Activites

• 1999/07/03 Final act published in Official Journal
• 1999/05/04 Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
  • T4-0384/1999 summary

    Adopting the resolution by James Elles (PPE,UK) on the accounts of the European Communities in respect of the 1996 financial year, the European Parliament recalls its definitive decision not to grant discharge to the Commission in respect of the 1996 financial year and the reasons therefore as voted by Parliament on 17/12/98, namely: - the non-execution of the recommendation of its Committee of Inquiry into the Transit System, especially regarding the computerised control system; - the lack of democratic accountability in the fight against fraud inside the European Institutions; - the lack of coherence and sound financial management which led to a low level of execution of all major foreign policy programmes, i.e. Bosnia-Herzegovinia, PHARE, TACIS and MED; - regarding the agricultural sector, the delay in the implementation of the Integrated Control System and the number of recommendations still not implemented from the BSE committee; - the lack of any precise information as to the results of the proposed measures for job creation in SMEs through the Structural Funds. The Parliament takes note of the EC budget for the 1996 financial year, so that the work on the accounts of later years may be proceeded with as well as taking note of the data established by the Commission in order to close the accounts for the financial year 1996.�

• 1999/05/03 Debate in Parliament
  • Debate in Parliament
• 1999/04/20 Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading
  • A4-0196/1999
• 1998/12/17 Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
  • A4-0502/1998
• 1998/12/15 Debate in Parliament
  • Debate in Parliament summary

    Presenting his report, Mr James ELLES (EPP, UK) wondered whether the fairly heavy criticism contained in the motion for a resolution merited refusal to grant discharge. He set out the main concerns of Parliament which was not happy with the way in which the Commission had responded to its resolution of March 1998 on this same discharge. Parliament remained concerned about the Commission’s independence in the fight against fraud and its refusal to make available all the documents on the ECHO Office. The resolution therefore proposed an action programme aimed at resolving these issues well beyond the 1996 discharge procedure. As a reminder, discharge was a technical matter with no political overtones and was not equivalent to a motion of censure of the Commission. During the debate, Mrs Pauline GREEN, President of the Socialist Group, announced that her group would table a motion of censure (which it would vote against) if Parliament did not vote on the discharge. This would therefore, given the procedure’s current possibilities, give its confidence to the current European Commission.

• 1998/12/10 Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
• #2095
• 1998/05/19 Council Meeting
• 1998/03/31 Debate in Parliament
  • Debate in Parliament summary

    Commissioner Liikanen took note of the decision to defer discharge and assured Parliament that the Commission would do everything in its power to comply with these wishes. With regard to the fight against fraud, the Commission was looking at measures involving the consolidation of the powers and mandate of UCLAF within the Commission to ensure its independence. As regards SMEs, the Commission had launched an overall assessment of aid programmes, the final result of which should be available towards the end of the year. In the external policy field, the Commission had proposed a review of the regulations on reconstruction aid in the former Yugoslavia and would strengthen its delegation in Sarajevo. As regards the decentralisation of Phare activities, the Commission was actively pursuing its consideration of the possibilities and, as regards the audits by the Court of Auditors on the activities of the European Investment Fund, a new meeting would be proposed with the Court for the purpose of reaching an agreement on this issue. Finally, in the field of administrative and budget management, the Commission had undertaken a vast programme of internal reform. The Commissioner considered that the SEM 2000 initiative had provided the foundations and instruments to build up healthy financial management and the MAP 2000 project complemented this in the personnel and administrative field as it set out a framework for modernisation based on the principles of decentralisation, simplification and rationalisation. In addition, the Commission was now dealing with the difficult question of the linguistic implications of the forthcoming enlargements.

  • T4-0179/1998 summary

    In adopting the report by Mr James ELLES (EPP, UK) on the discharge for the 1996 budget, Parliament decided to postpone its decision on the discharge to 15 September 1998 when the Commission will have taken all the steps needed to remove the obstacles outlined in the resolution. Parliament justified its refusal to grant a discharge for a series of reasons, including: - the non-execution of the recommendations of Parliament's Committee of Inquiry into the Transit System, especially regarding the computerised control system; - the lack of democratic accountability in the fight against fraud inside the European Institutions (Parliament referred in particular to the alleged frauds and irregularities in the tourism sector and the fraud associated with the implementation of the MED programmes and on which Parliament requested clarification before 31 July 1998). Parliament called in particular for a strengthening of the role of UCLAF, the Commission's internal anti-fraud unit; - the lack of coherence and sound financial management which led to a low level of execution of foreign policy programmes: . Bosnia-Herzegovina: Parliament called for a small parliamentary delegation to carry out on-the-spot inspections during summer 1998. It also suggested in the interests of effectiveness to concentrate on- the-spot decision-making powers in Sarajevo in the hands of a Director-General, . PHARE: Parliament called for increased local responsibility for activities implemented in the beneficiary countries, . TACIS: this programme, which was heavily criticized, should increase its degree of success with regard to nuclear aspects in Ukraine, . MED: Parliament called for the full recovery of amounts incorrectly paid; - regarding the agricultural sector, the delay in the implementation of the integrated control system and the large number of recommendations from the BSE committee still not implemented; - the lack of any precise information as to the results of the proposed measures for job creation in SMEs through the Structural Funds (Parliament was concerned in particular by the Court of Auditors' revelation that while Funds have been made available in the Community budget for a virtually unmanageable number of measures to promote SMEs, only very few of the appropriations have been utilized). Lastly, Parliament called on the Commission to redefine its staff policy by submitting realistic estimates of its needs to the budgetary authority in the light of policy priorities and the requirements of enlargement. �

• 1998/03/17 Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
  • A4-0097/1998
• #2072
• 1998/03/09 Council Meeting
• #2007
• 1997/05/21 Council Meeting
  • 2007
• 1997/05/16 Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
• #2004
• 1997/05/12 Council Meeting
  • 2004
• 1997/04/29 Non-legislative basic document published
  • SEC(1997)0399 summary

    OBJECTIVE: to present the revenue and expenditure account and the financial statements of transactions effected under the 1996 budget (section III - Commission). CONTENT: this document summarizes the utilization of Commission appropriations in 1996 heading by heading. The Commission states, first, that the budget takes account of enlargement to Austria, Finland and Sweden and secondly, that in accordance with the interinstitutional agreement of 29 October 1993, the financial perspectives were not revised. However, they were adjusted in line with changes to the gross national product and prices and to the conditions of execution: 1) technical adjustment of financial perspectives: this adjustment was carried out in February 1995 when the ceiling on appropriations for payment was set at ECU 81.267 million, i.e. 1.19% of GNP; 2) adaptation to conditions of execution: this adaptation gave rise to the transfer to 1996 and 1997 of appropriations for commitment cancelled in 1994 under the Structural Funds (ECU 1.738 million). After technical adjustment and adaptation of the financial perspectives, the ceiling on appropriations for payment was increased to 1.20% of GNP for 1996. With regard to the implementation of the budget, the Commission announced that 96.9% of appropriations for commitment were implemented or carried over to 1997. This excellent result was explained by a significant increase in the rate of utilization of appropriations under EAGGF- Guarantee (beginning of cruise control of the CAP reform, measures to deal with the BSE crisis and measures due to enlargement) and the Structural Funds (definitive start up of programmes). According to the data at the end of 1996, total appropriations for payment under way represent 1.15% of GNP (compared with 1.05% in 1995).�

• #2001
• 1997/04/24 Council Meeting
  • 2001
• #1970
• 1996/11/26 Council Meeting
  • 1970

Documents

• Debate in Council: 1970
• Debate in Council: 2001
• Non-legislative basic document published: SEC(1997)0399
• Debate in Council: 2004
• Debate in Council: 2007
• Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading: A4-0097/1998
• Debate in Parliament: Debate in Parliament
• Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading: T4-0179/1998
• Debate in Parliament: Debate in Parliament
• Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading: A4-0502/1998
• Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading: A4-0196/1999
• Debate in Parliament: Debate in Parliament
• Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading: T4-0384/1999

History

(these mark the time of scraping, not the official date of the change)