Brussels, 27/04/2006 (Agence Europe) - On 27 April, the European Parliament decided to grant a discharge to the European Commission for the implementation of the EU general budget in 2004 (operational expenses). Adopting the report by Jan Mulder (ADLE, the Netherlands) by 523 to 62 with 18 abstentions, the European Parliament welcomed the measures taken by the EU Council of Ministers to boost Member States' responsibility for improving the control of jointly managed measures in order to ensure a positive statement of assurance, and also the Council's pledge to make a summary every year of the audits and statements available for each country at the relevant level.
In addition, the EP decided to grant discharge to other EU institutions for the implementation of the 2004 budget (but not for the European Parliament itself, see related article), namely the Council, the Court of Justice, the Court of Auditors, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions. For the Committee of the Regions, the EP decided by 417 to 167 with 22 abstentions to give the go-ahead for proper implementation of operating expenses despite the recommendation of the rapporteur, Nils Lundren (IND/DEM, Sweden), to postpone the vote because of the problems raised by the Court of Auditors of insufficient controls. The MEPs are disappointed that the Court of Justice has not yet made it compulsory for judges to declare their financial interests, unlike EU Commissioners, MEPs and Members of the Court of Auditors. The MEPs therefore call on the Court of Justice to introduce binding legislation to force judges to declare their financial interests. The EP also granted 2004 budget discharge to the European Ombudsman, the European Data Protection Controller and the various EU agencies.
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