The European Parliament has adopted the report by Gabriele STAUNER (EPP-ED, D) and grants the Ombudsman discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget for the 2002 financial year.
In an accompanying resolution, the Parliament considers it reasonable that the Ombudsman has concluded an agreement with Parliament on cooperation on administrative, budgetary and financial matters.
Parliament welcomes the Financial Controller's confirmation that the Ombudsman's financial management for 2001 and 2002 was satisfactory. The Internal Auditor will now carry out a critical review of the new financial management structures and procedures for the financial year 2003. In addition, Parliament welcomes the fact that the Ombudsman has undertaken to forward to the discharge authority the annual activity report drawn up by the principal authorising officer.
Lastly, Parliament acknowledges that the Ombudsman is looking for a low-cost way of regularly travelling to Frankfurt am Main and Zurich airports and asks it to notify Parliament as to what solution he prefers.�