Activites

• 2006/12/06 Final act published in Official Journal
  • Budget 2006/810
  • OJ L 340 06.12.2006, p. 0029
• 2006/09/26 Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
  • T6-0363/2006 summary

    The European Parliament adopted a resolution based on the report by Markus FERBER (EPP-ED, DE) on granting discharge for the European Parliament's 2004 budget. (Please refer to the summary on proceedings in committee dated 14/09/2006.)The report on the discharge was adopted with 535 votes in favour, 45 against with 51 abstentions. In addition, on the matter of the buildings, Parliament noted thatthe lease agreement by virtue of which Parliament leases the two buildings involves a triangular relationship between, on the one part, the Parliament itself as the lessee of the WIC and SDM buildings, on the second part, the City of Strasbourg as the lessor and on the third part, SCI Erasme as the private investor and owner of the buildings. Parliament considered that this triangular relationship was not conducive to full transparency or to guarantees of sound financial management and, therefore, that it should be avoided in the buildings policy of EU institutions and bodies. Parliament also made some remarks on the Members’ voluntary pension scheme. It noted with concern that the deduction of contributions to the pension scheme from the general expenditure allowance left Members exposed to allegations that public funds may be put towards the cost of private pension contributions. Parliament’s Bureau was asked to ensure that such payments were made directly by pension scheme members through direct debit orders. It felt that Members' contributions to the voluntary pension scheme should be paid directly from personal income rather than through the parliamentary allowance system.It noted, however, that the Court of Auditors saw no problems in maintaining the voluntary pension scheme system provided that it was better defined and its operation set down in a formal document.

• 2006/09/19 Debate in Parliament
• 2006/09/15 Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading
  • A6-0280/2006
• 2006/09/14 Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
• 2006/04/27 Results of vote in Parliament
  • Results of vote in Parliament
  • T6-0158/2006 summary

    The European Parliament adopted a resolution drafted by Markus FERBER (EPP-ED, DE) and voted to postpone the discharge for the European Parliament's budget in 2004. The House wanted further information into alleged irregularities concerning the cost of renting two of its buildings in Strasbourg. The decision to grant discharge to the European Parliament was rejected by the house with 3 votes in favour, 591 against and 13 abstentions. A new report will be drawn up. 

• 2006/04/26 Debate in Parliament
  • Debate in Parliament
• 2006/04/25 Report referred back to committee
• 2006/03/28 Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading
  • A6-0119/2006
• 2006/03/21 Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
• 2005/11/15 Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
• 2005/10/07 Non-legislative basic document published
  • N6-0027/2005 summary

    PURPOSE : presentation of the final annual accounts of the European Community for the financial year 2004 – Other institutions : Section I – European Parliament.CONTENT : this document sets out the amount of expenditure and the financial statement of the European Parliament for 2004 and presents an analysis of its financial management. The appropriations entered in the European Parliament’s 2004 budget amounted to EUR 1.231 billion, with nearly a 98% utilisation rate.Main axes of 2004 expenditure : it should be noted that 2004 was highlighted by several major events, notably:the accession of 10 new Member States and the European elections;the implementation of the “Raising the game” project and the new Staff Regulation.Concerning the budget implementation, the 2004 budget was marked by: heavy incertitude about the European elections and the Members’ turn-over rate, this rate having a direct impact on the payment of allowances (the final turn-over rate of former Members being 55%); enlargement and the delays in staff recruitment; the entry into force of the new Staff Regulations and real estate negotiations. Overall, the expenditure forecasts were appropriate but staff costs were lower than predicted. The carry-overs were used to cover costs in field of real estate.Amendments to the budget : the main amendments concern :-          an amending budget on the new Staff Regulations;-          releasing appropriations from the reserve;-          new budget guidelines on the financing of building acquisition, in particular, the payment of ground rent for the building in Brussels (see below);-          carrying out of specific objectives : enlargement, elections, information campaign. Results reached in 2004 : concerning the use of appropriations with regards to the EP’s expected objectives, the following can be noted:1) Enlargement and the European elections : these 2 events  had considerable effects on the General Secretary of the European Parliament:establishing an information and awareness campaign to inform EU citizens on the activities of the Parliament with a view to increasing voter participation : strengthening the activities of the Information Offices in the Member States, creating a website and “Fact sheets” on the Parliament, special enlargement ceremony for the 1 May 2004, publishing a practical guide on the EP for the new Members;recruitment of staff from the new Member States : only 200 posts were available at the end of 2004;linguistic effect of enlargement : each MEP has the right to carry out his duties in his/her own mother tongue. Therefore, there are currently 20 official languages in the EU;real estate issue of enlargement: the Parliament signed a long term lease for the D4/D5 buildings in Brussels. To this effect, several transfers were made in order to mobilise EUR 152 million to continue with the building policy. Waiting on their availability, the Parliament has rented a number of buildings in Brussels. Negotiations have been opened concerning the construction of an extension of the ADENAUER building in Luxembourg and the Parliament signed a final buying act for the “Louise Weiss” in Strasbourg;effects of enlargement on security : given the increased number of visitors, Members and officials, new security measures have been taken.2) “Raising the Game”: this is a Parliament initiative aiming to increase the quality and efficiency of the assistance given to MEPs. In this context, several actions have been taken such as the reorganisation of several DGs, the reorganisation of the Parliament’s library within DG Information, centralisation of know-how in the legal service in order to facilitate the tasks of the rapporters;3) Implementation of the new Staff Regulations: this Regulation entered into force on 1 May 2004. New procedures and adjustments were implemented by the EP Bureau.DETAILED SYNTHESIS OF EP EXPENDITURE 2004 : this detailed synthesis analyses the breakdown of EP expenditure for the financial year 2004. The figures mentioned can also be found in the “Final annual accounts of the European Communities - Financial year 2004 – Volume III”.Implementation rate in 2004 : appropriations entered in the 2004 budget : EUR 1.231 billion;appropriations committed amounted to EUR 1.203.370.074, a rate of 97,76% (rate of cancelled appropriations: 2,24%);appropriations paid amounted to EUR 921.908.731, a rate of 76,61% of commitment appropriations;appropriations carried over from 2003 to 2004: EUR 213.477.854,76, a rate of 17,34% of final budget appropriations (compared to 19,65% in 2003).Main budget items and use of commitment appropriations  (Titles I, II and III):§         I: Institutional costs (Members and active staff) : EUR 582,15 million;§         II: Operational costs (including building and materials) : EUR 455,64 million;§         III: Mission costs (parliamentary assistance) : EUR 165,58 million.

  • DG {'url': 'http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/budget/', 'title': 'Budget'}, KALLAS Siim

Documents

• Non-legislative basic document published: N6-0027/2005
• Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading: A6-0119/2006
• Debate in Parliament: Debate in Parliament
• Results of vote in Parliament: Results of vote in Parliament
• Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading: T6-0158/2006
• Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading: A6-0280/2006
• Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading: T6-0363/2006
• : Budget 2006/810
• : OJ L 340 06.12.2006, p. 0029

History

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