2000/546/EC, ECSC, Euratom: Decision of the European Parliament of 6 July 2000 giving discharge to the Commission in respect of implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the 1998 financial year
Date: 2000-07-06
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: European Parliament, European Union, budgetary discharge, financial year, implementation of the budget

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Official Journal of the European Communities

16.9.2000

DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

of 6 July 2000

giving discharge to the Commission in respect of implementation of the general budget of the
European Union for the 1998 financial year

(2000/546/EC, ECSC, Euratom)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT,

Having regard to the revenue and expenditure account, the analysis of financial management and the
balance sheet of the European Union for the 1998 financial year [SEC(1999) 412 — C5-0006/1999,
SEC(1999) 1473 —
SEC(1999) 413 — C5-0007/1999,
C5-0204/1999],

SEC(1999) 415 — C4-0009/1999,

Having regard to the annual report concerning the 1998 financial year (C5-0266/1999) and the special
reports of the Court of Auditors and the Institutions' replies (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 Court of Auditors pursuant to Article 248 of the
EC Treaty (C5-0266/1999),

Having regard to the Council recommendation of 13 March 2000 (C5-0154/2000),

Having regard to its resolution of 13 April 2000 on the postponement of discharge to the Commission in
respect of implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 1998 and the
Commission's replies,

Having regard to the ECSC Treaty and in particular Article 78g thereof,

Having regard to the EC Treaty and in particular Article 276 thereof,

Having regard to the EAEC Treaty and in particular Article 180b thereof,

Having regard to Rule 93 of its Rules of Procedure,

Having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgetary Control (A5-0190/2000),

Whereas:

A. Pursuant to Article 274 of the EC Treaty, the Commission bears responsibility for implementing the

budget in accordance with the principles of sound financial management.

B. The Commission must, in so doing, ensure the legality and regularity of revenue and expenditure.

C. Pursuant to Article 276 of the EC Treaty, Parliament is required to give a discharge to the Commission
in respect of implementation of the budget and thereby assumes responsibility for ensuring that the
Commission meets its Treaty obligations in full.

D. Parliament is thus accountable to the citizens of the Union for ensuring that their money is spent as
economically and efficiently as possible and that the institutions of the Union do everything in their
power to secure maximum protection against fraud, corruption and organised crime and to reduce the
number of errors in the implementation of the budget as far as possible.

E. Parliament has postponed discharge for the 1998 financial year in order to ensure that the Commission
actually makes all the necessary efforts to improve the implementation of the budget as far as possible
and that the Commission pursues a policy of zero tolerance in dealing with cases of fraud, corruption or
mismanagement.

F. The Commission has satisfied most of the requirements set out in its abovementioned resolution of 13

April 2000 on the postponement of the discharge:

(a) the Commission is prepared to take action to cut drastically the errors in implementation of the

budget;

(1) OJ C 349, 3.12.1999.

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(b) against the background of the Fléchard case, the Commission has clarified its procedure for the
forfeiture of claims and has announced that in revising the Financial Regulation it will propose a
clear allocation of responsibilities for all areas of implementation of the budget,
including the
charging of costs;

(c) the Commission has agreed to answer further questions on the Fléchard case;

(d) the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) has renewed its search for the minutes of the meeting of 7
January 1994 in the private office of the then Commission President relating to the Fléchard case;

(e) the Commission will issue new rules for the electronic registration, archiving and management of

documents by the end of 2000;

(f) the Commission has stated its readiness to reopen disciplinary proceedings in connection with the

Echo affair if new evidence comes to light;

(g) OLAF is examining whether the full dossier has been submitted to the competent judicial authori-

ties in Belgium, France and Italy in the MED affair;

(h) the Commission is prepared to consider the opening of disciplinary proceedings in the light of the
outcome of the investigations conducted by the national judicial authorities in the MED affair;

(i) the Commission has reported the findings of its investigation into visiting scientists' contracts for
the 1998 financial year to Parliament, started disciplinary proceedings in connection with the case
of a visiting scientist employed at the instigation of a former Commissioner and forwarded the
relevant OLAF report to the Belgian judicial authorities;

(j) the Member of the Commission responsible for financial control has launched an administrative
investigation in connection with the withheld warning of serious deficiencies at the Joint Research
Centre (particularly with the handling of nuclear materials);

(k) the Commission has submitted a report by the Financial Controller on the number of correcting
communications and postponements/withholdings of approvals in 1998, including an analysis of
the most frequent types of errors;

(l) the Commission has submitted a report on action taken with regard to Member States which have
not yet implemented the integrated administration and control system for agricultural expenditure.
Parliament in its abovementioned resolution of 13 April 2000 called for the system to be fully
implemented by April 2002 at the latest;

(m) the Commission has submitted a report on the measures that it has taken in response to the
Inquiry into the Community Transit System;

recommendations of Parliament's Committee of

(n) the Commission has submited a report on the number and outcome of disciplinary proceedings
interests are affected.

carried out since 1998 in all cases in which the Community's financial

G. The Fléchard case cannot be considered closed until the problems it has revealed, and in particular the
questions relating to the monitoring and control of export operations, the proportionality of penalties
and the structure of administrative and judicial penalties, have been satisfactorily resolved.

H. The Commission and Parliament have concluded an interinstitutional agreement to address the funda-
mental principles set out in particular in paragraph 26 of its resolution of 19 January 2000 on the
discharge for the 1997 financial year on Parliament's access to information within the framework of
Article 276 of the EC Treaty. Deploring, however, that the Commission is not yet prepared to afford
Parliament at least the same access to its documents as the Court of Auditors.

I. The Commission has also not said that it will

introduce an independent external element in its
disciplinary procedure but that it will do no more than ensure that the various institutions are
represented on the disciplinary board in future.

J. The current practice of administrative investigations and disciplinary proceedings within the Commis-
sion should be evaluated by an independent external body, including a study of best practice within
public administration.

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K. The new director of OLAF has submitted a revealing list of cases of suspected fraud or corruption.

L. The Commission has brought forward a comprehensive package of proposals in the White Paper on

administrative reform.

1. Gives the Commission discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European

Union for the 1998 financial year.

2. Records its comments in the attached resolution.

3. Instructs its President to forward this Decision and the resolution containing its comments to the
Commission, the Council, the Court of Justice, the Court of Auditors and the European Investment Bank
and to have it published in the Official Journal of the European Communities (L series).

The Secretary-General

Julian PRIESTLEY

The President

Nicole FONTAINE