PURPOSE: to grant discharge to the European Ombudsman for the 2005 financial year.

LEGISLATIVE ACT: Decision 2008/505/EC of the European Parliament on the discharge for implementation of the European Union general budget for the financial year 2005 (Section VIII A - European Ombudsman).

CONTENT: with the present decision, the European Parliament grants the European Ombudsman discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget for the financial year 2005.

This decision is in line with the European Parliament’s resolution adopted on 24 April 2007 and comprises a series of observations that form an integral part of the discharge decision (please refer to the summary of the opinion of 24/04/2007).

Budget 2008/505
OJ L 187 15.07.2008, p. 0071

SP(2007)2625/2

Results of vote in Parliament

Debate in Parliament

The European Parliament adopted a resolution drafted Daniel CASPARY (EPP-ED, D) and granted the European Ombudsman discharge for implementation of the budget for the financial year 2005. In doing so, it made a series of observations on the discharge in its accompanying resolution.

Parliament noted that in 2005 the European Ombudsman had available commitment appropriations amounting to a total of EUR 7 224 554 (2004: EUR 5 782 968) with a utilisation rate of 84,27%. The Ombudsman's 2005 financial statements disclose a negative economic out-turn for the year (EUR 98 482) and identical totals of assets and liabilities (EUR 890 853). The Court of Auditors in its Annual Report on the 2005 financial year indicated that the audit did not give rise to any observations as regards the Ombudsman. However, self assessment indicated that improvements in effectiveness were needed in some areas (risk assessment, sensitive functions, multi-annual programming).

Parliament recorded that the Ombudsman's annual caseload had increased from roughly 800 in 1996 to nearly 4 000 in 2005, with a particularly sharp rise between 2003 and 2004 (53%). It noted that he continued his information visits to the Member States with a view to improving citizens' awareness about their rights, making 120 presentations at conferences, seminars and meetings during 2005, together with 50 interviews with journalists. The Ombudsman sought to target information to those countries where the level of complaints received was lower than might be expected given the size of the population, for example, Germany and Italy. The Ombudsman's media strategy is therefore to raise the Ombudsman's profile in such Member States. Parliament considered, however, that in order to identify target countries, the Ombudsman should rely on surveys on the awareness of the citizens about his work in the various Member States rather than the number of complaints.

Lastly, Parliament recalled that the Ombudsman's Statute laid down by the European Parliament in 1994 imposes no obligation on the Ombudsman to publish his financial and economic interests. However, it asked that the Ombudsman should follow the example set by the European Data Protection Supervisor and his deputy in publishing a declaration of financial interests based on the form used for the Register of Financial Interests of Members of the European Parliament.

T6-0110/2007

A6-0104/2007

A6-0104/2007

The committee adopted the report by Daniel CASPARY (EPP-ED, DE) granting discharge to the European Ombudsman for 2005. In its accompanying resolution, the committee noted that the Ombudsman's annual caseload had increased from roughly 800 in 1996 to nearly 4000 in 2005, with a particularly sharp rise (53%) between 2003 and 2004. It also noted that there had been a 65% increase in the Ombudsman's budgetary allocations in 2005, and a 65% increase in staff in 2004 and 2005.

The committee stressed the importance of the information campaign carried out by the Ombudsman in 2005 through visits to the Member States in order to raise his profile among key members of the judiciary and enrich his collaboration with his national counterparts. MEPs said that, in order to identify target countries in which the Ombudsman's profile needed to be raised, the Ombudsman should rely on surveys on the awareness of citizens about his work rather than the number of complaints received from a particular country.

Lastly, the report said that, although the 1994 Ombudsman's Statute did not impose any obligation on the Ombudsman to publish his financial and economic interests, the Statute did place him "on a footing comparable with that of a Judge of the Court of Justice" and the Court (at Parliament's suggestion) had set up a working group to "examine the most appropriate way of ensuring transparency with regard to the judges' financial interests". The committee therefore called on the Ombudsman, pending the outcome of the inquiry, to follow the example set by the European Data Protection Supervisor and to publish a declaration of financial interests.

PE386.379

PE382.618

PURPOSE : to present the Court of Auditors’ report on the implementation of the 2005 budget (other institutions – European Ombudsman).

CONTENT : in its 29th Annual Report on the implementation of the general budget of the European Union, the Court highlights that 2005 was the first full year in which the European Union had 25 Members. The Court’s audit did not reveal any material errors concerning the legality and regularity of underlying transactions.

Supervisory and control systems : i n 2005 all the Institutions had supervisory and control systems complying with the requirements of the new Financial Regulation. However, some Institutions had not fully implemented all their Internal Control Standards (in particular the Council).

Also in 2005, the NAP (Nouvelle Application Paie), a computer application for calculating staff remunerations created in 2003 and managed by the Commission Paymaster Office (PMO), was being used by all the Institutions. The technical weaknesses noted in 2004 were overcome, minimising the risk of erroneous calculation of the various elements of staff remuneration. However, the institutions did not systematically use the reporting facilities of NAP in order to verify, before the final pay run, all the data concerning situations specific to individual members of staff. Although not mandatory pursuant to the Financial Regulation, ex-post controls would increase the reliability of the administrative procedures for managing staff remunerations and help to uncover possible weaknesses and errors in the system.

Staff Regulations : the amended Staff Regulations, which entered into force on 1 May 2004, state that accommodation costs incurred on mission are reimbursed up to a maximum fixed for each country. Contrary to this rule, all the Institutions, except the Court of Justice, the Court of Auditors and the Ombudsman, provided in their internal rules for the payment of a flat-rate sum, ranging from 30 to 60 % of the maximum allowable amount, to staff who do not produce any evidence of having incurred accommodation costs. After the publication of the European Court of Auditors’ Annual Report concerning the financial year 2004, the European Economic and Social Committee amended its internal rules in December 2005 in order to ensure compliance with the Staff Regulations.

Specific remarks concerning the Ombudsman : to recall, the Ombudsman’s administrative expenditure totalled EUR 6 million in 2005. The Court states that the audit did not give rise to any material observations.

General conclusions : the Court states that improvements have been made by all the Institutions in order to adapt their supervisory and control systems to the requirements of the new Financial Regulation. The Court’s audit found that, notwithstanding the weaknesses mentioned in the previous paragraphs, the supervisory and control systems were adequate to manage the risk as regards legality and regularity of the transactions underlying the accounts of the Institutions’ administrative expenditure. The Court’s audit did not reveal material errors affecting the legality and regularity of the administrative expenditure.

N6-0039/2006
OJ C 263 31.10.2006, p. 0001

PURPOSE: presentation of the final annual accounts of the European Community for the financial year 2005 – Other institutions : Section VIII (A) - European Ombudsman.

CONTENT: this document sets out the amount of expenditure and the financial statement of the European Ombudsman for 2005 and presents an analysis of its financial management. The available appropriations set out in the Ombudsman’s 2005 budget amounted to EUR 7.72 million , with an 89.75% utilisation rate.

Main axes of 2004 expenditure : the implementation report states that the activities carried out by this institution can be characterised by 4 main issues :

Ombudsman’s workload following enlargement : with the arrival of 10 new Member States, the number of complaints increased from 3688 in 2004 to 3920 in 2005; Towards a new cooperation agreement with the EP to reinforce interinstitutional cooperation (this agreement should enter into force in 2006); A new “Finance” department : the Ombudsman's Administration and Finance Department was overhauled in 2005, with its division into four sectors — the Administration Sector, the Finance Sector, the Complaints-Handling Sector and the Communications Sector. The aim of this restructuring was to allow for greater specialisation within the individual sectors, with co-ordination ensured by the Head of the Department. Within the Legal Department, procedures for case-management and quality control were strengthened, to ensure consistent monitoring and reliable handling of larger numbers of complaints by a larger team of Legal Officers; Tenth anniversary : various events were organised with the EU institutions and bodies during the anniversary year.

Amendments to the 2004 budget : throughout 2004, the Ombudsman made amendments to the budget through 4 transfers between items and chapters:

costs relating to the implementation of the Ombudsman’s Work Programme (notably increasing its profile in the new Member States); costs relating to the reform of the Staff Regulations; mop up transfer; establishing a reserve of translators.

The main issues of the 2005 budget implementation can be summarised as follows:

Title I (Staff costs) : the budget implementation was marked by:

the cut in mission and travel costs, a 60% rate of utilisation; costs relating to the organisation of training courses and the exchange of personnel were reduced; interinstitutional cooperation costs were increased following a budget transfer to cover translation costs.

Title II (Operational expenditure): this heading showed an increase in appropriations for office equipment and the hiring of an official car for the Ombudsman. On the other hand, an under-utilisation of item “meetings in general” was noted.

Title III (Specific mission costs): only EUR 2139 were committed from the EUR 3000 available to cover costs relating to relations with the Ombudsman’s international organisations.

For further details concerning the Committee’s expenditure in 2005, please refer to the annexed detailed analysis of expenditure.

EUR-Lex
OJ C 263 31.10.2006, p. 0001
SEC(2006)0915

PURPOSE: presentation of the final annual accounts of the European Community for the financial year 2005 – Other institutions : Section VIII (A) - European Ombudsman.

CONTENT: this document sets out the amount of expenditure and the financial statement of the European Ombudsman for 2005 and presents an analysis of its financial management. The available appropriations set out in the Ombudsman’s 2005 budget amounted to EUR 7.72 million , with an 89.75% utilisation rate.

Main axes of 2004 expenditure : the implementation report states that the activities carried out by this institution can be characterised by 4 main issues :

Ombudsman’s workload following enlargement : with the arrival of 10 new Member States, the number of complaints increased from 3688 in 2004 to 3920 in 2005; Towards a new cooperation agreement with the EP to reinforce interinstitutional cooperation (this agreement should enter into force in 2006); A new “Finance” department : the Ombudsman's Administration and Finance Department was overhauled in 2005, with its division into four sectors — the Administration Sector, the Finance Sector, the Complaints-Handling Sector and the Communications Sector. The aim of this restructuring was to allow for greater specialisation within the individual sectors, with co-ordination ensured by the Head of the Department. Within the Legal Department, procedures for case-management and quality control were strengthened, to ensure consistent monitoring and reliable handling of larger numbers of complaints by a larger team of Legal Officers; Tenth anniversary : various events were organised with the EU institutions and bodies during the anniversary year.

Amendments to the 2004 budget : throughout 2004, the Ombudsman made amendments to the budget through 4 transfers between items and chapters:

costs relating to the implementation of the Ombudsman’s Work Programme (notably increasing its profile in the new Member States); costs relating to the reform of the Staff Regulations; mop up transfer; establishing a reserve of translators.

The main issues of the 2005 budget implementation can be summarised as follows:

Title I (Staff costs) : the budget implementation was marked by:

the cut in mission and travel costs, a 60% rate of utilisation; costs relating to the organisation of training courses and the exchange of personnel were reduced; interinstitutional cooperation costs were increased following a budget transfer to cover translation costs.

Title II (Operational expenditure): this heading showed an increase in appropriations for office equipment and the hiring of an official car for the Ombudsman. On the other hand, an under-utilisation of item “meetings in general” was noted.

Title III (Specific mission costs): only EUR 2139 were committed from the EUR 3000 available to cover costs relating to relations with the Ombudsman’s international organisations.

For further details concerning the Committee’s expenditure in 2005, please refer to the annexed detailed analysis of expenditure.

EUR-Lex
SEC(2006)0915