Editing European Parliament (section)

===Budget===
The Parliament and the Council are also the Union's budgetary authority since the [[Budgetary treaties of the European Communities|Budgetary Treaties]] of the 1970s and the [[Lisbon Treaty]]. The [[Budget of the European Union|EU budget]] is subject to a form of the ordinary legislative procedure with a single reading giving Parliament power over the entire budget (before 2009, its influence was limited to certain areas) on an equal footing to the Council. If there is a disagreement between them, it is taken to a conciliation committee as it is for legislative proposals. If the joint conciliation text is not approved by the Council, the Parliament may adopt the budget definitively, but only by a three-fifths majority.<ref name="lisbon explain">{{cite web|title=Explaining the Treaty of Lisbon|publisher=[[Europa (web portal)|Europa website]]|url=http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/09/531|access-date=4 December 2009 }}</ref>

The Parliament is also responsible for discharging the implementation of previous budgets based on the annual report of the [[European Court of Auditors]]. It has refused to grant discharge only twice, in 1984 and in 1998. On the latter occasion it led to the resignation of the [[Santer Commission]]; highlighting how the discharge power gives Parliament a great deal of power over the Commission.<ref name="Hoskyns"/><ref name="Ringe"/><ref name="budget background">{{cite web |title=Budgetary control: 1996 discharge raises issue of confidence in the Commission |publisher=European Parliament |year=1999 |url=http://www.europarl.europa.eu/election/bilan/en/pf1901en.htm |access-date=15 October 2007 }}</ref> Parliament also makes extensive use of its budgetary, and other powers, elsewhere; for example in the setting up of the [[European External Action Service]], Parliament had a de facto veto over its design as it has to approve the budgetary and staff changes.<ref name="EEAS">{{cite web|first=Honor|last=Mahoney|title=Member states to signal broad backing for diplomatic service blueprint|publisher=[[EU Observer]]|url=http://euobserver.com/24/29916|date=23 April 2010|access-date=2 May 2010 }}</ref>