Resolution informing the Economic and Social Committee of the reasons for the postponement of the decision concerning discharge in respect of the general budget of the European Union (Section VI - Part A) for the financial year 1997 Section VI - Part A: Economic and Social Committee
Date: 1999-05-04
Institutions: Committee on Budgetary Control, European Parliament
Subjects: Community budget, European Ombudsman, Middle East

C 279/132

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

1.10.1999

Tuesday 4 May 1999

III.

Resolution informing the Economic and Social Committee of the reasons for the postponement of
the  decision  concerning  discharge  in  respect  of  the  general  budget  of  the  European  Union
(Section VI  −  Part  A)  for  the  financial  year  1997  Section  VI  −  Part  A:  Economic  and  Social
Committee

The European Parliament,

−  having regard to Article 272(10) of the EC Treaty,

−  having regard to Article 22(2) and (3) of the Financial Regulation,

−  having regard to the revenue and expenditure account and the balance sheet for the 1997 financial year

(SEC(98)0521 − C4-0353/98),

−  having regard to the Council’s recommendation of 9 March 1998 (C4-0168/98),

−  having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgetary Control (A4-0199/99),

A.  whereas the serious nature of the conclusions of the Court of Auditors’ annual report for 1996 on the
Economic  and  Social  Committee’s  management  of  appropriations  led  the  European  Parliament  to
postpone its decision concerning the discharge for 1996 (1),

B.  whereas one of the main conditions which the European Parliament imposed on the Economic and
Social  Committee  for  the  grant  of  discharge  was  that  the  matter  should  be  referred  to  UCLAF
‘to enable the extent of administrative involvement or responsibility to be fully determined as regards
the entry into the accounts, the commitment, the authorisation and the payment of expenditure’ (2),

C.  whereas, in its comments of 23 November 1998 on Parliament’s position concerning the discharge for
1996, the Economic and Social Committee considered that it did not seem appropriate to refer the
matter to UCLAF,

1.
Decides to postpone the discharge decision in respect of the 1997 financial year until it has received
the  conclusions  of  the  UCLAF  inquiry,  under  the  terms  set  out  in  its  resolution  on  postponement  of
discharge 1996;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Court of Auditors and the

2.
Economic and Social Committee.

(1)  Resolution of 7 October 1998, OJ C 328, 26.10.1998, p.115.
(2) 

ibid., para. 2.

(d)  A4-0198/99

I.

Decision  giving  discharge  to  the  Commission  in  respect  of  the  financial  management  of  the  sixth
European Development Fund for the financial year 1997

The European Parliament,

−  having regard to the EC Treaty,

−  having regard to the third ACP-EEC Convention (1),

−  having regard to the balance sheets and accounts of the sixth and seventh European Development

Funds for the financial year 1997 (COM(98)0442),

−  having regard to the report of the Court of Auditors concerning the financial year 1997 including the
report on the activities of the sixth and seventh European Development Funds and the replies of the
institutions (C4-0676/98) (2),

(1)  OJ L 86, 31.3.1986.
(2)  OJ C 349, 17.11.1998.