Official Journ alof the EuropeanUnion 26.9.2009
RESOLUTION OF  THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
of 23 
April 2009
with observations forming an integral part of its D ecision
 on discharge in respect of the 
implementation of the Eu ropean 
Union general bu dget 
for the financial year 2007, Section VI — 
European 
Economic and Social Committee
THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT,
—having reg ard to the European Union general budget for the fin ancial year 2007
(1) OJ L 77, 16.3.2007. (1), 
—having 
regard 
to the final 
annual 
accounts 
of the European 
Communities 
for the fin ancial 
year 2007 — 
Volume I 
(C6-0420/2008)
(2) OJ C 287, 10.11.2008, p. 1. (2), 
—having 
regard 
to the European 
Economic 
and 
Social Committee’s an nual 
report to the discharg e 
authority 
on 
internal 
audits carried out in  
2007, 
—having 
regard 
to the An nual 
Report of the Court of Auditors on  
the implementation  
of the budget 
con­
cerning 
the financial 
year 2007, tog ether 
with the audited in stitutions’ 
replies
(3) OJ C 286, 10.11.2008, p. 1. (3), 
—having 
regard 
to the statemen t 
of assuran ce 
as to the reliab ility 
of the accoun ts 
and 
the legality 
and 
regu­
larity 
of the underlying 
transactions 
provided b y 
the Court of Auditors pursuan t 
to Article 248 of the E C 
Treaty
(4) OJ C 287, 10.11.2008, p. 111. (4), 
—having 
regard 
to Articles 272(10), 274, 275 an d 
276 of the E C 
Treaty, 
—having 
regard 
to Council 
Regulation 
(EC, 
Euratom) 
No 1605/2002 of 25 June 
2002 on 
the Financial 
Regu­
lation 
applicable 
to the general 
budget 
of the European 
Communities
(5) OJ L 248, 16.9.2002, p. 1. (5), and in particular Articles 50, 86, 
145, 
146 and 
147 thereof, 
—having 
regard 
to Rule 71 of, an d 
Annex 
V to, its Rules of Procedure, 
—having 
regard 
to the report of the Committee on  
Budgetary 
Control 
(A6-0155/2009),
1. Notes that in  
2007 the E uropean 
Economic 
and 
Social Committee (E ESC) 
had commitmen t 
appropria­
tions 
available 
amounting 
to a total of E UR 
116 million  
(2006: EUR 
112 million ), 
with a utilisation  
rate 
of 91,64 %, b elow 
the averag e 
of the other in stitutions 
(93,82 %);
2. Welcomes the sig nature 
in 
December 
2007 of a n ew 
Administrative 
Cooperation  
Agreement 
between 
the 
EESC 
and 
the Committee of the Reg ions 
(CoR) for the period 2008 to 2014; is con vinced 
that coopera­
tion 
between 
the two in stitutions 
will be 
financially 
advantageous 
to Eur
opean 
taxpayers; reg rets, 
how­
ever, that, accordin g 
to the EESC’s 
annual 
activity report, n egotiations 
on 
the new 
Cooperation  
Agreement 
have 
paralysed or slowed down  
some initiatives 
scheduled in  
the 2007 Work  
Programme;
3. Welcomes 
the clear commitmen t 
of the two Committees to the aim of harmon i
sing 
their internal 
control 
standards, 
based 
on 
best 
practices, as well as all other relevan t 
financia
l procedures relatin g 
to the Join t 
Services;
4. Observes 
that the n ew 
Agreement 
keeps 
the most importan t 
areas (infrast
ructure, IT 
and 
telecommun i­
cations,
 as well as tran slation,
 including
 the production of documen ts)
 within the Join t
 Services’ remit, 
while a limited n umber 
of services are decoupled, such as in ternal 
services, the sociomedical service, the 
library 
and 
prepress;N E 2 8 / 5 5 2 L
Official Journ alof the EuropeanUnion L 255/83
5. Insists however that this decouplin g should be budget neutral and, therefore, urg es the two Committees 
to carry out a join t 
analysis 
as part of the mid-term review of whether this shift of resources is b eneficial 
to 
both; 
calls on 
the two Committees to k eep 
Parliamen t 
informed 
of the evaluation  
in 
early 2009 of the 
mini-cooperation 
agreements 
in 
the areas affected b y 
decouplin g;
6. Points 
to the remark  
made by 
the Court of Auditors in  
paragraph 
11.10 of its ab ovementioned 
annual 
report 
that, by 
continuing 
to apply a multiplication  
factor greater 
than 
1 in 
the two years followin g 
pro­
motion, 
rather than  
converting 
the balance 
over 1 into 
seniority 
in 
step, the E ESC 
thereby 
grants 
its staff 
a financial 
advantage 
not 
granted 
by 
the other in stitutions;
7.
 Emphasises
 that the provision s
 of the Staff Regulations con cerning
 the multiplication factor should b e
 
interpreted 
and 
implemen ted 
by 
all the institutions 
in 
the same way in  
order to en sure 
the equal treat­
ment 
of their staff; awaits the Civil Service Trib unal’s 
ruling 
on 
an 
appeal brought 
by 
a Commission  
offi­
cial, and 
expects the E ESC 
to align 
its practice (if n ecessary 
retroactively) to this rulin g;
8. Notes 
with satisfaction  
that two n ew 
financial 
systems (ABAC WF an d 
SAP) became 
operation al 
in 
2007 
and 
have generally 
operated effectively; further welcomes the fact that the E ESC 
has launched 
its EMAS 
(eco-management 
and 
audit scheme) certification ;
9. Welcomes 
the initiative 
by 
the EESC 
to develop a set of k ey 
activity an d 
performan ce 
indicators 
(KAPIs) 
within 
its secretariat, which thus serve as a man agement 
tool for the competen t 
services as well as improv­
ing 
transparency; 
encourages 
the EESC 
to further develop n ew 
indicators 
and 
use existin g 
ones 
to show 
trends 
in 
the medium or lon ger 
term (five to 10 years) as well;
10. Notes with satisfaction  
the considerable 
reduction 
in 
the value of n eg
otiated con tracts 
as a proportion  
of 
the value of con tracts 
awarded from 7,5 % in  
2006 to 2,5 % in  
2007, althoug h 
the number 
of negotiated 
contracts 
has doubled; 
encourages 
the EESC 
to continue 
its efforts to further reduce this proportion ;
11. Welcomes 
in 
this context 
the creation  
within 
the Joint 
Services of a Contracts Un it 
providing 
assistance 
to 
all operation al 
departmen ts 
in 
the Joint 
Services in  
the area of pub lic 
procuremen t; 
notes 
that under 
the 
new 
Agreement, 
the verification  
service of the Join t 
Services has b een 
transferred 
to each Committee’s 
own 
services;
12. Notes that a b uilding 
contractor 
with which the E ESC 
and 
the CoR had con t
ractual relation ships 
was 
arrested in  
March 2007 un der 
suspicion 
of fraud; n otes 
with satisfaction  
that an 
exhaustive audit was car­
ried out of all con tracts 
that the Committees had en gaged 
in 
with this con tr
actor since 
2000, and 
that the 
subsequent 
audit report was tran smitted 
to OLAF;
13. Considers 
it crucial that con trols 
carried out, for example, b y 
authorisin g 
officers, verifiers an d 
auditors, 
are sufficien tly
 rigorous;
 underlines
 in this con text
 the importan ce
 of an adequate n umber
 of random
 
checks 
in 
all sectors, in  
addition 
to those few strateg ic 
sectors that presen t 
a higher 
risk;
14. Welcomes 
the establishment 
of an 
audit committee made up of three E ESC 
Members, 
assisted by an  
exter­
nal 
auditor, whose task s 
include, 
among 
others, the verification  
of the indepen dence 
of the internal 
audi­
tor and
 the assessmen t
 of action s
 taken
 in respon se
 to the recommen dations
 contained
 in the internal
 
audit reports;
15. Notes that the Belg ian 
tribunal 
of first instance 
found 
a former E ESC 
Member 
guilty 
of fraudulen t 
claims 
for travel expen ses 
(double 
reimbursement); 
welcomes in  
this context 
the fact that the E ESC 
brought 
an 
appeal 
against 
the decision  
not 
to recognise 
it as a civil party;N E 9 0 0 2 . 9 . 6 2
L 255/84 EN Official Journ alof the EuropeanUnion 26.9.2009
16. Notes that a g eneral review of the rules for reimb ursement of travel an d meeting expenses of EESC Mem­
bers
 was adopted on 25 Septemb er
 2007, which aimed at improvin g
 and
 simplifyin g
 the procedures 
involved, 
while at the same time en suring 
transparency 
and 
equal treatment for all Memb ers 
and 
taking 
into
 account
 technological
 developmen ts
 (such as e-tick ets,
 online
 hotel reservation s
 and
 video-
conferencing); 
considers 
it necessary 
to look 
into 
this matter in  
the followin g 
discharge 
exercise (fin ancial 
year 
2008);
17. Further notes, 
concerning 
the new 
Members’ 
financial 
statute, that the E ESC’s 
Bureau, at its meetin g 
of
12 Novemb er 
2008, decided to estab lish 
an 
ad-hoc group, 
including 
the quaestors, which would b e 
responsible 
for draftin g 
proposals on  
revising 
the Memb ers’ 
financial 
statute;
18. Notes that Memb ers 
of the EESC 
do not 
declare their fin ancial 
interests 
or disclose relevan t 
information 
on 
such things 
as declarab le 
profession al 
activities an d 
remunerated 
posts or activities; sug gests 
that the 
EESC 
introduce 
this obligation 
for all its Memb ers; 
further proposes the appoin tment 
of an 
independent 
monitoring 
officer whose task  
would be 
to report an nually 
and 
publicly 
on 
received declaration s 
in 
order 
to ensure 
credible 
monitoring 
and 
control;
19. Praises 
the EESC 
for the quality of its an nual 
activity report; requests, however, the in clusion 
in 
its fol­
lowing 
activity report of a chapter g iving 
a detailed accoun t 
of the follow-up durin g 
the year to Parlia­
ment’s
 earlier discharg e
 decision s,
 including
 possible
 explanations
 for not
 having
 followed the 
recommen dations;
20. Notes 
that, despite amen dments 
to the Financial 
Regulation, 
its rules on  
procuremen t 
are still excessively 
cumbersome 
for smaller in stitutions, 
such as the E ESC, 
especially in  
relation 
to tenders 
for contracts 
for 
relatively small amoun ts; 
invites 
the Commission  
— when 
carrying 
out its prelimin ary 
work 
prior to draw­
ing 
up any 
future proposals for amen dment 
to the Financial 
Regulation 
— to consult 
extensively 
with the 
Secretary-Gen eral 
of the EESC 
and 
its administration 
in 
order to en sure 
that their con cerns 
are fully tak en 
into 
account 
in 
the final 
draft.