A3-0280/93

Resolution on the draft general budget of the European Communities for the 1994 financial year Section III - Commission

The European Parliament,

-having regard to the preliminary draft budget submitted by the Commission (COM(93)0400),

-having regard to the draft budget established by the Council on 22 July 1993 (C3-0250/93),

-having regard to its resolution of 10 March 1993 on guidelines for the 1994 budget, Section III - Commission,

-having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgets and the opinions of the committees concerned (A3-0280/93),

A.whereas the Council's draft budget of 22 July 1993 was not sufficient to meet the requirements of the Community in 1994,

B.whereas, in its resolution of 27 October 1993, it adopted the Interinstitutional Agreement on budgetary discipline and improvement of the budgetary procedure for 1993-1999,

C.whereas the own-resources ceiling for 1994 has not been modified,

D.whereas, given the difficult economic situation in the whole of the Community and its Member States, the budget must be prudent but must nevertheless enable the Community to fulfil its commitments so that, at the same time, it may play an active role in the recovery of the European and world economy,

1.Welcomes the fact that the new Interinstitutional Agreement will be able to enter into force during the 1994 budgetary procedure and calls upon the Council, in a spirit of cooperation between the two arms of the budgetary authority, to accept the draft budget resulting from Parliament's first reading without making any modifications to it;

2.Welcomes the fact that the Council has agreed to increase the ceilings for the headings of the Financial Perspective approved by the Edinburgh European Council, thereby accepting Parliament's proposals;

3.Recalls the priorities set out by Parliament in its aforementioned resolution of 10 March 1993;

4.Regrets that it did not prove possible at this stage in the procedure to apply the new procedures enabling Parliament to participate in decision- making on compulsory expenditure;

Agricultural expenditure

5.Reaffirms its insistence that the agricultural guideline must be complied with;

6.Regrets that regulatory provisions have been used in order to exceed the guideline and considers that failure to comply with Community regulations must give rise not only to repayment of sums unduly paid but also to penalties to be entered on the revenue side of the budget;

7.Considers that the market estimates given by the Commission do not seem adequate to cover requirements and approves the decision to set up a reserve for market requirements and the decision providing that this expenditure will be financed within the guideline; points out, moreover, that when the limit imposed by the latter has been reached no additional expenditure will be entered in the 1994 budget;

Structural Funds

8.Welcomes the fact that the budgetary decisions taken in respect of Community initiatives will enhance the transparency of the operations to be determined by the Commission; recalls that the appropriations entered in the reserve may be transferred to the relevant lines only after the European Parliament has given its agreement to the measures proposed by the Commission; reiterates its insistence that the Community initiatives should account for as much as 9% of the available appropriations over the period of application of the funds;

9.Recalls the principle, with regard to the distribution of appropriations between Objectives 3 and 4, that no new Community measure may be financed at the expense of existing measures and regrets that the Community's resource situation in 1994 has not permitted the level of funding for Objective 4 originally intended; considers that the funds for Objective 4 must be gradually increased up to 20% over the next few years, without reducing the funds for Objective 3;

Internal policies

10.Points out that, even at a time when European integration is experiencing difficulties, largely as a result of the social, cultural and economic crisis, it is important for the Community to continue to play a role in the lives of Europe's citizens; regrets that sufficient resources are not available to strengthen those policies which are relevant to the lives of ordinary European people;

11.Calls upon its appropriate committees to ensure that the appropriations granted by the budgetary authority are implemented in the most effective manner possible;

12.Welcomes the introduction of a practical measure in support of job creation and economic growth in the Community with a budget of ECU 45.5 m, in keeping with the spirit of the Copenhagen European Council;

13.Welcomes the fact that, on the basis of the guidelines for the 1994 budget set out in its aforementioned resolution of 10 March 1993, it has been possible to release additional appropriations for young people, culture and social operations;

14.Welcomes the fact that the LIFE programme on the environment created by Parliament in 1991 has received an endowment of ECU 100 m;

15.Reaffirms its determination that research policy should continue to maintain a sufficient level of appropriations so that the year 1994 should provide the necessary continuity for the transition from the third to the fourth framework programme and strengthen the links between research and industry;

External policies

16.Expresses satisfaction that, through the budget vote, it has been able to express practical support for the Middle-East peace process by entering appropriations in the budget which will make it possible to provide economic support, particularly to the territories which will be under the authority of the Palestinians;

17.Declares its determination to continue to provide economic support to the least-developed regions and to provide aid to people in areas of the world hit by severe crises;

18.Expresses its resolve to concentrate all measures relating to human rights and democratization in a new budget chapter and welcomes the particular support given to democratization in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe;

19.Hopes that the common foreign and security policy, with the entry into force of the Maastricht Treaty, will be developed thanks to appropriations being entered in that chapter; has sought above all to reaffirm its desire that this expenditure should be entered in the Community budget;

20.Accepts the renewal of appropriations to assist the countries of Central and Eastern Europe; draws the Commission's attention to the binding nature of the remarks entered in the budget and in which the budgetary authority expresses, in particular, its concern that the implementation of these programmes should be improved;

21.Recalls the importance it attaches to more intensive transfrontier cooperation between the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the contiguous regions of the Community; is convinced that these operations will enable those countries to pursue the two-fold aim of strengthening both their economies and democracy;

22.Considers, however, that the implementation of the 'PHARE' and 'TACIS' programmes has not always yielded the results expected of them, especially in the case of TACIS, and has decided to enter part of the appropriations in the reserve;

Satellite bodies

23.Notes with concern the proliferation of independent institutions benefiting from funds voted under section A of the budget; asks for a report to be drawn up by the Committee on Budgetary Control assessing the value of each of these institutions and examining the relevant criteria which should be conditional for the eligibility of such organizations to receive funding;

Administrative expenditure

24.Considers that the Institutions must have the means to operate effectively while fulfilling the responsibilities entrusted to them under the Treaty on European Union;

25.Recognizes that all the Institutions have had to suffer the consequences of an unfavourable monetary situation and that, in order to cope with it, they, and in particular the Commission, have had to freeze recruitment for the posts created by the budgetary authority in 1993;

26.Considers that increasing the Commission's human resources is the major priority for the 1994 budget and welcomes the decision to grant appropriations for the release of 500 new posts; points out the importance of these new posts which will allow, inter alia, the creation of an independent anti-fraud directorate (UCLAF), which is expected to involve, firstly, at least 50 new posts (permanent and temporary), and secondly a strengthening of the external delegations, particularly in countries where the Community participates financially in providing technical assistance or support for development, and the allocation of 40 new posts to the delegations during the budgetary years 1993 and 1994;

27.Calls, further, for DG X to be provided with the necessary additional resources so that it may positively promote the image of the European Community among the citizens of both the Community and the countries applying for accession;

28.Considers it important for the Commission to continue to convert appropriations into posts to strengthen the autonomy and independence of the Institution and to continue its efforts to redeploy personnel between services on the basis of the new political priorities; hopes that a report will be submitted to the budgetary authority by the first quarter of 1994 on the allocation of the new posts financed in 1994 and mobility of staff; calls on the Commission, further, to submit by the end of the first quarter a report on the possibility of converting appropriations into posts in the research sector;

Interinstitutional cooperation

29.Reiterates its desire to see the Institutions being more functional, with more intensive interinstitutional cooperation allowing more economic management of certain activities (sickness insurance fund, professional training, pensions, social activities, etc.), especially where the specific identity of the Institutions is not affected; expects a report to be submitted to the budgetary authority with practical proposals for interinstitutional cooperation and a cost/benefit evaluation of each proposal in terms of funding and human resources;

Enlargement

30.Notes that the 1994 budget, as adopted at first reading, makes no provision for appropriations directly associated with the enlargement of the Community; is also aware that a number of structures must be put in place before the date of enlargement and considers it essential for a calendar, a programme of activities and a cost analysis to be submitted to the budgetary authority;

31.Considers it important that, with a view to enlargement, the Commission should undertake a thorough review of its internal organization and the possibilities for more effective organization to meet the challenges which the Commission will have to face in a Community of 15 states or more; calls for a document reviewing various options to be submitted to the budgetary authority in order for a debate to be opened on this subject;

Re-use

32.Notes that the forecasts for re-use of the appropriations authorized in the budget do not always correspond to the implementation recorded in year n-2; considers that a more reliable analysis must be provided and that additional efforts must be made in the sectors where this revenue can be increased (for example publications);

Margins within categories

33.Notes that, during the vote at first reading, it proposed to leave free margins under the ceilings of headings 3 and 4 of the Financial Perspective in accordance with the Interinstitutional Agreement, indicating the amendments which create these margins, in particular in headings 3 and 4;

34.Considers that, with the current estimates, the needs of the Institutions may be taken into account without reaching the ceiling of heading 5;

Revenue

35.Reaffirms its wish to enter all foreseeable revenue at the time of adoption of the budget, in particular for the taxes on the new posts financed in the 1994 budget and as regards re-use;

36.Considers that all the penalties which individuals or states might have to pay to the Community must be entered in the 'Revenue' section of the budget; considers that this must apply also to compliance with the agricultural regulations, particularly concerning milk quotas, non-compliance with which must result in a penalty consisting in an entry on line R-710 of ECU 50 m;

Appropriations entered in the reserve

37.Emphasizes its intention to maintain budgetary control and to improve political transparency by entering certain appropriations in the reserve such as:

-the appropriations for the drugs observatory which can be released on the line when a guarantee is given that the budget for this centre will be incorporated in the general budget;

-some of the appropriations for JET which will be released when the problem of the British staff has been resolved;

-some of the appropriations for the European Schools which can be released when the agreement reached regarding transfer 19/93 has come into force and the Board of Governors has submitted a proposal to bring to an end within the next three years the double standards of employment which currently apply in the schools;

-some of the appropriations entered for the democratization programmes in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and in the countries of the former Soviet Union so as to receive from the Commission the requisite information on the projects planned to implement those programmes;

-some of the appropriations entered for the Community's participation in the capital of the EBRD so as to guarantee that the Bank directs its activities primarily towards satisfying the financing requirements of the former Communist countries;

-the appropriations entered for the implementation of the common foreign and security policy (CSFP), until the Council decides to finance joint action in that context, on the understanding that the ECU 1 million entered in the reserve constitutes an incentive to give a Community dimension to the activities determined within the framework of the CFSP;

38.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission and Council.