2002 discharge: EC general budget, Committee of the Regions

PURPOSE : to present the revenue and expenditure account and the balance sheet concerning the activities of the budget for the financial year 2002 (Section VII - Committee of the Regions). CONTENT : this document sets out the amount of expenditure and the balance sheet for the other institutions of the Union (except the Commission) for 2002, in particular the Committee of the Regions. The year 2002 constitutes the third financial year with financial autonomy following the suppression of the joint organisational structure with the Economic and Social Committee. Its budget rose to EUR 83,9 million. The management report from the CoR states that the Committee continued its process of consolidation as an institution by reinforcing the recognition of its institutional role. The main axes of its activities in 2002 were: - the consolidation of the advisory role of the Committee of the Regions with for the first time, the creation of its own reports on the territorial impact of Union policies, - the participation in the work of the Convention on the future of Europe. Among the salient points to be remembered from the 2002 financial year, one notes: - the low level of commitment appropriations as regards the members' allowances due to the arrival of new members who have not asked for their expenses to be reimbursed, - the decrease of mission costs following the warning from the budgetary planning services, - the drop in meeting expenses due to the cancellation of a conference in Valence, - the significant decrease of the expenditure linked to studies in 2002 due to the reduction in own initiative opinions at the beginning of the year and to the renewing of its members.�