Discharge to the Council and European Council

The discharge procedure is a powerful tool through which the European Parliament (EP) carries out ex-post democratic oversight at political level of how the EU budget has been used. The EP’s granting of separate discharge to the Council appears to be a source of friction between the two institutions. For three consecutive years, Parliament has refused to grant discharge for the execution of the Council’s section of the budget, regretting the lack of cooperation from the Council in the process.

In April 2014, the outgoing Parliament postponed its decision on the discharge to the Council and European Council for financial year 2012. The EP’s final vote on the topic was due in October 2014, on the basis of a new report adopted by its Budgetary Control Committee.

• Primary Source

ESO: Background information: Protecting the EU budget and budget discharge procedure: Questions and Answers http://www.europeansources.info/record/memo-protecting-the-eu-budget-and-budget-discharge-procedure-questions-and-answers/

EP: EPRS: Tag: Discharge Procedure http://epthinktank.eu/tag/discharge-procedure/

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