EU budget management: Commission and Parliament spending for 2013 approved

The European Parliament's Budgetary Control Committee considered on 24 March 2015 that the EP should grant the European Commission a 'discharge' (or approval) regarding the spending of EU budget funds, as money was used according to the rules.

MEPs nonetheless criticised high administrative error rates in agriculture, regional and employment policy spending, which is managed mainly by EU member states. The EP's own management of EU funds in 2013 was also approved, in a separate vote.

On the previous day, the same committee had stated that the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) and four EU/private new-technology partnerships should do more to show that their EU funds for 2013 were well spent before the European Parliament approved their accounts.

• Primary Source

ESO: Background information: European Court of Auditors: Annual report concerning the financial year 2013 http://www.europeansources.info/record/annual-report-concerning-the-financial-year-2013-annual-report-on-the-implementation-of-the-budget/

European Parliament: Press Release, 24.03.15: EU budget management: innovation agency and ITER project fail 2013 discharge test http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/news-room/content/20150323IPR36410/

EUObserver, 25.03.15: EU innovation institute under fire by MEPs https://euobserver.com/economic/128136

European Parliament: Newsroom: Press Release, 28.04.15: Discharge procedure: how Parliament scrutinises the EU budget http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/news-room/content/20150427STO46470/

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