[autom.vertaling] de lossing van 2004: scherpe kritiek maar steun voor aankoop van de gebouwen van Straatsburg (en)

The Budgetary Control Committee has recommended that the President of Parliament be granted discharge for the EP's 2004 budget. MEPs closely scrutinised the issue of the Winston Churchill and Salvador de Madariaga buildings in Strasbourg and concluded it "could be" reasonable to seek to purchase them.

This second draft report by Markus Ferber (EPP-ED, DE) on the 2004 discharge, "Section I", devotes several paragraphs to Parliament's property policy, in particular the case of the Winston Churchill (WIC) and Salvador de Madariaga (SDM) buildings. These two properties which are let to the EP by Strasbourg city council, became the focus of a controversy last March when it emerged that Strasbourg council was to receive payment by the owner, SCI Erasme, under the terms of the sale of the premises agreed with the EP.

The purchase of the WIC and SDM was suspended by the EP and the Budgetary Control Committee set up an informal working party to advise the rapporteur on the allegations concerning the existing rental agreements and the possible purchase by Parliament of the two buildings.

No irregularities found

The draft report's very lengthy paragraph 11 constitutes a "list of grievances" against those responsible for this matter. 

The report says "there are no clear indications that there have been unlawful actions or irregularities in the process of concluding and applying the leases and additional agreements, although there are nevertheless doubts on whether the principle of 'sound financial management' enshrined in the Financial Regulation has been fully respected".

The draft report also stresses that "Parliament was neither informed that its lease payments were not being passed on in full to SCI Erasme, nor was it ever informed about this matter by the City of Strasbourg itself". In addition, "only the City of Strasbourg knew of the existence of two different contractual relationships between the three parties involved and only the City of Strasbourg had been aware of the difference between the two amounts since 1981".

"Discourteous" behaviour but no illegal profit

As to whether the profit made by Strasbourg city council in this affair was "illegal", the report states "there are no legal provisions prohibiting a state or local or regional authority from making a profit". However, it adds that the City of Strasbourg's approach was "discourteous", to say the very least, "since it is contrary to rules on hospitality towards international institutions". The Budgetary Control Committee says it "deeply regrets the lack of good faith demonstrated by both the City of Strasbourg and the private investor, SCI Erasme in their relationship with Parliament". And, according to the draft report, Parliament "strongly regrets that its requests for all relevant documentation from SCI Erasme, the private investor and owner of the buildings, were not acceded to".

Rents to be reviewed

Lastly, the committee's draft report points out that there is no absolutely reliable basis for setting an appropriate rent for the WIC and SDM buildings, that it is difficult to establish a "fair price" for the rent and hence to assess whether Parliament paid a truly fair rent over the years.

The Budgetary Control Committee says it plans to continue examining Parliament's property policy during the next discharge procedure. The EP administration is asked to "take the necessary measures for a regular review of long-standing contractual obligations towards third parties, e.g. leases or service contracts".

This second report on the 2004 discharge will be put to the vote in Strasbourg on 26 September, following which the Budgets Committee will deliver its opinion on the purchase of the WIC, SDM - and now the IPE3 - buildings.

11/09/2006

Committee on Budgetary Control

Chair : Szabolcs Fazakas (PES, HU)

Procedure: Budget discharge

Plenary vote: September II