2011 discharge: EU general budget, Court of Justice

The Committee on Budgetary Control adopted the report by Ryszard CZARNECKI (ECR, PL) in which it calls on the European Parliament to grant the Registrar of the Court of Justice discharge in respect of the implementation of the Court of Justice's budget for the financial year 2011.

Members welcome the fact that on the basis of its audit work, the Court of Auditors concluded that the payments as a whole for the year ended on 31 December 2011 for administrative and other expenditure of the institutions and bodies were free from material error. The Court of Auditors observed that no significant weaknesses had been identified in respect of the audited topics related to human resources and procurement for the Court of Justice.

Members also note that the Court of Justice had commitment appropriations amounting to EUR 336 million (more than 98% implementation rate).

On an operational level, Members express concern that the amount of pending cases in the General Court is still very high in 2011 (i.e. 1300 pending cases in 2010 and 1308 pending cases in 2011). They urge the Court of Justice to examine what type of organisational changes could lead to a the reduction in the number of pending cases and also believes that the General Court needs human resources reinforcement. They note that the Court of Justice completed 550 cases in 2011, an appreciable increase compared with the previous year (522 cases completed in 2010).

Members welcome the eCuria application enabling procedural documents to be lodged and notified electronically and has enabled the optimisation of internal work flows. However, they ask Parliament's Committee on Budgetary Control to be given an accurate description of costs relating to the creation, maintenance and updating of the eCuria application.

Overall, Members support the initiative taken by the Court of Justice to reform its Statute and Rules of Procedure in view of the challenges it faces in connection with the increased number of cases.

Members find the engagement of the Court of Justice in holding a collection of works of art representative of the Union's artistic heritage an ambitious project requiring specialised resources. They invite the Court of Justice to explain how this project articulates with the traditional activities of the Court of Justice. They take note that in 2012, the Court of Justice paid EUR 7500 to insure a collection valued at EUR 2 400 000.