WIREDGOV

Parliament refused to approve the Council of Ministers' 2011 accounts in a vote on Wednesday, citing a lack of cooperation. Other EU institutions and agencies were granted budget management discharges (approval) for 2011. Parliament also recommended moving the EU Police College from the UK to the Netherlands.

Council

For yet another year, Parliament postponed granting the Council a discharge on the grounds that it had failed to answer questions on the use of funds.

MEPs nonetheless hoped that mediation by the Council's Irish Presidency might resolve the long-running dispute over how, in the absence of Council replies to its questions, Parliament should fulfil its role as the discharge authority for Council accounts.

Relocating the European Police College

Parliament recommended relocating the European Police College from the UK to the Netherlands, to enable it to share facilities and services with the Hague-based European Police Office.

MEPs likewise voted to encourage stronger cooperation among the three EU agencies dealing with education and training.

Commission and shared management

Parliament approved the European Commission's 2011 budget management, but noted that accounting error rates had risen to 3.9% in 2011 from 3.7% the year before.

MEPs were particularly critical of the way in which money was spent by national and regional authorities under "shared management" arrangements. These funds account for 80% of the EU budget.

Sixty percent of the errors found in shared-management spending could have been detected by properly-functioning national control systems, says Parliament's report. Parliament asks the Commission to produce an annual overview of the amounts of misspent money recovered from each member state.

To provide a clearer view of project achievements, Parliament urges the Commission and the Court of Auditors to focus their reporting on project performance, as well as legal compliance.

Parliament also calls for an end to "retroactive" funding of projects, in which reimbursement claims are made only after the project has been completed, because this makes it harder to check spending.

Next steps

Parliament will decide whether or not to grant the Council a discharge for its 2011 spending after drafting of a second report, for debate in the autumn.

Background

The European Parliament is the sole discharge authority vetting spending of  EU annual budgets and European Development Fund spending. A discharge is required for the formal closure of institutional accounts.