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
CONT-PR-764997
Committee on Budgetary Control · Rapporteur: Joachim Stanisław Brudziński
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This draft report concerns the discharge for the European Council and Council budget for 2023. It proposes granting or postponing discharge to the Secretary-General of the Council and includes observations.¶¶ Parliament regrets the Council's continued refusal to cooperate in the discharge procedure since 2009, which prevents informed scrutiny, and calls on the Council to resume negotiations.¶¶¶ The report notes the Council's budget and management details, including implementation rate, transfers, and payments, and makes observations on transparency, ethics, and other areas.¶¶¶
Committee position. The rapporteur proposes that Parliament either grants or postpones discharge to the Secretary-General of the Council for the 2023 budget, with observations in the resolution.¶
Key points
- Parliament grants or postpones discharge to the Secretary-General of the Council for the 2023 budget implementation.¶
- Regrets that since 2009 the Council has refused to cooperate in the discharge procedure, preventing Parliament from making an informed decision.¶
- Notes the Council did not answer Parliament's questionnaire of 90 questions and did not participate in the hearing of 12 November 2024.¶¶
- Calls on the Council to resume negotiations at the highest level to break the deadlock and ensure transparency and democratic control.¶
- Stresses that a Treaty revision could give Parliament explicit competence to grant discharge to all Union institutions individually.¶¶
- Calls on rotating Council Presidencies to stop using corporate sponsorship and to provide a budget for presidencies.¶
- Regrets that the Council budget is not divided into two separate budgets for the European Council and the Council.¶
- Notes the Council's budget was EUR 647,908,757 for 2023, an increase of 6% compared to 2022, with an implementation rate of 97.0%.¶¶
- Notes that mission expenses increased by 25% and travel expenses of delegations by 36.6% between 2022 and 2023.¶
- Regrets that the code of conduct for the President of the European Council has not been aligned with those of Parliament and the Commission.¶
- Regrets that participation in the transparency register is voluntary for Member States' Permanent Representations and insists they take an active part.¶
- Urges the Council to implement Ombudsman recommendations and Court rulings on legislative transparency.¶¶
Who is affected
- The Council and its Secretariat, which must respond to Parliament's discharge requests and improve transparency and cooperation.¶¶
- Rotating Council Presidencies, which are called to stop using corporate sponsorship and receive a budget.¶
- Member States' Permanent Representations, which are urged to participate in the transparency register.¶
Figures and deadlines
- EUR 12.3 billion under MFF heading 7 in 2023, representing 6.4% of the total Union budget.¶
- Council's budget of approximately EUR 0.6 billion, about 5.2% of total administrative expenditure.
- 70 transactions examined by the Court of Auditors, 21 (30%) contained errors, but error level below materiality threshold.¶¶
- Council's budget was EUR 647,908,757 for 2023, an increase of 6% compared to 2022.¶
- Overall implementation rate of 97.0% in 2023; almost EUR 20 million in appropriations cancelled.¶
- 41 budgetary transfers for a cumulated amount of EUR 6.5 million in 2023.¶
- Appropriations carried over totalled EUR 85.5 million.¶
- Average payment time decreased from 18 to 13 days from 2022 to 2023.¶
Legal basis: Article 314(10) and Articles 317, 318 and 319 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union¶