[ParlTrack]

Proposal for a decision
Paragraph 1

1. ~~...~~Postpones its decision on granting the Secretary-General of the Council discharge in respect of the implementation of its budget for the financial year 2007;

2009/02/23
Committee: CONT

Søren Bo SØNDERGAARD

Proposal for a decision
Paragraph 1

1. ~~...~~Grants the Secretary-General of the Council discharge in respect of the implementation of its budget for the financial year 2007;

2009/02/23
Committee: CONT

Søren Bo SØNDERGAARD

Motion for a resolution
Recital A

A. whereas on 10 November 2008 Parliament sent to the Council a letter1 inviting it to a bilateral meeting in order to discuss the issue of discharge, to which 1 GEDA No 319175. the Council has not given any official answer or follow-up,deleted

2009/02/23
Committee: CONT

Søren Bo SØNDERGAARD

Motion for a resolution
Recital D

~~D. whereas the Council ignores Parliament's requests to review the Gentlemen's Agreement of 1970,~~deleted

2009/02/23
Committee: CONT

Søren Bo SØNDERGAARD

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)

1 4a. Reiterates its position expressed at paragraph 3 of its resolution of 22 April 2008 on the discharge in respect of the financial year 2006, as follows: "Regrets that, unlike other institutions, the Council does not submit an annual activity report to Parliament, citing the Gentlemen's Agreement of 1970 [...] and the absence of any corresponding requirement in the Financial Regulation; calls on the Council to reconsider the decision not to publish and transmit to Parliament an activity report in order to be more accountable to the general public and taxpayers" 1; Recalls that this statement is T6-0135/2008, not yet published in the OJ. also fully consistent with paragraphs 44 and 45 of Parliament's resolution of 19 February 2008 on transparency in financial matters1; requests the Council to reconsider its decision not to publish on its web site its annual activity report;

2009/02/23
Committee: CONT

Søren Bo SØNDERGAARD

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5

~~5. Requests the Council to provide Parliament with the original text of 1970 Gentlemen's Agreement;~~deleted

2009/02/23
Committee: CONT

Søren Bo SØNDERGAARD

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6

6. Considers that the Gentlemen's Agreement is not a binding document and in any case only states that the Council will not alter Parliament's budget estimates and therefore does not concern the implementation of the budget; only considers as a valid legal basis the above- mentioned Interinstitutional Agreement of 17 May 2006; 1 Texts adopted, P6_TA(2008)0051.deleted Or. en

2009/02/23
Committee: CONT

Søren Bo SØNDERGAARD

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14

14. Calls on the Council to reconsider its decision not to publish on its website or transmit to Parliament an activity report in order to be more accountable to the general public and taxpayers, in line with paragraphs 44 and 45 of Parliament's resolution of 19 February 2008 on transparency in financial matters1;deleted

2009/02/23
Committee: CONT

Søren Bo SØNDERGAARD

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 a (new)

21a. Requests the European Court of Auditors to pay special attention, in its next Annual report, to the budget execution of the Council;

2009/02/23
Committee: CONT

Søren Bo SØNDERGAARD

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 b (new) and related heading

~~1 OJ C 139, 14.6.2006, p.1.~~Reasons for postponement of the decision on discharge 21b. Indicates that the reasons for postponement are as follows: a) the Council has not accepted any invitation to officially and formally meet Parliament's competent committee or its rapporteur to discuss matters concerning its budget execution for 2007; b) its competent committee or its rapporteur did not receive any comprehensive written answer, prior to the committee's vote on the draft report on 16 March 2009, providing Parliament with the information and documents requested from Council in the annex of a letter of 18 February 2009 signed by the rapporteur and the coordinators of its competent committee; c) Parliament has not received fundamental documents from Council, such as, the annual activity report and the full list of budgetary transfers; d) This lack of transparency and openness for an official and formal dialogue from the Council's side does not make a meaningful discharge possible and it prevents the Parliament in particular from the possibility to check whether none of the expenditure in the Council budget execution is of operational nature, in conformity with the Inter Institutional Agreement of 17 May 20061; Or. en

2009/02/23
Committee: CONT

Søren Bo SØNDERGAARD

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 c (new) and related heading

Further actions to be taken and documents to be presented to Parliament 21c. Calls on the Secretary-General of the Council/High Representative for the CFSP to provide Parliament's competent committee, by 15 May 2009 at the latest, with comprehensive written answers to the following questions: A. concerning its "comptes hors budget" (cf. internal auditor's recommendation R.2 of 2007): - How many accounts "hors budget" did the Council have in 2007? - When were these accounts established and for what purpose? - Which is the legal base used for these accounts? Which amount is covered by every single account? - The list of all transactions for each of these accounts for the financial year 2007 as well as the list of authorising officers by delegation per budget line. B. concerning the "vérification des factures" (cf. internal auditor's recommendation R.1 of 2007): - On which ground did the internal auditor come to the conclusion that ex- ante verification did not work in a satisfactory manner? - Are all budgetary lines subject to ex ante and/or ex post controls? - How many invoices were checked, which percentage of the invoices were taken in the sample and what percentage of those contained errors? - Did the Council prepare any action plan to solve this problem and, if yes, when is it going to be implemented? C. concerning budget line 2202 (interpreting costs): - Reasons for the doubling (from 2006 to 2007) of budget line 2202 dedicated to interpretation. - Why does the Council need to transfer money from this line to delegates' travel expenses? - Why did the Council use EUR 12 672 000 from interpretation to delegates' travel expenses in 2006? - Why did it not increase the specific budget line for the same amount in 2007? - What is the specific amount the Council transferred, regarding the financial year 2007, from this budget line to line 2200 or any other line? D. concerning budget line 2200 (travel expenses of delegations): - The legal base for this budget line is partly Council decision (No 190/2003) of the Secretary-General of the Council/High Representative for the CFSP, which has not been published in the Official Journal. - For the sake of transparency, could the Council put on its website and its register of references all its Decisions? F. concerning budget line 3002 (special advisers in the field of the ESDP/CFSP): Which amount did the Council transfer to this budget line for the year 2007 and for how many special advisers?

2009/02/23
Committee: CONT

Søren Bo SØNDERGAARD

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 d (new)

21d. Calls on the Secretary-General of the Council/High Representative for the CFSP to provide Parliament's competent committee, by 15 May 2009 at the latest, with: - the full list of budgetary transfers concerning the 2007 budget of the Council; - its annual activity report for the year 2007; - the list of the associations which received money for the financial year 2007 specifying the amounts received per association? (budget line 2237 - other operating expenditure);

2009/02/23
Committee: CONT

Activities of Søren Bo SØNDERGAARD related to 2008/2277(DEC)

Plenary speeches (6)

Reports (2)

Amendments (12)

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