Skip to content
REPORT (2025/2147(DEC))

On discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2024, Section II – European Council and Council

A-10-2026-0051

Committee on Budgetary Control · Rapporteur: Pasquale Tridico

Official HTML ↗ PDF DOCX
✦ In shortFull textProcedure & committee votes
✦ In short · AI summary of this text, generated 4 Sept 2026

Written by a language model from the full text only; every figure comes from the text. The paragraph links open the paragraph a statement rests on — check the text itself before relying on it.

Parliament postpones its decision on granting discharge to the Secretary-General of the Council for the 2024 budget and sets out observations in a resolution. It regrets the Council's continued refusal to cooperate in the discharge procedure, which prevents Parliament from exercising democratic scrutiny. It calls on the Council to resume negotiations, improve transparency, and implement recommendations from the Ombudsman and the Court of Justice. It also addresses political priorities, budgetary management, human resources, ethics, digitalisation, buildings, environment, and interinstitutional cooperation.

Committee position. The Committee on Budgetary Control proposes to postpone discharge and adopt a resolution with observations, reflecting Parliament's concerns about the Council's lack of cooperation.

Key points

  1. Postpones discharge decision for the Council's 2024 budget implementation.
  2. Regrets Council's non-cooperation since 2009, including refusal to answer questionnaire and participate in hearing.
  3. Calls on Council to resume negotiations at highest level and provide legal opinions on Treaty-based solutions.
  4. Notes Council budget was EUR 676,881,123 in 2024, up 4.47% from 2023.
  5. Calls for separation of European Council and Council budgets with distinct budget lines.
  6. Calls for publication of travel and representation expenses of senior officials.
  7. Calls for full disclosure of consultancy contracts exceeding EUR 50,000.
  8. Calls on Council to stop corporate sponsorship of presidencies and make guidance binding.
  9. Regrets Hungarian presidency's misuse of role and calls for measures against such conduct.
  10. Calls for shift to qualified majority voting in critical areas, including sanctions.
  11. Calls for improved transparency in Council's legislative process and access to documents.
  12. Calls for revision of Article 319 TFEU to explicitly allow discharge to all institutions.

Who is affected

  • The Council and its Secretariat, which must cooperate with Parliament and improve transparency.
  • Rotating Council Presidencies, which are urged to stop using corporate sponsorship.
  • Member States holding the Presidency, which must comply with Union values.
  • Permanent Representations, which are encouraged to join the transparency register.

Figures and deadlines

  • EUR 676,881,123: Council budget for 2024, up 4.47% from 2023.
  • 96.40% implementation rate for commitment appropriations in 2024.
  • EUR 78.6 million carried over from 2024 to 2025.
  • 42 budgetary transfers in 2024, three totalling approximately EUR 12.8 million.
  • Average payment time increased from 13 to 15 days from 2023 to 2025.
  • Mission expenses decreased by 18.50% to approximately EUR 4.3 million in 2024.
  • 3,124 staff at end of 2024, up from 3,115 in 2023.
  • 2,872 initial access requests in 2024, down from 3,732.

Legal basis: Article 314(10) and Articles 317, 318 and 319 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union