Brussels, 27/09/2012 (Agence Europe) - MEP Ines Ayala Sender (S&D, Spain) told EUROPE on Thursday 27 September that the Council - just like any other institution of the EU - had to accept to submit its spending to the democratic control of the European Parliament. She commented on the recommendation of the Parliament's budgetary control committee not to grant discharge on the Council's 2010 budget (see other article).
“The Danish Presidency didn't manage to get the Council to change its attitude and the Cypriot Presidency has not brought good reasons to encourage the budgetary control committee to support the discharge to the Council”, the rapporteur said. She recalled that the Council “did not send the information requested by the Parliament”. Ayala Sender said that her report contains a mandate addressed to the budgetary control committee “to try and identify new ways”. On Thursday a seminar was held with experts on the means to make progress in the inter-institutional relationship. However, in Ayala Sender's opinion much will be needed to make the Parliament change its position by the plenary session.
Ayala Sender admits that “the very negative attitude” of the Council in the negotiations on the multiannual financial framework “did not help”. Having heard the experts' proposals, she said she is increasingly “convinced of the legitimacy of the demands of the Parliament”, which wants to be involved as the authority of budgetary discharge. “The Council has to accept to submit its spending to democratic control, as all the other institutions do”, Ayala Sender said.
“We have identified the possibility of going to the Court, and examined the Council's proposal according to which once the Commission has received the discharge; all the other institutions are included. We are going to see if we can come to new ways to improve the situation” in the discharge procedure for the 2011 budget. It should be remembered that refusing discharge to the Council does not have legal and economic consequences as these are only political. (LC/transl.fl