2005 discharge: EC general budget, Court of Justice

 The committee adopted the report by Daniel CASPARY (EPP-ED, DE) granting discharge to the Court of Justice for 2005. In its accompanying resolution, the committee welcomed the fact that, in response to comments made in previous years by the control and discharge authorities, the Court was proposing to create a separate administrative unit with exclusive competence for verification. It also noted with satisfaction that the number of completed cases per annum in the ECJ had risen between 2003 and 2005, while the number of cases pending had fallen. However, it noted “with concern” the Court’s difficulties in recuiting qualified staff.

The report welcomed the measures taken by the Court to reduce the quantity of documents to be translated, thereby helping to reduce the translators' workload, and called on the Court to "explore the possibility of reducing the length of rulings in order to contribute to a further reduction in costs and to a better understanding of these rulings".

Lastly, the committee stressed Parliament’s repeated request for publication of the declarations of economic and financial interests made by the judges of all three courts (the European Court of Justice, the Court of First Instance and the Civil Service Tribunal).