1996 discharge: EC general budget

The Committee proposed, as it voted to adopt the report by James ELLES (EPP, UK), that Parliament's plenary should postpone a decision on whether to grant the discharge for the 1996 budget. The result of the vote was 19 in favour and 1 abstention. The committee set out the main reasons why it wishes Parliament to postpone the decision and asked the Commission to inform it by 15th September 1998 of all steps it has taken to remove the obstacles to a decision. The reasons put forward by the committee were as follows: -the failure to implement the recommendations of its committee of inquiry into the transit system, especially with regard to the computerised control system; -the lack of democratic accountability in the fight against fraud within the EU institutions; -the lack of coherence and sound financial management which led to a low level of implementation of all major foreign policy programmes, i.e. Bosnia-Herzegovina, PHARE, TACIS and the decentralised MED measures; -regarding the agricultural sector, the delays in implementing the Integrated Control System and the failure to implement recommendations made by the BSE Committee; -the lack of any precise information as to the results of the measures for job creation in SMEs through the Structural Funds; -mismanagement, in particular as regards staff.