On discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2023, Section III – Commission

PA_NonLegDec

OPINION

The Committee on Transport and Tourism calls on the Committee on Budgetary Control, as the committee responsible, to incorporate the following suggestions into its motion for a resolution:

1. Takes notice of the opinion of the European Court of Auditors (‘the Court’) that the consolidated accounts of the Union for 2023 present fairly, in all material respects, the Union’s financial position, the results of its operations, its cash flows and the changes in its net assets; regrets that the level of error for the 2023 budget expenditure increased from 4,2 % to 5,6 %, noting that, in line with the Court’s assessment, the errors are both material and pervasive;

2. Welcomes a very high execution of commitment and payment appropriations by DG MOVE in 2023 (respectively, 100 % and 99 %); remarks that its total payments amounted to EUR 453,58 million, the vast majority of them being operational, and the administrative part accounting only for less than 0,1 %;

3. Commends the effective work of the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) in implementation of the Connecting Europe Facility for Transport (CEF-T) programme; notes with satisfaction that the CEF-T call published by CINEA in 2023 made EUR 7 billion available for projects targeting new and improved European transport infrastructure;

4. Recalls that 2023 was the third year in the implementation of Horizon Europe programme and acknowledges the successful completion of two major transport calls under the Cluster 5 Work Programme, which led to new transport research and innovation projects;

5. Welcomes the work carried out in 2023, which, in line with European Green Deal and the Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy, focused on sustainability and reducing the transport emissions; points out that 2023 saw the conclusion of the inter-institutional negotiations on several key “Fit for 55” initiatives, including FuelEU Maritime, ReFuelEU Aviation, and revision of the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Directive;

6. Appreciates that supporting Ukraine remained a key priority for the Commission in 2023; takes notice of the close involvement of DG MOVE in development of the new transport-related sanctions against the Russian and Belarusian regimes; acknowledges its contribution to the preparatory work that resulted in the European Council decision to open accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova;

7. Highlights that, in the framework of the ongoing implementation of the Action Plan on Military Mobility 2.0, the Commission, along with the European External Action Service (including EU Military Staff), launched the study on the main military mobility corridors for large-scale short-notice movements.