European Parliament grants Commission discharge for 2024 budget

The European Parliament has formally granted discharge to the European Commission and the executive agencies in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2024, the headline accountability decision of the annual discharge cycle. The decision was adopted by the Parliament on 29 April 2026 and published in the L series of the Official Journal of the European Union on 10 September 2026 as Decision (EU, Euratom) 2026/1567.

The discharge covers Section III of the budget — the Commission and its executive agencies — as well as the ninth, tenth and eleventh European Development Funds. The decision was signed by Parliament President Roberta Metsola and Secretary-General Alessandro Chiocchetti, who were instructed to forward it to the Council, the Commission and the Court of Auditors, as well as to national parliaments and national and regional audit institutions of the Member States.

Legal basis and procedure

The decision rests on Articles 317, 318 and 319 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and Article 106a of the Euratom Treaty, together with the financial rules set out in Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509 of 23 September 2024. The Parliament acted on the basis of the consolidated annual accounts of the Union for 2024, the Commission’s 2024 Annual Management and Performance Report, and the report of the Committee on Budgetary Control (A10-0085/2026).

The procedure drew on several supporting documents:

• The Court of Auditors’ annual report on the implementation of the 2024 budget, together with the institutions’ replies and its special reports.
• The Court of Auditors’ statement of assurance on the reliability of the accounts and the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions, issued under Article 287 TFEU.
• The Council’s recommendation of 17 February 2026 on discharge to be given to the Commission (05749/2026).
• The Commission’s report on the follow-up to the discharge for the 2023 financial year and its annual report on internal audits carried out in 2024.

Scope of the discharge

By granting discharge, the Parliament closes the books on how the Commission and the executive agencies spent the 2024 EU budget, confirming that the accounts are reliable and that the underlying transactions are legal and regular. The decision sets out the Parliament’s observations in a resolution forming an integral part of the discharge decisions, which addresses the Commission, the executive agencies and the three European Development Funds covered.

The decision also reflects the opinions of several parliamentary committees, including the committees on Foreign Affairs, Development, Employment and Social Affairs, Environment, Climate and Food Safety, Transport and Tourism, Regional Development, Culture and Education, Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, and Women’s Rights and Gender Equality, as well as a letter from the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development.

Why it matters

The discharge is the central instrument of democratic accountability for EU spending, giving the directly elected European Parliament the final word on whether the executive has managed taxpayers’ money properly. Its publication in the Official Journal makes the decision legally effective and formally closes the 2024 financial year, while the accompanying resolution sets the benchmarks the Commission is expected to meet in the years ahead.

Source: Official Journal of the European Union, L series, 10 September 2026, p. 1 (official reference: Decision (EU, Euratom) 2026/1567, CELEX 32026D1567).