2001 discharge: EC general budget, European Ombudsman

PURPOSE : to present the balance sheets and the revenue and expenditure accounts concerning the implementation of the 2001 budget : Ombudsman. CONTENT : this document presents the amount of expenditure and the balance sheets of the other institutions of the Union (except the Commission) for 2001. It highlights, in particular, the expenditure of the second budget of the Ombudsman since the separation of its budget from that of the European Parliament. The budget appropriations for 2001 amount to EUR 3.902.316 against EUR 3.914.584 in 2000. This budget amounts to 92.62%. It is characterised firstly by a definite improvement of carryover appropriations (around -10% in 2001) in comparison to the carry over appropriations of the previous financial year. It is also marked by the increase in personnel and also by the hiring of auxiliary staff. The increase in the Ombudsman's workload and the necessity to the deal with an increasing number of complaints explains the need for additional staff. The development of the Ombudsman's annual report also implies an important workload and heavy financial investment (notably for translation). It is for this reason that it has been decided not to publish the report in the Official Journal but rather to make it available for consultation on the Internet (via the Ombudsman's site). Lastly, under-estimation of mission costs and meetings should be noted.�