Discharge 2024: General budget of the EU - European Economic and Social Committee

The European Parliament decided to grant discharge to the Secretary-General of the European Economic and Social Committee discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Economic and Social Committee for the financial year 2024, Section VI - European Economic and Social Committee.

In its resolution, adopted by 478 votes to 146, with 27 abstentions, Parliament made the following observations:

Budgetary and financial management

The final adopted budget for the Committee was EUR 164 945 524 in 2024, representing an overall increase of 3.90 % compared to 2023. The staff remuneration and allowances budget line make up most of Committee budget, i.e. 65.80 % in 2024, up from 65.58 % in 2023.

Parliament commended the Committee on its high level of budget implementation of current year commitment appropriations which increased from 98.70 % in 2023 to 99.21 % in 2024. The carry-over of appropriations from 2023 to 2024 amounted to EUR 13 827 713 or 8.38 % of the Committee’s budget for 2024, which represents a decrease from the previous year’s level.

Internal management, performance and internal control

In 2024, the Committee adopted 142 opinions and reports, a decrease from 213 in 2023 and organised 148 hearings and 26 conferences, compared to 146 and 24 respectively in 2023, respectively. Committee members participated in 518 high-level meetings, summits and conferences in 2024 compared to 429 in 2023.

The Committee is encouraged to enhance the development of a comprehensive digital transformation strategy, covering artificial intelligence (AI), bearing in mind the need to ensure the human oversight of the use of AI.

Parliament regretted that the effectiveness of the internal control system dropped from 78 % in 2023 to 66 % in 2024. It noted a gap between formal compliance and practical effectiveness in daily operations. The Committee should address the structural causes of the decline in internal control effectiveness, notably by strengthening risk-awareness culture, improving internal communication channels, and accelerating the modernisation of document and information management systems.

Other observations

Parliament noted that:

- at the end of 2024, the Committee was employing 713 staff, compared to 707 in 2023. The occupation rate was 96 % (95.50 % in 2023) and the staff turnover rate was 5.60 % in 2024 (down from 7 % in 2023);

- the Committee and the CoR launched the SPaCES project to modernise and optimise their workspaces through a fully participatory and transparent process involving staff representatives and social partners. This project improves efficiency, collaboration, and flexibility across both institutions;

- an anti-fraud strategy was drafted that includes the accompanying action plan with concrete measures to be implemented covering training policies, as well as awareness campaigns and revised cooperation agreements with OLAF and EPPO;

- the combined IT budget of the Committee and the CoR was EUR 13 700 000 in 2024, compared to EUR 12 700 000 in 2023, i.e. an increase of 7.87 %, whereas EUR 760 000 of that budget (approximately 6 %) was paid for cybersecurity in 2024;

- budgetary and administrative savings were achieved through interinstitutional cooperation;

- the Committee’s overall budget for communication, publications and acquisitions of documentation was approximately EUR 2.5 million in 2024 (about the same as in 2023), representing 1.4 % of the Committee’s overall budget after transfers for 2024.