European Parliament Resolution

of 4 April 2001

on the discharge in respect of the financial management of the sixth, seventh and eighth European Development Funds for the 1999 financial year

(2001/451/EC)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT,

Having regard to the balance sheets and accounts of the sixth, seventh and eighth European Development Funds for the 1999 financial year (COM(2000) 357 - C5-0257/2000),

Having regard to the annual report of the Court of Auditors for 1999 together with the replies of the institutions (C5-0618/2000)(1),

Having regard to the statement of assurance for the European Development Funds for the financial year 1999 presented by the Court of Auditors and the special report on this subject (C5-0618/2000),

Having regard to the Council recommendations of 14 March 2001 (C5-0122/2001, C5-0123/2001, C5-0124/2001),

Having regard to Article 33 of the Internal Agreement(2) between the representatives of the Governments of the Member States, meeting within the Council, on the financing and administration of the Community aid under the Second Financial Protocol to the fourth ACP-EC Convention,

Having regard to Article 74 of the Financial Regulation of 16 June 1998 applicable to development finance cooperation under the fourth ACP-EC Convention(3),

Having regard to Rule 93 and Annex V of its Rules of Procedure,

Having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgetary Control and the opinion of the Committee on Development and Cooperation (A5-0109/2001),

Whereas:

A. Pursuant to Article 74 of the Financial Regulation of 16 June 1998, the Commission is required to make every effort to remove, as soon as possible, the obstacles to the discharge decision, when the discharge cannot be given by 30 April,

1. Postpones the discharge in respect of implementation of the sixth, seventh and eighth European Development Funds for the 1999 financial year for the following reasons:

(a) in point 1 of its resolution of 13 April 2000 postponing the discharge for implementation of the sixth, seventh and eighth European Development Funds for the 1998 financial year(4), the European Parliament requested a full list of the administrative and/or disciplinary inquiries concerning Delegation staff, which needed to be carried out in the light of audits of structural adjustment programmes and other development assistance. In reply to this request the Commission set up a Committee of Inquiry under the supervision and chairmanship of the Internal Audit Service to carry out a broad administrative inquiry into the effectiveness of monitoring and control arrangements. The Commission announced that any individual negligence and wrongdoing uncovered in the course of this inquiry would be followed up. After the irregularities and abuses referred to in the 1998 discharge procedure, this administrative inquiry has high priority. Moreover, it is the first test case for the effectiveness of the new Internal Audit Service. On 21 December 2000 the Commission announced that the Internal Audit Service's report would be completed by the end of February 2001. It has suddenly been announced that the report will probably not be completed until May;

(b) in connection with the administrative inquiry referred to above, the Commission also undertook to provide a list of the cases in which the anti-fraud office OLAF has been called in. On 21 December 2000, in answer to the questionnaire submitted by the rapporteur, the Commission further announced that this list would be submitted an early stage. However, it was not received until 7 March 2001, which was too late for it to be taken into account in the preparation of the report. There is reason to assume that OLAF does not currently have the capacity to investigate cases of fraud in the EDF sector. Consequently, thorough discussion is required before the discharge can be given;

2. Notes that postponement of the discharge will also provide an opportunity to examine, on the basis of the figures to be made available in May 2001, to what extent the Commission, in accordance with the action plan produced following the 1998 discharge, is ensuring measurable progress with regard to the volume and effectiveness of Community aid in the health sector in the context of poverty reduction;

3. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council, the Court of Justice, the Court of Auditors, the European Investment Bank and the other Community institutions, and to have it published in the Official Journal (L series).

The Secretary-General

Julian Priestley

The President

Nicole Fontaine

(1) OJ C 342, 1.12.2000, p. 205.

(2) OJ L 156, 29.5.1998, p. 108.

(3) OJ L 191, 7.7.1998, p. 53.

(4) OJ C 40, 7.2.2001, p. 383.