2000 discharge: EC general budget, others institutions

PURPOSE : to present the analysis of the financial management of the European Communities for the financial year 2000 (other sections). CONTENT : this document sets out the amount of expenses and the financial report of the other Community institutions (except for the Commission) for the 2000 financial year, that is: - the European Parliament (refer to DEC/2001/2103), - the Council, - the Court of Justice, - the Economic and Social Committee, - the Committee of the Regions, - the Ombudsman. With regard to these institutions one can note: 1) for the Council : the 2000 budget is EUR 354.456.000 . The year 2000 had been marked by the Helsinki Council conclusions conferring new competences to the Secretariat General of the Council notably the putting in place of military bodies causing additional expenditure. In order to meet this expense, the Secretariat should have made supplementary and amending budget No 2/2000 with the purpose of meeting the requirements of the experts in the military field, as well as the renting of an additional building. The other important requirements not foreseen at the time of the budget have required a reinforcement of certain lines by the transfer of additional appropriations. It should be noted that the Secretariat General had been in a position to finance certain new requirements thanks to the outlay granted by the services of the Council. In fact, from the beginning of the year, the services had been asked to keep a reserve to cope with inescapable and priority needs of the new structure; 2) with regard to the Court of Justice : the budget is EUR 131.256.645 incurring a height of 98,56%. This has been marked by interinstitutional co-operation. The expenditure of this chapter has risen from 136%. They concern, for the most part, translation costs as well as grants for the running costs of the restaurants and canteens in the Court, largely in deficit in 2000. It should be added that nearly all of the fixed rate assets have been spent. The expenditure has remained stable with the exception of the costs related to the Court's change of address; 3) with regard to the Court of Auditors: the budget is EUR 70.310.520, reaching the height of 94,35% of which a non-negligible percentage concerns the costs of personnel on active duty and asset investments. In this context, the Court should have made several additional appropriations between chapters. A report on the long term staffing policy has been drafted, as requested by the European Parliament; 4) concerning the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, the 2000 budget was marked by the suppression of the joint organisational structure. These two institutions have therefore budget autonomy with a better visibility of the work of each institution. The implementation of the budget was, therefore, for the first time, distinct; 5) concerning the Ombudsman, its budget is, for the first time, split from that of the Parliament, with as a consequence a greater visibility of this institution's expenditure.�