{{Short description|European Parliament committee}} {{Redirects here|CONT||Cont (disambiguation)}} The '''Committee on Budgetary Control''' ('''CONT''') is a [[Committees of the European Parliament|committee of the European Parliament]]. with 30 permanent members. It can be seen as the [[European Union]]'s internal "political watchdog", seeking to identify undesirable developments within EU institutions and other bodies and then to elaborate constructive suggestions for improvement.
The committee's chair as of 2022 is [[Monika Hohlmeier]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=CONT > Members |url=https://www.europarl.europa.eu/committees/en/cont/home/members |access-date=2022-09-02 |website=European Parliament Committees |language=en}}</ref>
==Responsibilities== The Committee on Budgetary Control is responsible for the control of the implementation of the European Union's budget, meaning that the taxpayers' money is spent efficiently, effectively and according to EU law. In close cooperation with the [[Court of Auditors]], it audits the accounts of EU institutions and suggests improvements in order to ensure sound financial management. It considers fraud and irregularities in the budget implementation, and suggests measures aimed at preventing and prosecuting such cases. In this context, it liaises with the union's Anti-Fraud Office [[OLAF]] to strengthen the fight against fraud and corruption.<ref>[http://www.eppgroup.eu/CONT Committee on Budgetary Control] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130602074440/http://www.eppgroup.eu/CONT |date=2013-06-02 }}, EPP Group in the European Parliament, retrieved on 13 April 2013.</ref>
The [[Discharge petition|discharge]] procedure is the main tool at hand of the parliamentarians in the committee. During this procedure it scrutinises the implementation of the EU budget by all actors involved, i.e. inter alia the commission, Parliament, other institutions and agencies, on the basis of the yearly annual report of the [[European Court of Auditors]].<ref>[http://www.europarl.europa.eu/committees/en/CONT/home.html Overview], Committee on Budgetary Control, retrieved 13 April 2013.</ref> For this purpose, the committee organizes hearings to which it invites members of the examined bodies. The parliamentarians then transmit detailed questions about the activities and the performance of the respective proceeding working year (x, e.g. 2011). This process usually starts in October of the following year (x+1, e.g. 2012) and is then voted in the committee in March and in the Plenary in April of the next following year (x+2, e.g. 2013).<ref>[http://www.europarl.europa.eu/committees/en/cont/publications.html?id=CONT00004#menuzone], Overview of Discharge Procedure 2011, Budget Control Committee of the European Parliament, retrieved 29 May 2013.</ref>
==Chairs== * 2004–2006: [[Szabolcs Fazakas]] ([[Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats|PES]])<ref>[https://www.politico.eu/article/committee-chairs-chosen/Committee chairs chosen] ''[[European Voice]]'', 21 July 2004.</ref> * 2007–2009: [[Herbert Bösch]] (PES)<ref>Simon Taylor (31 January 2007), [https://www.politico.eu/article/committee-chairs-finally-saddle-up/ Committee chairs finally saddle up] ''[[European Voice]]''.</ref> * 2009–2011: [[Luigi de Magistris (politician)|Luigi de Magistris]] ([[Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe group|ALDE]])<ref>Simon Taylor (22 July 2009), [https://www.politico.eu/article/new-look-parliament-carves-up-the-top-jobs/ New-look Parliament carves up the top jobs] ''[[European Voice]]''.</ref> * 2011–2014: [[Jan Mulder (politician)|Jan Mulder]] (ALDE)<ref>Simon Taylor (22 July 2009), [https://www.politico.eu/article/new-look-parliament-carves-up-the-top-jobs/ New-look Parliament carves up the top jobs] ''[[European Voice]]''.</ref> * 2014–2019: [[Ingeborg Gräßle]] ([[European People's Party Group|EPP]])<ref>[https://www.politico.eu/article/the-new-committee-chairs/ The new committee chairs] ''[[Politico Europe]]'', 8 July 2014.</ref> <!-- ==Membership== As of 7 July 2014: {| class="wikitable sortable" |- ! Name !! Group !! Member state |- | [[Miguel Arias Cañete|Arias Cañete, Miguel]] || [[European People's Party (European Parliament group)|EPP]] || {{flag|Spain}} |- | [[Tamás Deutsch (politician)|Deutsch, Tamás]] || [[European People's Party (European Parliament group)|EPP]] || {{flag|Hungary}} |- | [[Ingeborg Gräßle|Gräßle, Ingeborg]] || [[European People's Party (European Parliament group)|EPP]] || {{flag|Germany}} |- | [[Monica Macovei|Macovei, Monica Luisa]] || [[European People's Party (European Parliament group)|EPP]] || {{flag|Romania}} |- | [[Fulvio Martusciello|Martusciello, Fulvio]] || [[European People's Party (European Parliament group)|EPP]] || {{flag|Italy}} |- | [[Petri Sarvamaa|Sarvamaa, Petri]] || [[European People's Party (European Parliament group)|EPP]] || {{flag|Finland}} |- | [[Claudia Schmidt (politician)|Schmidt, Claudia]] || [[European People's Party (European Parliament group)|EPP]] || {{flag|Austria}} |- [[Tomáš Zdechovský|Zdechovský, Tomáš]] || [[European People's Party (European Parliament group)|EPP]] || {{flag|Czech Republic}} |- | [[Joachim Zeller|Zeller, Joachim]] || [[European People's Party (European Parliament group)|EPP]] || {{flag|Germany}} |- | [[Inés Ayala Sender|Ayala Sender, Inés]] || [[Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats|S&D]] || {{flag|Spain}} |- | [[Zigmantas Balčytis|Balčytis, Zigmantas]] || [[Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats|S&D]] || {{flag|Lithuania}} |- | [[Jens Geier|Geier, Jens]] || [[Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats|S&D]] || {{flag|Germany}} |- | [[Bogusław Liberadzki|Liberadzki, Bogusław]] || [[Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats|S&D]] || {{flag|Poland}} |- | [[Dan Nica|Nica, Dan]] || [[Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats|S&D]] || {{flag|Romania}} |- | [[Gilles Pargneaux|Pargneaux, Gilles]] || [[Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats|S&D]] || {{flag|France}} |- | [[Georgi Pirinski, Jr.|Pirinski, Georgi]] || [[Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats|S&D]] || {{flag|Bulgaria}} |- | [[Derek Vaughan|Vaughan, Derek]] || [[Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats|S&D]] || {{flag|United Kingdom}} |- | [[Philip Bradbourn|Bradbourn, Philip]] || [[European Conservatives and Reformists|ECR]] || {{flag|United Kingdom}} |- | [[Ryszard Czarnecki|Czarnecki, Ryszard]] || [[European Conservatives and Reformists|ECR]] || {{flag|Poland}} |- | [[Anders Primdahl Vistisen|Vistisen, Anders Primdahl]] || [[European Conservatives and Reformists|ECR]] || {{flag|Denmark}} |- | [[Nedzhmi Ali|Ali, Nedzhmi]] || [[Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Group|ALDE]] || {{flag|Bulgaria}} |- | [[Martina Dlabajová|Dlabajová, Martina]] || [[Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Group|ALDE]] || {{flag|Czech Republic}} |- | [[Michael Theurer|Theurer, Michael]] || [[Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Group|ALDE]] || {{flag|Germany}} |- | [[Dennis de Jong|de Jong, Dennis]] || [[European United Left–Nordic Green Left|GUE/NGL]] || {{flag|Netherlands}} |- | [[Rina Ronja Kari|Kari, Rina Ronja]] || [[European United Left–Nordic Green Left|GUE/NGL]] || {{flag|Denmark}} |- | [[Igor Šoltes|Šoltes, Igor]] || [[The Greens–European Free Alliance|Greens/EFA]] || {{flag|Slovenia}} |- | [[Bart Staes|Staes, Bart]] || [[The Greens–European Free Alliance|Greens/EFA]] || {{flag|Belgium}} |- | [[Jonathan Arnott|Arnott Jonathan]] || [[Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy|EFDD]] || {{flag|United Kingdom}} |- | [[Tiziana Beghin|Beghin, Tiziana]] || [[Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy|EFDD]] || {{flag|Italy}} |- | [[Louis Aliot|Aliot, Louis]] || [[Non-Inscrits|NI]] || {{flag|France}} |} -->
==See also== *[[European Court of Auditors]] *[[Santer Commission]]
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{Official website|https://www.europarl.europa.eu/committees/en/cont/}}
{{EuroparlCommittees}}
[[Category:Budget of the European Union]] [[Category:Committees of the European Parliament|Budgetary]]