2012/554/EU: Decision of the European Parliament of 10 May 2012 on the discharge for implementation of the European Union general budget for the financial year 2010, Section IV — Court of Justice
Date: 2012-05-10
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: Court of Justice of the European Union, budgetary discharge, financial year, general budget (EU)




L_2012286EN.01010001.xml










17.10.2012   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


L 286/100








            DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
         
of 10 May 2012
         
on the discharge for implementation of the European Union general budget for the financial year 2010, Section IV — Court of Justice
(2012/554/EU)


THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT,






—


having regard to the European Union general budget for the financial year 2010 (1),










—


having regard to the annual accounts of the European Union for the financial year 2010 (COM(2011) 473 – C7-0259/2011) (2),










—


having regard to the Court of Justice’s annual report to the discharge authority on internal audits carried out in 2010,










—


having regard to the Annual Report of the Court of Auditors on the implementation of the budget for the financial year 2010, together with the institutions’ replies (3),










—


having regard to the statement of assurance (4) as to the reliability of the accounts and the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions provided by the Court of Auditors for the 2010 financial year pursuant to Article 287 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,










—


having regard to Article 314(10) and Articles 317, 318 and 319 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,










—


having regard to Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities (5), and in particular Articles 50, 86, 145, 146 and 147 thereof,










—


having regard to Rule 77 of, and Annex VI to, its Rules of Procedure,










—


having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgetary Control (A7-0088/2012),






1.   

Grants the Registrar of the Court of Justice discharge for implementation of its budget for the financial year 2010;



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 Ombudsman and the European Data Protection Supervisor, and to arrange for their publication in the Official Journal of the European Union (L series).






The President

Martin SCHULZ
            



The Secretary-General

Klaus WELLE
            





(1)  
            OJ L 64, 12.3.2010.

(2)  
            OJ C 332, 14.11.2011, p. 1.

(3)  
            OJ C 326, 10.11.2011, p. 1.

(4)  
            OJ C 332, 14.11.2011, p. 134.

(5)  
            OJ L 248, 16.9.2002, p. 1.






            RESOLUTION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
         
of 10 May 2012
         
with observations forming an integral part of the decision on the discharge for implementation of the European Union general budget for the financial year 2010, Section IV — Court of Justice


THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT,






—


having regard to the European Union general budget for the financial year 2010 (1),










—


having regard to the annual accounts of the European Union for the financial year 2010 (COM(2011) 473 – C7-0259/2011) (2),










—


having regard to the Court of Justice’s annual report to the discharge authority on internal audits carried out in 2010,










—


having regard to the Annual Report of the Court of Auditors on implementation of the budget for the financial year 2010, together with the institutions’ replies (3),










—


having regard to the statement of assurance (4) as to the reliability of the accounts and the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions provided by the Court of Auditors for the 2010 financial year pursuant to Article 287 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,










—


having regard to Articles 314(10), 317, 318 and 319 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,










—


having regard to Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities (5), and in particular Articles 50, 86, 145, 146 and 147 thereof,










—


having regard to Rule 77 of, and Annex VI to, its Rules of Procedure,










—


having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgetary Control (A7-0088/2012),






1.   

Stresses that in paragraph 7.23 of its 2010 Annual Report the Court of Auditors stated that, ‘The Court has no observation to make on the Court of Justice’;



2.   

Welcomes the fact that, based on its audit work, the Court concluded that the payments as a whole for the year ended 31 December 2010 for administrative and other expenditure of the Institutions and bodies were free from material error; the most likely error rate for administrative expenditure as a whole is assessed by the Court as 0,4 % (paragraphs 7.9 and 7.10);



3.   

Notes that in 2010, the Court of Justice had commitment appropriations amounting to EUR 331 000 000 (EUR 318 000 000 in 2009), and that the implementation rate for those appropriations was 97,9 % (98,5 % in 2009); stresses that the budget of the Court of Justice is purely administrative, with 75 % spent on people working with the institution and 25 % on buildings, furniture, equipment and miscellaneous operating expenditure;



4.   

Points out that an in-depth assessment of supervisory and control systems was conducted in the Court of Justice in 2009; emphasises that the Court of Auditors found the supervisory and control systems in place to be functioning effectively with regard to the detection of potential errors and exceptions;



5.   

Points out also that the Court of Auditors found in 2009 that the Court of Justice had failed to anticipate the expiry of a framework contract; takes note of the explanations given by the Court of Justice in its Annual Activity Report for 2010 (6) concerning the legality of the procedure used; notes that the reinforced management of data on contracts in the SAP integrated management system (budgetary and financial management tool) should prevent the occurrence of such situations in future;



6.   

Notes with satisfaction that the Directorate for Interpretation acted on the recommendations of the internal auditor concerning management of interpretation and of the expenditure relating to external interpreters, and that a further check is to be conducted on the proper functioning of those services;



7.   

Notes that the Directorate-General for Infrastructure drew up an action plan in 2009 in response to the main recommendations of the internal auditor concerning the management and conservation of works of art; wishes to be informed, in the annual activity report for 2011, of the progress made;



8.   

Takes note that the relevant service performed two internal audits on treasury management, bank accounts, implementation of payments and on daily allowances; wishes to be informed, in the annual activity report, of the action taken in response to the recommendations made;



9.   

Welcomes the fact that development of the ‘e-Curia’ application, enabling procedural documents to be lodged and served electronically, entered a test phase in 2010 with two Member States; e-Curia should in due course make it possible to do away with a large proportion of correspondence, digitise documents coming in and going out, and optimise internal work flows;



10.   
Notes with satisfaction that the Court of Justice looked into the issue of interpretation in its annual activity report for the financial year 2010, as requested by Parliament in its resolution of 10 May 2011 (7) on the discharge for the 2009 financial year (paragraph 14); notes the significant increase in the number of sessions (+ 27 %), which was mainly attributable to enlargement and to the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon:

Number of sessions
 (8)













with interpretation:


2004


2005


2006


2007


2008


2009


2010




hearings


350 


411 


366 


369 


517 


454 


520 




other meetings


63 


51 


78 


54 


30 


37 


102 




total sessions


413 


462 


444 


423 


547 


491 


622 






11.   

Emphasises the importance of interinstitutional cooperation in regard to the management and recruitment of interpreters;



12.   

Notes with satisfaction that the Court of Justice submitted to the budgetary authorities, in April 2011, an updated property investment plan for 2011-2013 based on two guiding principles: firstly, to house all the Court of Justice’s services on a single site and, secondly, for it to acquire ownership of the buildings; notes that construction costs are estimated to be around EUR 355 300 000, of which an amount of EUR 40 000 000 was still to be consolidated at the end of 2010;



13.   

Expresses its satisfaction that the statistics concerning the Court of Justice’s activity in 2010 show, overall, sustained productivity and a very significant improvement in efficiency as regards the duration of proceedings: 16,1 months for references for a preliminary ruling; 16,7 months for direct actions (as opposed to 17,1 months in 2009) and 14,3 months for appeals (as opposed to 15,4 months in 2009);



14.   

Hopes to see the length of duration of proceedings continuing to fall; believes that internal reorganisation and redeployment of specialised personnel into their respective areas of expertise could be beneficial for this purpose;



15.   
Expresses its concern that, although the number of new cases (631 in 2010) brought before the Court of Justice increased considerably, there was no major change in the number of cases completed; notes also that the number of cases pending before the Court of Justice rose to 799 in the year concerned, even when the average duration of proceedings was at its lowest ever level of 16,1 months:

General Activity of the Court of Justice
 (9)











 


2006


2007


2008


2009


2010




New cases


537 


581 


593 


562 


631 




Completed cases


546 


570 


567 


588 


574 




Pending cases


731 


742 


768 


742 


799 






16.   
Notes with concern the large increase in the number of new cases (636 in 2010) brought before the General Court; notes that the number of cases completed dropped slightly; however, the number of cases pending before the General Court had risen to 1 300, despite a decrease in the average duration of proceedings (27,2 months in 2009 but 24,7 months in 2010);

General activity of the General Court
 (10)











 


2006


2007


2008


2009


2010




New cases


432 


522 


629 


568 


636 




Completed cases


436 


397 


605 


555 


527 




Pending cases


1 029 


1 154 


1 178 


1 191 


1 300 






17.   

Supports, therefore, the initiative taken by the Court of Justice which, in late March 2011, submitted to the two branches of the legislative authority a proposal for the reform of its Statute (which provides, inter alia, for the creation of 12 additional posts for judges at the General Court); considers that this initiative should be implemented in the most cost-efficient way possible; hopes that these structural measures can be approved in early 2012, with a view to their implementation as early as possible that year;



18.   

Hopes that the next annual activity report will also provide a comprehensive table of all the human resources that the Court of Justice has at its disposal, broken down by category, grade, gender, participation in professional training and nationality; however, is already pleased at the exhaustiveness of the information provided by the Court of Justice in its annual activity report concerning staff management and at its response to the Parliament’s additional questions on this subject-matter; requests that such information should henceforth be automatically included in the Court’s report and that the Court should also communicate the results of the use by its staff of teleworking and flexitime arrangements.




(1)  
            OJ L 64, 12.3.2010.

(2)  
            OJ C 332, 14.11.2011, p. 1.

(3)  
            OJ C 326, 10.11.2011, p. 1.

(4)  
            OJ C 332, 14.11.2011, p. 134.

(5)  
            OJ L 248, 16.9.2002, p. 1.

(6)  Annual Activity Report for the Financial Year 2010, p. 91.

(7)  
            OJ L 250, 27.9.2011, p. 90.

(8)  Annual Activity Report for the Financial Year 2010, p. 54.

(9)  Annual Activity Report for the Financial Year 2010, p. 6.

(10)  Annual Activity Report for the Financial Year 2010, p. 8.