2020 discharge: General budget of the EU - European Committee of the Regions

PURPOSE: presentation by the Commission of the consolidated annual accounts of the European Union for the financial year 2020, as part of the 2020 discharge procedure.

Analysis of the accounts of the EU Institutions: Committee of the Regions

The consolidated annual accounts of the EU provide financial information on the activities of the institutions, agencies and other bodies of the EU from an accrual accounting and budgetary perspective. They are prepared according to the highest available international public sector standards.

The discharge is a Parliament decision that reflects its conclusions at the end of a process, the discharge procedure, on the way the Commission (and other institutions and bodies) has carried out its task of implementing the EU budget.

The decision is based in particular on the European Court of Auditors reports, in particular its annual report, in which the Court provides a Statement of Assurance (DAS) on the legality and regularity of transactions (payments and commitments).

Implementation of the Committee of the Regions’ appropriations for the financial year 2020

The approved budget for 2020 was EUR 103 million. 92% of all appropriations were committed by the end of 2020.

The Committee’s activities in 2020 were marked by:

- the recent COVID-19 pandemic which showed local and regional leaders as the driving force of local communities, responding during the emergency and leading the EU's recovery. Bringing Europe closer to people through its villages, cities and regions was the Committee’s primary mission achieved through three main priorities: (1) bringing Europe closer to people: Democracy and the future of the EU; (2) managing fundamental societal transformations: building resilient regional and local communities; (3) cohesion: putting the EU at the service of its people and their places of living;

- 2020 was also the start of a new 5-year mandate for the Committee.