ALDE Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Euro : 2014 discharge: “It’s premature to speak about granting the discharge or not to the Commission”, declared the rapporteur Martina Dlabajová

Whereas the hearings led by the Committee on Budgetary Control in the framework of the discharge procedure for the financial year 2014 are complete, Martina Dlabajová (Ano, Czech Republic), ALDE rapporteur, is somewhat not fully satisfied. The aim of Ms Dlabajova is to review the annual procedure so that the analysis focusses more on the added value of the EU budget in order to align spending with EU policy priorities.

'I find it premature to speak about granting the discharge or not to the Commission. And I would like the Commission now to take different commitments on different topics. In particular, I think that the Commission should address the following issues, of which some of them are linked to the follow-up of the preceding discharge exercise:
- consider how to reconcile, in a long term vision, the financial (MFF) and political (i.e. the Growth and Jobs policy) programming periods that are currently diverging.
- ensure at short notice a stronger link between the EU 2020 Objectives and the Partnership agreements and Operational programmes.'
She added: 'We also need the Commission's commitment to give a new impetus to the initiative put forward in 2013 with a view to introducing a common EU revision policy harmonising the time table for major revisions of Growth National Income balances; this topic was addressed last year but we absolutely need to assure a good follow-up on it if we want to avoid the reiteration of crisis'. Another reiterated request: outstanding commitments, the so-called 'Reste à liquider'. 'We go along with the ECA request for a long term cash flow plan because the RALs (Payability of outstanding commitments) will be once again problematic; this point has also been requested last year', concluded Ms Dlabajová.