SECOND REPORT on discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2024, Section II – European Council and Council

Wording as published by the EP, in English.

1. Amendment 1 · Motion for a resolutionRejected

   Paragraph 21

   Tabled by Ondřej Knotek · PfE

   … Stresses that, while unanimity voting remains a core principle of the Treaties, Removed: its application in certain circumstances and in critical policy areas can affect the Union's timelines and effectiveness, including by paralysing the Union’s decision-making process and thereby leaving it vulnerable to being blocked or prone to blackmail by individual Member States, particularly those that fail to respect the rule of law; calls for targeted Treaty reforms or, alternatively, practical improvements within the existing Treaty framework, in order to strengthen transparency, democratic decision-making, accountability and the efficiency of the Council's work; calls on the Council to follow up on previous Parliament resolutions calling for such reforms; Added: and its recourse to it constitutes a legitimate expression of democratic accountability by Member States’ governments; underlines that any debate on decision-making efficiency must fully respect the Treaties and cannot undermine the principle of conferral between the Union and its Member States;

2. Amendment 2 · Motion for a resolutionRejected

   Paragraph 17

   Tabled by Alexander Jungbluth, Stanisław Tyszka · ESN

   17. Stresses that the current situation must be Removed: improved through better Added: resolved through improved interinstitutional cooperation within the existing Removed: framework of the Treaties; considers it necessary, as part of future revision of the Treaties, to clarify the discharge procedure and explicitly empower Parliament to grant discharge individually to all Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies and urges Added: treaty framework; rejects any amendment to the Treaties or any expansion of Parliament’s powers on the grounds of the discharge procedure; calls on the Council to Removed: actively engage with Parliament to address the current situation; Added: provide Parliament, in full and in a timely manner, with the information necessary for effective budgetary oversight;

3. Amendment 3 · Motion for a resolutionRejected

   Paragraph 21

   Tabled by Alexander Jungbluth, Stanisław Tyszka · ESN

   21. Stresses Removed: that, while unanimity voting remains a core principle of the Treaties, its application in certain circumstances and in critical policy areas can affect the Union's timelines and effectiveness, including by paralysing the Union’s decision-making process and thereby leaving it vulnerable to being blocked or prone to blackmail by individual Member States, particularly those that fail to respect the rule of law; calls for targeted Treaty reforms or, alternatively, practical improvements within the existing Treaty framework, in order to strengthen transparency, democratic decision-making, accountability and the efficiency of the Council's work; calls on the Council to follow up on previous Parliament resolutions calling for such reforms; Added: that the unanimity requirement laid down in the Treaties in the relevant policy areas protects the sovereignty and fundamental interests of the Member States; rejects attempts to undermine the principle of unanimity through Treaty amendments or alternative practical arrangements; stresses that issues relating to decision-making in the Council are not subject to the discharge procedure;