2001 discharge: EC general budget, Economic and Social Committee ESC

The Parliament adopted the report by María Antonia AVILES PEREA (EPP-ED, Spain) and grants discharge to the Secretary-General of the Economic and Social Committee in respect of the implementation of the budget for the 2001 financial year. Parliament has recorded its comments in the accompanying resolution. The Parliament welcomes the progress recorded by the Economic and Social Committee in introducing the independent internal auditor and financial irregularities panel as required by the new Financial Regulation and stresses the need for vigilance on the part of the Economic and Social Committee's internal auditor when examining systems and on the part of the officials ("verifiers") responsible for checking transactions in the light of the problems identified by previous discharge reports. Parliament requests the Economic and Social Committee to supply the discharge authority with a copy of its internal rules governing the implementation of its budget, as soon as they have been adopted, together with the charter of its internal auditor. On the other hand, the Parliament regrets the fact that, contrary to accounting practices, depreciation in respect of the land for the Montoyer Building has been included in both committees' balance sheets. In line with the Court of Auditors' recommendations, Parliament expects depreciation to be accounted for correctly in the accounts for the financial year 2002. Parliament notes the statement that the Belliard building renovation project remains on schedule in terms of both timing and quality and it asks the two committees nonetheless to submit to the discharge authority by 1 July 2003 a report on the state of progress with regard to invitations to tender for the fitting-out of meeting rooms and containing an assessment of the Belliard project to date from the standpoint of sound financial management. It calls on the members of the European Convention to reflect on the efficiency and significance of the Economic and Social Committee in the context of the 300 existing consultative bodies and committees configured around the Commission, to note the overlapping and duplication of work and to take steps to ensure that this does not continue.�