What changed between the draft committee report and the plenary report

Added:20. Calls on the Court to expand its audit scope to include European Investment Bank (EIB) operations financed with the EIB’s own funds, given the EIB’s growing role in EU economic,financial, and industrial policy; urges the Commission and Member States to grant ECA the legal mandate required for this expansion;

Added:21. Commends the timely and pertinent special reports on the implementation of the RRF, which enable the discharge authority to effectively exercise its prerogatives and provide recommendations to the Commission for enhancing the functioning of this instrument; urges the Court to strengthen its role in combating fraud in the Union budget by identifying weaknesses, engaging in anti-fraud discussions, intensifying audits, cooperating with fraud detection bodies, and providing relevant feedback to the discharge authority;

Added:22. Notes that the Court, at the end of 2023, had 969 members of staff; notes that in 2023, women constitute 53 % of the staff and men 47 %, unchanged from the previous year, 2022; regrets that women represent only 30 % of senior management, a significant decline from 36,4 % in 2022; highlights that the overall proportion of women in management positions has decreased in 2023; calls on the Court to continue its efforts to promote gender balance for the middle and senior management;

Changed:18.23. Is alarmed that the recruitment process required additional effort, as around 50 % of candidates turned down the job offers from the Court, in part due to the limited attractiveness of Luxembourg as a place of employment and the high cost of living; notes, however, that the big audit firms present in Luxembourg are also facing challenges and are now turning to Asian markets to recruit auditors; stresses that such an approach cannot be applied by the Court due to security and eligibility concerns; acknowledges the Court's efforts and encourages it to collaborate with other Luxembourg-based institutions within the High Level Interinstitutional Group to enhance Luxembourg’s appeal to prospective staff through identified measures, such as higher relocation allowances, housing allowances to mitigate high rental costs for lower-grade staff and reasonably priced temporary housing for short stays to make employment in Luxembourg more attractive;

Removed:19. Shares the Court’s concern that, in general, the audit profession is facing recruitment issues due to a lack of interest in audit and control jobs among young workers;

Added:24. Recalls the Treaty on the European Union, that the EU and its institutions, shall promote solidarity and equality between women and men;

Removed:20. Shares the Court’s observations that EPSO competitions do not always achieve the objective of attracting and selecting relevant profiles of candidates from the private sector; highlights that several issues with EPSO competitions, for example technical problems with remote testing leading to the cancellation of one competition and putting all others on hold, raised serious concerns with the Court about business continuity; notes with appreciation that the Court has engaged in cooperation with EPSO in order to organise audit competitions at regular intervals;

Added:25. Shares the Court’s concern that, in general, the audit profession is facing recruitment issues due to a lack of interest in audit and control jobs among young workers; calls for proactive solutions and immediate systematic inter-institutional cooperation to address this issue;

Added:26. Shares the Court’s observations that EPSO competitions do not always achieve the objective of attracting and selecting relevant profiles of candidates from the private sector; highlights the several issues with EPSO competitions, for example technical problems with remote testing leading to the cancellation of one competition and putting all others on hold; acknowledges the concerns related to the recruitment and the selection procedures of new staff; encourages the Court to continue its effort to address this situation in order to safeguard the continuity of the Court's activity; notes with appreciation that the Court has engaged in cooperation with EPSO in order to organise audit competitions at regular intervals; suggests possible cooperation with other relevant Union bodies in order to optimise hiring processes;

Changed:25.31. Welcomes the fact that the Court took various steps to tackle the issue of geographical balance, such as increasing publicity for the Court’s competition and vacancy notices in significantly underrepresented Member States, cooperating with Members of the Court to disseminate its notices and reaching out to potential candidates by attending career fairs in certain Member States; encourages further steps being taken into consideration, such as early engagement strategies, attracting young talent from the countries with low representation; notes with a certain regret that there is still some way to go to reach gender balance in middle and senior management;

Changed:26.32. Welcomes the fact that, at the end of 2023, all 29 additional posts required for the RRF audit of EUR 723,8 billion were filled; however, underscores that the materiality, complexity, large amounts and rapid disbursements from the RRF continue to pose challenges and that not all aspects of the RRF can be covered with the resources available;available, which allow the Court to assess the satisfactory fulfilment of milestones and targets and therefore the legality and regularity of RRF payments, but they are not sufficient to systematically cover compliance of RRF expenditure with Union and national laws; highlights the importance of ensuring that the Court is consistently provided with adequate staffing levels to fulfil both its mandate and additional responsibilities stemming from new financing instruments such as the RRF; commends the efforts done by the Court to carry out its duties regarding the RRF so far despite the lack of availability of fully adequate resources;

Removed:27. Takes into account that, as regards the gender balance of the College of the Court, the Members of the Court are appointed after consultation with the European Parliament and the Court has no role in the selection process for Members under Article 286(2) TFEU;

Added:33. Is aware that the Court has no role in the selection process for Members under Article 286(2) TFEU; points out, however, that there is still an important gender imbalance among the Members of the Court, with only 10 women out of 27 members; regrets that 12 Member States have never nominated a woman to the Court; calls on the Court to evaluate its overall composition and provide this analysis to the Council and the Member States, in order to ensure that gender balance is appropriately considered in future nomination processes; reiterates its call for Member States to propose candidates of different genders, aiming for a more balanced and representative composition of the Court;

Added:34. Regrets that over the years the Council repeatedly proceeds to nominate members of the Court despite those nominees being rejected by Parliament; underlines that Parliament should have a binding role in assessing the suitability of candidates for the Court;

Added:35. Expresses regret that the Council has repeatedly nominated members of the Court despite their rejection by Parliament; emphasizes that Parliament should hold a binding role in evaluating the suitability of candidates for the Court;

Changed:29.37. Notes with concern that 7 cases of burnout were reported in 2023;2023, reflecting the same troubling number as in 2022; welcomes the fact that the Court took several steps to reduce the risk of burnout by introducing a full wellbeing programme, offering a resilience training, publishing and implementing guidelines on returning to work after long-term sick leave, continuing to offer mental health first aid, and providing financial support to staff by covering the cost of 10 sessions with a psychologist of their choice;

Added:38. Notes with appreciation that in 2023 the Court again exceeded the professional training target of five days of non-language training per years for auditors (6.7 days), in line with the International Federation of Accountants' recommendations; notes in particular the training of the Court's staff on the NGEU and the RRF;

Added:39. Welcomes the adoption of a new policy in December 2022 to ensure a respectful and harassment-free workplace, focusing on prevention, awareness-raising, and early detection; highlights measures such as a presentation to all staff in January 2023 to enhance understanding of the policy, the rollout of a harmonized reporting form, and the publication of the first aggregated annual report on policy implementation;

Added:40. Welcomes the Court's Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan 2021-2025; notes with satisfaction the organisation of the third Disabilities Awareness Week and interinstitutional initiatives to foster inclusivity; emphasizes the ECA's efforts, including its survey on workplace accessibility, participation in the Ombudsman Award for Good Administration, and the external audit on building accessibility in compliance with Luxembourg's 2023 accessibility legislation;

Added:41. Emphasises the critical role of the Court as the Union’s independent external auditor and guardian of its finances, which requires the Court to uphold the highest standards of integrity, professionalism, and accountability, serving as a model institution to inspire confidence and credibility; recalls that, in accordance with Article 285 TFEU, the members of the Court must exercise complete independence and adhere to the highest ethical principles, demonstrating integrity, objectivity, professional conduct, dignity, commitment, and loyalty;

Changed:31.43. Notes that, in 2023, the Court organised 3 training events specifically dedicated to ethics, which attracted 60 participants; takes into account the fact that the Court’s ethics-related courses were open to all staff, including managers, and that the standard courses are compulsory for newcomers and cover public ethics and the Court’s anti-harassment policy; regrets that the ethics-related courses were not compulsory to all staff on a regular basis;

Added:45. Is concerned by media’s report that an EPPO investigation on misuse of funds by the former President of the Court is currently blocked by the decision of the Court not to lift his immunity; requests the Court to fully cooperate with EPPO on any investigations they may activate and to report on the reasons for the decision not to lift the immunity;

Added:46. Calls on the Court to ensure that all Members and senior staff publish their financial interests, gifts, and hospitality declarations in a public online database, in line with best practices in EU transparency rules;

Added:47. Regrets that the Court has failed to fully cooperate with EPPO by refusing to lift the immunity of its former President and by denying EPPO access to conduct a search within its premises in relation to a probe into possible wrongdoing, which could be considered an interference with the proper conduct of an investigation, according to the EPPO; recalls that, as the Union’s external auditor, the Court is bound by the principles of accountability, integrity, and transparency, as well as the principle of mutual sincere cooperation between EU's institutions; calls on the Court to ensure that immunity is not invoked to hinder legitimate judicial proceedings and to take all necessary measures to ensure full compliance with interinstitutional cooperation in the prevention and investigation of fraud;

Added:48. Notes with concern that, according to media reports, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) has requested the lifting of immunity of several ECA staff members in 2023 and that, to date, the Court has refused to grant this request; stresses that while immunity serves to protect the independence of EU institutions, it should not be misused to shield individuals from legitimate judicial scrutiny; considers that requests for the lifting of immunity should only be refused in exceptional circumstances; calls on the Court to provide a detailed justification to the discharge authority for its decision in this case, outlining the specific legal and procedural concerns that led to the refusal, if any; further urges the Court to maintain a high level of transparency and accountability in its cooperation with EPPO and other EU bodies responsible for combating fraud and misconduct;

Changed:34.50. NotesWelcomes that, in 2024, the Court, jointly with the Court of Justice, invited the Commission to participate in an interinstitutional dialogue with a view to agreeing on common rules regarding the use of official cars, which is in line with the remark included in Parliament’s resolutions of 11 April 2022 on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budgets of the Court of Auditors and of the Court of Justice; emphasises the call on all Union institutions to agree on a single system to be applied horizontally, which would reduce confusion and increase transparency and efficiency in the use of public money; notes that a working group will be created in the framework of the interinstitutional Preparatory Committee for Matters relating to the Staff Regulations; appreciates the Court’s readiness to align the rules with the applicable rules of the Commission;Commission, but reiterates the criticism already expressed on previous discharge resolutions on the new decision from 2022 concerning members’ travel, missions and use of drivers and cars, which is against the general principle that the use of the car fleet outside of the strict performance of the duties of the members of the Court should not take place under any circumstance;

Added:52. Welcomes the extension of scope of information published on Members’ mission, but recalls Parliament’s request to provide information about missions for the whole mandate of the Members; welcomes the revision of the Code of Conduct of members which forbid Members from holding any honorary position in political organisation, implementing Parliament’s request for Members not to have formalised political links; takes note that conclusions of the internal audit report on ethics was to be communicated to the EP President and the Chair of the Budgetary Control Committee in the third quarter of 2024, and invites the Court to share this with the Committee of Budgetary Control in its entirety; invites the Court to publish refusal decisions in cases where Members or staff declare conflicts of interest, ensuring greater transparency in the audit process;

Changed:38.55. Regrets that an annual list of contracts above Directive threshold (>EUR 140 000 for services/supplies; >EUR 5 382 000 for works) concluded in 2023 is not available on the website of the Court; calls on the Court to publish that list as a separate document without undue delay and ensure user-friendly access to it;

Changed:40.57. CompletelyContinues supportsto reject the rationale of the Court for its decision not to join the Transparency Register, as it does not have a vested interest in influencing decision making, beyond providing facts and objective feedback about Union programmes; notes that all of the Court’s reports are publicly available and subject to a rigorous clearing procedure with the auditees; isreiterate awareits thatstrong call for the oppositeCourt scenarioto wouldjoin addthe anEU administrativeTransparency burdenRegister in order to theadhere Courtto andbasic wouldprinciples of transparency while at the same time not resultcreating inany moreobstacles transparency;to the full independence of the Court;

Added:58. Strongly encourages the Court to reconsider its position regarding the EU Transparency Register, established by the interinstitutional agreement of 20 May 2021 between the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union, and the European Commission on a mandatory transparency register1a;

Added:59. Welcomes the significant progress made in 2023 towards establishing the Document Management Ecosystem (DOME), namely the delivery and implementation by means of concrete document approval processes of both the new electronic signature and the core approval module for PASS (Process to Approve, Sign and Send documents); encourages the Court to further pursue its objectives of digitalizing the review and approval workflows and improving their efficiency;

Added:60. Notes that the Court continued being actively involved in the Emerging technology group of the Interinstitutional Committee for Digital Transformation; notes that the DATA Team (Data and Technology for Audit), established in 2021, continued working on the implementation of the development plan for better use of technology in support of the Court's audit objectives; notes in particular the preparation of an analysis of AI opportunities and challenges for the Court and for its audit work; recalls the importance of improving the digitalisation of the audit work; welcomes all the efforts in this direction that the Court continues to make, whereas digitalisation combined with the increased number of on-the-spot visits, can define a system of efficient and accurate audit work;

Removed:43. Notes with appreciation that the Court conducts at least three simulated phishing exercises per year to raise users’ awareness of that cyber threat; notes furthermore that the Court conducts a comprehensive cybersecurity risk assessment every three years;

Added:63. Urges the Court to develop a cybersecurity audit framework for EU institutions and agencies, ensuring harmonized security standards and resilience measures against cyber threats;

Removed:44. Notes with relief that there was no trace of data exfiltration or lateral movement of the intruder to other Court IT systems during the July 2023 cyber-incident, during which one of the perimeter security gateways was compromised by the exploitation of a software vulnerability;

Added:64. Notes with appreciation that the Court conducts at least three simulated phishing exercises per year to raise users’ awareness of that cyber threat; notes furthermore that the Court conducts a comprehensive cybersecurity risk assessment every three years; Suggests to the Court to organise on a regular basis compulsory training for al staff on cyber threat including good practices for a safe use of AI;

Added:65. Notes with relief that there was no trace of data exfiltration or lateral movement of the intruder to other Court IT systems during the July 2023 cyber-incident, during which one of the perimeter security gateways was compromised by the exploitation of a software vulnerability; notes that the software vulnerability had been disclosed by the vendor just two days before the incident;

Added:73. Calls for the formalization of an annual interinstitutional dialogue between the ECA, European Parliament, Council, and Commission on budgetary control, ensuring systematic follow-up on audit findings and improved oversight of EU expenditure;

Changed:53.75. Welcomes the fact that the Court cooperates closely with both OLAF and the EPPO, including by organising workshops and awareness-raising events and by exchanging knowledge and experience; furthermore notes that the Court, in 2023, forwarded 20 cases of suspected fraud to OLAF and 17 such cases to the EPPO; emphasizes its position that all suspicions of fraud should be promptly referred to OLAF and EPPO for thorough investigation;

Added:76. Calls on the Court to establish a structured fraud-detection collaboration mechanism with OLAF and EPPO, including real-time data-sharing agreements and a joint audit approach for high-risk EU funding areas;

Changed:58.81. Notes that, in 2023, the budget allocated for the Court’s communication and promotional activities amounted to EUR 225 000 with a utilisation rate of 81,13 % (EUR 182 549,84); notes that most of the budget was spent on both media monitoring services (EUR 81 650) and press actions (EUR 12 348), followed by expenditure on stakeholder relations, which mainly comprised the cost of a policy intelligence platform (EUR 57 891), communication activities (EUR 28 002,88), social media (EUR 1 486,52) and publications (EUR1(EUR 1 171,44);

Changed:8.9. Highlights that the budgetary execution for 2023 was impacted by two factors:factors, which explain the slightly lower rate than in 2022:

Changed:2. the higher turnover of contract staff and SNEs (some SNE contracts were not extended and a few SNEs passed an internal competition for temporary staff), delays and difficulties in recruitment procedures;procedures as for any European bodies located in Luxembourg;

Changed:12.13. NotesWelcomes that the overall mission budget of the Court (Members and staff) initially set at EUR 2 722 500 has declined by 4,4 % to EUR 2 602 500 given changes in the Court’s working methods following the pandemic;

Changed:13.15. Welcomes the fact that, in 2023, the Court significantly increased its on-the-spot visits compared to the previous three years, when COVID-related travel and public health restrictions were still partly in place; notes that the Court spent a total of 4 897 days in Member States and outside the Union compared withto 2 984 days in 2022, 1 156 days in 2021, 1 190 days in 2020 and 3 605 days in 2019;

Changed:22.28. AppreciatesNotes the generous teleworking regime (up to 10 days per month) offered by the Court in order to mitigate the recruitment challenges; welcomes the measures taken by the Court in 2023 in order to ensure the physical and mental well-being of staff;