European Parliament resolution containing Parliament's recommendations to the Commission on introducing protection under criminal law of the Union's financial interests
C 304/126 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 24. 10. 2000 Wednesday 19 January 2000 TEXTS ADOPTED 1. Protection under criminal law of the Union’s financial interests A5-0002/2000 European Parliament resolution containing Parliament’s recommendations to the Commission on introducing protection under criminal law of the Union’s financial interests The European Parliament, having regard to its resolutions of 31 March 1998 on criminal proceedings relating to the protection of the Union’s financial interests (1), 7 October 1998 on the independence, role and status of UCLAF (2) and 13 April 1999 on criminal procedures in the European Union (Corpus Juris) (3), having regard to Article 192, second paragraph, of the EC Treaty, having regard to Rules 59 and 163 of its Rules of Procedure, having regard to the opinion of the Committee on Legal Affairs and the Internal Market on the pro- posed legal basis, having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgetary Control and the opinion of the Committee on Citizens’ Freedoms and Rights, Justice and Home Affairs (A5-0002/2000), A. whereas no proposal in the area covered by this resolution is currently being drawn up pursuant to Rule 59(2) of its Rules of Procedure, B. whereas Parliament has for several years been calling for the introduction of separate, uniform protec- tion under criminal law of the European Union’s financial interests, C. whereas the convention and the two protocols on the protection of the European Communities’ finan- cial interests have been ratified by only a small number of Member States and, five years since their signature, have yet to come into force, D. whereas the establishment of OLAF is a sign that the institutions and the Member States have become more aware of the need for proper legal protection of the Union’s finances; whereas, however, the absence of a uniform framework of criminal law and criminal procedure may undermine OLAF’s effectiveness and prevent it from properly safeguarding individual rights, E. noting the urgent calls to establish such a legal framework which it has received, including: the proposal from a high-level committee of legal experts from the 15 Member States for a Corpus Juris defining offences affecting the Communities’ interests and a prosecution system based on the establishment of a European Public Prosecutor’s Office and a European body to oversee the work of the Prosecutor’s Office and take committal decisions, a comparative law study, which indicated that there would be no major problems in adapting most national legal and constitutional systems to the provisions of the Corpus, particularly those on criminal law, a proposal from a committee of independent experts calling for the phased establishment (in three stages) of a European Public Prosecutor’s Office and for an EU judicial body to be given respon- sibility for the legal supervision of OLAF investigations and decisions of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, F. whereas the EU Ministers of Justice and Home Affairs recently showed a certain degree of openness on the subject of the establishment of a European Public Prosecutor’s Office, G. whereas, in order to enable the Community to take proper action against fraud affecting the Community budget, the forthcoming Intergovernmental Conference should revise Article 280 of the EC Treaty so as to enable the Commission to submit proposals seeking to establish an effective Euro- pean judicial area for the purpose of combating financial crime, (1) OJ C 138, 4. 5. 1998, p. 61. (2) OJ C 328, 26. 10. 1998, p. 95. (3) OJ C 219, 30. 7. 1999, p. 106. 24. 10. 2000 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 304/127 Wednesday 19 January 2000 H. whereas Parliament has called for the Intergovernmental Conference to consider endowing the Union with a constitution, so as to bring Europe closer to the people, I. whereas a fresh initiative is now required, making use of the new instruments which the Amsterdam Treaty already affords the Community institutions and appealing to the spirit of cooperation of the negotiators in the new IGC, 1. Calls on the Commission to submit to it by 30 June 2000, pursuant to Article 280 of the EC Treaty, legislative proposals enabling a comprehensive legal and judicial framework for the protection of the Union’s financial interests to be established; 2. Calls on the Commission to include in its proposals a financial statement setting out the amounts chargeable to Section III, Part A of the budget, with a view to the necessary adjustments being made to the 2000 budget; 3. Points out that the Convention on the protection of the European Communities’ financial interests, which was drawn up by the Council Act of 26 July 1995, must be ratified by all the Member States before it can enter into force; calls therefore on the Member States which have not yet done so to ratify it as at the earliest opportunity; 4. Calls on the Intergovernmental Conference to include in its work programme a discussion on the establishment of a European Public Prosecutor’s Office with responsibility for all offences affecting the Union’s financial interests; 5. Draws the Intergovernmental Conference’s attention to the fact that the discussions on the powers, independence and status of such a Public Prosecutor’s Office, and the applicable procedure and guiding principles, should be based on the proposals set out in the Corpus Juris and the comparative criminal law study which followed it, as well as the draft set out in the report of the Committee of Independent Experts; Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council and the authorities 6. of the Member States responsible for the Intergovernmental Conference. 2. 1997 discharge A5-0004/2000 I. European Parliament decision giving discharge to the Commission in respect of the implementa- tion of the general budget of the European Union for the 1997 financial year (Sections I / Parlia- ment, II / Council, III / Commission, IV / Court of Justice and V / Court of Auditors) (SEC(1998) 520 / C4-0350/1998, SEC(1998) 522 / C4-0351/1998, SEC(1998) 519 / C4-0352/ 1998) The European Parliament, having regard to the budget of the European Union for the 1997 financial year, having regard to the revenue and expenditure account and the financial statement for the 1997 finan- cial year (SEC(1998) 520 C4-0350/1998, SEC(1998) 522 C4-0351/1998, SEC(1998) 519 C4-0352/1998), having regard to the report of the Court of Auditors for the 1997 financial year (1) and the special reports pertaining to it, accompanied by the Institutions’ replies, having regard to the statement of assurance provided by the Court of Auditors, on the basis of Article 248 of the EC Treaty, as to the reliability of the accounts and the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions, having regard to the Council recommendation of 15 March 1999 (C4-0156/1999), having regard to its resolution of 4 May 1999 (2) informing the Commission of the reasons for post- poning the discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the 1997 financial year, (1) OJ C 349, 17. 11. 1998. (2) OJ C 279, 1. 10. 1999, p. 119