The European Parliament decided to grant
discharge to the Secretary-General of the European Court of
Auditors in respect of the implementation of the budget of the
Court for the financial year 2015.
In its resolution accompanying the decision on
discharge, adopted by 534 votes to 91 with 7 abstentions,
Parliament took note of the auditors opinion that the
Courts financial statements give a true and fair view of
the financial position of the Court.
Budgetary and financial management: in 2015, the Courts final appropriations
amounted to a total of EUR 132 906 000 (compared to EUR 133 498 000
in 2014) and that the overall rate of implementation for the
budget was 98.68 %, slightly below that of 2014.
Courts action:
Members appreciated the cooperation between the Court of Auditors
and Parliaments Committee on Budgetary Control and called for
an even more structured annual debate between the
Courts president and Parliaments Conference of
Committee Chairs. They made a series of recommendations to the
Court, for example:
- implementing the concept of performance-based
budgeting (PBB) and good governance of human resources: this
concept should also include the setting of specific, measurable,
attainable, realistic and time-based (SMART) targets to individual
departments, units and the annual plans of members of
staff;
- present proposals to resolve the audit of the agencies
issue within the context of the ongoing revision of the Financial
Regulation, and the subsequent revision of the Framework Financial
Regulation;
- work with the other institutions of the Union to
develop the performance indicators and priorities for a good
financial governance;
- respect the timeframe for the adoption of special
reports without compromising the quality of the reports and improve
the recommendations in its special reports to be even more
targeted;
- publish a first special report on conflicts of
interests by the end of June 2017 and annually
thereafter;
- promote gender balance, in particular in management
posts;
- give greater importance to geographical balance in the
area of resources management, particularly with respect to the
Member States that have acceded the Union in 2004 or
thereafter;
- revise its calculation system based on working days of
absence per individual employee;
- target its well-being activities better in order to
include proactive and positive human resources development,
with the participation of as many staff members as
possible;
- enact the submission of declarations of interests,
instead of declarations of the absence of conflicts of
interests;
- establish clear rules regarding "revolving
doors";
- include the planning for the upgrade works of three of
the Courts buildings in its annual activity report and to
ensure the implementation of the highest possible standards of
energy efficiency during the upgrades;
- clarify how that directorate improved its translation
work;
- consider a more rational use of the Courts
official vehicles;
- note the progress in negotiations between the Court
and the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) and consider the
possibility of an administrative arrangement;
- envisage the possibility of making recommendations on
better communication about the budget of the Union, its functions
and its mission, and on how better explain it to European
citizens.
Parliament welcomed the creation of a transparency
portal on the Courts website as well as the fact that the
Court has already in place rules on whistleblowing.
The Court is called upon to include in its annual
activity reports, in compliance with the existing rules on
confidentiality and data protection, the results and consequences
of closed OLAF cases, where the Court or any member of its staff
were the subject of the investigation.