2003 discharge: EC general budget, European Parliament

PURPOSE : to present the revenue and expenditure account and the balance sheet concerning the activities of the budget for the financial year 2003 (European Parliament).

CONTENT : this document sets out the amount of expenditure and the balance sheet for the other institutions of the Union (except the Commission) for the financial year 2003, in particular the European Parliament.

The document shows that the appropriations included in the Parliament’s budget for 2003 amounted to EUR 1 086 644 375, committed to the amount of EUR 1 075 556 058, that is 98.9%. 1.02% of the final appropriations were cancelled.

The final appropriations were paid to the amount of EUR 862 078 203 EUR in 2003, representing 80.15% of the committed appropriations. Concerning the appropriations carried over from 2002 to 2003, 13.61% of the payment appropriations were finally cancelled and 86.39% were paid.

As regards the implementation of the budget, the 2003 budget was marked by a series of amendments made to the initial allocations of certain posts, in particular :

- the implementation of the new regulatory measures concerning pensions of EP staff (adaptation of a special retirement system for civil servants/officials);

- releasing the appropriations from the reserve linked to enlargement;

- new budget guidelines on the acquisition of buildings : in particular, the repurchasing of the Louise Weiss Building in Strasbourg due to various anticipatory budget operations.

Concerning the utilisation of appropriations by heading, 2003 was marked by :

1) the implementation of the new Financial Regulation : new internal administrative rules were put in place for the internal control services, the financial authorizing officer, auditors and the entire accounting department of the European Parliament. The implementation of these measures resulted in the lose of the financial controller’s position but enabled the adoption of the internal auditor’s position;

2) enlargement preparation : the effects of enlargement have been felt on the real estate level as well as on technical, security and staff levels. As regards the issue of recruitment, most of the officials from the new Member States can be found in the interpretation, translation and information services. Measures have been taken to facilitate the early retirement of statutory staff in order to free up certain positions;

3) "Raising the Game" : concerns an EP initiative aiming to make the services provided to the MEPs more efficient. In this context, several actions have been carried out : the organic and geographic reclassification of DGs in order to facilitate the legislative and parliamentary work of the MEPs, the reorganization of the Documentation Centre, initiatives to reinforce the links between the citizen and the Parliament;

4) Real estate policy : 2003 was marked by the end of the acquisition transactions concerning the LOW building in Strasbourg and the KAD in Luxembourg. Negotiations have also begun on the future acquisition of the Atrium 2 in Brussels and buildings IPE, 1, 2 and 3 in Strasbourg.

Other initiative should be noted:

- modernise the staffing policy;

- improve the integration of handicapped people,

- strengthen the interinstitutional cooperation whether it be on staff training, recruitment or information to citizens.