. Notes that the budget monitoring efforts during the financial year 2022 resulted in a budget implementation rate of
current year commitment appropriations of 97,08 %, representing an increase of 0,77 % compared to 2021; further
notes that the current year payment appropriations execution rate was 87,18 %, showing a slight decrease of 0,16 %
compared to 2021;
2. Notes that the Agency ended the year with a fees and charges budgetary result of negative EUR 8,2 million
(compared to EUR 11,2 million in 2021); observes as a consequence that the Agency’s accumulated fees and
charges surplus was brought down from EUR 72,1 million to EUR 63,9 million; notes that the rate of cancelled
appropriations relating to commitments carried over to 2022 was at 2,82 %, below the 5 % ceiling set by the
Commission;
3. Notes that, according to the Court’s report, the Agency collects fees and charges for the provision of certification
services, but does not document the checks it performs to ensure that this revenue is correctly collected, therefore
not complying with the Articles 74(5) and 75 of the Financial Regulation; notes the Agency’s reply whereby the
Agency commits to take the necessary actions to guarantee that checks are properly documented;
Performance
4. Notes that in 2022 the Agency used certain measures to assess the added value provided by its activities and other
measures to improve its budget management, through a mix of 128 objectives and 66 key performance indicators
(KPIs) across 11 key areas of operation; notes that in 2022 the Agency had a very good performance with a 97 %
implementation rate of its 2022 Annual Work Programme and 77 % of the Agency’s KPIs on-track;
(1) OJ C 73, 28.2.2023, p. 25.
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5. Recognises the Agency’s key achievements and progress in 2022 in emerging areas linked to green solutions and
digitalisation; notes in this context that the Agency stepped up its efforts for a clean aviation through the EASA
Sustainable Aviation Programme - 2022 with various actions such as the publication of the third edition of the
European Aviation Environmental Report and the successful contribution to the conclusions on environment of the
International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) 41 Assembly; notes that the Agency conducted in 2022 a
comprehensive review of the strategic priorities in addressing the risks to the system in connection with the
European Plan for Aviation Safety system (EPAS); notes in this context that the review resulted in a stronger focus
on the management of risk interdependencies, as well as on the competences of personnel, and included additional
priorities for the safe integration of emerging technologies and new business concepts; notes that these new
strategic priorities are included in the 2023-2025 EPAS edition adopted in 2022;
6. Notes the Agency’s actions in 2022 for the implementation of the roadmap to Urban Air Mobility through the
publication of the guidance for the design of vertiports, the proposed new regulatory framework for the operation
of air taxis in cities, the guidelines to establish the noise levels of drones below 600 kg and the Acceptable Means of
Compliance and Guidance Material to support the harmonised, safe and efficient implementation of U-space across
the Union;
7. Salutes digital transformation of the European skies, including enhanced mobility options and streamlined
qualifications for Air Traffic Controllers licencing and training and ATM Ground Systems; calls for the amendment
of SERA RT phraseologies for communication between pilots and air traffic controllers; stresses that digital
transformation of the European skies comprises several individual components and building blocks that are critical
solutions for the future airspace architecture and aim to support safety, efficiency, and environmental performance;
8. Highlights the importance of Single European Sky tackling the fragmentation of European airspace and aiming at
improving ATM performance from the safety, capacity, cost-efficiency and environmental perspectives; welcomes
the Agency’s work in Single European Sky 2+ reform in 2022, particularly in the harmonization of ATCOs through
licensing and the certification by the Agency of ATM/ANS ground systems; commends that both reforms reduce cost
and increase capacity for ATM, and provide significant added value for the Single European Sky 2+ package of
initiative;
9. Understands concerns about Russian passenger fleets; in particular, welcomes the involvement of the Agency in the
Civil-Military Airspace Safety Team Ukraine, especially in relation to the increasing demands for airspace to facilitate
State and NATO military exercises; acknowledges the successful implementation of the work programme with the
European Defence Agency (EDA), which has significantly bolstered collaboration in the emerging frontier of
innovation; welcomes that the Agency supported Commission initiatives in the framework of RescEU programme
(fire fighters’ contract and aeronautical MEDEVAC/transport capacity);
10. Notes the Agency’s actions in response to the Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, such as the publication of a
Conflict Zone information Bulletin recommending operators to not overfly the areas with intense or heightened
military activity, and the publication of Safety Information Bulletin on intermittent GNSS outages near Ukraine
conflict areas; commends in this context that, after the trial phase of the initiative, the European Information
Sharing and Cooperation Platform on Conflict Zones became operational with the objective to share information
on threats to civil aviation arising from zones of conflict or armed insurgency; further highlights that illegal
invasion of Ukraine has resulted in new safety issues and has strengthened pre-existing ones; reiterates its call for
close relationship with European State and Military Aviation Authorities, EDA, Organisation for Joint Armament
Cooperation (OCCAR) and NATO, as appropriate for the discharge of the Agency’s tasks, in accordance with
Regulation (EU) 2018/1139 of the European Parliament and of the Council(2), to improve flight safety and security
in Europe;
11. Acknowledges that the Agency complied with the sanctions and policies set by the Commission after the illegal
Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and all cooperation activities with Russia were suspended, while the Agency
focussed its attention on activities supporting Ukraine; welcomes in this context the fact that the Agency’s Ramp
Coordination team has supported the Commission in establishing a list of aircraft registrations that are used or
controlled by Russian nationals, whereas the list was updated 38 times and covered more than 1 000 aircraft
in 2022;
(2) Regulation (EU) 2018/1139 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 July 2018 on common rules in the field of civil
aviation and establishing a European Union Aviation Safety Agency, and amending Regulations (EC) No 2111/2005, (EC)
No 1008/2008, (EU) No 996/2010, (EU) No 376/2014 and Directives 2014/30/EU and 2014/53/EU of the European Parliament and
of the Council, and repealing Regulations (EC) No 552/2004 and (EC) No 216/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council
and Council Regulation (EEC) No 3922/91 (OJ L 212, 22.8.2018, p. 1).
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Efficiency and gains
12. Commends the Agency for sharing resources on overlapping tasks and competences with other Agencies, including
in the areas of human resources advisory services, digitalisation and tools, e-learning and surveys, as well as for the
participation in inter-institutional and inter-agency calls for tender; notes that the Agency is collaborating closely
with the European Environmental Agency for the elaboration of reports such as the European Aviation
Environmental Report, with Eurocontrol for mutual opportunities in aviation related learning solutions and with
European Union Agency for Railways through a Memorandum a Cooperation signed in 2022 that establishes a
regular structured dialogue and enhances the sharing of information, knowledge and experience in various
cooperation areas; welcomes that the Agency has strategic partnerships on the sharing of resources and
information with almost all of the national competent aviation authorities in its Member States;
13. Welcomes that the Agency has established a number of partnerships with other Union bodies to improve efficiency
and coherence, including the European Environment Agency, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and
Control, the Clean Aviation Joint Undertaking, the SESAR3 Joint Undertaking; welcomes the cooperation on
learning solutions with several agencies on issues of common interest in the fields of human resources advisory
services, digitalisation and tools, e-learning and surveys, including the European Medicines Agency, the European
Securities Market Authority, the European Food Safety Authority and the European Public Prosecutor’s Office;
14. Recalls that in 2020, the corporate transformation programme ‘Destination: Future-proof’ was put in place to reduce
costs, improve efficiency and address the Agency’s key ‘drivers’; notes that that programme, formally concluded
in 2022, has delivered on key changes that include, among other, a simplified rulemaking procedure, pre-
application services for innovative technologies and an improved corporate programming process, as well as a gain
of 12 % in productivity (when comparing 2022 to 2019 outputs) equivalent to a reduction in the Agency’s
overhead of 36 full time equivalents; welcomes the fact that the programme approach for achieving efficiency, as
well as the infrastructure to initiate new initiatives has been established so that the Agency can continue to improve
processes and digitalise;
15. Welcomes the actions taken by the Agency to monitor and manage its environmental footprint in areas related to its
building, utilities and supplies, among other; notes in this context that the Agency has optimised the use of energy
and water consumption in its building, purchases 100 % renewable electrical energy, has centralized waste
collection points in the Agency’s team spaces and has measures in place to reduce paper and office supplies;
16. Notes that the Agency continues to apply the relevant Green Public Procurement criteria and requirements using the
available toolkits on its calls for tenders; further notes that in 2022 one staff member was recruited with the aim of
ensuring resources to re-start the analysis of instruments of continuous improvements in the environmental
performance of organisations, with primary focus on EMAS and ISO 14001; calls on the Agency to inform the
discharge authority on the results of that analysis;
Staff policy
17. Notes that, on 31 December 2022, the establishment plan was 95,59 % implemented, with 651 temporary agents
appointed out of 681 temporary agents authorised under the Union budget (compared to 680 authorised posts
in 2021); notes that, in addition, 95 contract agents and 23 seconded national experts worked for the Agency
in 2022;
18. Notes that the Agency made significant investments on reinforcing technical capabilities during 2022 and on
offering career progression opportunities with a renewed competence policy; notes in this context that in 2022 the
Agency successfully recruited over 60 newcomers, deployed the third generation of Junior Qualification Programme
(JQP), offered internal career development opportunities to over 70 staff members and delivered 98 % of planned
technical trainings to staff; commends the Agency’s very low turnover rate (0,1 %) in 2022;
19. Observes with concern the lack of gender balance within the Agency’s senior and middle management members,
with 17 out of 22 (77 %) being men, and within the Agency’s management board, with 59 out of 79 (75 %) being
men; further notes the gender balance within the Agency’s overall staff, with 525 out of 757 (69 %) being men;
notes that the Agency is systematically monitoring the gender distribution among applicants and actively reaches
out for female candidates, by publishing the positions in the right forums, explicitly encouraging applications from
female candidates, and drafting positions with precise information as it may affect work-life balance; calls on the
Agency to continue its efforts towards gender balance at management and overall staff level through concrete
actions that attract applications from women for posts offered by the Agency; asks the Commission and the
Member States to take into account the importance of ensuring gender balance when nominating their members to
the Agency’s management board;
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20. Welcomes that the Agency maintained focus on gender balance, geographical balance and diversity; recalls the
importance to develop a long term human resources policy on work-life balance and the offer of specific training
possibilities for career development, home office, right to disconnect, the enhancement of a geographical balance to
have an appropriate representation from all Member States, and the recruitment and integration of people with
disabilities, as well as the promotion of their equal treatment and their opportunities;
21. Notes from the Agency’s report with regard to the follow-up measures taken in light of the discharge in respect of the
implementation of the budget of the Agency's for the financial year 2021 (he ‘Agency’s report’), that, based on its
competency management and strategic workforce planning programme, the Agency identified a stable staffing
scenario 2022+ with significant external resource investments in technical and corporate expertise areas both for
traditional tasks and emerging domains based on the Agency’s mid-term strategic priorities, including e.g. new
technologies, cybersecurity, safety assessment, flight test and research;
22. Notes that in 2022 one case of harassment has been reported for which the Agency used the services of an external
investigator of the Inter-Agencies network, with the conclusion that the harassment could not be confirmed; further
notes that a total of 4 burnout cases was reported in 2022, the same number as in 2021;
23. Recalls from the Court’s annual report on Union agencies for 2021 the observation regarding the Agency’s non-
compliance with Article 16 of the Union’s Staff Regulations; notes that, according to the Court’s report, that
observation remained open; notes however from the Agency’s report that the Agency has in the meantime formally
established a Joint Committee, in addition to having revised its procedures to address weaknesses identified by the
Court;
Procurement
24. Notes that, according to the Court’s report, the Agency concluded a contract with one service provider for the
continued development of an incident reporting system for the value of EUR 1,9 million by using an extreme
urgency procedure; notes the Court’s observation that since the legal conditions for the use of that procedure were
not satisfied, the procedure was irregular, as were all the associated payments (EUR 261 385) made in 2022; notes
nevertheless the Agency’s reply that the awarded contractor was the only one able to continue the development of
that system without creating disruption and an immediate safety risk with potential catastrophic consequences;
25. Notes that, according to the Court’s observations, the Agency, after having launched a tendering procedure for
events management services, modified the price of the tender without following the provisions of the Article 151
of the financial regulation; observes that following complaint from the bidder, the Agency carried out a second
evaluation that led to excluding the bidder on the grounds that it ‘did not meet the requirements set in the tender
specifications’, however without specifying which requirements had not been met; notes the Court’s conclusion that
the bidder’s exclusion was not properly justified; calls on the Agency to take the necessary actions to guarantee that
in future procurement procedures any correction in price or exclusion of the tenderers are justified according to the
applicable legal basis;
Prevention and management of conflicts of interest and transparency
26. Acknowledges the Agency’s existing system for the prevention and mitigation of conflicts of interest which includes
an annual exercise during which staff is asked to review and update (if necessary) any change in their situation that
could lead to an actual or potential conflict of interests; notes that in 2022, from all declarations of interest
submitted by staff in various contexts (annual declaration, new recruits, post-employment or outside activities/
leave on personal grounds) and assessed by the Agency in line with the applicable procedure, 4 cases were referred
on for opinion to the Agency’s Ethical Committee; welcomes the fact that in 2022 there were no confirmed cases of
conflicts of interest and all cases where a risk of an actual or potential conflict of interest was identified could be
mitigated via specific measures put in place, for example cooling-off, lobby-bans, non-involvements in certain
assignments;
27. Notes that CVs and declarations of interest of board members and senior and middle managers are published on the
Agency’s website; further notes that the Agency does not list all its meetings with lobbyists or interest representatives
on its webpage and calls on the Agency to do so without delay;
28. Notes that the Agency is open to the possibility of an internal anticorruption strategy for the future, but considers at
this moment that, according to the records in the past years, there is no threat in this regard; nevertheless, calls on
the Agency to re-evaluate its position and take steps towards setting up an internal anticorruption strategy;
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Internal control
29. Notes that in 2022, the Commission’s Internal Audit Service (IAS) carried out an audit on standardisation activities
that assessed whether the controls in place provide reasonable assurance regarding compliance with the relevant
legislation and the standardisation activities are organised in an efficient way to effectively support the achievement
of the Agency’s business objectives; further notes that as a result of that audit three recommendations were raised
for which the Agency drafted an action plan to be implemented in the course of 2023;
30. Notes that the 2022 audit programme of the Agency’s Internal Audit Capability (IAC) consisted of 8 engagements,
namely 4 assurance audits, including 1 audit performed by IAS, 2 consulting, and 2 follow-up audits; notes that
during the 2022 follow-up audits, 2 out of the 13 actions identified in the initial audits from 2021 could be closed,
while six actions were assessed as partially implemented and five actions remained open; calls on the Agency to take
the necessary measures to address those actions;
Other comments
31. Salutes the focus of the Agency to integrate Ukraine as a candidate country into the Union system;
32. Notes from the Agency’s report that in 2022 the Agency performed a comprehensive usability study involving tree
testing and one-to-one user interview; notes that the study has provided qualitative insights that, in combination
with the quantitative insights, are expected to improve EASA Pro, EASA Light and communities on the Agency’s
website; commends the Agency for having put in place a project to make EASA Light (a dedicated area of the
Agency’s website which explains its activities in a simple non-technical English) available in all official languages of
the Union;
33. Refers, for other observations of a cross-cutting nature accompanying its decision on discharge, to its resolution of
11 April 2024(3)on the performance, financial management and control of the agencies.
(3) Texts adopted, P9_TA(2024)0280.
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