Raad zwicht voor druk van Europees Parlement inzake begroting 2007 (en) - Hoofdinhoud

After months of refusing to answer the EP Budgetary Control Committee's questions about its 2007 budget, or even to meet the committee, the Council has finally bowed to Parliament's demands. The committee will thus be able to decide whether to sign off the Council's budget for that year at its next meeting, in November.

On 23 April Parliament decided to postpone its vote on the discharge of the Council's 2007 budget, since the Council had neither answered the Budgetary Control Committee's questions nor agreed to meet the committee. The Council stuck to this approach until Thursday last week (21 September), when it finally met the EP political group coordinators and the chair of the committee. Many questions were also answered, not directly but through the Council's webpage.

To give MEPs time to study the new information from the Council, the committee postponed the vote to its next meeting on 3-4 November. The full Parliament will then vote in November.

Parliament's rapporteur Søren Bo Søndergaard (GUE/NGL, DK) said in the meeting that he would propose in his new report that the discharge be granted. "We can grant the Council discharge but we will also use the report to make clear what we expect for the future: that Council delivers an annual activity report, just like all the other institutions, that they answer our questions and that they meet us", Mr Søndergaard said.