2015 discharge: EU general budget, European Economic and Social Committee

2016/2156(DEC)

PURPOSE: to grant discharge to the European Economic and Social Committee for the financial year 2015.

NON-LEGISLATIVE ACT: Decision (EU) 2017/1622 of the European Parliament on discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2015, Section VI — European Economic and Social Committee.

CONTENT: with the present decision, the European Parliament grants the Secretary-General of the European Economic and Social Committee discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Economic and Social Committee for the financial year 2015.

This decision is in line with the European Parliament's resolution adopted on 27 April 2017 and comprises a series of observations that form an integral part of the discharge decision (please refer to the summary of the opinion of 27 April 2017).

Amongst Parliament’s main observations in the resolution accompanying the discharge decision, Parliament welcomed the fact that the internal whistleblowing rules entered into force in early 2016 and supported the creation of ethics counsellors' posts to help with possible harassment-related situations.

Noting that the opinions of the Committee are not well integrated into Parliament's work, the Committee is called on to develop proposals together with Parliament's Secretary-General to streamline the procedures of the Committee and Parliament in this respect.