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Document JOL_2012_286_R_0022_01
2012/545/EU: Decision of the European Parliament of 10 May 2012 on discharge for implementation of the European Union general budget for the financial year 2010, Section II — Council#Resolution of the European Parliament of 10 May 2012 with observations forming an integral part of the decision on discharge for implementation of the European Union general budget for the financial year 2010, Section II — Council
2012/545/EU: Decision of the European Parliament of 10 May 2012 on discharge for implementation of the European Union general budget for the financial year 2010, Section II — Council
Resolution of the European Parliament of 10 May 2012 with observations forming an integral part of the decision on discharge for implementation of the European Union general budget for the financial year 2010, Section II — Council
2012/545/EU: Decision of the European Parliament of 10 May 2012 on discharge for implementation of the European Union general budget for the financial year 2010, Section II — Council
Resolution of the European Parliament of 10 May 2012 with observations forming an integral part of the decision on discharge for implementation of the European Union general budget for the financial year 2010, Section II — Council
OJ L 286, 17.10.2012, p. 22–28
(BG, ES, CS, DA, DE, ET, EL, EN, FR, IT, LV, LT, HU, MT, NL, PL, PT, RO, SK, SL, FI, SV)
17.10.2012 |
EN |
Official Journal of the European Union |
L 286/22 |
DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
of 10 May 2012
on discharge for implementation of the European Union general budget for the financial year 2010, Section II — Council
(2012/545/EU)
THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT,
— |
having regard to the European Union general budget for the financial year 2010 (1), |
— |
having regard to the annual accounts of the European Union for the financial year 2010 (COM(2011) 473 – C7-0258/2011) (2), |
— |
having regard to the Council’s annual report to the discharge authority on internal audits carried out in 2010, |
— |
having regard to the Annual Report of the Court of Auditors on implementation of the budget for the financial year 2010, together with the institutions’ replies (3), |
— |
having regard to the statement of assurance (4) as to the reliability of the accounts and the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions, provided by the Court of Auditors for the financial year 2010 pursuant to Article 287 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, |
— |
having regard to Article 314(10) and Articles 317, 318 and 319 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, |
— |
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, |
— |
having regard to Decision No 31/2008 of the Secretary-General of the Council/High-Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy concerning reimbursement of travel expenses of delegates of Council Members (6), |
— |
having regard to the Interinstitutional Agreement between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission of 17 May 2006 on budgetary discipline and sound financial management (7), |
— |
having regard to Rule 77 of, and Annex VI to, its Rules of Procedure, |
— |
having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgetary Control (A7-0095/2012), |
1. |
Postpones its decision on granting the Secretary-General of the Council discharge for implementation of the Council’s budget for the financial year 2010; |
2. |
Sets out its observations and reservations in the resolution below; |
3. |
Instructs its President to forward this decision and the resolution forming an integral part thereof to the Council, the Commission, the Court of Justice of the European Union, the Court of Auditors, the European Ombudsman and the European Data Protection Supervisor, and to arrange for their publication in the Official Journal of the European Union (L series). |
The President
Martin SCHULZ
The Secretary-General
Klaus WELLE
(2) OJ C 332, 14.11.2011, p. 1.
(3) OJ C 326, 10.11.2011, p. 1.
(4) OJ C 332, 14.11.2011, p. 134.
(5) OJ L 248, 16.9.2002, p. 1.
(6) Decision stemming from the Rules of Procedure of the Council of 22 July 2002 (OJ L 230, 28.8.2002, p. 7).
(7) OJ C 139, 14.6.2006, p. 1.
RESOLUTION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
of 10 May 2012
with observations forming an integral part of the decision on discharge for implementation of the European Union general budget for the financial year 2010, Section II — Council
THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT,
— |
having regard to the European Union general budget for the financial year 2010 (1), |
— |
having regard to the annual accounts of the European Union for the financial year 2010 (COM(2011) 473 – C7-0258/2011) (2), |
— |
having regard to the Council’s annual report to the discharge authority on internal audits carried out in 2010, |
— |
having regard to the Annual Report of the Court of Auditors on implementation of the budget for the financial year 2010, together with the institutions’ replies (3), |
— |
having regard to the statement of assurance (4) as to the reliability of the accounts and the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions, provided by the Court of Auditors for the financial year 2010 pursuant to Article 287 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, |
— |
having regard to Article 314(10) and Articles 317, 318 and 319 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, |
— |
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, |
— |
having regard to Decision No 31/2008 of the Secretary-General of the Council/High-Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy concerning reimbursement of travel expenses of delegates of Council Members (6), |
— |
having regard to the Interinstitutional Agreement between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission of 17 May 2006 on budgetary discipline and sound financial management (7), |
— |
having regard to Rule 77 of, and Annex VI to, its Rules of Procedure, |
— |
having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgetary Control (A7-0095/2012), |
1. |
In keeping with its power to make use of the two deadlines in the discharge timetable in order, in this case, to explore the possibility of reaching an agreement with the Presidency-in-Office, postpones its decision on granting the Secretary-General of the Council discharge for implementation of the Council’s budget for the financial year 2010; |
2. |
Takes note of the fact that, in its annual report for 2010, the Court of Auditors concluded, based on its audit work, that the payments as a whole for the year ended 31 December 2010 for the administrative and other expenses of the institutions and bodies were free from material error; points out that the most likely error rate as regards administrative expenditure in general is estimated at 0,4 % (paragraphs 7.9 and 7.10); |
3. |
Acknowledges receipt of a series of documents for the 2010 discharge procedure (final financial statements for 2010, including the accounts, the financial activity report and the summary of the 2010 internal audits); is still awaiting all necessary documents for a discharge (including the full 2010 internal audit); |
4. |
Hopes that Parliament will receive the complete annual activity report; insists that the annual activity report also provides a comprehensive overview of all human resources available to the Council, broken down by category, grade, gender, participation in vocational training and nationality; |
5. |
Points out that in its 2010 annual report the Court of Auditors criticised the financing of the Residence Palace building project because of the advance payments (paragraph 7.19); notes that the Court of Auditors made the observation that during the period 2008-2010 advance payments made by the Council totalled EUR 235 000 000; notes that the amounts paid came from under-utilised budget lines; points out that ‘under-utilised’ is the politically correct term for ‘over-budgeted’; points out that in 2010 the Council increased the budget line for ‘Acquisition of immovable property’ by EUR 40 000 000; |
6. |
Notes the Council’s explanation concerning the fact that the appropriations were made available by budget transfers authorised by the budget authority in accordance with the procedures laid down in Articles 22 and 24 of the Financial Regulation; |
7. |
Shares the Court of Auditors’ view that such a procedure does not comply with the principle of budget accuracy, despite the savings made in paying rent; |
8. |
Notes the Council’s reply that the amounts for the budget lines for interpretation and delegations’ travel expenses should be more in line with the real consumption and calls for a better budgetary planning in order to avoid current practices in the future; |
9. |
Reminds the Court of Auditors of Parliament’s request to carry out an in-depth assessment of supervisory and control systems in the Council, similar to the assessments it carried out in relation to the Court of Justice, the European Ombudsman and the European Data Protection Supervisor in the course of preparation of the Court of Auditors’ annual report concerning the financial year 2010; |
10. |
Regrets the difficulties encountered in the discharge procedures for the 2007, 2008 and 2009 financial years, which were due to the unwillingness of the Council to engage in an open and formal dialogue with the Committee on Budgetary Control as well as to answer the questions of the Committee; points out that Parliament refused to grant the Secretary-General of the Council discharge for the implementation of the Council budget for the financial year 2009 for the reasons set out in its resolutions of 10 May 2011 (8) and 25 October 2011 (9); |
11. |
Reiterates its view that the European taxpayers have every right to expect that the entirety of the Union budget, including all the funds managed autonomously by its separate institutions and agencies, should be subject to full public scrutiny; |
12. |
Deplores the fact that, unlike the other Union institutions, the Council does not consider itself responsible for the use of the funds made available to it; |
13. |
Notes the flaw in the Council’s argument that granting discharge to the Commission should be interpreted as granting discharge to the entirety of the Union budget, including parts of the budget used by the Council, is demonstrated by its inconsistent adherence to the position that the Commission should not have the power to oversee and manage its budget; believes that the only logical resolution of this conflict is for Council either to invite the Commission to take control of its finances or to participate fully in a standard discharge procedure which must necessarily follow mutatis mutandis the full procedures followed for all the other institutions of the European Union; |
14. |
Reiterates that the Parliament is still waiting for the reply of the Council on the actions and request for documents set out in the two above mentioned resolutions; calls on the Secretary-General of the Council to provide Parliament’s committee responsible for the discharge procedure with comprehensive written answers to the following questions:
|
15. |
Notes the Commission’s reply of 25 November 2011 to the letter from the Chair of the Committee on Budgetary Control, in which the Commission says it is desirable for Parliament to continue to give, postpone or refuse discharge to the other institutions as has been the case up until now; |
16. |
Points out that on 31 January 2012 the Chair of the Committee on Budgetary Control sent a letter to the Presidency-in-Office of the Council, stating his wish to establish political dialogue and forwarding supplementary questions from the Committee on Budgetary Control on discharge to the Council; hopes therefore that the Council will provide to the competent committee for the discharge procedure a reply to the questionnaire -attached to the Chair’s letter- before the plenary debate; |
17. |
Regrets, however, that the Council refused to attend any official meeting of the Committee on Budgetary Control related to its discharge; |
18. |
Emphasises the right of Parliament, on the Council’s recommendation, to grant discharge in accordance with the procedure laid down in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, which must be interpreted in the light of its context and purpose, which is to submit the implementation of the entire budget of the European Union to parliamentary control and scrutiny without exception, and to grant discharge autonomously, not only in respect of the section of the budget implemented by the Commission, but also in respect of the sections of the budget implemented by the other institutions, as referred to in Article 1 of the Financial Regulation; |
19. |
Notes that the Council ought to be transparent and fully accountable to the European citizens for the funds entrusted to it as a Union institution; insists that this means the Council must participate fully and in good faith in the annual discharge process:
|
20. |
Believes the inter-institutional cooperation between Parliament and the Council to be of outmost importance in supervising the implementation of the Union budget; in this respect, asks the Council to provide the answers to the pending questionnaire submitted by Parliament; |
21. |
Calls on the Council to discuss the annual discharge for the general budget of the Union in a public part of the Council meeting. |
(2) OJ C 332, 14.11.2011, p. 1.
(3) OJ C 326, 10.11.2011, p. 1.
(4) OJ C 332, 14.11.2011, p. 134.
(5) OJ L 248, 16.9.2002, p. 1.
(6) Decision stemming from the Rules of Procedure of the Council of 22 July 2002 (OJ L 230, 28.8.2002, p. 7).
(7) OJ C 139, 14.6.2006, p. 1.
(8) OJ L 250, 27.9.2011, p. 25.