29/04/2026 (Agence Europe) – On Wednesday 29 April, the European Parliament granted budgetary discharge for 2024 to all the institutions and bodies of the European Union, with the exception of the Council of the EU, “because of its refusal to cooperate with MEPs”, says a European Parliament press release. The discharge granted to the European Commission (418 votes in favour, 207 against, 14 abstentions) was “a green light, but with serious caveats”, said European Commission rapporteur Daniel Freund (Greens/EFA, German). In particular, MEPs are calling on the Commission to shed light, before the end of 2026, on all the beneficiaries of the post-Covid-19 Next Generation EU recovery plan. With regard to Slovakia, where the ‘Fico’ government is “dismantling the anti-corruption bodies and weakening the protection of whistleblowers”, “Parliament is asking the Commission to launch a procedure to protect the EU budget”, stressed Mr Freund. (MB)