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 VII — 
Committee of the Regions
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 
(C6-0421/2008)
(2) OJ C 287, 10.11.2008, p. 1. (2), 
—having 
regard 
to the Committee of the Reg ions’ 
annual 
report to the discharge authority on in t
ernal 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 
(A6-0153/2009),
1. Notes that in 2007 the Committee of the Reg ions
 (CoR) had commitmen t
 appropriation s
 available
 
amounting 
to a total of E UR 
68,6 million  
(2006: EUR 
74,4 million ), 
with a utilisation  
rate of 96,22 %;
2. Points 
out that the Court of Auditors in dicated 
in 
its Annual 
Report that the audit did n ot 
give 
rise to any 
significant 
observations 
as regards 
the CoR;
3. Welcomes the sig nature 
in 
December 
2007 of a n ew 
Administrative 
Cooperation  
Agreement 
between 
the 
European 
Economic 
and 
Social Committee an d 
the CoR for the period 2008 to 2014; is con vinced 
that 
cooperation  
between 
the two in stitutions 
will be 
financially 
advantageo
us to European 
taxpayers; further 
welcomes the fact that the CoR has laun ched 
its EMAS 
(eco-management 
and 
audit scheme) certification ;
4.
 Notes with satisfaction the clear commitmen t
 of the two Committees to the aim of harmon ising
 their 
internal 
control 
environment 
and 
standards, 
based 
on 
best 
practices, as well as all other relevan t 
financial 
procedures 
relating 
to the Join t 
Services;
5. 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 6 8 / 5 5 2 L
Official Journ alof the EuropeanUnion L 255/87
6. 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 con cerned 
by 
decouplin g;
7. Welcomes 
the service level ag reement 
concluded 
between 
the CoR an d 
the Commission ’s 
DG Budget 
on 
the 
implemen tation 
of ABAC (n ew 
financial 
and 
accounting 
application ), 
deployed in  
January 
2007;
8. Welcomes in  
this context 
the creation  
within 
the Joint 
Services of a Con t
racts Unit 
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;
9. Considers 
it crucial that con trols 
carried out b y, 
for example, 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;
10. Notes 
with satisfaction  
the developmen t 
by 
the CoR’s b udget 
service of a n ew 
budget 
analytical 
monitor­
ing
 tool (Budg etWatch),
 providing
 comprehen sive
 information on all CoR b udget
 lines
 and
 sub-lines,
 
including 
the availab le 
appropriation s, 
monthly 
developmen ts 
of commitmen ts 
and 
real paymen ts 
made 
for the year;
11. Welcomes the estab lishment 
by 
the CoR of a list of sen sitive 
posts, as well as the in tention 
of the CoR to 
create within  
the person nel 
unit 
a dedicated mob ility 
cell which should help to develop a forward-look ing 
approach 
to human  
resource plan ning;
12. Notes 
that the Internal 
Audit Service carried out three audits in  
2007 (on 
the performan ce 
of mission s 
expenditure, 
on 
the performan ce 
of external 
studies an d 
on 
the adequacy of fin ancial 
circuits), as well as 
two follow-up audits (on  
salary tran sfers 
with corrector coefficien t 
and 
on 
internal 
control 
standards);
13. Recalls 
that the in ternal 
audit on 
salary tran sfers, 
which was completed in  
2006 and 
which included 
an 
in-depth
 review of all existin g
 transfers,
 revealed that ‘[w]eaknesses
 existed con cerning
 the principle
 of 
separation of fun ctions
 in this area (in itiating
 func
tions
 and
 internal
 verification )
 and
 the control
 envi
­
ronment
 should have b een
 given
 greater
 priority in view of the risk s
 concerned
’; further n otes
 that a 
follow-up to the I nternal 
Auditor’s recommen dations 
was carried out in  
February 
2007 and 
a second 
follow-up 
took 
place in 
2008, and 
that it was foun d 
that 16 out of 20 recommen dations 
have been 
fully 
implemen ted;
 urges
 the CoR’s admin istration
 to ensure
 the full implemen t
ation of all audit 
recommen dations;
14. Recalls 
that, followin g 
an 
investigation, 
OLAF estab lished 
with rega
rd to eight 
transfers 
that they were n ot 
in
 complian ce
 with statutory con ditions
 and
 recommended recoverin g
 the amoun ts
 overpaid from the 
officials con cerned; 
notes 
with satisfaction  
that all recoveries were completed b y 
early 2007; further recalls 
that with reg ard 
to six staff memb ers, 
OLAF recommen ded 
the opening 
of disciplin ary 
proceedin gs, 
and 
for 
five of them it also sub mitted 
files to the Belg ian 
authorities;
15. Observes
 that, followin g
 a request b y
 the Belgian
 authorities, the CoR Appoin ting
 Authority lifted the 
immunity 
of the officials con cerned 
on 6 
July 2007, an d 
that those officials were sub sequently 
interviewed 
by 
the authorities; further n otes 
that on 17 
November 
2008, followin g 
a request from the Pub lic 
Pros­
ecutor, the immun ity 
of one 
more official was lifted b y 
the CoR Appoin ting 
Authority;
16. Notes with satisfaction  
that an 
administrative 
enquiry 
was launched 
by the CoR’s Secretary-Gen eral 
and 
carried 
out by 
a former deputy Director-Gen eral 
of the Commission ; 
points 
out that in  
two of the five 
cases where the files were sub mitted 
to the authorities, the CoR Appoin tin
g 
Authority decided on  17 
Janu­
ary 
2008 to open  
disciplinary 
proceedin gs 
before 
the Disciplin ary 
Board; un derstands 
that, in 
accordance 
with 
the Staff Reg ulations, 
a final 
decision 
can 
be 
taken 
in 
these cases on l
y after a fin al 
judgment 
has been 
handed 
down 
by 
the Belgian 
court;N E 9 0 0 2 . 9 . 6 2
L 255/88 EN Official Journ alof the EuropeanUnion 26.9.2009
17. Notes that in  the three other cases, the Appoin ting Authority will tak e its decision  on the opening of dis­
ciplinary 
proceedin gs 
as soon 
as it has received the n ecessary 
informatio
n 
as to the follow-up the Belg ian 
authorities 
intend 
to give 
to those files; further n otes 
that in 
a further case, in  
which OLAF has n ot 
sub­
mitted 
the file to the Belg ian 
authorities, the Appoin ting 
Authority decided, in  
line 
with the recommen ­
dations 
of the admin istrative 
enquiry, 
to address a warn ing 
to the official con cerned; 
reiterates its deman d 
for 
the strict prosecution  
of all cases where fraudulen t 
behaviour 
can 
be 
proved;
18. Asks 
the CoR to con sider 
proportion ate 
disciplinary 
measures if the outcome of the pen ding 
cases requires 
them;
19. Notes that Memb ers 
of the CoR either hold a reg ional 
or local authority electoral man date 
or are politi­
cally accoun table
 to an elected assemb ly;
 further n otes
 that in those capacities, Memb ers
 declare their 
financial 
interests, 
disclosing 
relevant 
information 
on 
such things 
as declarab le 
profession al 
activities an d 
remunerated 
posts or activities, in  
accordance 
with the provision s 
prevailing 
in 
their regional 
and 
local 
bodies; 
suggests 
that the CoR in troduce 
this obligation 
for all its Memb er
s; further proposes the appoin t­
ment
 of an independent
 monitoring
 officer whose task would b e
 to report an n
ually and
 publicly
 on 
received declaration s 
in 
order to en sure 
credible 
monitoring 
and 
control
;
20. Requests the CoR to in clude 
in 
its followin g 
activity report (fin ancia
l year 2008) a chapter g iving 
a detailed 
account
 of the follow-up durin g
 the year to Parliamen t’s
 earlier discharg e
 decisions,
 including
 possible
 
explanations 
for not 
having 
followed the recommen dations, 
and 
not 
merely a referen ce 
to the discharg e 
decisions;
21. 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 CoR, 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 CoR an d 
its administration 
in 
order to en sure 
that their con cerns 
are fully tak en 
into 
account 
in 
the final 
draft.