Text · Opinion parliamentary committee draft
On discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2024, Section III – Commission
Document EMPL-PA-777055 · 2025/2145(DEC)
- Kind
- Opinion parliamentary committee draft EMPL-PA-777055
- Date
- 24 October 2025
- Committee
- Committee on Employment and Social Affairs
- Rapporteur
- Romana Tomc
- Dossier
- 2025/2145(DEC)
More facts (3)
- Formats
- Official page PDF Word
- Subject matter
- BUDG
- Reference
- 2025/2145(DEC)
In short
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AI: In short Written by AI from the official text — check the source · deepseek-v4-flash · 4 Sept 2026
The Committee on Employment and Social Affairs calls on the Committee on Budgetary Control to incorporate its views into the discharge resolution for the Commission's 2024 budget implementation. It welcomes the Court of Auditors' clean opinion, notes the decline in outstanding commitments, and highlights the high error rate in cohesion spending. It regrets forecast decommitments, notes inflation's impact, and asks the Commission to implement outstanding audit recommendations.
Position. The Committee on Employment and Social Affairs proposes that the Committee on Budgetary Control incorporate its views into the discharge resolution, welcoming the clean opinion and calling for continued efforts on error rates and fund implementation.
Key points
- Welcomes the European Court of Auditors' clean opinion that the EU's 2024 consolidated accounts present fairly the Union's financial position.
- Notes total outstanding commitments of EUR 507.4 billion at end of 2024, down from EUR 543 billion in 2023, but EUR 33.5 billion above the Commission's June 2024 estimate.
- Observes the estimated error rate for MFF heading 2 fell to 5.7% in 2024 from 9.3% in 2023, still above the 2% materiality threshold; calls for continued efforts to reduce it.
- Regrets the Commission's forecast of EUR 2.7 billion in decommitments for cohesion policy funds over 2025–2027, nearly seven times higher than in 2022; calls for faster implementation.
- Notes that inflation continued to affect the 2024 Union budget, raising costs and eroding the real value of appropriations and the effectiveness of ESF+.
- Asks the Commission to implement as soon as possible all outstanding Court of Auditors' recommendations.
Who is affected
- The Commission, which is asked to implement audit recommendations and improve fund absorption.
- Beneficiaries of cohesion policy funds and ESF+, affected by decommitments and inflation.
Figures and deadlines
- EUR 507.4 billion in total outstanding commitments at end of 2024.
- EUR 543 billion in 2023, and EUR 33.5 billion above the Commission's June 2024 estimate.
- Error rate for MFF heading 2: 5.7% in 2024, down from 9.3% in 2023; 2% materiality threshold.
- EUR 2.7 billion in decommitments forecast for 2025–2027, nearly seven times higher than in 2022.
Text
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Opinion
The Committee on Employment and Social Affairs calls on the Committee on Budgetary Control, as the committee responsible, to incorporate the following into its motion for a resolution:
–having regard to the Court of Auditors’ annual report on the implementation of the budget for the financial year 2024, together with the institutions’ replies, and to the Court of Auditors’ special reports;
1.Welcomes the European Court of Auditors’ clean opinion concluding that the EU’s 2024 consolidated accounts present fairly, in all material respects, the Union’s financial position at year-end;
2.Notes that total outstanding commitments amounted to EUR 507.4 billion at the end of 2024, including NextGenerationEU (NGEU), a decline from the record high of EUR 543 billion in 2023, standing EUR 33.5 billion above the Commission’s June 2024 estimate;
3.Observes that the Court of Auditors’ estimated error rate for MFF heading 2 ‘Cohesion, resilience and values’ fell to 5.7% in 2024, down from 9.3% in 2023, yet still exceeds the 2% materiality threshold; notes that spending under this heading remains high-risk due to its reimbursement-based nature and complex rules; calls for continued efforts to reduce the error rate;
4.Regrets that the Commission forecasts EUR 2.7 billion in decommitments for cohesion policy funds over 2025–2027, nearly seven times higher than in 2022; reiterates that this reflects persistently low absorption and calls for faster implementation of these funds;
5.Notes that despite easing, inflation continued to affect the 2024 Union budget, raising costs and eroding the real value of appropriations and the effectiveness of ESF+;
Back matter, 1
Parts that accompany the text rather than belong to it: explanatory statement, annexes, opinions appended by other committees. Collapsed.
Annex: declaration of input 1 block
The rapporteur for opinion declares under her exclusive responsibility that she did not include in her opinion input from interest representatives falling within the scope of the Interinstitutional Agreement on a mandatory transparency register, or from representatives of public authorities of third countries, including their diplomatic missions and embassies, to be listed in this Annex pursuant to Article 8 of Annex I to the Rules of Procedure.
Connections
The dossier, the decisions on this text and its other versions.
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Sources & citation
Where the facts on this page come from, and how to cite it.
- Data source
- Licensed CC BY 4.0.
- Retrieved
- 25 September 2026
Cite as
European Parliament (2025). “DRAFT OPINION on discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2024, Section III – Commission”. Text, 24 October 2025. docId EMPL-PA-777055. EU Parl Watch Research. https://news.eu-parl.st-solutions.dev/texts/EMPL-PA-777055 (retrieved 25 September 2026). Data: EP Open Data API: document record, https://data.europarl.europa.eu/api/v2/documents/EMPL-PA-777055 (CC BY 4.0).
BibTeX
@misc{epw-text-empl-pa-777055,
author = {{European Parliament}},
title = {{DRAFT OPINION on discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2024, Section III – Commission}},
year = {2025},
date = {2025-10-24},
howpublished = {\url{https://news.eu-parl.st-solutions.dev/texts/EMPL-PA-777055}},
url = {https://news.eu-parl.st-solutions.dev/texts/EMPL-PA-777055},
urldate = {2026-09-25},
publisher = {EU Parl Watch Research},
note = {Text. docId EMPL-PA-777055. Data: EP Open Data API: document record (CC BY 4.0)}
}