2011 discharge: EU general budget, Committee of the Regions

The European Parliament adopted by 556 votes to 67, with 6 abstentions, a decision to grant the Secretary-General of the Committee of the Regions discharge in respect of the implementation of the Committee of the Regions' budget for the financial year 2011.

In its resolution accompanying the discharge decision, Parliament agrees with the Court of Auditors 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. It notes that no significant weaknesses had been identified in respect of the audited topics related to the human resources and the procurement for the Committee of the Regions.

In parallel, Parliament notes that in 2011, the Committee had an approved budget of EUR 84.1 million, of which EUR 82 million were commitment appropriations, with a utilisation rate of 97.5%, which was lower than 2010.

It welcomes the projects on the internal organisation of the Committee which set out the objectives of cooperation between services and the development of synergies in common activities and joint actions. It asks to be updated on the projects and be informed more precisely on the budgetary consequences of the measures taken.

Parliament also calls for : (i) a better timetable for translation demands; (ii) the publication of the declarations and the updates of financial interests of members from all the institutions.

Cooperation with the EESC: Parliament welcomes the progress made as regards the cooperation with the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) and waits for some improvements to be made to rationalise human resources in the Joint Services and in translation. Parliament calls for detailed information on the aims of administrative cooperation, the extent to which those aims are being achieved and the impact this is having in terms of savings.

As regards environmental issues, Parliament congratulates both the Committee and the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) for receiving EMAS and ISO-14001 certification but regrets, however, that no information was provided on the energy used from renewable sources as requested in last year's Parliament discharge resolution. It draws attention to the obligation to publish renewable energy share figures and environmental impact data.