The European Parliament adopted by 496 to 72, with 44 abstentions, a resolution on the Court of Auditors' special reports in the context of the 2012 Commission discharge.

Parliament recalled that the special reports of the Court of Auditors provide information on issues of concern related to the implementation of funds, which are thus useful for Parliament in exercising its role of discharge authority.

It stated that the observations on the special reports of the Court of Auditors form an integral part of the resolution on discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2012, Section III – Commission.

Parliament then referred to each of the special reports in turn and made a number of recommendations in order to improve the use of Community funds.

To recall, these special reports refer to the following topics:

Special Report No 8/2012 of the Court of Auditors entitled "Targeting of aid for the modernisation of agricultural holdings"; Special Report No 11/2012 of the Court of Auditors entitled "Suckler cow and ewe and goat direct aids under partial implementation of SPS arrangements"; Special Report No 13/2012 of the Court of Auditors entitled "European Union development assistance for drinking water supply and basic sanitation in sub-Saharan countries"; Special Report No 14/2012 of the Court of Auditors entitled "Implementation of EU hygiene legislation in slaughterhouses of countries that joined the EU since 2004"; Special Report No 15/2012 of the Court of Auditors entitled "Management of conflict of interest in selected EU agencies"; Special Report No 16/2012 of the Court of Auditors entitled "The effectiveness of the Single Area Payment Scheme as a transitional system for supporting farmers in the new Member States"; Special Report No 17/2012 of the Court of Auditors entitled "The European Development Fund (EDF) contribution to a sustainable road network in sub-Saharan Africa"; Special Report No 18/2012 of the Court of Auditors entitled "European Union Assistance to Kosovo related to the rule of law"; Special Report No 20/2012 of the Court of Auditors entitled "Is structural measures funding for municipal waste management infrastructure projects effective in helping Member States achieve EU waste policy objectives?"; Special Report No 21/2012 of the Court of Auditors entitled "Cost-effectiveness of cohesion policy investments in energy efficiency"; Special Report No 22/2012 of the Court of Auditors entitled "Do the European Integration Fund and European Refugee Fund contribute effectively to the integration of third-country nationals?"; Special Report No 23/2012 of the Court of Auditors entitled "Have EU Structural Measures successfully supported the regeneration of industrial and military brownfield sites?"; Special Report No 24/2012 of the Court of Auditors entitled "The European Union Solidarity Fund’s response to the 2009 Abruzzi earthquake: The relevance and cost of operations"; Special Report No 25/2012 of the Court of Auditors entitled "Are tools in place to monitor the effectiveness of European Social Fund spending on older workers?"; Special Report No 1/2013 of the Court of Auditors entitled "Has the EU support to the food-processing industry been effective and efficient in adding value to agricultural products?"; Special Report No 2/2013 of the Court of Auditors entitled "Has the Commission ensured efficient implementation of the seventh framework programme for research?"; Special Report No 3/2013 of the Court of Auditors entitled "Have the Marco Polo programmes been effective in shifting traffic off the road?"; Special Report No 4/2013 of the Court of Auditors entitled "EU Cooperation with Egypt in the Field of Governance"; Special Report No 5/2013 of the Court of Auditors entitled "Are EU Cohesion Policy funds well spent on roads?"; Special Report No 6/2013 of the Court of Auditors entitled "Have the Member States and the Commission achieved value for money with the measures for diversifying the rural economy?"; Special Report No 7/2013 of the Court of Auditors entitled "Has the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund delivered EU added value in re-integrating redundant workers?"; Part XXII Special Report No 8/2013 of the Court of Auditors entitled "Support for the improvement of the economic value of forests from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development"; Special Report No 9/2013 of the Court of Auditors entitled "EU support for governance in the Democratic Republic of the Congo"; Special Report No 10/2013 of the Court of Auditors entitled "Common Agricultural Policy: Is the specific support provided under Article 68 of Council Regulation (EC) No 73/2009 well designed and implemented?"; Special Report No 12/2013 of the Court of Auditors entitled "Can the Commission and Member States show that the EU budget allocated to the rural development policy is well spent?"; Special Report No 14/2013 of the Court of Auditors entitled "European Union direct financial support to the Palestinian Authority". As regards this report, plenary highlighted the need to limit the use of direct negotiated procedures and encouraged Commission to make the application of competitive tendering procedures mandatory. Plenary also stated that there was need for improvement of the current PEGASE mechanism (Palestinian-European Mechanism for Management of Socio-Economic Aid).

A summary of the special reports may be found on the website of the Court of Auditors.

The Committee on Budgetary Control adopted the report by Markus PIEPER (EPP, DE) on the Court of Auditors' special reports in the context of the 2012 Commission discharge.

Members recalled that the special reports of the Court of Auditors provide information on issues of concern related to the implementation of funds, which are thus useful for Parliament in exercising its role of discharge authority.

They stated that the observations on the special reports of the Court of Auditors form an integral part of the resolution on discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2012, Section III – Commission.

Members then refer to each of the special reports in turn and make a number of recommendations in order to improve the use of Community funds.

To recall, these special reports refer to the following topics:

Part I - Special Report No 8/2012 of the Court of Auditors entitled "Targeting of aid for the modernisation of agricultural holdings"; Part II - Special Report No 11/2012 of the Court of Auditors entitled "Suckler cow and ewe and goat direct aids under partial implementation of SPS arrangements"; Part III - Special Report No 13/2012 of the Court of Auditors entitled "European Union development assistance for drinking water supply and basic sanitation in sub-Saharan countries"; Part IV - Special Report No 14/2012 of the Court of Auditors entitled "Implementation of EU hygiene legislation in slaughterhouses of countries that joined the EU since 2004"; Part V - Special Report No 15/2012 of the Court of Auditors entitled "Management of conflict of interest in selected EU agencies"; Part VI - Special Report No 16/2012 of the Court of Auditors entitled "The effectiveness of the Single Area Payment Scheme as a transitional system for supporting farmers in the new Member States"; Part VII - Special Report No 17/2012 of the Court of Auditors entitled "The European Development Fund (EDF) contribution to a sustainable road network in sub-Saharan Africa"; Part VIII - Special Report No 18/2012 of the Court of Auditors entitled "European Union Assistance to Kosovo related to the rule of law"; Part IX - Special Report No 20/2012 of the Court of Auditors entitled "Is structural measures funding for municipal waste management infrastructure projects effective in helping Member States achieve EU waste policy objectives?"; Part X - Special Report No 21/2012 of the Court of Auditors entitled "Cost-effectiveness of cohesion policy investments in energy efficiency"; Part XI - Special Report No 22/2012 of the Court of Auditors entitled "Do the European Integration Fund and European Refugee Fund contribute effectively to the integration of third-country nationals?"; Part XII - Special Report No 23/2012 of the Court of Auditors entitled "Have EU Structural Measures successfully supported the regeneration of industrial and military brownfield sites?" ; Part XIII - Special Report No 24/2012 of the Court of Auditors entitled "The European Union Solidarity Fund’s response to the 2009 Abruzzi earthquake: The relevance and cost of operations"; Part XIV - Special Report No 25/2012 of the Court of Auditors entitled "Are tools in place to monitor the effectiveness of European Social Fund spending on older workers?"; Part XV - Special Report No 1/2013 of the Court of Auditors entitled "Has the EU support to the food-processing industry been effective and efficient in adding value to agricultural products?"; Part XVI - Special Report No 2/2013 of the Court of Auditors entitled "Has the Commission ensured efficient implementation of the seventh framework programme for research?"; Part XVII - Special Report No 3/2013 of the Court of Auditors entitled "Have the Marco Polo programmes been effective in shifting traffic off the road?"; Part XVIII - Special Report No 4/2013 of the Court of Auditors entitled "EU Cooperation with Egypt in the Field of Governance"; Part XIX - Special Report No 5/2013 of the Court of Auditors entitled "Are EU Cohesion Policy funds well spent on roads?"; Part XX - Special Report No 6/2013 of the Court of Auditors entitled "Have the Member States and the Commission achieved value for money with the measures for diversifying the rural economy?"; Part XXI - Special Report No 7/2013 of the Court of Auditors entitled "Has the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund delivered EU added value in re-integrating redundant workers?"; Part XXII - Special Report No 8/2013 of the Court of Auditors entitled "Support for the improvement of the economic value of forests from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development"; Part XXIII - Special Report No 9/2013 of the Court of Auditors entitled "EU support for governance in the Democratic Republic of the Congo"; Part XXIV - Special Report No 10/2013 of the Court of Auditors entitled "Common Agricultural Policy: Is the specific support provided under Article 68 of Council Regulation (EC) No 73/2009 well designed and implemented?"; Part XXV - Special Report No 12/2013 of the Court of Auditors entitled "Can the Commission and Member States show that the EU budget allocated to the rural development policy is well spent?"; Part XXVI - Special Report No 14/2013 of the Court of Auditors entitled "European Union direct financial support to the Palestinian Authority".

A summary of the special reports may be found on the website of the Court of Auditors.