2023 discharge: General budget of the EU - Court of Justice of the European Union
The Committee on Budgetary Control adopted the report by Cristian TERHEŞ (ECR, RO) on discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2023, Section IV – Court of Justice of the European Union.
The committee called on the European Parliament to grant discharge to the Registrar of the Court of Justice discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the Court of Justice of the European Union for the financial year 2023.
Budgetary and financial management
The budget allocated for the CJEU in 2023 amounted to EUR 486 025 796, which represented an increase of 3.9 % compared to 2022. This increase was mainly related to salary adjustments forecasted for 2023. The overall implementation rate of the budget at the end of 2023 was 97.72%. The CJEU’s mission budget, which stood at EUR 638 000 for both staff and Members in 2023, continued to decrease by 3.3 % in 2023 compared to 2022.
Internal management, performance and internal control
Members noted the significant steps taken by the CJEU in 2023 towards its judicial reform which has led to the partial transfer of jurisdiction to give preliminary rulings from the Court of Justice to the General Court. A political agreement with Parliament and Council was reached at the end of 2023 in view of the amendment to the Statute of the CJEU and with a view to improving the functioning of the CJEU against the background of a steady increase in the caseload and in the complexity and sensitive nature of questions raised.
In 2023, 821 new cases were submitted to the Court of Justice, compared to 806 in 2022, out of which 63% were references for preliminary ruling and 28,6% were appeals against decisions of the General Court. The General Court saw a major increase of cases with 1 271 new cases in 2023 compared to 904 in 2022, including an exceptional series of 404 joint cases submitted in October 2023.
The Court of Justice closed 783 cases in 2023, compared to 808 in 2022, and the General Court closed 904 cases in 2023, compared to 858 in 2022.
Regarding internal audits, the main internal audits concerned the CJEU’s expenditure on the cleaning of buildings, the effectiveness of the internal control system to safeguard the CJEU’s IT assets and the staff selection procedures.
Human resources
The report noted that, at the end of 2023, the occupation rate of the establishment plan stood at 97.11 %. The annual turnover of staff was 7.8 % in 2023, which was particularly due to the 20% of those staff who left the CJEU by taking retirement.
Moreover, the gender composition of the Court of Justice and the General Court continues to be very unbalanced.
Ethical framework
Members noted with satisfaction that, as requested in previous discharge recommendations, the new code of conduct on the rights and obligations of officials and other servants of the CJEU reflecting the CJEU’s values and commitment to ethics was drawn up in 2023 and adopted in March 2024.
Further to the adoption of the code of conduct for Members and former Members of the CJEU, the declaration of interests of the Members have been published online to avoid any potential conflict of interest in the handling of cases.
Interinstitutional cooperation
Members welcomed the budgetary savings achieved through cooperation with other institutions and in particular the shared applications and hosting services based on service-level agreements with the Commission as well as the participation in interinstitutional procurement procedures, which have allowed the CJEU to optimise costs and resources. They recommended establishing a permanent judicial exchange programme for judges from Member States to work alongside their CJEU counterparts, fostering best practices in the interpretation of Union law.
Communication
Lastly, the report noted that, in 2023, the CJEU strengthened its efforts to engage with Union citizens by enhancing its outreach on social media. Members welcomed the CJEU’s efforts to enhance strategic communication and transparency towards Union citizens on the judicial activities of the CJEU.