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

Tabled by Alexander Jungbluth, Stanisław Tyszka

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;

Wording as published by the EP, in English. PE788.346