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DRAFT REPORT (2025/2149(DEC))

On discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2024, Section V – Court of Auditors

CONT-PR-778062

Committee on Budgetary Control · Rapporteur: Pasquale Tridico

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This draft report concerns discharge for the Court of Auditors' 2024 budget. It proposes granting discharge and includes observations on the Court's management, performance, and ethics. The report notes the Court's budget, audit findings, and administrative spending, and makes recommendations on transparency, gender balance, and access to data systems.

Committee position. The rapporteur proposes granting discharge to the Secretary-General of the Court of Auditors for the 2024 financial year, with observations.

Key points

  1. Proposes granting discharge to the Secretary-General of the Court of Auditors for the 2024 financial year.
  2. Notes that the Court's budget for 2024 was EUR 185,655,890, a 6.05% increase from 2023, mainly due to salary adjustments.
  3. Notes that 16 of 70 sampled administrative transactions contained errors, but the error level is below the materiality threshold.
  4. Calls on the Commission to grant the Court full access to FENIX and other systems, as delays up to 2.5 months hamper audits.
  5. Regrets that women hold only 30% of senior management posts and calls for continued efforts to improve gender balance.
  6. Reiterates concern over the Court's refusal to lift immunity of its former President and denies EPPO requests for staff testimony.
  7. Calls on the Court to join the Transparency Register, as its work has political or advisory dimensions.
  8. Notes a cyber-attack on the Court's website in 2024 and welcomes commitment to reassess cybersecurity risks every two years.
  9. Supports the Court's request to convert 29 temporary agents hired for RRF audits into permanent posts.
  10. Regrets lack of mandate to audit EIB operations financed with own funds and calls for such a mandate.

Who is affected

  • The Court of Auditors: subject to discharge and observations on its management, ethics, and transparency.
  • The Commission: must provide full access to FENIX and other data systems for audits.
  • Member States: asked to propose diverse candidates for Court membership to improve gender balance.
  • The European Investment Bank: called to grant the Court an audit mandate for its own funds.

Figures and deadlines

  • EUR 185,655,890: Court's 2024 budget, up 6.05% from 2023.
  • 16 of 70 transactions contained errors; error level below materiality threshold.
  • 54% of staff were women, but only 30% of senior management.
  • 13 burnout cases reported in 2024, up from 7 in 2023.
  • 89% of respondents found Court reports useful; 82% said they had impact.
  • Court forwarded 19 fraud cases to OLAF and 7 to EPPO in 2024.

Legal basis: Article 287 and Articles 314(10), 317, 318, and 319 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.