Brussels, 01/10/2009 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 30 September, the European Parliament's budgetary control committee decided to postpone until its 2 and 3 November 2009 meeting the vote on discharge of implementation of the Council's budget for 2007, in order to give the MEPs time to examine documents supplied by the Council. It seems, however, that everything is in place for the European Parliament to be able to decide in Strasbourg on 26 November to grant discharge to the Council for implementation of its 2007 accounts.
On 23 April, the EP decided to postpone the vote on discharge of implementation of the Council's 2007 budget (see EUROPE 9888), basically because the ever more hands-on nature of Council expenditure requires similar auditing to the other EU institutions' expenditure. The EP is calling for official dialogue with Council representatives over implementation of the Council's budget for discharge of its 2008 accounts.
On 24 September, the chair of the EP's budgetary control committee, Luigi de Magistris (ALDE, Italy), the political group coordinators and the rapporteur for the 2007 discharge, Søren Bo Søndergaard (GUE/NGL, Denmark) met with the Swedish ambassador and the Council's deputy secretary general. At the meeting, the Council submitted the documents it has published online in an attempt to demonstrate increased transparency (http: //http://www.consilium.europa.eu/showPage.aspx?id=1633&lang=fr ).
Speaking of the Council's response, the rapporteur, Bo Søndergaard, told this newsletter: “I am not very satisfied with what they have answered, but I'm very satisfied that they have answered”. The rapporteur is planning to suggest to the budgetary control committee members that they “acknowledge the progress,” knowing that Council has actually answered and agreed to meet. He will insist on the fact that the process has to go on next year during the process of discharging the 2008 budget.
“We have won a first battle due to the fact that the committee have been very united (…) but we have to use this as a starting point for going further,” said the rapporteur.
He said that he would be asking the budgetary control committee to grant discharge to the Council secretary general for implementation of the Council budget for the 2007 financial year but insisting that it should be examined in greater detail ahead of the discharge procedure for the 2008 budget, mentioning problems with the annual activity report. The rapporteur would not give any details, stating that he would be disclosing them at the upcoming budgetary control committee meeting on 2 and 3 November 2009. (L.C./transl.fl)