2016 discharge: EU general budget, Court of Justice

PURPOSE: to grant discharge to the Court of Justice for the financial year 2016.

NON-LEGISLATIVE ACT: Decision (EU) 2018/1323 of the European Parliament on discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2016, Section IV — Court of Justice.

CONTENT: the European Parliament decided to grant discharge to the Registrar of the Court of Justice in respect of the implementation of the budget of the Court of Justice for the financial year 2016.

This decision is accompanied by a resolution of the European Parliament containing the observations which form an integral part of the discharge decision in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2016 (please refer to the summary dated 18.4.2018).

Parliament welcomed the Court’s overall prudent and sound financial management in the 2016 budget period: in 2016, the ECJ had a total amount of EUR 380 002 000 available to it and the budget implementation rate was 98.2%.

Parliament reiterated its call for a greater level of transparency with regard to the external activities of each judge. It urged the ECJ to define and impose strict obligations on ‘revolving doors’. It also regretted the lack of effort by Member States to achieve a gender balance in high-ranking positions.

2015 was the year of adoption of the judicial architectural reform of the Court of Justice. By virtue of the number of judges being doubled in a three-stage process extending until 2019, reform will enable the Court of Justice to continue to deal with the increase in the number of cases.

Parliament will monitor the results of this reform in the light of the Court of Justice's ability to deal with cases within a reasonable period and in compliance with the requirements of a fair trial.

Parliament stressed the need to establish an independent disclosure, advice and referral body with sufficient budgetary resources in order to help whistleblowers. It invited the ECJ to improve its communication in order to make itself more accessible to the citizens of the Union.

Lastly, it pointed out that the ECJ is still complying with the Interinstitutional Agreement to reduce its staff by 5% over five years, despite the creation of 137 new posts related to the increase in the number of judges and advocates general.