On discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2022, Section IV – Court of Justice of the European Union

PR_DEC_Other

1. PROPOSAL FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT DECISION

on discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2022, Section IV – Court of Justice of the European Union

(2023/2132(DEC))

– having regard to the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2022,

– having regard to the consolidated annual accounts of the European Union for the financial year 2022 (COM(2023)0391 – C90251/2023),

– having regard to the annual report of the Court of Justice of the European Union to the discharge authority on internal audits carried out in 2022,

– having regard to the Court of Auditors’ annual report on the implementation of the budget concerning the financial year 2022, together with the institutions’ replies,

– having regard to the statement of assurance as to the reliability of the accounts and the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions provided by the Court of Auditors for the financial year 2022, pursuant to Article 287 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

– having regard to Article 314(10) and Articles 317, 318 and 319 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

– having regard to Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 July 2018 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union, amending Regulations (EU) No 1296/2013, (EU) No 1301/2013, (EU) No 1303/2013, (EU) No 1304/2013, (EU) No 1309/2013, (EU) No 1316/2013, (EU) No 223/2014, (EU) No 283/2014, and Decision No 541/2014/EU and repealing Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012, and in particular Articles 59, 118, 260, 261 and 262 thereof,

– having regard to Rule 100 of and Annex V to its Rules of Procedure,

– having regard to the opinion of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs,

– having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgetary Control (A90000/2024),

1. Grants the Registrar of the Court of Justice discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the of the Court of Justice of the European Union for the financial year 2022 / Postpones its decision on granting the Registrar of the Court of Justice discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the Court of Justice of the European Union for the financial year 2022;

2. Sets out its observations in the resolution below;

3. Instructs its President to forward this decision and the resolution forming an integral part of it to the Court of Justice of the European Union, the Council, the Commission and the Court of Auditors, and to arrange for their publication in the Official Journal of the European Union (L series).

2. MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION

with observations forming an integral part of the decision on discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2022, Section IV – Court of Justice of the European Union

(2023/2132(DEC))

– having regard to its decision on discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2022, Section IV – Court of Justice of the European Union,

– having regard to Rule 100 of and Annex V to its Rules of Procedure,

– having regard to the opinion of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs,

– having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgetary Control (A90000/2024),

A. whereas in the context of the discharge procedure, the discharge authority wishes to stress the particular importance of further strengthening the democratic legitimacy of the Union institutions by improving transparency and accountability, and implementing the concept of performance-based budgeting and good governance of human resources;

B. whereas the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) is the judicial institution of the Union, having the task of ensuring compliance with Union law by overseeing the uniform interpretation and application of the Treaties and ensuring the lawfulness of measures adopted by the Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies;

C. whereas the CJEU helps preserving the values of the Union and, through its case-law, works towards the building of Europe;

D. whereas the CJEU comprises two courts: the Court of Justice and the General Court;

1. Notes that the budget of the CJEU falls under MFF heading 7, ‘European public administration’, which amounted to EUR 11,6 billion in 2022 (representing 5,9 % of the total Union budget); notes that, in 2022, the CJEU’s budget of approximately EUR 0,5 billion represented 3,9 % of the total administrative expenditure;

2. Notes that the Court of Auditors in its Annual Report for the financial year 2022 examined a sample of 60 transactions under Administration, the same number as were examined in 2021; further notes that the Court of Auditors writes that administrative expenditure comprises expenditure on human resources, including expenditure on pensions, which in 2022 accounted for about 70 % of the total administrative expenditure, and expenditure on buildings, equipment, energy, communications and information technology and that its work over many years indicates that, overall, this spending is low risk;

3. Notes that, as part of its audit for 2022, the Court of Auditors examined the supervisory and control systems of the CJEU, in particular the implementation of internal control standards, risk management and the functioning of key controls defined in the Financial Regulation, including ex ante and ex post controls on payments;

4. Notes that 14 (23 %) of the 60 transactions contained errors but that the Court of Auditors, based on the five errors which were quantified, estimates the level of error to be below the materiality threshold;

5. Notes with satisfaction that the Court of Auditors, in its Annual Report for the financial year 2022, states that it did not identify any specific issues concerning the CJEU;

Budgetary and financial management

6. Notes that the overall budget allocated for the CJEU for 2022 amounted to EUR 467 900 000, an increase from EUR 444 049 000 in 2021 and in 2020 , equivalent to an increase of 5,4 % from 2021 to 2022, and that 79 % of the budget in 2022 was used for its members and staff, 14 % for buildings, 6 % for IT and 1 % for other expenditure;

7. Notes that, in the course of the 2022, the CJEU made 19 budget transfers pursuant to Article 29 of the Financial Regulation, representing a total of EUR 12,7 million or 2,7 % of the appropriations for that financial year; notes further that the budgetary implementation rate for 2022 was 98,43 %, which is in line with previous years;

8. Notes with satisfaction that the authorising officer by delegation declared that the resources allocated had been used for the purpose intended and in accordance with the principle of sound financial management and that the control procedures put in place provided the necessary guarantees as to the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions;

9. Welcomes that the CJEU is working on a wide range of IT systems, both internally and via service level agreements, across different areas that will make it more resource efficient;

10. Notes that Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine in various ways created budgetary pressures for the CJEU, including through rising inflation and salary adjustments, strongly increasing energy costs and costs for a number of goods and services;

11. Notes that the general mission budget of the CJEU declined from EUR 405 000 in 2021 to EUR 390 000 in 2022, equivalent to a reduction of 3,7 %, which was primarily due to changes in working methods with a larger number of remote meetings; notes, furthermore, that the CJEU does not have a specific budget line for missions and travel of its President; notes, finally, that the budget line for the missions of all CJEU members declined from EUR 280 000 in 2021 to EUR 270 000 in 2022, equivalent to a reduction of 3,6 %, which was also primarily due to the increased use of videoconferencing tools;

Internal management, performance and internal control

12. Notes that, during 2022, the exceptional measures related to the COVID-19 pandemic were phased out and the CJEU started to function normally; notes in that regard that the number of visitors increased to 11 653 persons which, however, is still not at the pre-pandemic level when there was 17 136 visitors in 2019, but that that might also partly be due to new possibilities to visit the CJEU virtually;

13. Notes with satisfaction that 2022 marked the 70-year anniversary of the CJEU, which constituted a very important anniversary for the entire Union; applauds that the CJEU used the opportunity to launch initiatives under the theme ‘Bringing justice closer to the citizen’, including the new initiative of offering a streaming service for hearings on the Curia website;

14. Notes that, in 2022, for the Court of Justice, 68 % of new cases were references for preliminary rulings, 24 % were appeals against decisions of the General Court, and 4 % were actions against Member States for failure to fulfil obligations; notes further that, in 2022, for the General Court, 46 % of new cases concerned actions for annulment of acts of Union institutions, 30 % concerned actions relating to intellectual property, and 7 % concerned disputes between institutions of the Union and their staff;

15. Notes that the average length of proceedings for cases brought before the Court of Justice remained similar to the previous year, amounting to 16,4 months in 2022 compared to 16,6 months in 2021; welcomes that the average length of proceedings for cases brought before the General Court decreased compared to the previous year, amounting to 16,2 months in 2022 compared to 17,3 months in 2021;

16. Welcomes that the CJEU has provided a summary of the number and type of internal audits carried out in the CJEU and a synthesis of the recommendations and the action taken on those recommendations in line with Article 118(8) of the Financial Regulation; notes that the internal auditor has an annual work programme with a multiannual component;

17. Notes that the most important internal audits in 2022 concerned bank account management, treasury and payment execution, insurance contracts and risk coverage, dissemination of sustainability information and translation management flow;

18. Notes that, in the replies to the questionnaire from Parliament’s Committee on Budgetary Control that formed part of the present discharge procedure, the CJEU mentions that the internal audits gave rise to many recommendations which have been welcomed by the relevant services and asks that Parliament be informed if recommendations from the internal auditor are not followed up by the relevant services;

Human resources, equality and staff well-being

19. Notes that the Court of Justice is composed of 27 Judges and 11 Advocates General and that no new Judge took office in 2022; notes further that the General Court is composed of 54 Judges and that eight new Judges took office during 2022;

20. Notes that the Court of Justice and the General Court continue to have a very unbalanced gender composition and that of the eight new Judges taking office in the General Court in 2022, five were men and three were women; reiterates its appreciation of the letter from the President of the General Court to the President of the Conference of the Representatives of the Member States in 2021, calling for Member States to take the need for gender balance into account when nominating candidates for the replacement of Judges; regrets that the letter has remained unanswered;

21. Appreciates that the CJEU, as part of its answers to the questionnaire from Parliament’s Committee on Budgetary Control, provided very detailed information on the distribution of staff at the end of 2022;

22. Notes that, at the end of 2022, the CJEU employed 2253 members of staff, a slight increase from 2 247 members of staff at the end of 2021 and 2 239 at the end of 2020; notes that the overall gender distribution at the end of 2022 was 893 men, equivalent to 40 %, and 1 360 women, equivalent to 60 %; notes, furthermore, that the overall distribution among the categories of staff was 1 300 officials (58 %), 774 temporary agents (34 %), and 179 contract agents (8 %), which represents a small decline in the percentage of members of staff that are officials as compared to 2021, mirrored by a small increase in the percentage that are temporary agents and no change with respect to contract agents;

23. Notes that for senior management the gender distribution was nine men and six women, equivalent to 60 % mem and 40 % women; notes that for middle management the gender distribution was 36 men and 24 women, also equivalent to 60 % men and 40 % women;

24. Welcomes that all Union nationalities are represented on the staff of the CJEU; notes however, that French nationals constitute 505 out of the 2 253 staff members, equivalent to 22 %, and that the overrepresentation is significantly high among ASTs, where they constitute 223 out of 719 members of staff, equivalent to 31 %;

25. Welcomes the work done in the High Level Interinstitutional Group on enhancing the attractiveness of Luxembourg for staff; encourages the CJEU to continue working with the other Luxembourg-based institutions on different actions, including the idea of introducing a special housing allowance to offset the high rental felt especially by staff on lower grades and the possibility of offering reasonably priced temporary housing for short stays; asks that Parliament be updated on the progress of all such initiatives;

26. Notes that the CJEU, on 1 May 2022, introduced a new teleworking scheme providing the possibility of working from home two days per week; notes, furthermore, that the scheme allows staff to work up to 10 days per year from outside the place of employment, and that a survey among managers showed global satisfaction with this possibility, which has proven compatible with the proper functioning of the services;

27. Notes with concern that the number of days of sick leave in 2022 within the CJEU was 23 702, equivalent to an increase of 38 % from 2021 when the number of days of sick leave was 17 138; notes at the same time that, in 2019, there were 25 629 days of sick leave and that the relatively low number in 2021 might be related to the COVID-19 pandemic;

28. Notes with concern that 46 members of staff reported exhaustion for work-related reasons while the medical services of the CJEU estimates that in 2022 there were 23 cases where members of staff showed symptoms that could be associated with a diagnosis of burnout; notes that the CJEU has offered training courses for managers in order to raise awareness about the different risks related to burnout and about staff well-being; encourages the CJEU to maintain focus on this problem in order to bring the number of cases associated with burnout down;

29. Notes with appreciation that the CJEU is offering training courses to foster and encourage diversity within its services; notes, furthermore, that the CJEU has 27 members of staff with a disability, out of whom 14 are considered to have a severe disability; appreciates that, during 2022, there has been significant follow-up to an internal audit from 2021, in order to guarantee the rights of people with disabilities;

30. Notes that the CJEU welcomed 267 trainees during 2022; notes with appreciation that as of autumn 2022, the CJEU decided to remunerate all trainees except those that receive a grant from other sources;

Ethical framework and transparency

31. Continues to appreciate the reforms made in 2021 concerning the members of the Court of Justice and of the General Court concerning their code of conduct and the declarations of interest, which together with the new requirements for the curriculum vitae of the members represents an improvement in the transparency of the CJEU; is, nevertheless, of the opinion that the validity and usefulness of the declarations of interest would be improved through some kind of verification and quality control;

32. Welcomes that, since 2018, the CJEU has published a list of the external activities carried out by the members of both the Court of Justice and the General Court; notes that the list is difficult to read for the general public and could be made more informative by including information about the nature of the external activity; stresses that the members are expected to devote themselves fully to the performance of their duties at the CJEU and that they can only carry out external activities that are related to the performance of their duties and subject to prior authorisation being granted and only in the event that such activities are compatible with the requirements of the code of conduct and, in particular, with the obligation to be available for judicial activities;

33. Notes the decision from 2021 concerning members’ travel, missions and use of drivers and cars, which implies that members will have to cover all the running costs for the use of a vehicle not covered by a mission order above 10 000 km; is, however, of the opinion that 10 000 km is too high and that all running costs, including the rent of a vehicle, should be covered by members when the vehicle is used for private purposes; notes that a similar system, applies to the use of the car fleet of the Court of Auditors; invites all Union institutions to agree on a single system to be applied horizontally, which would reduce the confusion and increase transparency and efficiency in the use of public money;

34. Welcomes the fact that the CJEU is training all newcomers on all ethical aspects as well as on the rights and obligations of officials and agents as set out in the Staff Regulations, also covering whistleblowing, prohibition of harassment, prevention of conflicts of interest and other ethical issues; also welcomes the organisation of six training courses entitled ‘Rules of Good Conduct’ with the participation of 70 staff members and 11 training courses entitled ‘Internal control’ with the participation 80 staff members;

35. Notes with satisfaction that no new investigations involving the CJEU were opened by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) in 2022 and that four cases handled by the European Ombudsman concerning the CJEU found no maladministration, meaning that no recommendations were issued by the European Ombudsman with regard to the CJEU in 2022; notes that there were no cases of whistleblowing in the CJEU in 2022, and, finally, notes with satisfaction that no new cases of conflicts of interest were detected in 2022;

36. Regrets strongly that the new code of conduct for members of staff, which was originally expected to be finalised by the end of 2021, was still not finalised by the end of 2022; notes that the CJEU was expected to adopt the new code of conduct by the end of 2023 and asks that Parliament be informed about its adoption and its content as soon as possible;

37. Notes that 112 requests under Article 16 of the Staff Regulations concerning professional activities after leaving the service were examined and that all were approved; notes, furthermore, that nine cases of outside activity during leave of absence for personal reasons were declared and that all were approved; considers that that area could potentially be examined by the internal auditor;

Digitalisation, cybersecurity and data protection

38. Welcomes that the CJEU sped up the implementation of an integrated case management system (SIGA), which will allow it to work on an entirely digital, secure and integrated workflow and welcomes that the CJEU progressed the implementation of the HAN/Ares program concerning all administrative services of the CJEU; asks the CJEU to keep Parliament updated on such implementation as part of the annual discharge procedure;

39. Notes that no further enquiries by the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) were communicated in 2022; awaits with interest the decision concerning the investigation from early 2021 concerning the use of third part web services;

40. Welcomes that the CJEU is considering how and to what extend modern technologies should be used in its work, for example to identify similarities between cases, for translation, for speech to text conversion and for automatised summaries of long documents; underlines that, in particular for a legal institution like the CJEU, automatised processes will always need to be supplemented with human oversight and control;

41. Welcomes the CJEU’s engagement in integrating artificial intelligence (AI) tools in its work and that a comprehensive strategy concerning AI was adopted in July 2023; underlines that it is of vital importance that AI is used in a manner which fully preserves the independence, the quality and the serenity of the legal processes and is in full consideration of ethical matters; welcomes that the CJEU has created an AI board in charge of addressing ethical aspects and setting clear boundaries for the use of AI; expects that staff guidelines on the use of AI to were adopted by the end of Autumn 2023 and asks that Parliament be kept informed about the content of these guidelines;

42. Notes with concern that the CJEU reports that the number of cyberattacks continued to grow in 2022; welcomes at the same time that the CJEU is actively participating in the relevant interinstitutional Union structures in order to strengthen the overall cybersecurity of Union institutions;

43. Appreciates that the CJEU analysed the open data possibilities in 2022 and 2023 and that the CJEU intends to share all the published information available on its website as open data;

Buildings

44. Notes with interest that the CJEU has set up a working group with representation from different parts of CJEU and its staff committee to reflect on the optimisation of the occupancy of the premises of the CJEU and that its conclusions were delivered in 2023; asks that Parliament is kept informed about the implementation of those conclusions and the consequences for the organisation of the workspace;

45. Notes with interest that an internal audit has been carried out concerning accessibility of the buildings for people with a disability and that the CJEU, following new Luxembourgish legislation, are implementing appropriate measures; welcomes that those include making courtrooms accessible for people with reduced mobility, such as tactile paving and handrails; asks that Parliament be kept informed about further initiatives in this area;

Environment and sustainability

46. Highly appreciates that the CJEU is producing a separate annual report related to the environmental footprint of the institution, which could serve as a model for other institutions;

47. Congratulates the CJEU on the results achieved in terms of significantly reducing its general consumption in 2022 compared to the base year 2015; finds it especially impressive that heating was reduced by 23,6 %, paper by 42,6 %, canteen waste by 49,9 % and greenhouse gas emissions by 31,7 %;

48. Notes that the CJEU has had solar panels installed covering 3 447,8 m2, which produced 452 959 kWh in 2022; encourages the CJEU to continue working on identifying possibilities regarding the reduction of general consumption, recycling and the generation of renewable energy;

49. Welcomes that the CJEU has taken several initiatives to support and increase sustainable mobility, including subsidies for public transportation, subsidies for self-service bicycles, improved bike parking facilities and improved facilities for hybrid and electrical cars;

Interinstitutional cooperation

50. Welcomes that the CJEU has a wide range of service level agreements with other Union institutions, which helps reduce costs for the institutions involved and ensures that similar procedures, techniques and work flows are used across the institutions;

51. Notes with appreciation that the CJEU, together with all other Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies, have entered into a joint procurement for the supply of accident insurance as referred to in Article 73 of the Staff Regulations;

52. Welcomes the fact that cooperation with the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) has been developed further and that a memorandum of understanding has been signed in order to create in-depth cooperation regarding bibliographic and documentary services for the benefit of both institutions; welcomes further that specific training has been proposed to EPPO prosecutors to enable them to familiarise themselves with the activities of the CJEU;

53. Appreciates that the CJEU fully cooperates with OLAF, the Court of Auditors, the EDPS and the European Ombudsman, including by ensuring its internal decisions on OLAF investigations are updated in order to ensure compliance with the latest requirements;

Communication

54. Notes that, in 2022, the budget for communications, covering content preparation and printing of internal and external publications was EUR 527 500, equivalent to an increase of 3,3 % from 2021;

55. Welcomes that the CJEU has used its 70-year anniversary as an opportunity to strengthen its transparency and its communication with Union citizens and to organise two open days with the possibility for citizens to ask questions on-site; encourages the CJEU to consider following up on these initiatives also in the coming years;

56. Notes with appreciation that, in 2022, the CJEU started a streaming service of the case hearings assigned to the Grand Chamber, providing the public with an opportunity to have a better understanding of how the CJEU works; encourages the CJEU to widen this initiative to ensure more transparency;

57. Welcomes that an initiative offering remote visits to the CJEU was launched in 2022 after the pilot phase was completed in 2021, giving young people between the ages of 15 and 18 an understanding of the CJEU and the impact of case-law on their daily lives and increasing their understanding of their rights as Union citizens and of the democratic values of the Union;

58. Notes that the CJEU, together with several other Union institutions, actively participate in a project launched by the EDPS with regular publications on the Mastodon social media; notes that the CJEU also uses the X (formerly Twitter) and LinkedIn platforms, and that the CJEU intends to continue a former practice of publishing on both the X (formerly Twitter) and Mastodon platforms when a technical solution allowing for an automated parallel publication has been found.