A4-0132/96

Decision giving discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget for the financial year 1994

SECTION I - EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

The European Parliament,

- having regard to its Rules of Procedure, and in particular Rule 166(3) thereof,

- having regard to Article 77 of the Financial Regulation and Article 13 of the Internal Rules for the implementation of the European Parliament's budget,

- having regard to the revenue and expenditure account and the balance sheet for the financial year 1994 (SEC(95)0254),

- having regard to the annual report of the Court of Auditors concerning the financial year 1994 ((OJ C 303, 14.11.1995.)),

- having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgetary Control (A4-0132/96),

1. Adopts the figures closing the accounts of the European Parliament for the financial year 1994 on the basis of the following amounts:

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2. Regrets that the Court of Auditors' Special Report No. 5/95 concerning the framework contract for the building of Parliament's Chamber in Strasbourg addresses only formalistic aspects of the matter;

3. Agrees, however, with the Court of Auditors that, under the Financial Regulation, there can be no 'de facto' approval or refusal of approval;

4. Deplores the fact, in spite of the considerable financial scale, that the decision to sign the Strasbourg contract was taken without regard for the ceiling in heading 5 (administrative expenditure) of the financial perspective; under the circumstances, believes that it is essential that decisions by the competent bodies of the Institution, as one arm of the budgetary authority, be coherent and effective;

5. Instructs the Secretary-General to submit alternative solutions for the financing of large construction projects to the Institution's competent bodies, in the event that heading 5 of the financial perspective is not revised or inadequately revised, so that Parliament can discharge its contractual obligations in this regard;

6. Regrets that the contract did not bear the Financial Controller's prior approval, but was nevertheless signed;

7. Notes the report, drawn up following an outside audit, on the management and effectiveness of Parliament's computing projects and systems; is awaiting completion of the Court of Auditors' audit of the use of computing in the various Institutions in order to be able to draw the relevant conclusions;

8. Regrets the considerable delay with which the Verbatim Report of Proceedings is published as an annex to the Official Journal of the European Communities; calls on the competent administrative authorities to take the necessary measures to ensure that publication takes place as soon as possible;

9. Urges, where the use of auxiliary staff is necessary, that the broadest possible range of applicants should be considered; calls on the Secretary-General to submit a report to its Committee on Budgetary Control on the Institution's policy on auxiliary staff recruitment, including the way in which the rules on policy for equality of opportunity between men and women have been applied, in good time for the first reading of the 1997 budget;

10. Stresses that the discrepancy of BF 4 136 125 between the cash situation and the accounts, an amount which was excluded from the scope of the discharge granted for the financial year 1982, will have to be regularized when the Luxembourg Commercial Court has given judgment in the case brought on 22 March 1995 by the European Parliament against La Royale Belge S.A., with which Parliament took out, on 30 June 1976, the insurance policy referred to in Article 75 of the Financial Regulation;

11. Is concerned about the present and future effectiveness of the organizational structure and management of Parliament, taking account of the implementation of the Maastricht Treaty in 1994, the increase in membership and the ever-increasing workload; asks its Secretary-General to report within 18 months, on the basis of an independent outside survey, as to how Parliament can increase the efficiency of its management and structures, in order to be prepared for future enlargement and anticipating the outcome of the IGC;

12. Gives its Secretary-General discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget for the financial year 1994;

13. Authorizes the giving of discharge to the Accounting Officer for the financial year 1994.