Discharge 2024: General budget of the EU - Court of Auditors
The European Parliament decided to grant discharge to the Secretary-General of the Court of Auditors discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the Court of Auditors for the financial year 2024, Section V - Court of Auditors.
In its resolution, adopted by 343 votes to 160, with 150 abstentions, Parliament made the following observations:
Budgetary and financial management
The overall budget of the Court for 2024 amounted to EUR 185 655 890, equivalent to an increase of 6.05 % from EUR 175 059 922 in 2023, mainly due to salary adjustments. For 2024, 89.50 % of appropriations (up from 88.50 % in 2023) were for its members and staff, while 10.50 % were for buildings, equipment and miscellaneous expenditure (down from 11.60 % in 2023).
The implementation rates for commitments and payments for 2024 remained high, almost the same as in 2023. The utilisation rate for appropriations stood at 97.30 % and payments represented 94.81 % of total commitments in 2024.
Internal management, performance and internal control
During 2024, the Court presented 2 annual reports, 3 specific annual reports, 28 special reports, 4 reviews and 3 opinions, totalling 40 items (down from 45 items in 2023).
Regarding the Court’s access to FENIX, the reporting tool on the RRF, Parliament deplored that access remains an open issue, with the Commission granting the Court partial access to only some of the FENIX modules, and the information contained therein not being updated in a timely manner. It welcomed a reported increase in the number of the Court’s users who have access to FENIX and supported, nevertheless, the Court’s request to the Commission to grant the Court full access as soon as possible.
Other observations
Parliament noted that:
- at the end of 2024, had 961 members of staff. 54 % of the Court’s staff were women and 46 % were men. Parliament regretted that women represent only 30 % of the Court’s senior management, the same as in 2023;
- 13 cases of burnout were reported in 2024, up from 7 cases in 2023;
- the Court is still refusing to lift the immunity of its former President regarding the investigation on the misuse of funds;
- in 2024, the Court, jointly with the CJEU, invited the Commission to participate in an interinstitutional dialogue with a view to agreeing on a single system regarding the use of service cars to be applied horizontally, which would reduce confusion and increase transparency and efficiency in the use of public money;
- the Court strengthened its AI governance, with the setting up of the AI Advisory Committee and appointing an AI correspondent in 2024;
- although progress was made on cybersecurity, the Court experienced a cyber-attack, claimed by a pro-Russian group, that took down its public website, as part of a coordinated action to destabilise the European elections in 2024;
- despite improved access to European Investment Bank (EIB) documents and information, the Court lacks a mandate to audit operations financed with the EIB’s own funds;
- the budget allocated for the Court’s communication and promotional activities amounted to EUR 225 000 (that same as in 2023), with a utilisation rate of 92.32 % (up from 81.13 % in 2023) with most of the budget spent on media-monitoring services (EUR 80 000) and press actions (EUR 18 133.91).