Resolution

of the European Parliament containing the comments accompanying the decision concerning discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the 2001 financial year Section II - Council

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT,

having regard to the Revenue and Expenditure Account and Balance Sheet in respect of the financial year 2001 (SEC(2002) 405 - C5-0243/2002),

having regard to the annual report of the European Court of Auditors for the financial year 2001, together with the institutions' replies (C5-0538/2002),(1),

having regard to the Statement of Assurance as to the reliability of the accounts and the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions provided by the European Court of Auditors pursuant to Article 248 of the EC Treaty (C5-0538/2002),

having regard to the Council's recommendation of 7 March 2003 (C5-0087/2003),

having regard to Articles 272(10) and 275 of the EC Treaty,

having regard to Article 22(2) and (3) of the Financial Regulation of 21 December 1977(2) and Article 50 of the Financial Regulation of 25 June 2002,(3),

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

having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgetary Control (A5-0101/2003/rev1),

1. Notes the replies dated 15 January 2003 from the chairman of the Committee of Permanent Representatives to the questionnaire sent by the Committee on Budgetary Control on 4 December 2002(4);

2. Welcomes the Council's willingness to provide prompt replies to the administrative aspects of the questionnaire submitted by the competent committee in the context of the discharge procedure;

3. Notes with satisfaction that the Council intends to improve its analysis of its financial management(5) for the financial year 2002 and that its analysis for 2003 will be based on the annual activity reports by the authorising officers by delegation according to Article 60(7) of the Financial Regulation;

4. Welcomes the fact that the Justus Lipsius building(6) is now correctly entered in the assets side of the Council's balance sheet for 2001 under the heading "Land and buildings" with the necessary adjustment for depreciation;

5. Condemns the Council's apparent reluctance(7) to supply the discharge authority with the annual reports by its authorising officers by delegation (or a summary thereof); and calls on the Council to reconsider its position;

6. Notes with concern that while the Council has completed the physical inventory mentioned in its reply to the Court's observations for the financial year 2000(8), unexplained differences between the physical inventory and the accounting inventory continue to exist with the result that the value of tangible fixed assets may be overestimated(9);

7. Deplores the fact that, despite the Council's acceptance(10) of the Court of Auditors' recommendations and the Council's intention to adopt the necessary measures to rectify the shortcomings which had already become apparent in previous years, those shortcomings go on recurring and there is continual contravention of basic principles of budgetary management, such as the annuality principle, for example in relation to budget item 2501 (Meetings);

8. Notes the fact that, of the Council officials in grades A1 and A2, 7 have been in their posts for 5 years or more, and 9 have been in their posts for 7 years or more; further notes that out of 47 A1 and A2 officials, only 7 are women(11); calls on the Council to adopt the same rules on mobility for senior officials as those adopted by the Commission and to increase the proportion of women in senior positions on the basis of an action plan;

Common foreign and security policy (CFSP)

9. Urges the Council to establish clear rules on remuneration and salary-related costs for special representatives and office staff and on the production of reports, audits and evaluations;

10. Regrets that in its replies to the questionnaire(12) the Council was unable to give more than a cursory response to the request by the Committee on Budgetary Control for an explanation of the budgetary aspects of the common foreign and security policy (CFSP); notes that a substantial part of the Council's budget is now spent on activities in the fields of foreign affairs, security and defence policy and justice and home affairs, and that the expenditure in these areas is not currently subject to the same close scrutiny as the administrative and operational expenditure of the other institutions; notes the joint declaration of the Council, Commission and Parliament in the framework of the budget procedure 2003 of 25 November 2002, which improves the information Parliament receives in advance as part of the decision-making process of CFSP and the procedure based on political dialogue on planning and financing joint actions; intends to assess the implementation and effectiveness of this declaration in the context of the next discharge procedure;

11. Notes the statement contained in the analysis of the Council's financial management(13) that the financial year 2001 was marked by activities linked to the installation of the structures necessary to implement the new competences flowing from the conclusions of the European Councils of Santa Maria da Feira and Nice with reference to the Common Foreign and Security Policy;

12. Recalls the recommendation of the Court of Auditors in its Special Report No 13/2001 on the management of the common foreign and security policy(14), on the basis of its audit conclusions, that the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission should adopt at an interinstitutional level clear operational principles and arrangements with regard to the Commission's and the Council's roles in the implementation of the CFSP and that the financing of the CFSP actions should be managed in a more transparent manner.

(1) OJ C 295, 28.11.2002, p. 1.

(2) OJ L 356, 31.12.1977, p. 1.

(3) OJ L 248, 16.9.2002, p. 1.

(4) Minutes of Council meeting of 22 April 1970.

(5) Annual report 2001, paragraph 7.3.

(6) The annual report of the European Court of Auditors for the financial year 2000 (OJ C 359, 15.12.2001, p. 1), paragraph 7.12.

(7) Replies to questionnaire PE 315.844 (Q3).

(8) Annual report 2000, paragraph 7.12.

(9) Annual report 2001, paragraph 7.8.

(10) Annual report 2001, paragraph 7.4 and Council's reply.

(11) Reply to Parliamentary Question E-1030/02, 30 September 2002.

(12) PE 315.844 (Q7).

(13) SEC(2002) 405, p. 123.

(14) OJ C 338, 30.11.2001.