2. European Parliament resolution of 24 April 2007 with observations forming an integral part of the decision on the discharge for the implementation of the European Union general budget for the financial year 2005, Section VII - Committee of the Regions (C6-0470/2006 - 2006/2076(DEC))
Date: 2007-04-24
Institutions: Committee on Budgetary Control, European Parliament
Subjects: European Committee of the Regions, budgetary discharge, financial year, general budget (EU), implementation of the budget

C 74 E/340

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

20.3.2008

Tuesday 24 April 2007

— having regard to the final annual accounts of the European Communities for the financial year 2005 —

Volume I (C6-0470/2006) (1),

— having regard to the Annual Report of the Court of Auditors on implementation of the budget for the
financial year 2005 and the Court of Auditors' special reports, together with the audited institutions'
replies (2),

— 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 (3),

— having regard to Articles 272(10), 274, 275 and 276 of the EC Treaty,

— having regard to Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002 on the Financial
the European Communities (4), and in particular

Regulation applicable to the general budget of
Articles 50, 86, 145, 146 and 147 thereof,

— having regard to Rule 71 of and Annex V to its Rules of Procedure,

— having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgetary Control (A6-0106/2007),

Grants the Committee of the Regions' Secretary-General discharge for the implementation of the

1.
Committee of the Regions budget for the financial year 2005;

2.

Sets out its observations in the resolution below;

3.
Instructs its President to forward this decision and the resolution that forms an integral part of it to
the Council, the Commission, the Court of Justice, the Court of Auditors, the European Economic and
Social Committee, the Committee of the Regions, the European Ombudsman and the European Data Pro-
tection Supervisor, and to arrange for their publication in the Official Journal of the European Union
(L series).

(1) OJ C 264, 31.10.2006, p. 1.
(2) OJ C 263, 31.10.2006, p. 1.
(3) OJ C 263, 31.10.2006, p. 10.
(4) OJ L 248, 16.9.2002, p. 1. Regulation as amended by Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1995/2006 (OJ L 390,

30.12.2006, p. 1).

2.
European Parliament resolution of 24 April 2007 with observations forming an integral part of the
decision on the discharge for the implementation of the European Union general budget for the
financial year 2005, Section VII — Committee of the Regions (C6-0470/2006 — 2006/2076(DEC))

The European Parliament,

— having regard to the European Union general budget for the financial year 2005 (1),

— having regard to the final annual accounts of the European for the financial year 2005 — Volume I

(C6-0470/2006) (2),

— having regard to the Annual Report of the Court of Auditors on implementation of the budget for the
financial year 2005 and the Court of Auditors' special reports, together with the audited institutions'
replies (3),

(1) OJ L 60, 8.3.2005.
(2) OJ C 264, 31.10.2006, p. 1.
(3) OJ C 263, 31.10.2006, p. 1.

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Official Journal of the European Union

C 74 E/341

— 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 (1),

Tuesday 24 April 2007

— having regard to Articles 272(10), 274, 275 and 276 of the EC Treaty,

— having regard to Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002 on the Financial
the European Communities (2), and in particular

Regulation applicable to the general budget of
Articles 50, 86, 145, 146 and 147 thereof,

— having regard to Rule 71 of and Annex V to its Rules of Procedure,

— having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgetary Control (A6-0106/2007),

Notes that in 2005 the Committee of the Regions (CoR) had available commitment appropriations

1.
amounting to total of EUR 69 570 456,32 with a utilisation rate of 96,65 %;

2.
Notes that following the introduction of accrual accounting with effect from 1 January 2005 the
CoR's financial statements disclose a positive economic out-turn for the year (EUR 4 050 062,65) and iden-
tical amounts of assets and liabilities (EUR 118 221 197,95);

that

Notes the remark by the European Court of Auditors (ECA) in paragraph 10.18 of its 2005 Annual
3.
Report
following the ECA's 2004 DAS audit and two internal audits, the CoR's administration
requested certain beneficiaries of weighted salary transfers to present additional evidence, and several trans-
fers which had not been regularly carried out before May 2004 and/or for which the beneficiaries did not
present sufficient evidence were discontinued; in 2005, according to the ECA's Report, the administration
did not recover any overpayments, although, under Article 85 of the Staff Regulations, ‘any sum overpaid
shall be recovered if the recipient was aware that there was no due reason for the payment or if the fact of
the overpayment was patently such that he could not have been unaware of it’; notes the CoR's reply
included in the ECA's Report that the internal audit on salaries transfer requested by the Secretary-General
was completed in February 2006, and that the administration is now proceeding with the recovery of
overpayments which concern a limited number of officials;

Notes that the CoR's Internal Auditor in her report to the discharge authority of 18 May 2006 on
4.
audits carried out in 2005 (pursuant to Article 86(4) of the Financial Regulation) made the following points:

— the salary transfers in question were executed on the basis of rules which could be interpreted differ-
ently according to the language version and depending on the law applicable in the relevant Member
State,

— weaknesses were detected concerning the separation of initiation and verification functions as well as

potential conflicts of interest linked to the size of the Institution,

— the standards governing the control environment were judged as being not sufficiently well developed

to guarantee the regularity of these operations;

Notes that the weaknesses detected in relation to weighted salary transfers were not such that the
5.
Authorising Officer by Delegation found it necessary to append a reservation or an observation to his
declaration of assurance attached to the CoR's activity report;

Notes that as soon as he heard of this problem the CoR's Secretary-General immediately asked the

6.
then Internal Auditor to continue his work on weighted salary transfers;

(1) OJ C 263, 31.10.2006, p. 10.
(2) OJ L 248, 16.9.2002, p. 1. Regulation as amended by Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1995/2006 (OJ L 390,

30.12.2006, p. 1).

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Tuesday 24 April 2007

7.
Notes that the CoR's Secretary-General, on being informed of this matter, adopted a restrictive inter-
pretation of the relevant rules of the recently amended Staff Regulations and ordered the recovery of any
amounts considered to have been unduly paid; notes that some of the officials that have been obliged to
repay dispute the CoR Secretary-General's reading of the relevant rules and have referred the matter to the
Court of Justice;

8.
Supports the Secretary-General in his intention to set up an administrative inquiry and expects him to
start disciplinary proceedings on the basis of the OLAF report regarding staff concerned; demands a strict
prosecution of all cases where fraudulent behaviour can be proved;

9.
Notes with concern that it has not been possible to fill all vacant posts from the reserve lists drawn up
after EPSO competitions; asks the CoR to analyse the reasons for the shortage of qualified candidates and to
inform the competent committee;

10.
Notes in connection with paragraph 8 of its discharge resolution of 27 April 2006 on the renovation
of the Belliard I and II buildings (1) that, during 2006, two firms of external consultants each gave a positive
certificate of conformity to the effect that the building work had been carried out in accordance with the
specification; points out that the ECA will shortly publish a special report on the EU institutions' expendi-
ture on buildings generally;

11.
Notes that the administrative cooperation between the CoR and the European Economic and Social
Committee (EESC) should be beneficial to both and financially advantageous for EU taxpayers; insists that
any new structures put in place for administrative cooperation between the two committees should result in
financial and organisational benefits; demands that both committees find a suitable way to continue the
administrative cooperation;

Recalls that the CoR and the EESC, through their joint services, manage certain activities in common
12.
(translation, printing, buildings, security, library, procurement, catering, ushers, medical service, cars and
drivers, IT, etc.) and that their cooperation agreement has recently been renewed for 6 months (with an
option to extend it for a further 6 months) pending a decision on whether such cooperation should con-
tinue in future;

13.
Invites the CoR and the EESC, having regard to the substantial divergences between the findings of
the reports of the joint services and the CoR's two external experts, to conduct a joint analysis based on
appropriate bench marks — if necessary with the help of the ECA — of the precise costs, benefits and
savings generated by cooperation and to submit the results of their examination to the competent commit-
tee by 31 October 2007.

(1) OJ L 340, 6.12.2006, p. 44.

P6_TA(2007)0136

Discharge 2005: European Agency for Reconstruction

1.
European Parliament decision of 24 April 2007 on the discharge for the implementation of the
budget of the European Agency for Reconstruction for the financial year 2005 (C6-0388/2006 —
2006/2155(DEC))

The European Parliament,

— having regard to the final annual accounts of the European Agency for Reconstruction for the financial

year 2005 (1),

— having regard to the Court of Auditors' report on the final annual accounts of the European Agency for

Reconstruction for the financial year 2005, together with the Agency's replies (2),

(1) OJ C 266, 31.10.2006, p. 7.
(2) OJ C 312, 19.12.2006, p. 18.