2001 discharge: EC general budget, European Ombudsman

The Parliament adopted the report by María Antonia AVILES PEREA (EPP-ED, Spain) and grants discharge to the Ombudsman in respect of the implementation of the budget for the 2001 financial year. Parliament records its comments in an accompanying resolution. Parliament congratulates the Ombudsman on the volume and the quality of work carried out in 2001. It highlights the fact that the analysis of the complaints shows that 77% of them led to an inquiry against the Commission and that, in most cases, a lack of transparency was involved. Parliament notes with satisfaction the steady improvement in the level of budget execution from 75.72% of appropriations in 1997 to 91.24% in 2001 and 98.18% (estimated) in 2002 and the concomitant rise in the utilisation rate of appropriations carried forward from one year to the next. Lastly, Parliament welcomes the cooperation agreements between the Ombudsman and the European Parliament in administrative and financial matters.�