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having regard to the European Union general budget for the financial year 2009 (1),

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having regard to the final annual accounts of the European Union for the financial year 2009 (SEC(2010) 963 — C7-0216/2010) (2),

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having regard to the European Economic and Social Committee’s annual report to the discharge authority on internal audits carried out in 2009,

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having regard to the Annual Report of the Court of Auditors on the implementation of the budget concerning the financial year 2009, together with the institutions’ replies (3),

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having regard to the statement of assurance as to the reliability of the accounts and the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions provided by the Court of Auditors pursuant to Article 287 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (4),

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having regard to Article 272(10) and Articles 274, 275 and 276 of the EC Treaty and Article 314(10) and Articles 317, 318 and 319 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

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having regard to Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities (5), and in particular Articles 50, 86, 145, 146 and 147 thereof,

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having regard to Rule 77 of, and Annex VI to, its Rules of Procedure,

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having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgetary Control (A7-0136/2011),

1.

Notes that in 2009 the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) had commitment appropriations available amounting to a total of EUR 122 000 000 (EUR 118 000 000 in 2008), with a utilisation rate of 98,02 %, which is above the average of the other institutions (97,69 %);

2.

Notes with concern the allegations in relation to management within the EESC, which have led to the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) decision of 11 March 2011 to open an investigation;

3.

Requests the EESC to provide Parliament’s committee responsible for the discharge procedure with further information regarding the alleged irregularities;

4.

Calls on the EESC to cooperate fully with OLAF and to provide all necessary assistance to OLAF staff to carry out their investigation;

5.

Requests the EESC to report to Parliament’s committee responsible for the discharge procedure on:

6.

Calls on the Ombudsman to inform Parliament’s committee responsible for the discharge procedure, as soon as possible, of the results of its investigations relevant to this particular case;

7.

Notes that the Court of Auditors indicated in its annual report that the audit did not give rise to any significant observations as regards the EESC; nevertheless, calls on the Court of Auditors to confirm whether the audits of the 2009 reports found any evidence of irregularities that have already been the subject of disciplinary case No 2/2007;

8.

Notes the further, minor increase in the number of permanent posts (704 posts in 2009, 700 in 2008 and 695 in 2007) allocated to the EESC, and that the posts are consistently filled (7 vacant posts in 2009, 19 in 2008 and 9 in 2007); notes the presence of the medium-term plan (2008-2013 strategy) to promote equal opportunities and diversity in the secretariat, in particular, through increased use of flexitime arrangements, and looks forward to reports on further advancement in the human resources’ policy;

9.

Notes with satisfaction that according to the comments of the EESC in response to the Parliament’s resolution of 5 May 2010 on discharge for the financial year 2008 (6), the Administrative Cooperation Agreement between the EESC and the Committee of the Regions (CoR) for the period 2008 to 2014 is sufficiently implemented and notes that no further needs have been identified at the moment to improve practical aspects, that the committees remain attentive to the need to maintain a high level of harmonisation and this is assured by the governance structure of the Administrative Cooperation Agreement; invites the EESC and the CoR to communicate whether the de-coupling resulting from that agreement has been budget neutral, and to report to the discharge authority on the results of mid-term review of that agreement, due in 2011;

10.

Notes the efforts in the area of interinstitutional cooperation, in particular, the ongoing introduction of the staff management system ‘Sysper2’, and the preparations carried out to that effect; notes that introduction of the system is planned for January 2012;

11.

Reconfirms its position that, in the interests of transparency, declarations of financial interests of members of all Union institutions should be accessible on the Internet via a public register; notes the response of the EESC, in particular the letter of the Vice-President of EESC concerning the observation of the Parliament that the members of the EESC did not declare their financial interests, and requests that the EESC take steps to make public the relevant information, and to follow up this issue in its Annual Activity Report;

12.

Welcomes the willingness of the EESC to accommodate the suggestion of the Parliament in its abovementioned resolution of 5 May 2010, that travel expenses of members of the EESC should be based only on actual travel costs (and that daily allowances should be equal to those received by the Members of the European Parliament), and takes note of the letter of the EESC President on this matter; requests the EESC to report on the further progress on this issue;

13.

Asks the EESC to report on the developments as regards the progress on revising the members’ financial statute and to communicate to the discharge authority the outcome of that process;

14.

Commends the EESC for the consistently high quality of its Annual Activity Reports, and welcomes the inclusion of the follow-up to the Parliament’s previous discharge decisions;

15.

Calls on the EESC to undertake with urgency during 2011 a comprehensive spending review of all areas of activity to ensure all expenditure is delivering value for money in order to identify possible savings which will reduce the pressure on the budget in this period of austerity.