A3-0424/93

Resolution on the modifications made by the Council to the amendments made by Parliament to Section I - European Parliament, Section II - Council, Section II Annex - Economic and Social Committee, Section IV - Court of Justice and Section V - Court of Auditors of the draft general budget of the European Communities for the 1994 financial year

The European Parliament,

-having regard to the Treaty on European Union,

-having regard to the Interinstitutional Agreement of 29 October 1993 on improvement of the budget procedure and budgetary discipline,

-having regard to the amendments adopted at first reading and its resolution on the draft general budget of the European Communities for the 1994 financial year (Sections I, II, IV and V),

-having regard to the decisions taken at the European Union Council meeting of 15 November 1993 on the draft budget as amended and modified by Parliament at first reading (C3-0470/93),

-having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgets (A3-0424/93),

A.whereas the amendments made by Parliament to its own budget have not been modified by the Council,

B.stressing that the Council wished to open a new era in relations between the two arms of budgetary authority,

1.Notes that the Council has accepted the increase in appropriations for the Economic and Social Committee (activities of the members, expenditure relating to property operating costs) and the Court of Justice (rents and publications), but has rejected all the amendments relating to the Court of Auditors;

2.Considers that, where the other institutions are concerned, the increases approved by the Council are not enough to enable them to perform their tasks effectively;

3.Regrets in particular that the Council has rejected the amendments relating to an increase in the Court of Justice and Court of Auditors establishment plans, those designed to enable all the bodies and institutions concerned to practise proper personnel management and those relating to the implementation of financial provisions concerning reuse and budgetary transparency;

4.Instructs its committee responsible to draw up, in the framework of the 1994-1999 financial perspective, a finance plan for Parliament's budget which will enable the available resources to be used in the most appropriate fashion in order to develop a modern, efficient parliamentary administration featuring in particular:

-uniform management of all legislative procedures,

-effective and flexible staff deployment,

-coordinated use of available space,

-an integrated information system;

5.Instructs the Bureau, in consultation with the Committee on Budgets, to consider the procedures and deadlines for Parliament's new commitments in the building sector on the basis of the financial perspective;

6.Notes the progress made towards making the review ('screening') a comprehensive, on-going procedure which is meant as a tool to help the appropriate authorities to take decisions concerning the establishment plan and the restructuring of services; notes, furthermore, that the annual nature of the review procedure makes it essential for the same timetable to be maintained for policy decisions and guidelines and for those relating to the implementation thereof;

7.Considers that the review procedure should be more widely used in drawing up the institutions' administrative budgets and that, for the 1994 financial year, Parliament should assess the human resource requirements and the management structures within the limits of the appropriations authorized by the budgetary authority for this financial year, particularly in respect of the services directly involved in the legislative activity of parliamentary bodies;

8.Calls, therefore, on the Secretary-General to complete the review of Parliament's committees and to submit on this basis, taking account of any proposals made by the Conference of Committee Chairmen, a proposal to enable the appropriate parliamentary bodies to release the posts provided for in the Establishment Plan;

9.Recalls the matter outstanding of the status of Members' assistants as referred to in paragraph 19 of its resolution of 24 June 1993 on the 1994 estimates and paragraph 18 of its aforementioned resolution of 28 October 1993 and calls on the appropriate authorities to continue the negotiations with a view to finding an adequate solution before the end of the current parliamentary term;

10.Believes that each amendment and each proposal should be considered on its merits but also that the various stages of the budgetary procedure should contribute to adjusting the forecasts on the basis of changes in the parameters taken into consideration;

11.Recalls that the Council has approved its amendment concerning the Committee of the Regions; is concerned, however, at the discrepancy between the policy decisions concerning the establishment of the Committee of the Regions and those relating to the financial aspect of this new body's administrative budget; calls, therefore, for a 1994 supplementary and amending budget to be submitted as soon as possible so as to prevent, in the course of the 1994 financial year, counterproductive management of the Economic and Social Committee and Committee of the Regions budgets;

12.Notes furthermore that, for the 1993 financial year, the Council has approved, in the Economic and Social Committee budget, the transfer of ECU 500 000 from Chapter 100 to Articles 200 (Rents) and 204 (Fitting-out of premises), and notes that this decision should enable the requirements of the Committee of the Regions in terms of offices and conference rooms to be satisfied in the foreseeable future; notes that a second proposal has been referred to the Council for the transfer of ECU 1.5 million to allow payment of the ECU 2 million entered in Chapter 100 of the Economic and Social Committee budget and earmarked for the Committee of the Regions operating costs;

13.Considers, therefore, that management of these ECU 2 million by means of the Economic and Social Committee budget headings can only be a temporary, transitional form of management and in no way prejudges the decision to be taken regarding the new structure of the Economic and Social Committee and Committee of the Regions budgets and that of their common organizational structure; recalls in this connection its opinion of 17 November 1993 concerning the proposed amendment to the Financial Regulation;

14.Decides, therefore, to retable all the amendments adopted at first reading and rejected by the Council in the case of the Economic and Social Committee and the Court of Justice, together with those applicable to the Court of Auditors concerning expenditure relating to persons associated with that institution;

15.Instructs its President to forward these budgetary decisions to the Council, the Economic and Social Committee, the Court of Justice and the Court of Auditors.