The European Parliament’s practice has turned budget discharge into a fully-fledged democratic accountability mechanism to oversee the use of public funds by EU institutions, agencies, and bodies on an annual basis. The Council is firmly opposed to submitting its budget management to parliamentary control, on the grounds of a lack of explicit legal basis vesting such power in the Parliament, which, in turn, has refused to grant budget discharge to the Council since 2011. This protracted conflict is rooted in the rigid and path-dependent EU legal framework of budget management and control. After considering the downsides of litigation and an interinstitutional agreement, the article proceeds to propose legal reform as a suitable option, not only to defuse institutional conflict, but also to restore consistency and align budget control with the values of transparency and accountability that have gained traction in other areas of the EU legal order.