BETA


2006/2072(DEC) 2005 discharge: EC general budget, Council

Progress: Procedure completed

RoleCommitteeRapporteurShadows
Lead CONT CASPARY Daniel (icon: PPE-DE PPE-DE)
Committee Opinion PETI
Committee Opinion REGI
Committee Opinion AFCO
Committee Opinion DEVE
Committee Opinion CULT
Committee Opinion AFET
Committee Opinion PECH
Committee Opinion AGRI
Committee Opinion ENVI
Committee Opinion EMPL
Committee Opinion BUDG
Committee Opinion ITRE
Committee Opinion JURI
Committee Opinion ECON
Committee Opinion LIBE
Committee Opinion INTA
Committee Opinion IMCO
Committee Opinion TRAN
Committee Opinion FEMM
Lead committee dossier:
Legal Basis:
RoP 100

Events

2008/07/15
   Final act published in Official Journal
Details

PURPOSE: to give discharge to the Council for the 2005 financial year.

LEGISLATIVE ACT: Decision 2008/498/EC of the European Parliament on the discharge for implementation of the European Union general budget for the financial year 2005 (Section II - Council).

CONTENT: with the present decision, the European Parliament grants the Secretary-General of the Council 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).

2007/05/31
   EC - Commission response to text adopted in plenary
Documents
2007/04/24
   EP - Results of vote in Parliament
2007/04/24
   EP - Debate in Parliament
2007/04/24
   EP - Decision by Parliament
Details

The European Parliament adopted a resolution drafted Daniel CASPARY (EPP-ED, D), by 583 votes for, 68 against and 28 abstentions, and granted the Council's Secretary-General discharge for implementation of the Council budget for the financial year 2005. Having done so, it set out its observations in the accompanying resolution.

Parliament began by noting that in 2005 the Council had available commitment appropriations amounting to a total of EUR 588 182 64052 with a utilisation rate of 96.69 %. Following the introduction of accrual accounting with effect from 1 January 2005 the Council's financial statements disclose a positive economic out-turn of EUR 19 386 89140 and identical amounts (EUR 398 520 00403) of assets and liabilities. Parliament regretted that unlike other institutions, the Council does not submit an annual activity report to the European Parliament, citing the Gentlemen's Agreement of 1970 and the absence of any corresponding requirement in the Financial Regulation. It called on the Council to reconsider this decision in order to be more accountable to the general public and taxpayers.

With regard to the Council’s financial management, Parliament indicated that that, while the Council's reformed system for reimbursing the travel expenses of delegates of Council Members had greatly reduced the administrative burden, there were insufficient checks on the validity of Member States' statements before payment of the July 2005 instalment. The internal auditor stressed the need for more transparency as to the eligibility of meetings and refundable expenses. Parliament noted that the Council Secretariat is currently reviewing the system, and that each delegation now receives from the Council Secretariat a limited budget with a ceiling.

At the same time, Parliament recalled that the Council was unwilling to reply officially to a questionnaire to all the institutions (including the European Parliament) concerning the use of official cars having regard to the terms of the Gentlemen's Agreement. In view of its age and the substantial shortfall between words used and the meaning or interpretation which is attributed to them, Parliament felt that the Gentlemen's Agreement might be in need of revision.

It went on to observe that, in its special report No 9/2006, the ECA found that the cost per page of translation at the Council was EUR 276 (as against EUR 194 at the Commission and EUR 119 at the European Parliament). This difference was partly explained by the Council Secretariat's success in reducing the number and length of documents sent for translation and establishing a list of core documents.

Lastly, Parliament called for maximum transparency in the area of Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and asked the Council to ensure that no operating CFSP expenditure appears in the Council's budget. It reserved the right to take the necessary steps, where appropriate, if the agreement is infringed.

It should be noted that the amendments proposed by the Greens/ALE group were rejected in Plenary.

Documents
2007/04/24
   EP - End of procedure in Parliament
2007/03/30
   EP - Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading
Documents
2007/03/30
   EP - Committee report tabled for plenary
Documents
2007/03/27
   EP - Vote in committee
Details

The committee adopted the report by Daniel CASPARY (EPP-ED, DE) granting discharge to the Council for 2005. In its accompanying resolution, the committee regretted the fact that, unlike other institutions, the Council does not submit an annual activity report to Parliament and it called on the Council to reconsider this decision "in order to be more accountable to the general public and taxpayers". Referring to the longstanding ‘Gentleman's Agreement’ between the two arms of the budgetary authority, the report said that, "in view of its age and the substantial shortfall between words used and the meaning or interpretation which is attributed to them, the Gentleman’s Agreement may be in need of revision". The report said that the current compromise - consisting of an informal dialogue between the Council and the competent committee’s chairman and rapporteur – should be widened so as to include a Member from each political group, and called for negotiations to begin with Council with a view to putting revised arrangements for informal dialogue in place in time for the next discharge procedure.

Lastly, the committee called for “maximum transparency” in the area of Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). It urged the Council to ensure, in line with the Interinstitutional Agreement of 17 May 2006, that no operating CFSP expenditure appears in the Council's budget, and said that Parliament reserved the right "to take the necessary steps, where appropriate, if the agreement is infringed".

2007/03/06
   EP - Amendments tabled in committee
Documents
2007/02/27
   CSL - Council Meeting
2007/02/08
   CSL - Document attached to the procedure
Details

Special Report 9/2006 from the Court of Auditors concerns translation expenditure incurred by the Commission, the Parliament and the Council.

The objective of the audit was to assess the extent to which the Commission, the Parliament and the Council manage their translation resources and expenditure efficiently and effectively . The Court addressed three questions:

Is translation demands met and are there adequate procedures to avoid unnecessary translations? Are translations timely and of adequate quality for their purpose? Were the institutions able to keep the cost of translations under control?

The audit has shown that the institutions have adopted different approaches when responding to rising translation demand. Both the Commission and the Council have taken adequate measures to reduce the number of documents translated into all languages. A significant part of all translation requests is, however, not governed by the translation guidelines adopted by each institution, and none of the institutions has a clear and coherent procedure for requesting translations.

The three translation services audited generally manage to deliver translations into the EU-15 languages on time and with the required quality. However, in 2004 there were significant problems for the EU-10 languages.

A calculation made by the Court shows that in 2003 the full cost of translation was about EUR 100 million each for the Parliament and for the Council and EUR 215 million for the Commission. Following the increase in the number of languages after the May 2004 EU enlargement, the cost of translation has risen to approximately EUR 128 million for the Parliament, EUR 126 million for the Council and EUR 257 million for the Commission in 2005. The average cost per page in 2003 was EUR 150 at the Parliament and at the Commission, and EUR 254 at the Council. In 2005, the average cost per page rose to EUR 194 at the Commission and EUR 276 at the Council, but dropped to EUR 119 at the Parliament. Internal translation is more expensive than freelance translation, but comparison is difficult as texts translated externally are of a different nature and the quality of internal translation is recognised to be higher.

While the Commission and the Council have been successful in reducing demand for translations into the EU-15 languages this has also resulted in overcapacity and below-average productivity. The Court, however, noted significant differences in the productivity and the outsourcing percentages of the different language units of the different institutions.

With the exception of the Commission for 2002, none of the institutions had calculated their total translation cost or the average cost per page translated.

The Court considers that savings could be achieved by further increasing interinstitutional cooperation, in particular by ensuring that spare capacity in one institution is made available to other institutions in order to reduce their outsourcing to freelance translators. However, lack of forecasts and insufficient communication of available translation capacity make it difficult for the institutions to take full advantage of temporarily available capacity at other institutions. In 2005, the Parliament and several Commission DGs outsourced a similar number of pages of non-urgent documents in the same languages which could have been translated by another institution. Total payments of about EUR 11 million for freelance translations could thus have been avoided.

The Court notes that while advanced IT tools are available at the audited translation services, they are not used in a consistent manner.

Council conclusions : following the reception of the Special Report 9/2006 on 15 September 2006, the Permanent Representatives Committee instructed the Budget Committee to examine it and draw the relevant conclusions. Following that examination, the Antici Group was tasked with examining certain language aspects of the draft conclusions. A special Council group (the Antici Group) highlighted the importance of multilingualism in order to better communicate with citizens and to take account of national parliaments was stressed in particular.

At the ECOFIN Council on 27 February 2007, the Council approved the conclusions on EU translation expenditure (refer to the Council conclusions for more details). It advocates inter-institutional cooperation being reinforced to all institutions in order to improve the efficiency and the procedures and to reduce the costs in the field of translations. These conclusions do not constitute a change of policy as regards translation.

Documents
2007/01/10
   EP - Committee draft report
Documents
2006/12/14
   EP - Committee referral announced in Parliament
2006/10/31
   CofA - Court of Auditors: opinion, report
Details

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

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 Council : to recall, Council administrative expenditure totalled EUR 533 million in 2005. The Court states that the Council reformed its system for reimbursing the travel expenses of delegates of Council Members with Decision 190/2003, applicable from 1 January 2004. The reimbursement is paid within the limit of a fixed allocation per Member State. Each Member State is paid two instalments per year: one in January and the other in July. Before the end of February, each Member State provides the General Secretariat with a statement showing how the total appropriation allocated to it during the previous year has been used. Unused sums and amounts for which no supporting documents have been provided are deducted from the amounts to be paid in the next instalment. The Court found that the new system greatly reduced the administrative burden on the Council of paying delegates’ expenses, but that there had been insufficient checks on the validity of Member States’ statements before payment of the July 2005 instalment.

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.

2006/07/26
   EC - Non-legislative basic document
Details

PURPOSE: presentation of the final annual accounts of the European Community for the financial year 2005 – Other institutions : Section II – Council.

CONTENT: this document sets out the amount of expenditure and the financial statement of the Council for 2005 and presents an analysis of its financial management. The available appropriations amounted to EUR 563 million , with an 82.6% utilisation rate for the running costs of the Institution and 98.6% if the additional advances provided to fund the LEX building are taken into account.

Main axes of 2005 expenditure : the implementation of the Council’s budget was characterised by the following:

problems concerning the active recruitment of staff following the 2004 enlargement; the continuation of its building policy; excessive translation costs.

Amendments to the budget : the difference between the budget forecasts and the implementation of the budget is due to the following:

low rate of staff occupation (average of 86%); the success of a new allocation system for interpretation as well as the lack of interpreters for the new languages (general staffing problems); Member States failing to justify the amounts granted for delegates’ travel expenses, delays in the SESAME project; delays in the establishment of security plans.

The main titles subject to a significant modification (difference of more than EUR 250 000 compared to the forecasts) are the following :

Titre I (Staff costs): implementation was marked by the reduction in the amounts provided for the officials’ basic salaries. This saving was made through a yearly adjustment of salaries (with a gain of around EUR 5 million) and a weaker staff policy than was originally planned (under-estimation of staff caused a budget increase of EUR 15 million). To accommodate the lack of staff, the Secretary-General called on auxiliary staff notably for the linguistic services via an appropriation transfer between lines.

Other posts which were under-estimated are :

- contract agents, under-utilised by more than 30%;

- reinstallation allowances and relocation costs: these lines have been under-utilised due to the lack of personnel. In addition, translation costs have been reinforced to cover the addition work brought about by 10 new working languages (EUR 422 000 entered in the budget, which is an increase of more than 250%). On the other hand, interpretation costs have decreased by 35%.

Title II (Operational expenditure): this sector has been largely dominated by the Council’s buildings policy which saw its budget explode with an increase of 623% (the initial amount provided for this area was EUR 14.4 million) and the Council spent EUR 104.4 million after a transfer of appropriations and savings made on other lines. The Council’s objective was to proceed with a pre-financing plan for the acquisition of the LEX building after the end of year mop-up of transfers.

One also notes the strengthening of IT systems and an important increase in costs relating to claims (costs resulting from the treatment of antidumping claims). On the other hand, interpretation and translation costs have decreased. Conference and meeting costs showed an increase of 975% (going from EUR 80 000 to EUR 860 000 after a transfer of appropriations).

Title III (Expenditure resulting from missions carried out by the Council): the expenditure of this sector mainly concerns the European Security and Defence Policy and seconded national experts. It appears that the amounts initially set out for the special ESDP advisers has been underestimated except for the post dealing with external experts which increased the amount of the budget line by 42%. Other areas under this title were, on the other hand, subject to a lower rate of implementation such as for the security of the OP-Centre.

Lastly, this title is also characterised by the carrying over of the SESAME project from 2005 to 2006 causing a reduction of EUR 18.7 million appropriations.

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

2006/07/25
   EC - Non-legislative basic document published
Details

PURPOSE: presentation of the final annual accounts of the European Community for the financial year 2005 – Other institutions : Section II – Council.

CONTENT: this document sets out the amount of expenditure and the financial statement of the Council for 2005 and presents an analysis of its financial management. The available appropriations amounted to EUR 563 million , with an 82.6% utilisation rate for the running costs of the Institution and 98.6% if the additional advances provided to fund the LEX building are taken into account.

Main axes of 2005 expenditure : the implementation of the Council’s budget was characterised by the following:

problems concerning the active recruitment of staff following the 2004 enlargement; the continuation of its building policy; excessive translation costs.

Amendments to the budget : the difference between the budget forecasts and the implementation of the budget is due to the following:

low rate of staff occupation (average of 86%); the success of a new allocation system for interpretation as well as the lack of interpreters for the new languages (general staffing problems); Member States failing to justify the amounts granted for delegates’ travel expenses, delays in the SESAME project; delays in the establishment of security plans.

The main titles subject to a significant modification (difference of more than EUR 250 000 compared to the forecasts) are the following :

Titre I (Staff costs): implementation was marked by the reduction in the amounts provided for the officials’ basic salaries. This saving was made through a yearly adjustment of salaries (with a gain of around EUR 5 million) and a weaker staff policy than was originally planned (under-estimation of staff caused a budget increase of EUR 15 million). To accommodate the lack of staff, the Secretary-General called on auxiliary staff notably for the linguistic services via an appropriation transfer between lines.

Other posts which were under-estimated are :

- contract agents, under-utilised by more than 30%;

- reinstallation allowances and relocation costs: these lines have been under-utilised due to the lack of personnel. In addition, translation costs have been reinforced to cover the addition work brought about by 10 new working languages (EUR 422 000 entered in the budget, which is an increase of more than 250%). On the other hand, interpretation costs have decreased by 35%.

Title II (Operational expenditure): this sector has been largely dominated by the Council’s buildings policy which saw its budget explode with an increase of 623% (the initial amount provided for this area was EUR 14.4 million) and the Council spent EUR 104.4 million after a transfer of appropriations and savings made on other lines. The Council’s objective was to proceed with a pre-financing plan for the acquisition of the LEX building after the end of year mop-up of transfers.

One also notes the strengthening of IT systems and an important increase in costs relating to claims (costs resulting from the treatment of antidumping claims). On the other hand, interpretation and translation costs have decreased. Conference and meeting costs showed an increase of 975% (going from EUR 80 000 to EUR 860 000 after a transfer of appropriations).

Title III (Expenditure resulting from missions carried out by the Council): the expenditure of this sector mainly concerns the European Security and Defence Policy and seconded national experts. It appears that the amounts initially set out for the special ESDP advisers has been underestimated except for the post dealing with external experts which increased the amount of the budget line by 42%. Other areas under this title were, on the other hand, subject to a lower rate of implementation such as for the security of the OP-Centre.

Lastly, this title is also characterised by the carrying over of the SESAME project from 2005 to 2006 causing a reduction of EUR 18.7 million appropriations.

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

2006/04/20
   EP - CASPARY Daniel (PPE-DE) appointed as rapporteur in CONT

Documents

Activities

Votes

Rapport Caspary A6-0108/2007 - décision #

2007/04/24 Outcome: +: 499, -: 161, 0: 23
DE IT PL FR ES RO EL PT HU SK SE IE NL AT LV DK BE FI CY MT BG SI LU CZ EE LT GB
Total
89
60
52
54
48
32
22
22
22
14
14
12
27
18
9
13
21
14
6
5
10
7
5
22
6
11
68
icon: PSE PSE
192

Ireland PSE

1

Slovenia PSE

For (1)

1

Luxembourg PSE

For (1)

1

Czechia PSE

2

Estonia PSE

3

Lithuania PSE

2
icon: PPE-DE PPE-DE
247
4

Denmark PPE-DE

For (1)

1

Malta PPE-DE

2

Luxembourg PPE-DE

3

Estonia PPE-DE

For (1)

1
icon: UEN UEN
40

Denmark UEN

For (1)

1

Lithuania UEN

2
icon: GUE/NGL GUE/NGL
39

France GUE/NGL

2

Spain GUE/NGL

For (1)

1

Portugal GUE/NGL

For (1)

3

Sweden GUE/NGL

2

Ireland GUE/NGL

1

Netherlands GUE/NGL

2

Denmark GUE/NGL

1

Finland GUE/NGL

For (1)

1

Cyprus GUE/NGL

2

United Kingdom GUE/NGL

1
icon: IND/DEM IND/DEM
20

Poland IND/DEM

Against (1)

2

Greece IND/DEM

1

Sweden IND/DEM

2

Ireland IND/DEM

For (1)

1

Netherlands IND/DEM

2

Denmark IND/DEM

Abstain (1)

1
icon: NI NI
11

Slovakia NI

Abstain (2)

3

Austria NI

Against (1)

1

Czechia NI

Against (1)

1

United Kingdom NI

2
icon: ITS ITS
16

Italy ITS

Against (1)

1

France ITS

Against (1)

3

Austria ITS

Abstain (1)

1

Belgium ITS

Abstain (1)

3

Bulgaria ITS

Abstain (1)

1

United Kingdom ITS

Against (1)

1
icon: Verts/ALE Verts/ALE
37

Italy Verts/ALE

2

Sweden Verts/ALE

Against (1)

1

Austria Verts/ALE

2

Latvia Verts/ALE

Against (1)

1

Belgium Verts/ALE

2

Finland Verts/ALE

Against (1)

1

Luxembourg Verts/ALE

Against (1)

1

United Kingdom Verts/ALE

3
icon: ALDE ALDE
81
2

Hungary ALDE

2

Sweden ALDE

Against (1)

1

Ireland ALDE

Against (1)

1

Austria ALDE

Against (1)

1

Latvia ALDE

1

Denmark ALDE

For (1)

Abstain (1)

4

Cyprus ALDE

Abstain (1)

1

Bulgaria ALDE

2

Slovenia ALDE

2

Estonia ALDE

Against (2)

2

Rapport Caspary A6-0108/2007 - am. 1 #

2007/04/24 Outcome: -: 517, +: 135, 0: 29
SE LV CY LU EE DK CZ MT IE SK SI NL AT FI BG LT PL EL BE PT HU IT RO FR ES GB DE
Total
14
9
6
5
6
12
22
5
12
14
7
26
16
14
10
11
53
22
21
22
23
60
32
54
48
67
90
icon: Verts/ALE Verts/ALE
36

Sweden Verts/ALE

For (1)

1

Latvia Verts/ALE

1

Luxembourg Verts/ALE

For (1)

1

Austria Verts/ALE

1

Finland Verts/ALE

For (1)

1

Belgium Verts/ALE

2

Italy Verts/ALE

2

United Kingdom Verts/ALE

3
icon: UEN UEN
40

Denmark UEN

For (1)

1

Lithuania UEN

2
icon: GUE/NGL GUE/NGL
39

Sweden GUE/NGL

2

Cyprus GUE/NGL

2

Denmark GUE/NGL

1

Ireland GUE/NGL

1

Netherlands GUE/NGL

For (1)

2

Finland GUE/NGL

Abstain (1)

1

Portugal GUE/NGL

3

France GUE/NGL

2

Spain GUE/NGL

For (1)

1

United Kingdom GUE/NGL

1
icon: IND/DEM IND/DEM
20

Sweden IND/DEM

2

Denmark IND/DEM

1

Ireland IND/DEM

For (1)

1

Netherlands IND/DEM

2

Poland IND/DEM

Against (1)

Abstain (1)

2

Greece IND/DEM

1
icon: NI NI
11

Czechia NI

1

Slovakia NI

For (1)

Against (1)

Abstain (1)

3

Austria NI

1
2
2

United Kingdom NI

For (1)

Against (1)

2
icon: ITS ITS
16

Austria ITS

Against (1)

1

Bulgaria ITS

Against (1)

1

Belgium ITS

Against (1)

3

Italy ITS

Against (1)

1

France ITS

Against (1)

3

United Kingdom ITS

Against (1)

1
icon: ALDE ALDE
80

Sweden ALDE

Abstain (1)

1

Latvia ALDE

Against (1)

1

Cyprus ALDE

Against (1)

1

Estonia ALDE

Against (2)

2
4

Ireland ALDE

Against (1)

1

Slovenia ALDE

2

Austria ALDE

Abstain (1)

1

Bulgaria ALDE

2

Hungary ALDE

2
2
icon: PSE PSE
190

Luxembourg PSE

Against (1)

1

Estonia PSE

For (1)

3

Czechia PSE

Against (1)

Abstain (1)

2

Ireland PSE

Against (1)

1

Slovakia PSE

For (1)

3

Slovenia PSE

Against (1)

1

Finland PSE

3

Lithuania PSE

2
icon: PPE-DE PPE-DE
249

Latvia PPE-DE

3

Luxembourg PPE-DE

3

Estonia PPE-DE

Against (1)

1

Denmark PPE-DE

Against (1)

1

Malta PPE-DE

Against (2)

2

Ireland PPE-DE

For (1)

4

Slovenia PPE-DE

4
4

Rapport Caspary A6-0108/2007 - am. 2 #

2007/04/24 Outcome: -: 532, +: 124, 0: 30
CZ GB CY MT LU LV EE SI IE FI SE BG NL SK AT LT DK PT EL BE HU RO IT FR ES PL DE
Total
22
68
6
5
5
9
6
7
12
14
14
10
27
14
18
11
12
22
22
22
23
32
60
54
48
53
90
icon: Verts/ALE Verts/ALE
37

United Kingdom Verts/ALE

3

Luxembourg Verts/ALE

For (1)

1

Latvia Verts/ALE

1

Finland Verts/ALE

For (1)

1

Sweden Verts/ALE

For (1)

1

Austria Verts/ALE

2

Belgium Verts/ALE

2

Italy Verts/ALE

2
icon: GUE/NGL GUE/NGL
39

United Kingdom GUE/NGL

1

Cyprus GUE/NGL

2

Ireland GUE/NGL

1

Finland GUE/NGL

Against (1)

1

Sweden GUE/NGL

2

Netherlands GUE/NGL

For (1)

2

Denmark GUE/NGL

1

Portugal GUE/NGL

3

France GUE/NGL

2

Spain GUE/NGL

For (1)

1
icon: IND/DEM IND/DEM
20

Ireland IND/DEM

For (1)

1

Sweden IND/DEM

2

Netherlands IND/DEM

2

Denmark IND/DEM

Abstain (1)

1

Greece IND/DEM

1

Poland IND/DEM

Against (1)

Abstain (1)

2
icon: NI NI
11

Czechia NI

Abstain (1)

1

United Kingdom NI

Against (1)

Abstain (1)

2

Slovakia NI

For (1)

Against (1)

Abstain (1)

3

Austria NI

1
2
2
icon: ITS ITS
16

United Kingdom ITS

Against (1)

1

Bulgaria ITS

Against (1)

1

Austria ITS

Against (1)

1

Belgium ITS

3

Italy ITS

Against (1)

1

France ITS

Against (1)

3
icon: UEN UEN
40

Lithuania UEN

2

Denmark UEN

Against (1)

1
icon: ALDE ALDE
81

Cyprus ALDE

Against (1)

1

Latvia ALDE

Against (1)

1

Estonia ALDE

Against (2)

2

Slovenia ALDE

2

Ireland ALDE

Against (1)

1

Sweden ALDE

Against (1)

1

Bulgaria ALDE

2

Austria ALDE

Abstain (1)

1

Hungary ALDE

2
2
icon: PPE-DE PPE-DE
249

Malta PPE-DE

For (1)

Against (1)

2

Luxembourg PPE-DE

3

Latvia PPE-DE

3

Estonia PPE-DE

Against (1)

1

Slovenia PPE-DE

4

Ireland PPE-DE

4
4

Denmark PPE-DE

Against (1)

1
icon: PSE PSE
193

Czechia PSE

2

Luxembourg PSE

Against (1)

1

Estonia PSE

3

Slovenia PSE

Against (1)

1

Ireland PSE

Against (1)

1

Finland PSE

3

Slovakia PSE

3

Lithuania PSE

2

Rapport Caspary A6-0108/2007 - résolution #

2007/04/24 Outcome: +: 583, -: 68, 0: 28
DE IT PL ES FR RO HU PT NL BE EL AT SK IE LT DK FI SE LV BG SI EE MT LU CY CZ GB
Total
89
59
52
48
53
32
23
22
27
19
22
18
14
12
11
13
13
14
9
10
6
6
5
5
6
23
68
icon: PSE PSE
190

Ireland PSE

1

Lithuania PSE

2

Finland PSE

2

Slovenia PSE

For (1)

1

Estonia PSE

3

Luxembourg PSE

For (1)

1

Czechia PSE

2
icon: PPE-DE PPE-DE
248
4

Denmark PPE-DE

For (1)

1

Slovenia PPE-DE

3

Estonia PPE-DE

For (1)

1

Malta PPE-DE

2

Luxembourg PPE-DE

3
icon: ALDE ALDE
82
2

Austria ALDE

1

Ireland ALDE

For (1)

1

Sweden ALDE

For (1)

1

Latvia ALDE

1

Bulgaria ALDE

2

Slovenia ALDE

2

Estonia ALDE

2

Cyprus ALDE

For (1)

1
icon: UEN UEN
40

Lithuania UEN

2

Denmark UEN

For (1)

1
icon: Verts/ALE Verts/ALE
36

Italy Verts/ALE

2

Spain Verts/ALE

Abstain (1)

3

Belgium Verts/ALE

2

Austria Verts/ALE

Against (1)

2

Finland Verts/ALE

For (1)

1

Sweden Verts/ALE

For (1)

1

Latvia Verts/ALE

1

Luxembourg Verts/ALE

For (1)

1

United Kingdom Verts/ALE

Abstain (1)

3
icon: GUE/NGL GUE/NGL
39

Spain GUE/NGL

For (1)

1

France GUE/NGL

2

Portugal GUE/NGL

3

Netherlands GUE/NGL

2

Ireland GUE/NGL

1

Denmark GUE/NGL

1

Finland GUE/NGL

Against (1)

1

Sweden GUE/NGL

2

Cyprus GUE/NGL

2

United Kingdom GUE/NGL

1
icon: ITS ITS
13

Italy ITS

Abstain (1)

1

Austria ITS

Abstain (1)

1

Bulgaria ITS

Abstain (1)

1

United Kingdom ITS

Against (1)

1
icon: NI NI
10

Italy NI

For (1)

2

Austria NI

Against (1)

1

Slovakia NI

Abstain (1)

3

Czechia NI

Against (1)

1

United Kingdom NI

Against (1)

1
icon: IND/DEM IND/DEM
21

Poland IND/DEM

Against (1)

2

Netherlands IND/DEM

2

Greece IND/DEM

1

Ireland IND/DEM

For (1)

1

Denmark IND/DEM

1

Sweden IND/DEM

2

Czechia IND/DEM

Against (1)

1

History

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

docs/1/docs/1/url
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date
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docs
summary
type
Court of Auditors: opinion, report
body
CofA
docs/1
date
2006-10-31T00:00:00
docs
summary
type
Court of Auditors: opinion, report
body
CofA
docs/2/docs/0/url
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docs/4/docs/0/url
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https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/EN&reference=PE386.383
docs/5/docs/0/url
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http://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/A-6-2007-0108_EN.html
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https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/A-6-2007-0108_EN.html
events/1/type
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Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
New
Committee referral announced in Parliament
events/2/type
Old
Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
New
Vote in committee
events/3
date
2007-03-30T00:00:00
type
Committee report tabled for plenary
body
EP
docs
url: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/A-6-2007-0108_EN.html title: A6-0108/2007
events/3
date
2007-03-30T00:00:00
type
Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading
body
EP
docs
url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/A-6-2007-0108_EN.html title: A6-0108/2007
events/5/docs/0/url
Old
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?secondRef=TOC&language=EN&reference=20070424&type=CRE
New
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/EN&reference=20070424&type=CRE
events/6
date
2007-04-24T00:00:00
type
Decision by Parliament
body
EP
docs
url: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-6-2007-0134_EN.html title: T6-0134/2007
summary
events/6
date
2007-04-24T00:00:00
type
Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
body
EP
docs
url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-6-2007-0134_EN.html title: T6-0134/2007
summary
events/8/docs/0/url
Old
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/B-2-98-08B0_EN.html
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https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/B-2-98-08B0_EN.html
procedure/final/url
Old
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New
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/B-2-98-08B0_EN.html
procedure/legal_basis/0
Rules of Procedure EP 100
procedure/legal_basis/0
Rules of Procedure EP 94
committees/0
type
Responsible Committee
body
EP
associated
False
committee_full
Budgetary Control
committee
CONT
rapporteur
name: CASPARY Daniel date: 2006-04-20T00:00:00 group: European People's Party (Christian Democrats) and European Democrats abbr: PPE-DE
committees/0
type
Responsible Committee
body
EP
associated
False
committee_full
Budgetary Control
committee
CONT
date
2006-04-20T00:00:00
rapporteur
name: CASPARY Daniel group: European People's Party (Christian Democrats) and European Democrats abbr: PPE-DE
docs/1/docs/0/url
Old
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docs/5/docs/0/url
Old
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=REPORT&mode=XML&reference=A6-2007-108&language=EN
New
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docs/6/body
EC
events/3/docs/0/url
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New
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events/8
date
2008-07-15T00:00:00
type
Final act published in Official Journal
summary
docs
events/8
date
2008-07-15T00:00:00
type
Final act published in Official Journal
summary
docs
procedure/final/url
Old
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=MOTION&reference=B[%g]-2008-498&language=EN
New
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/B-2-98-08B0_EN.html
activities
  • date: 2006-07-26T00:00:00 docs: url: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/smartapi/cgi/sga_doc?smartapi!celexplus!prod!DocNumber&lg=EN&type_doc=SECfinal&an_doc=2006&nu_doc=915 type: Non-legislative basic document published title: SEC(2006)0915 body: EC commission: DG: url: http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/budget/ title: Budget Commissioner: KALLAS Siim type: Non-legislative basic document published
  • date: 2006-12-14T00:00:00 body: EP type: Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading committees: body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Constitutional Affairs committee: AFCO body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Foreign Affairs committee: AFET body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Agriculture and Rural Development committee: AGRI body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Budgets committee: BUDG body: EP responsible: True committee: CONT date: 2006-04-20T00:00:00 committee_full: Budgetary Control rapporteur: group: PPE-DE name: CASPARY Daniel body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Culture and Education committee: CULT body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Development committee: DEVE body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Economic and Monetary Affairs committee: ECON body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Employment and Social Affairs committee: EMPL body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Environment, Public Health and Food Safety committee: ENVI body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Women's Rights and Gender Equality committee: FEMM body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Internal Market and Consumer Protection committee: IMCO body: EP responsible: False committee_full: International Trade committee: INTA body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Industry, Research and Energy committee: ITRE body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Legal Affairs committee: JURI body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs committee: LIBE body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Fisheries committee: PECH body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Petitions committee: PETI body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Regional Development committee: REGI body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Transport and Tourism committee: TRAN
  • date: 2007-02-27T00:00:00 body: CSL type: Council Meeting council: Economic and Financial Affairs ECOFIN meeting_id: 2787
  • date: 2007-03-27T00:00:00 body: EP committees: body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Constitutional Affairs committee: AFCO body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Foreign Affairs committee: AFET body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Agriculture and Rural Development committee: AGRI body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Budgets committee: BUDG body: EP responsible: True committee: CONT date: 2006-04-20T00:00:00 committee_full: Budgetary Control rapporteur: group: PPE-DE name: CASPARY Daniel body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Culture and Education committee: CULT body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Development committee: DEVE body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Economic and Monetary Affairs committee: ECON body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Employment and Social Affairs committee: EMPL body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Environment, Public Health and Food Safety committee: ENVI body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Women's Rights and Gender Equality committee: FEMM body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Internal Market and Consumer Protection committee: IMCO body: EP responsible: False committee_full: International Trade committee: INTA body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Industry, Research and Energy committee: ITRE body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Legal Affairs committee: JURI body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs committee: LIBE body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Fisheries committee: PECH body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Petitions committee: PETI body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Regional Development committee: REGI body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Transport and Tourism committee: TRAN type: Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
  • date: 2007-03-30T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=REPORT&mode=XML&reference=A6-2007-108&language=EN type: Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading title: A6-0108/2007 body: EP type: Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading
  • date: 2007-04-24T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/sda.do?id=13473&l=en type: Results of vote in Parliament title: Results of vote in Parliament url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?secondRef=TOC&language=EN&reference=20070424&type=CRE type: Debate in Parliament title: Debate in Parliament url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&language=EN&reference=P6-TA-2007-134 type: Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading title: T6-0134/2007 body: EP type: Results of vote in Parliament
  • date: 2008-07-15T00:00:00 type: Final act published in Official Journal docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=MOTION&reference=B[%g]-2008-498&language=EN title: Budget 2008/498 url: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/JOHtml.do?uri=OJ:L:2008:187:SOM:EN:HTML title: OJ L 187 15.07.2008, p. 0020
commission
  • body: EC dg: Budget commissioner: KALLAS Siim
committees/0
type
Responsible Committee
body
EP
associated
False
committee_full
Budgetary Control
committee
CONT
date
2006-04-20T00:00:00
rapporteur
name: CASPARY Daniel group: European People's Party (Christian Democrats) and European Democrats abbr: PPE-DE
committees/0
body
EP
responsible
False
committee_full
Constitutional Affairs
committee
AFCO
committees/1
type
Committee Opinion
body
EP
associated
False
committee_full
Foreign Affairs
committee
AFET
opinion
False
committees/1
body
EP
responsible
False
committee_full
Foreign Affairs
committee
AFET
committees/2
type
Committee Opinion
body
EP
associated
False
committee_full
Development
committee
DEVE
opinion
False
committees/2
body
EP
responsible
False
committee_full
Agriculture and Rural Development
committee
AGRI
committees/3
type
Committee Opinion
body
EP
associated
False
committee_full
International Trade
committee
INTA
opinion
False
committees/3
body
EP
responsible
False
committee_full
Budgets
committee
BUDG
committees/4
type
Committee Opinion
body
EP
associated
False
committee_full
Budgets
committee
BUDG
opinion
False
committees/4
body
EP
responsible
True
committee
CONT
date
2006-04-20T00:00:00
committee_full
Budgetary Control
rapporteur
group: PPE-DE name: CASPARY Daniel
committees/5
type
Committee Opinion
body
EP
associated
False
committee_full
Economic and Monetary Affairs
committee
ECON
opinion
False
committees/5
body
EP
responsible
False
committee_full
Culture and Education
committee
CULT
committees/6
type
Committee Opinion
body
EP
associated
False
committee_full
Employment and Social Affairs
committee
EMPL
opinion
False
committees/6
body
EP
responsible
False
committee_full
Development
committee
DEVE
committees/7
type
Committee Opinion
body
EP
associated
False
committee_full
Environment, Public Health and Food Safety
committee
ENVI
opinion
False
committees/7
body
EP
responsible
False
committee_full
Economic and Monetary Affairs
committee
ECON
committees/8
type
Committee Opinion
body
EP
associated
False
committee_full
Industry, Research and Energy
committee
ITRE
opinion
False
committees/8
body
EP
responsible
False
committee_full
Employment and Social Affairs
committee
EMPL
committees/9
type
Committee Opinion
body
EP
associated
False
committee_full
Internal Market and Consumer Protection
committee
IMCO
opinion
False
committees/9
body
EP
responsible
False
committee_full
Environment, Public Health and Food Safety
committee
ENVI
committees/10
type
Committee Opinion
body
EP
associated
False
committee_full
Transport and Tourism
committee
TRAN
opinion
False
committees/10
body
EP
responsible
False
committee_full
Women's Rights and Gender Equality
committee
FEMM
committees/11
type
Committee Opinion
body
EP
associated
False
committee_full
Regional Development
committee
REGI
opinion
False
committees/11
body
EP
responsible
False
committee_full
Internal Market and Consumer Protection
committee
IMCO
committees/12
type
Committee Opinion
body
EP
associated
False
committee_full
Agriculture and Rural Development
committee
AGRI
opinion
False
committees/12
body
EP
responsible
False
committee_full
International Trade
committee
INTA
committees/13
type
Committee Opinion
body
EP
associated
False
committee_full
Fisheries
committee
PECH
opinion
False
committees/13
body
EP
responsible
False
committee_full
Industry, Research and Energy
committee
ITRE
committees/14
type
Committee Opinion
body
EP
associated
False
committee_full
Culture and Education
committee
CULT
opinion
False
committees/14
body
EP
responsible
False
committee_full
Legal Affairs
committee
JURI
committees/15
type
Committee Opinion
body
EP
associated
False
committee_full
Legal Affairs
committee
JURI
opinion
False
committees/15
body
EP
responsible
False
committee_full
Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs
committee
LIBE
committees/16
type
Committee Opinion
body
EP
associated
False
committee_full
Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs
committee
LIBE
opinion
False
committees/16
body
EP
responsible
False
committee_full
Fisheries
committee
PECH
committees/17
type
Committee Opinion
body
EP
associated
False
committee_full
Constitutional Affairs
committee
AFCO
opinion
False
committees/17
body
EP
responsible
False
committee_full
Petitions
committee
PETI
committees/18
type
Committee Opinion
body
EP
associated
False
committee_full
Women's Rights and Gender Equality
committee
FEMM
opinion
False
committees/18
body
EP
responsible
False
committee_full
Regional Development
committee
REGI
committees/19
type
Committee Opinion
body
EP
associated
False
committee_full
Petitions
committee
PETI
opinion
False
committees/19
body
EP
responsible
False
committee_full
Transport and Tourism
committee
TRAN
council
  • body: CSL type: Council Meeting council: Economic and Financial Affairs ECOFIN meeting_id: 2787 url: http://register.consilium.europa.eu/content/out?lang=EN&typ=SET&i=SMPL&ROWSPP=25&RESULTSET=1&NRROWS=500&DOC_LANCD=EN&ORDERBY=DOC_DATE+DESC&CONTENTS=2787*&MEET_DATE=27/02/2007 date: 2007-02-27T00:00:00
docs
  • date: 2006-07-26T00:00:00 docs: url: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/smartapi/cgi/sga_doc?smartapi!celexplus!prod!DocNumber&lg=EN&type_doc=SECfinal&an_doc=2006&nu_doc=915 title: EUR-Lex url: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=OJ:C:2006:263:TOC title: OJ C 263 31.10.2006, p. 0001 title: SEC(2006)0915 summary: PURPOSE: presentation of the final annual accounts of the European Community for the financial year 2005 – Other institutions : Section II – Council. CONTENT: this document sets out the amount of expenditure and the financial statement of the Council for 2005 and presents an analysis of its financial management. The available appropriations amounted to EUR 563 million , with an 82.6% utilisation rate for the running costs of the Institution and 98.6% if the additional advances provided to fund the LEX building are taken into account. Main axes of 2005 expenditure : the implementation of the Council’s budget was characterised by the following: problems concerning the active recruitment of staff following the 2004 enlargement; the continuation of its building policy; excessive translation costs. Amendments to the budget : the difference between the budget forecasts and the implementation of the budget is due to the following: low rate of staff occupation (average of 86%); the success of a new allocation system for interpretation as well as the lack of interpreters for the new languages (general staffing problems); Member States failing to justify the amounts granted for delegates’ travel expenses, delays in the SESAME project; delays in the establishment of security plans. The main titles subject to a significant modification (difference of more than EUR 250 000 compared to the forecasts) are the following : Titre I (Staff costs): implementation was marked by the reduction in the amounts provided for the officials’ basic salaries. This saving was made through a yearly adjustment of salaries (with a gain of around EUR 5 million) and a weaker staff policy than was originally planned (under-estimation of staff caused a budget increase of EUR 15 million). To accommodate the lack of staff, the Secretary-General called on auxiliary staff notably for the linguistic services via an appropriation transfer between lines. Other posts which were under-estimated are : - contract agents, under-utilised by more than 30%; - reinstallation allowances and relocation costs: these lines have been under-utilised due to the lack of personnel. In addition, translation costs have been reinforced to cover the addition work brought about by 10 new working languages (EUR 422 000 entered in the budget, which is an increase of more than 250%). On the other hand, interpretation costs have decreased by 35%. Title II (Operational expenditure): this sector has been largely dominated by the Council’s buildings policy which saw its budget explode with an increase of 623% (the initial amount provided for this area was EUR 14.4 million) and the Council spent EUR 104.4 million after a transfer of appropriations and savings made on other lines. The Council’s objective was to proceed with a pre-financing plan for the acquisition of the LEX building after the end of year mop-up of transfers. One also notes the strengthening of IT systems and an important increase in costs relating to claims (costs resulting from the treatment of antidumping claims). On the other hand, interpretation and translation costs have decreased. Conference and meeting costs showed an increase of 975% (going from EUR 80 000 to EUR 860 000 after a transfer of appropriations). Title III (Expenditure resulting from missions carried out by the Council): the expenditure of this sector mainly concerns the European Security and Defence Policy and seconded national experts. It appears that the amounts initially set out for the special ESDP advisers has been underestimated except for the post dealing with external experts which increased the amount of the budget line by 42%. Other areas under this title were, on the other hand, subject to a lower rate of implementation such as for the security of the OP-Centre. Lastly, this title is also characterised by the carrying over of the SESAME project from 2005 to 2006 causing a reduction of EUR 18.7 million appropriations. For further details concerning the Council’s expenditure in 2005, please refer to the annexed detailed analysis of expenditure. type: Non-legislative basic document body: EC
  • date: 2006-10-31T00:00:00 docs: url: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=OJ:C:2006:263:TOC title: OJ C 263 31.10.2006, p. 0001 title: N6-0039/2006 summary: PURPOSE : to present the Court of Auditors’ report on the implementation of the 2005 budget (other institutions – Council). 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 Council : to recall, Council administrative expenditure totalled EUR 533 million in 2005. The Court states that the Council reformed its system for reimbursing the travel expenses of delegates of Council Members with Decision 190/2003, applicable from 1 January 2004. The reimbursement is paid within the limit of a fixed allocation per Member State. Each Member State is paid two instalments per year: one in January and the other in July. Before the end of February, each Member State provides the General Secretariat with a statement showing how the total appropriation allocated to it during the previous year has been used. Unused sums and amounts for which no supporting documents have been provided are deducted from the amounts to be paid in the next instalment. The Court found that the new system greatly reduced the administrative burden on the Council of paying delegates’ expenses, but that there had been insufficient checks on the validity of Member States’ statements before payment of the July 2005 instalment. 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. type: Court of Auditors: opinion, report body: CofA
  • date: 2007-01-10T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=COMPARL&mode=XML&language=EN&reference=PE382.612 title: PE382.612 type: Committee draft report body: EP
  • date: 2007-02-08T00:00:00 docs: url: http://register.consilium.europa.eu/content/out?lang=EN&typ=SET&i=ADV&RESULTSET=1&DOC_ID=6162%2F07&DOC_LANCD=EN&ROWSPP=25&NRROWS=500&ORDERBY=DOC_DATE+DESC title: 06162/2007 summary: Special Report 9/2006 from the Court of Auditors concerns translation expenditure incurred by the Commission, the Parliament and the Council. The objective of the audit was to assess the extent to which the Commission, the Parliament and the Council manage their translation resources and expenditure efficiently and effectively . The Court addressed three questions: Is translation demands met and are there adequate procedures to avoid unnecessary translations? Are translations timely and of adequate quality for their purpose? Were the institutions able to keep the cost of translations under control? The audit has shown that the institutions have adopted different approaches when responding to rising translation demand. Both the Commission and the Council have taken adequate measures to reduce the number of documents translated into all languages. A significant part of all translation requests is, however, not governed by the translation guidelines adopted by each institution, and none of the institutions has a clear and coherent procedure for requesting translations. The three translation services audited generally manage to deliver translations into the EU-15 languages on time and with the required quality. However, in 2004 there were significant problems for the EU-10 languages. A calculation made by the Court shows that in 2003 the full cost of translation was about EUR 100 million each for the Parliament and for the Council and EUR 215 million for the Commission. Following the increase in the number of languages after the May 2004 EU enlargement, the cost of translation has risen to approximately EUR 128 million for the Parliament, EUR 126 million for the Council and EUR 257 million for the Commission in 2005. The average cost per page in 2003 was EUR 150 at the Parliament and at the Commission, and EUR 254 at the Council. In 2005, the average cost per page rose to EUR 194 at the Commission and EUR 276 at the Council, but dropped to EUR 119 at the Parliament. Internal translation is more expensive than freelance translation, but comparison is difficult as texts translated externally are of a different nature and the quality of internal translation is recognised to be higher. While the Commission and the Council have been successful in reducing demand for translations into the EU-15 languages this has also resulted in overcapacity and below-average productivity. The Court, however, noted significant differences in the productivity and the outsourcing percentages of the different language units of the different institutions. With the exception of the Commission for 2002, none of the institutions had calculated their total translation cost or the average cost per page translated. The Court considers that savings could be achieved by further increasing interinstitutional cooperation, in particular by ensuring that spare capacity in one institution is made available to other institutions in order to reduce their outsourcing to freelance translators. However, lack of forecasts and insufficient communication of available translation capacity make it difficult for the institutions to take full advantage of temporarily available capacity at other institutions. In 2005, the Parliament and several Commission DGs outsourced a similar number of pages of non-urgent documents in the same languages which could have been translated by another institution. Total payments of about EUR 11 million for freelance translations could thus have been avoided. The Court notes that while advanced IT tools are available at the audited translation services, they are not used in a consistent manner. Council conclusions : following the reception of the Special Report 9/2006 on 15 September 2006, the Permanent Representatives Committee instructed the Budget Committee to examine it and draw the relevant conclusions. Following that examination, the Antici Group was tasked with examining certain language aspects of the draft conclusions. A special Council group (the Antici Group) highlighted the importance of multilingualism in order to better communicate with citizens and to take account of national parliaments was stressed in particular. At the ECOFIN Council on 27 February 2007, the Council approved the conclusions on EU translation expenditure (refer to the Council conclusions for more details). It advocates inter-institutional cooperation being reinforced to all institutions in order to improve the efficiency and the procedures and to reduce the costs in the field of translations. These conclusions do not constitute a change of policy as regards translation. type: Document attached to the procedure body: CSL
  • date: 2007-03-06T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=COMPARL&mode=XML&language=EN&reference=PE386.383 title: PE386.383 type: Amendments tabled in committee body: EP
  • date: 2007-03-30T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=REPORT&mode=XML&reference=A6-2007-108&language=EN title: A6-0108/2007 type: Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading body: EP
  • date: 2007-05-31T00:00:00 docs: url: /oeil/spdoc.do?i=13473&j=0&l=en title: SP(2007)2625/2 type: Commission response to text adopted in plenary
events
  • date: 2006-07-26T00:00:00 type: Non-legislative basic document published body: EC docs: url: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/smartapi/cgi/sga_doc?smartapi!celexplus!prod!DocNumber&lg=EN&type_doc=SECfinal&an_doc=2006&nu_doc=915 title: EUR-Lex title: SEC(2006)0915 summary: PURPOSE: presentation of the final annual accounts of the European Community for the financial year 2005 – Other institutions : Section II – Council. CONTENT: this document sets out the amount of expenditure and the financial statement of the Council for 2005 and presents an analysis of its financial management. The available appropriations amounted to EUR 563 million , with an 82.6% utilisation rate for the running costs of the Institution and 98.6% if the additional advances provided to fund the LEX building are taken into account. Main axes of 2005 expenditure : the implementation of the Council’s budget was characterised by the following: problems concerning the active recruitment of staff following the 2004 enlargement; the continuation of its building policy; excessive translation costs. Amendments to the budget : the difference between the budget forecasts and the implementation of the budget is due to the following: low rate of staff occupation (average of 86%); the success of a new allocation system for interpretation as well as the lack of interpreters for the new languages (general staffing problems); Member States failing to justify the amounts granted for delegates’ travel expenses, delays in the SESAME project; delays in the establishment of security plans. The main titles subject to a significant modification (difference of more than EUR 250 000 compared to the forecasts) are the following : Titre I (Staff costs): implementation was marked by the reduction in the amounts provided for the officials’ basic salaries. This saving was made through a yearly adjustment of salaries (with a gain of around EUR 5 million) and a weaker staff policy than was originally planned (under-estimation of staff caused a budget increase of EUR 15 million). To accommodate the lack of staff, the Secretary-General called on auxiliary staff notably for the linguistic services via an appropriation transfer between lines. Other posts which were under-estimated are : - contract agents, under-utilised by more than 30%; - reinstallation allowances and relocation costs: these lines have been under-utilised due to the lack of personnel. In addition, translation costs have been reinforced to cover the addition work brought about by 10 new working languages (EUR 422 000 entered in the budget, which is an increase of more than 250%). On the other hand, interpretation costs have decreased by 35%. Title II (Operational expenditure): this sector has been largely dominated by the Council’s buildings policy which saw its budget explode with an increase of 623% (the initial amount provided for this area was EUR 14.4 million) and the Council spent EUR 104.4 million after a transfer of appropriations and savings made on other lines. The Council’s objective was to proceed with a pre-financing plan for the acquisition of the LEX building after the end of year mop-up of transfers. One also notes the strengthening of IT systems and an important increase in costs relating to claims (costs resulting from the treatment of antidumping claims). On the other hand, interpretation and translation costs have decreased. Conference and meeting costs showed an increase of 975% (going from EUR 80 000 to EUR 860 000 after a transfer of appropriations). Title III (Expenditure resulting from missions carried out by the Council): the expenditure of this sector mainly concerns the European Security and Defence Policy and seconded national experts. It appears that the amounts initially set out for the special ESDP advisers has been underestimated except for the post dealing with external experts which increased the amount of the budget line by 42%. Other areas under this title were, on the other hand, subject to a lower rate of implementation such as for the security of the OP-Centre. Lastly, this title is also characterised by the carrying over of the SESAME project from 2005 to 2006 causing a reduction of EUR 18.7 million appropriations. For further details concerning the Council’s expenditure in 2005, please refer to the annexed detailed analysis of expenditure.
  • date: 2006-12-14T00:00:00 type: Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading body: EP
  • date: 2007-03-27T00:00:00 type: Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading body: EP summary: The committee adopted the report by Daniel CASPARY (EPP-ED, DE) granting discharge to the Council for 2005. In its accompanying resolution, the committee regretted the fact that, unlike other institutions, the Council does not submit an annual activity report to Parliament and it called on the Council to reconsider this decision "in order to be more accountable to the general public and taxpayers". Referring to the longstanding ‘Gentleman's Agreement’ between the two arms of the budgetary authority, the report said that, "in view of its age and the substantial shortfall between words used and the meaning or interpretation which is attributed to them, the Gentleman’s Agreement may be in need of revision". The report said that the current compromise - consisting of an informal dialogue between the Council and the competent committee’s chairman and rapporteur – should be widened so as to include a Member from each political group, and called for negotiations to begin with Council with a view to putting revised arrangements for informal dialogue in place in time for the next discharge procedure. Lastly, the committee called for “maximum transparency” in the area of Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). It urged the Council to ensure, in line with the Interinstitutional Agreement of 17 May 2006, that no operating CFSP expenditure appears in the Council's budget, and said that Parliament reserved the right "to take the necessary steps, where appropriate, if the agreement is infringed".
  • date: 2007-03-30T00:00:00 type: Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading body: EP docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=REPORT&mode=XML&reference=A6-2007-108&language=EN title: A6-0108/2007
  • date: 2007-04-24T00:00:00 type: Results of vote in Parliament body: EP docs: url: https://oeil.secure.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/sda.do?id=13473&l=en title: Results of vote in Parliament
  • date: 2007-04-24T00:00:00 type: Debate in Parliament body: EP docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?secondRef=TOC&language=EN&reference=20070424&type=CRE title: Debate in Parliament
  • date: 2007-04-24T00:00:00 type: Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading body: EP docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&language=EN&reference=P6-TA-2007-134 title: T6-0134/2007 summary: The European Parliament adopted a resolution drafted Daniel CASPARY (EPP-ED, D), by 583 votes for, 68 against and 28 abstentions, and granted the Council's Secretary-General discharge for implementation of the Council budget for the financial year 2005. Having done so, it set out its observations in the accompanying resolution. Parliament began by noting that in 2005 the Council had available commitment appropriations amounting to a total of EUR 588 182 64052 with a utilisation rate of 96.69 %. Following the introduction of accrual accounting with effect from 1 January 2005 the Council's financial statements disclose a positive economic out-turn of EUR 19 386 89140 and identical amounts (EUR 398 520 00403) of assets and liabilities. Parliament regretted that unlike other institutions, the Council does not submit an annual activity report to the European Parliament, citing the Gentlemen's Agreement of 1970 and the absence of any corresponding requirement in the Financial Regulation. It called on the Council to reconsider this decision in order to be more accountable to the general public and taxpayers. With regard to the Council’s financial management, Parliament indicated that that, while the Council's reformed system for reimbursing the travel expenses of delegates of Council Members had greatly reduced the administrative burden, there were insufficient checks on the validity of Member States' statements before payment of the July 2005 instalment. The internal auditor stressed the need for more transparency as to the eligibility of meetings and refundable expenses. Parliament noted that the Council Secretariat is currently reviewing the system, and that each delegation now receives from the Council Secretariat a limited budget with a ceiling. At the same time, Parliament recalled that the Council was unwilling to reply officially to a questionnaire to all the institutions (including the European Parliament) concerning the use of official cars having regard to the terms of the Gentlemen's Agreement. In view of its age and the substantial shortfall between words used and the meaning or interpretation which is attributed to them, Parliament felt that the Gentlemen's Agreement might be in need of revision. It went on to observe that, in its special report No 9/2006, the ECA found that the cost per page of translation at the Council was EUR 276 (as against EUR 194 at the Commission and EUR 119 at the European Parliament). This difference was partly explained by the Council Secretariat's success in reducing the number and length of documents sent for translation and establishing a list of core documents. Lastly, Parliament called for maximum transparency in the area of Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and asked the Council to ensure that no operating CFSP expenditure appears in the Council's budget. It reserved the right to take the necessary steps, where appropriate, if the agreement is infringed. It should be noted that the amendments proposed by the Greens/ALE group were rejected in Plenary.
  • date: 2007-04-24T00:00:00 type: End of procedure in Parliament body: EP
  • date: 2008-07-15T00:00:00 type: Final act published in Official Journal summary: PURPOSE: to give discharge to the Council for the 2005 financial year. LEGISLATIVE ACT: Decision 2008/498/EC of the European Parliament on the discharge for implementation of the European Union general budget for the financial year 2005 (Section II - Council). CONTENT: with the present decision, the European Parliament grants the Secretary-General of the Council 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). docs: title: Budget 2008/498 url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=MOTION&reference=B[%g]-2008-498&language=EN title: OJ L 187 15.07.2008, p. 0020 url: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=OJ:L:2008:187:TOC
links
other
  • body: EC dg: url: http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/budget/ title: Budget commissioner: KALLAS Siim
procedure/dossier_of_the_committee
Old
CONT/6/43587
New
  • CONT/6/43587
procedure/legal_basis/0
Rules of Procedure EP 94
procedure/legal_basis/0
Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament EP 094
procedure/subject
Old
  • 8.70.03.07 Previous discharges
New
8.70.03.07
Previous discharges
activities
  • date: 2006-07-26T00:00:00 docs: url: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/smartapi/cgi/sga_doc?smartapi!celexplus!prod!DocNumber&lg=EN&type_doc=SECfinal&an_doc=2006&nu_doc=915 type: Non-legislative basic document published title: SEC(2006)0915 body: EC commission: DG: url: http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/budget/ title: Budget Commissioner: KALLAS Siim type: Non-legislative basic document published
  • date: 2006-12-14T00:00:00 body: EP type: Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading committees: body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Constitutional Affairs committee: AFCO body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Foreign Affairs committee: AFET body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Agriculture and Rural Development committee: AGRI body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Budgets committee: BUDG body: EP responsible: True committee: CONT date: 2006-04-20T00:00:00 committee_full: Budgetary Control rapporteur: group: PPE-DE name: CASPARY Daniel body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Culture and Education committee: CULT body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Development committee: DEVE body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Economic and Monetary Affairs committee: ECON body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Employment and Social Affairs committee: EMPL body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Environment, Public Health and Food Safety committee: ENVI body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Women's Rights and Gender Equality committee: FEMM body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Internal Market and Consumer Protection committee: IMCO body: EP responsible: False committee_full: International Trade committee: INTA body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Industry, Research and Energy committee: ITRE body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Legal Affairs committee: JURI body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs committee: LIBE body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Fisheries committee: PECH body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Petitions committee: PETI body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Regional Development committee: REGI body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Transport and Tourism committee: TRAN
  • date: 2007-02-27T00:00:00 body: CSL type: Council Meeting council: Economic and Financial Affairs ECOFIN meeting_id: 2787
  • date: 2007-03-27T00:00:00 body: EP committees: body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Constitutional Affairs committee: AFCO body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Foreign Affairs committee: AFET body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Agriculture and Rural Development committee: AGRI body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Budgets committee: BUDG body: EP responsible: True committee: CONT date: 2006-04-20T00:00:00 committee_full: Budgetary Control rapporteur: group: PPE-DE name: CASPARY Daniel body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Culture and Education committee: CULT body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Development committee: DEVE body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Economic and Monetary Affairs committee: ECON body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Employment and Social Affairs committee: EMPL body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Environment, Public Health and Food Safety committee: ENVI body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Women's Rights and Gender Equality committee: FEMM body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Internal Market and Consumer Protection committee: IMCO body: EP responsible: False committee_full: International Trade committee: INTA body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Industry, Research and Energy committee: ITRE body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Legal Affairs committee: JURI body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs committee: LIBE body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Fisheries committee: PECH body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Petitions committee: PETI body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Regional Development committee: REGI body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Transport and Tourism committee: TRAN type: Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
  • date: 2007-03-30T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=REPORT&mode=XML&reference=A6-2007-108&language=EN type: Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading title: A6-0108/2007 body: EP type: Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading
  • date: 2007-04-24T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/sda.do?id=13473&l=en type: Results of vote in Parliament title: Results of vote in Parliament url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?secondRef=TOC&language=EN&reference=20070424&type=CRE type: Debate in Parliament title: Debate in Parliament url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&language=EN&reference=P6-TA-2007-134 type: Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading title: T6-0134/2007 body: EP type: Results of vote in Parliament
  • date: 2008-07-15T00:00:00 type: Final act published in Official Journal docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=MOTION&reference=B[%g]-2008-498&language=EN title: Budget 2008/498 url: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/JOHtml.do?uri=OJ:L:2008:187:SOM:EN:HTML title: OJ L 187 15.07.2008, p. 0020
committees
  • body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Constitutional Affairs committee: AFCO
  • body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Foreign Affairs committee: AFET
  • body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Agriculture and Rural Development committee: AGRI
  • body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Budgets committee: BUDG
  • body: EP responsible: True committee: CONT date: 2006-04-20T00:00:00 committee_full: Budgetary Control rapporteur: group: PPE-DE name: CASPARY Daniel
  • body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Culture and Education committee: CULT
  • body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Development committee: DEVE
  • body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Economic and Monetary Affairs committee: ECON
  • body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Employment and Social Affairs committee: EMPL
  • body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Environment, Public Health and Food Safety committee: ENVI
  • body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Women's Rights and Gender Equality committee: FEMM
  • body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Internal Market and Consumer Protection committee: IMCO
  • body: EP responsible: False committee_full: International Trade committee: INTA
  • body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Industry, Research and Energy committee: ITRE
  • body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Legal Affairs committee: JURI
  • body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs committee: LIBE
  • body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Fisheries committee: PECH
  • body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Petitions committee: PETI
  • body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Regional Development committee: REGI
  • body: EP responsible: False committee_full: Transport and Tourism committee: TRAN
links
other
  • body: EC dg: url: http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/budget/ title: Budget commissioner: KALLAS Siim
procedure
dossier_of_the_committee
CONT/6/43587
reference
2006/2072(DEC)
title
2005 discharge: EC general budget, Council
legal_basis
Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament EP 094
stage_reached
Procedure completed
type
DEC - Discharge procedure
final
subject
8.70.03.07 Previous discharges