2001 discharge: EC general budget, Council

By adopting the report by María Antonia AVILES PEREA (EPP-ED, E), the European Parliament granted discharge to the Council for the 2001 financial year (please refer to the document dated 24/03/2003). It should be stated that the Parliament deplores the fact that, despite the Council's acceptance of the Court of Auditors' recommendations and the Council's intention to adopt the necessary measures to rectify the shortcomings which had already become apparent in previous years, those shortcomings go on recurring and there is continual contravention of basic principles of budgetary management, such as the annuality principle. More specifically as regards the Common foreign and security policy (CFSP), Parliament urges the Council to establish clear rules on remuneration and salary-related costs for special representatives and office staff and on the production of reports, audits and evaluations. Lastly, it regrets that in its replies to the questionnaire7 the Council was unable to give more than a cursory response to the request by the Committee on Budgetary Control for an explanation of the budgetary aspects of the common foreign and security policy (CFSP).�