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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 — C7-0217/2010) (2),

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having regard to the Committee of the Regions’ 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 (A7-0139/2011),

1.

Notes that in 2009 the Committee of the Regions (CoR) had commitment appropriations available amounting to a total of EUR 88 000 000 (EUR 93 000 000 in 2008), with a utilisation rate of 98,37 %, which is above the average of the other institutions (97,69 %);

2.

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 CoR;

3.

Notes that the CoR obtained 10 more posts in 2009 (and 4 more in 2010); welcomes the adoption of the flexitime regulation, which entered into force on 1 January 2011; notes the CoR’s efforts in exploring the possibilities of teleworking; also notes the considerable increase of the CoR’s training budget (up 12 % compared to 2008) and increase in the number of training courses, with a shift towards more targeted courses aimed at enhancing knowledge in a specific field;

4.

Notes with satisfaction that in 2009 the CoR updated its budget-analytical monitoring tool (BudgetWatch), providing more comprehensive information on the CoR’s budget, facilitating the implementation of the CoR’s budgetary resources and identifying the areas which require management attention;

5.

Notes with satisfaction that according to the comments of the CoR 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 CoR and the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) 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, and 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 CoR and the EESC 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 the mid-term review of that agreement, due in 2011;

6.

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;

7.

Notes that the Internal Audit Service (IAS) carried out audits on the adequacy of budget planning systems (concluded in 2009), and on the conformity of rights establishment in progress, as well as follow-ups on mission expenses, on studies and expert advice, and the second follow-up on application of internal control standards and adequacy of financial circuits; notes that as regards the latter, despite this being the second follow-up, it still demonstrated a relatively low result indicator (i.e. the number of recommendations implemented within 12 months); also notes that the planned study on the quality of the IAS function did not take place;

8.

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; reminds the CoR of its request that CoR members declare their financial interests, disclosing relevant information on declarable professional activities and remunerated posts or activities; notes with satisfaction the CoR response on the matter, in particular, the letter of the president of the CoR of 11 February 2011; requests the CoR to follow up this issue in its Annual Activity Report;

9.

Commends the CoR 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;

10.

Calls on the CoR to undertake urgently 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 would reduce the pressure on the budget in this period of austerity.