Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046 of the European Parliament and of the CouncilShow full title

CHAPTER 2 Discharge

Article 260 Timetable of the discharge procedure

1. The European Parliament, upon a recommendation from the Council acting by qualified majority, shall, before 15 May of year n+2, give a discharge to the Commission in respect of the implementation of the budget for year n.

2. Where the deadline provided for in paragraph 1 cannot be complied with, the European Parliament or the Council shall inform the Commission of the reasons therefor.

3. If the European Parliament postpones the decision giving a discharge, the Commission shall make every effort to take measures, as soon as possible, to remove or facilitate removal of the obstacles to that decision.

Article 261 The discharge procedure

1. The discharge decision shall cover the accounts of all the Union’s revenue and expenditure, the resulting balance and the assets and liabilities of the Union shown in the balance sheet.

2. With a view to giving the discharge, the European Parliament shall, after the Council has done so, examine the accounts, financial statements and the evaluation report referred to in Article 318 TFEU. It shall also examine the annual report made by the Court of Auditors together with the replies of the Union institutions under audit, and any relevant special reports by the Court of Auditors in respect of the financial year concerned and the Court of Auditors’ statement of assurance as to the reliability of the accounts and the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions.

3. The Commission shall submit to the European Parliament, at the latter’s request, any information required for the smooth application of the discharge procedure for the financial year concerned, in accordance with Article 319 TFEU.

Article 262 Follow-up measures

1. In accordance with Article 319 TFEU and Article 106a of the Euratom Treaty, Union institutions and Union bodies referred to in Articles 70 and 71 of this Regulation shall take all appropriate steps to act on the observations accompanying the European Parliament’s discharge decision and on the comments accompanying the recommendation for discharge adopted by the Council.

2. At the request of the European Parliament or of the Council, Union institutions and Union bodies referred to in Articles 70 and 71 shall report on the measures taken in the light of those observations and comments, and, in particular, on the instructions they have given to any of their departments which are responsible for budget implementation. Member States shall cooperate with the Commission by informing it of the measures they have taken to act on those observations so that the Commission may take them into account when drawing up its own report. The reports from Union institutions and Union bodies referred to in Articles 70 and 71 shall also be transmitted to the Court of Auditors.

Article 263 Specific provisions regarding the EEAS

The EEAS shall be subject to the procedures provided for in Article 319 TFEU and in Articles 260, 261 and 262 of this Regulation. The EEAS shall fully cooperate with Union institutions involved in the discharge procedure and provide, as appropriate, any additional necessary information, including through attendance at meetings of the relevant bodies.