On discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2023, Section II – European Council and Council

PA_NonLegDec

OPINION

The Committee on Constitutional Affairs calls on the Committee on Budgetary Control, as the committee responsible, to incorporate the following into its motion for a resolution:

1. Calls for full respect of Parliament's prerogatives in the annual budgetary procedure and insists on the full application of article 14 (1) TEU;

2. Regrets the Council’s continuing refusal to engage in sincere cooperation in the framework of the discharge procedure for more than a decade, which prevents Parliament from taking informed decisions; regrets that this is also reflected in other important files, such as the European Parliament’s right of inquiry;

3. Considers that the lack of cooperation from the European Council and from the Council with the discharge authority sends a negative signal to citizens of the Union;

4. Calls on the Council to implement the recommendations adopted by the European Parliament on the budget discharge procedure and to resume negotiations on the memorandum of understanding on the interinstitutional cooperation on that matter;

5. Reiterates that the budget of the European Council and of the Council should be divided into two separate budgets, as recommended by Parliament in its recent discharge resolutions, in order to improve transparency, expenditure efficiency and accountability of each institution;

6. Stresses that the next revision of the Treaties should render the discharge procedure clearer and more transparent, in particular by empowering the European Parliament explicitly in Article 319 TFEU to grant discharge to all institutions and bodies individually, as reflected in its resolution of 22 November 2023 on proposals for the amendment of the Treaties.