2005 discharge: EC general budget, section III, Commission

PURPOSE: to give discharge to the Commission for the implementation of the European Union general budget for the financial year 2005.

LEGISLATIVE ACTS: Decisions 2008/499/EC, Euratom and 2008/500/EC, Euratom of the European Parliament on the discharge for implementation of the European Union general budget for the financial year 2005 and the closing of the accounts of the same budget (Section III – Commission).

CONTENT: with the present decisions, the European Parliament grants a discharge to the Commission for the implementation of the general budget for 2005 and definitively closes the accounts for the year 2005

The European Parliament deplores the fact that there are still a number of errors affecting the financial management of the Union’s budget. It calls on the Commission to take urgent steps to remedy errors in amounts registered in the accounting system, with a view to preventing them from affecting the reliability of the financial statements for 2006. It recalls that the responsibility for implementation of the Community budget lies with the Commission and must be exercised with regard to the principles of sound financial management, in cooperation with the Member States.

The Commission is strongly urged to do its utmost to encourage the Member States to allow public access to information concerning projects and recipients of all EU funds which are subject to joint management.

The European Parliament also makes a number of other observations in a resolution annexed to the discharge decision (please refer to the summary of the opinion of 24/04/2007).