First Statement of Assurance relating to activities arising from the general budget. Since the entry into force of the Maastricht Treaty, the Court of Auditors must give its endorse the entire budget. It provides the European Parliament and the Council with a Statement of Assurance concerning the reliability of the accounts, and the legality and regularity of the underlying operations. The Court has decided to submit three different Statements of Assurance dedicated respectively to activities arising from the general budget, from the European Development Funds and from the ECSC. In those three cases, the Statement of Assurance is based on a special report, attached to the Statement, which develops each of the points.