The European Parliament has once again refused to approve the management of the EU budget by the European Council and the Council for the financial year 2022. This marks the 14th consecutive year the Parliament has rejected the Council’s discharge due to a lack of cooperation.
Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) voted on Tuesday by show of hands to deny the discharge, citing the Council’s continued failure to provide necessary budgetary information. In an accompanying resolution, adopted by 431 votes to 131, with 83 abstentions, MEPs expressed frustration with the Council’s stance.
“The Council, for more than a decade, has demonstrated a clear lack of political willingness to collaborate with Parliament during the annual discharge procedure,” the resolution noted. MEPs stressed that this refusal to cooperate has undermined the effective management and democratic oversight of the EU budget, diminishing public trust in the Union’s transparency.
MEPs called on the Council to resume high-level negotiations with the Parliament as soon as possible to resolve the deadlock.
The Parliament holds exclusive authority to grant or deny discharge for the EU budget, ensuring compliance with financial regulations across all institutions. Since 2009, the Parliament has consistently rejected the Council’s discharge due to its failure to provide adequate information for scrutiny.
