Skip to content
DRAFT REPORT (2023/2136(DEC))

On discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2022, Section VII – Committee of the Regions

CONT-PR-753484

Committee on Budgetary Control · Rapporteur: Luke Ming Flanagan

Official HTML ↗ PDF DOCX
✦ In shortFull text
✦ In short · AI summary of this text, generated 25 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.

This is a draft report by the Committee on Budgetary Control on granting discharge to the Secretary-General of the Committee of the Regions for the 2022 budget. It proposes to grant or postpone discharge and sets out observations on the Committee's budgetary and financial management, internal control, human resources, ethics, transparency, digitalisation, buildings, environment, interinstitutional cooperation and communication. The observations note the Court of Auditors found no specific issues, the budget implementation rate was 99.2%, and the error level was below the materiality threshold. The report calls on the Committee to complete digitalisation of payments, report on harassment allegations, reconsider joining the EU Transparency Register, adopt an internal anti-fraud strategy, and inform on cybersecurity and return on investment in building technologies.

Committee position. The rapporteur proposes that Parliament grant or postpone discharge to the Secretary-General of the Committee of the Regions for the 2022 budget, and sets out observations in a resolution covering budgetary management, internal control, human resources, ethics, transparency, digitalisation, buildings, environment, interinstitutional cooperation and communication.

Key points

  1. Parliament grants or postpones discharge to the Secretary-General of the Committee of the Regions for the 2022 budget and sets out observations in a resolution.
  2. The Committee's budget falls under MFF heading 7, which totalled EUR 11.6 billion in 2022; the Committee's budget represented 0.95% of that heading.
  3. The Court of Auditors examined 60 transactions, found 14 errors but estimated the error level below the materiality threshold, and identified no specific issues concerning the Committee.
  4. The final adopted budget was EUR 109,976,858, an increase of 3.03% from 2021; travel allowances rose by 92% and the missions budget by 147% due to resumed travel after the pandemic.
  5. The budget implementation rate was 99.2% and the average payment time was 17.87 days; the report calls on the Committee to complete digitalisation of the payment workflow.
  6. The Committee adopted 55 opinions and 8 resolutions in 2022, strengthened cooperation with Parliament, and ran 43 simplification and digitalisation projects under its 'Going for IMPact' programme.
  7. The Committee had 533 staff at the end of 2022, a 96% occupation rate, and a hybrid working pilot allowing telework up to 60% of working time; 16 cases of burnout were reported.
  8. Women made up 56.8% of staff but remain unbalanced in management; the Committee launched a five-year diversity strategy with a target of 40% women in senior management by 2024.
  9. The Committee continued its code of conduct for members, but six alternate members had still not submitted financial declarations by June 2023; OLAF investigated three cases in 2022.
  10. The Committee did not formally join the EU Transparency Register, adopted no new conflict-of-interest or whistleblowing measures, and did not adopt an internal anti-fraud strategy; the report reiterates calls to act on these.
  11. The combined IT budget was EUR 11,712,000; the Committee adopted new data protection rules, faced no cyber-attacks, and was asked to report on cybersecurity preparedness.
  12. The Committee and EESC lost 5,000 m² of office space, spent EUR 883,792 on fitting out premises, and earmarked EUR 200,000 for interpretation system upgrades; solar panels produced about 15.5 MWh.

Who is affected

  • The Committee of the Regions and its Secretary-General, who is granted or denied discharge for the 2022 budget.
  • Committee staff, affected by human resources, equality, well-being and ethics measures.
  • Members of the Committee, subject to the code of conduct, financial declarations and meeting allowances.
  • The European Economic and Social Committee, as partner in joint services, buildings and IT.

Figures and deadlines

  • EUR 11.6 billion: total MFF heading 7 in 2022.
  • 0.95%: Committee's budget as share of MFF heading 7 appropriations in 2022.
  • EUR 109,976,858: final adopted budget for the Committee in 2022.
  • 3.03%: overall increase in the Committee's budget compared to 2021.
  • 92%: increase in travel and subsistence allowances between 2021 and 2022.
  • 147%: increase in the missions budget between 2021 and 2022.
  • 99.2%: budget implementation rate in 2022.
  • 17.87 days: average time for payment in 2022.

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