The Committee on Budgetary Control (CONT) is a
committee of the European Parliament. with 30 permanent members. It can be seen as the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
's internal "political watchdog", seeking to identify undesirable developments within EU institutions and other bodies and then to elaborate constructive suggestions for improvement.
The committee's chair as of 2022 is
Monika Hohlmeier
Monika Hohlmeier (née Strauß; born 2 July 1962) is a German politician who has been serving as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) since 2009. She is a member of the Christian Social Union in Bavaria, Christian Social Union, part of the E ...
.
Responsibilities
The Committee on Budgetary Control is responsible for the control of the implementation of the European Union's budget, meaning that the taxpayers' money is spent efficiently, effectively and according to EU law. In close cooperation with the
Court of Auditors, it audits the accounts of EU institutions and suggests improvements in order to ensure sound financial management. It considers fraud and irregularities in the budget implementation, and suggests measures aimed at preventing and prosecuting such cases. In this context, it liaises with the union's Anti-Fraud Office
OLAF
Olaf or Olav (, , or differences between General American and Received Pronunciation, British ; ) is a Dutch, Polish, Scandinavian and German given name. It is presumably of Proto-Norse origin, reconstructed as ''*Anu-laibaz'', from ''anu'' "ances ...
to strengthen the fight against fraud and corruption.
The
discharge procedure is the main tool at hand of the parliamentarians in the committee. During this procedure it scrutinises the implementation of the EU budget by all actors involved, i.e. inter alia the commission, Parliament, other institutions and agencies, on the basis of the yearly annual report of the
European Court of Auditors
The European Court of Auditors (ECA; French: ''Cour des comptes européenne'') is the supreme audit institution of the European Union (EU). It was established in 1975 in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg and is one of the Institutions of the European ...
. For this purpose, the committee organizes hearings to which it invites members of the examined bodies. The parliamentarians then transmit detailed questions about the activities and the performance of the respective proceeding working year (x, e.g. 2011). This process usually starts in October of the following year (x+1, e.g. 2012) and is then voted in the committee in March and in the Plenary in April of the next following year (x+2, e.g. 2013).
Chairs
* 2004–2006:
Szabolcs Fazakas (
PES)
* 2007–2009:
Herbert Bösch (PES)
* 2009–2011:
Luigi de Magistris (
ALDE)
* 2011–2014:
Jan Mulder (ALDE)
* 2014–2019:
Ingeborg Gräßle (
EPP)
The new committee chairs
''Politico Europe
''Politico Europe'' (stylized as ''POLITICO Europe'') is the European edition of the American news organization '' Politico'' reporting on political affairs of the European Union. Its headquarters are located in Brussels with additional offices in ...
'', 8 July 2014.
See also
*European Court of Auditors
The European Court of Auditors (ECA; French: ''Cour des comptes européenne'') is the supreme audit institution of the European Union (EU). It was established in 1975 in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg and is one of the Institutions of the European ...
*Santer Commission
The Santer Commission was the European Commission in office between 23 January 1995 and 15 March 1999. The administration was led by Jacques Santer (former Prime Minister of Luxembourg).
The body had 20 members and oversaw the introduction of ...
References
External links
*
{{EuroparlCommittees
Budget of the European Union
Budgetary