On Tuesday, October 22, the European Parliament voted against granting discharge to the European Council to manage the EU budget for the financial year 2022. This decision was made by a show of hands and marks the 14th consecutive year that the Council has failed to provide the necessary information to the Parliament. The vote passed with 431 in favour, 131 against, and 83 abstentions.
Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) expressed regret that “the Council, for more than a decade, has shown that it does not have any political willingness to collaborate with Parliament in the context of the annual discharge procedure.” They argue that this ongoing issue undermines the management and democratic oversight of the EU budget, eroding citizens’ trust in the European Union’s transparency. MEPs urged the Council to “resume negotiations with the Parliament at the highest level as soon as possible.”
Each year, the Parliament reviews how the EU budget has been implemented to ensure compliance with applicable rules. It has exclusive authority to approve, delay, or reject discharge for the EU budget across all sectors. For almost 20 years, the Committee on Budgetary Control (CONT) has prepared annual discharge reports for each EU institution, body, office, and agency.
In April, the Parliament postponed its decision on the Council’s discharge due to the latter’s lack of cooperation. Since the Council has consistently failed to provide the requested information, the Parliament has refused to grant discharge to the Council for every financial year since 2009.
