A3-0031/94

Resolution on the draft general budget of the European Communities for the financial year 1995: Section I - European Parliament - Annex Ombudsman; Section II - Council; Section IV - Court of Justice; Section V - Court of Auditors; Section VI - Economic and Social Committee and Committee of the Regions

The European Parliament,

-having regard to Article 203 of the EC Treaty,

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

-having regard to its resolution of 24 March 1994 on the guidelines for the 1995 budget,

-having regard to its resolution of 5 May 1994 on the estimates of Parliament's revenue and expenditure for the 1995 financial year,

-having regard to the preliminary draft general budget for the financial year 1995 (COM(94)0400),

-having regard to the draft general budget for the financial year 1995 (C4-0110/94),

-having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgets (A4-0031/94),

A.whereas, on 20 September 1994, the Commission submitted a communication on adjustment of the financial perspective with a view to enlargement of the European Union,

I.GENERAL FRAMEWORK

1.Points out that, for the financial year 1995, an amount of ECU 3.852 bn is earmarked for heading 5, administrative expenditure, of the financial perspective;

2.Points out that, in the preliminary draft budget, the Commission left a margin of ECU 29.703 m within heading 5 of the financial perspective, but that the Council established the draft budget at ECU 3.691 bn, increasing the margin to ECU 160.8 m;

3.Points out that the Council established the 1995 draft budget in the light of its deliberations on draft supplementary and amending budget No. 2/94 concerning Sections II (Council), IV (Court of Justice) and VI (Economic and Social Committee and Committee of the Regions); stresses the parallelism concerning procedure for considering these two budgets, and recalls its resolution on draft supplementary and amending budget No. 2/94;

4.Notes that the increase in the margin within heading 5 of the financial perspective reflects reductions by comparison with the preliminary draft budget as a result of setting the across-the-board abatement at 3.5%, re-estimating the percentage increase in staff salaries at 1% instead of the 2.8% provided for when the estimates were drawn up, not accepting post upgrading/conversions, not creating new posts except with regard to the Committee of the Regions, and restricting increases in appropriations against Title 2 of the administrative budgets;

5.Notes that the margin available within heading 5, administrative expenditure, for the financial year 1995 stems from the beneficial impact of an economic upswing which is now turning out to be more sustained than was forecast; stresses nonetheless that availability of funding in this instance does not constitute an argument for entering into new expenditure which may worsen the situation for subsequent years;

6.Restates therefore its goal of ongoing budgetary discipline and welcomes the joint approach of the two arms of the budgetary authority for rational and efficient management of human resources; reasserts, however, the requirement that the Institutions' requests for new staff and measures to assist career development must be backed up by human resource evaluation and redeployment reports;

7.Considers that the decisions of the budgetary authority for a given financial year constitute the conclusion of a process which goes beyond the budgetary procedure stage proper; is at pains to point out that it has gone to great lengths to turn this working method to good account within the 1995 budgetary procedure; that its committee responsible contacted all the Institutions to ask them for their multiannual financial forecasts for their activities; believes that it can only be beneficial if each Institution presents administrative activities on the basis of an analytical budget;

II.With regard to the European Parliament

8.Takes the view that the volume of appropriations is sufficient to ensure proper functioning of the Institution and to enable the new Parliament elected in June 1994 to finance its own policy options;

9.Stresses in this connection its policy on the holding of parliamentary committee meetings outside the three working places, pointing to the conclusive experience gained in the financial year 1994, European election year;

10.Takes the view that it is therefore appropriate to apply the same measure for 1999, European election year; to earmark for the financial years 1995, 1996, 1997 and 1998 an overall appropriation of ECU 8.4 m to be made available to the parliamentary committees and divided into four equal annual instalments of ECU 2.1 m, from the financial year 1995 onwards; to take the view that the annual instalments cannot be topped up by transfers of appropriations during implementation of the budget; to give each parliamentary committee the option, over the period in question (1995-1998), of holding one external plenary meeting or of allowing four select delegations (five Members) to meet annually, instead, outside the three working places; to have its Bureau, after consulting the Conference of Parliamentary Committee Chairmen, authorize such meetings in the European Union on the basis of reasoned requests by the committees concerned which establish the political importance of the meeting and are accompanied by a finan

cial statement;

11.Points out in addition that the draft budget earmarks the necessary appropriations to finance the setting up of interparliamentary delegations to accommodate up to 50% of the Members of Parliament;

12.Points out that taxi fares are no longer reimbursed except for journeys to and from airports and railway stations; that travel expenses per kilometre have been frozen at their 1994 level;

13.Instructs its Secretary-General to submit to the Bureau, the College of Quaestors and, for its opinion, its committee responsible a draft decision laying down rules harmonizing the minimum guaranteed social security conditions for Members' assistants, particularly in Brussels;

14.Points out that the appropriations entered in Chapter 101 are sufficient to finance new measures during the financial year 1995, in particular preparations for the Intergovernmental Conference and talks with the national parliaments and that a token entry has been included against Article 256 'Conference on the elderly'; considers it appropriate, however, to specify that each new measure to be authorized by its competent bodies must be accompanied by a detailed financial statement;

15.Points out that, apart from the conversions and upgrading of posts authorized, it reserved the right, when the estimates were adopted, to finalize its decisions on the other matters concerning the establishment plan at first reading of the draft budget; that its Administration has forwarded the reports and the information concerning the annual screening exercise, professional training, the Secretariat's functional establishment plan and the other administrative and budgetary measures covered by Articles 50 and 41 of the Staff Regulations and Article 55 of the Financial Regulation;

16.Has therefore decided, for this section of the budget, to adjust by means of amendments the appropriations against the headings for parliamentary committee meetings outside the three working places; to authorize the creation of 15 temporary posts for the political group secretariats (1 A2, 4 A7, 3 B4, 5 C4, 2 D3), eight temporary posts for the Non-attached Members (1 A5, 1 A7, 5 B5, 1 C5), one temporary A5 post for the Secretariat, five temporary C3 posts (half-time) for the College of Quaestors; to augment staff levels in DG II, parliamentary committees, by one A3, three A7, 2 B5 and 4 C5 posts by releasing the appropriations entered in Chapter 100 for Articles 11 and 18; to upgrade 1 B5 post to B4; to award seven ad personam grades (3 C1 to B3, 3 C2 to C1, 1 D1 to C3); to denote by means of an asterisk the abolition of 18 posts (1 A, 1 LA, 6 B, 8 C, 2 D) and to identify a maximum of 15 posts (4 A, 1 LA, 3 B, 7 C) subject to Article 41 of the Staff Regulations as regards the grades of officials assigned

non-active status by decision of the appointing authority after consulting the Joint Committee and the Reports Committee; to adjust the appropriations in Chapters 11, 12 and 18, and to specify the purpose of the appropriations in the remarks;

17.Enters in Chapter 100 for Item 2719 'Expenditure on publicity and promotion of publications' a sum of ECU 500 000, for Item 2720 'Expenditure on information, publicity and participation in public events' an amount of ECU 300 000, for Item 2722 'Participation in international exhibitions' an amount of ECU 200 000, for Item 2942 'Information for third countries' an amount of ECU 150 000, for Item 2991 'Subsidies towards the cost of symposia and seminars for "opinion multipliers" from the Member States' an amount of ECU 400 000, for Item 2992 'Subsidies and contributions to the information activities of regional and local authorities' an amount of ECU 90 000, and for Item 2990 'Organization of group visits' an amount of ECU 400 000; instructs its Secretary-General to submit a report by 31 January 1995 at the latest on the conditions, extent and criteria of utilization of the appropriations against the above items, giving operational grounds as to why it may be necessary to call in outside assistance;

IIa. With regard to the Annex - Ombudsman

18.Points out that an overall appropriation of ECU 1.2 m is entered in the draft budget, against Article 380 of Parliament's budget, for the Ombudsman; that the procedures for appointing the first Ombudsman are already under way;

19.Has decided by means of amendments, for this annex to Parliament's budget and having regard to the provisions of Articles 11 and 16 of the regulations for the Ombudsman, to include a Chapter 10 'Member of the Institution' with an appropriation of ECU 248 439 in Title 1 'Expenditure relating to persons working with the Institution' of the statement of expenditure, to delete Title 2 'Buildings, equipment and miscellaneous operating expenditure', to create a Title 3 'Expenditure resulting from special functions carried out by the Institution' with an Article 370 entitled 'Special expenditure of the Ombudsman' and endowed with ECU 25 000, and to enter 10 temporary staff posts (1 A3, 2 A5, 2 A7, 1 B3, 1 B5, 1 C3, 2 C5) in the list of posts for the Ombudsman, adjusting accordingly the appropriations against Chapters 11 and 18 of Parliament's budget;

20.Invites the President of Parliament and the Ombudsman to draw up an agreement laying down the arrangements for administrative and financial cooperation, it being understood firstly that the Financial Controller and the Accounting Officer will be common to Parliament and the Ombudsman and secondly that the other human resources, expenditure concerning buildings, equipment and miscellaneous operating expenditure will be provided by Parliament's Secretariat; has therefore adjusted, by means of amendments, the remarks against Chapters 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 18 and 20, 21, 22, 23 and 27 of Parliament's budget in order to enhance budgetary transparency;

III. With regard to the Court of Justice

21.Recalls its deliberations on draft supplementary and amending budget No. 2/94 and in particular the amount allotted for Article 200 'Rent' for the rental/purchase of the annexes of the Court of Justice;

22.Has decided by means of amendments, for this section of the budget, to upgrade 14 permanent posts (1 A5 to A4, 2 A7 to A6, 1 LA5 to LA4, 1 LA6 to LA5, 3 B5 to B2, 3 C5 to C2 and 3 D3 to D2), to top up the appropriations for buildings-related expenditure (Articles 202 and 203) and the appropriations concerning the library and purchase of books (Item 2250), to enter the amount of revenue which may be re-used against Articles 200 'Rent', 202 'Water, gas, electricity and heating' and 203 'Cleaning and maintenance' and to make the remarks more detailed in order to ensure budgetary transparency;

IV.With regard to the Court of Auditors

23.Points out that, when it adopted the 1994 budget, it authorized the creation of an initial allocation of posts in connection with the Court of Auditors' new responsibility for issuing a statement of assurance as to the reliability of the accounts and the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions enshrined in the Treaty on European Union;

24.Notes that the Court of Auditors has laid down the professional experience criteria for the classification in grades and steps of temporary staff posted to Members' private offices; that those criteria are as follows: one year to be graded as A7, four years to be graded as A6, six years to be graded as A5, 10 years to be graded as A4, and 15 years to be graded as A3;

25.Has therefore decided by means of amendments, for this section of the budget, to create 25 permanent posts (1 A2, 6 A4, 5 A5, 7 A6, 3 A7, 3 C1), six temporary posts (4 C3 and 2 D3), to upgrade 12 temporary A4 posts to A3 and 12 temporary A6 posts to A5, and to top up the appropriations for mission expenses, for rent and buildings-related expenditure, and for the computer networks and office system equipment;

V.With regard to the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions

26.Believes it essential to recall its deliberations in connection with draft supplementary and amending budget No. 2/94 and in particular the aspects concerning the apportionment of services between the joint organizational structure, on the one hand, and the Economic and Social Committee and Committee of the Regions, on the other;

27.Takes the view that grouping together 'neutral' administrative services within the joint organizational structure should generate synergies and economies of scale without affecting the specific nature of the Economic and Social Committee and of the Committee of the Regions;

28.Shares the Council's position that there should be equal treatment between the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions in the area of entertainment allowances and travel and meeting expenses;

29.Enters in Chapter A-100 an amount of ECU 225 000 for Article A-239 'Services rendered between institutions - Joint Interpreting and Conference Service' and invites the authorities of the Economic and Social Committee to draw up a report on the operational requirements for interpreting services, in connection with consultative work, and on the arrangements between the Economic and Social Committee and the JICS of the Commission, which provides the interpreters; enters, moreover, an appropriation of ECU 30 000 in Chapter C-100 for Item C-1804 'Language courses' and invites the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions to draw up a report on the development of this activity in the context of interinstitutional cooperation; calls on the Economic and Social Committee to submit to it the conclusions of an outside audit on the allocation of computing-related appropriations;

30.Believes that there can only be benefits if, following the creation of the new posts for the Committee of the Regions and the joint organizational structure, recruitment of staff subject to the Staff Regulations takes place via interinstitutional competitions, so as to give practical effect to one of the goals of interinstitutional cooperation in the administrative field; restates, moreover, its support for such recruitment to be carried out on as broad a geographical basis as possible from among the nationals of the Member States of the Union in accordance with the provisions of the Staff Regulations for officials;

31.Is at pains to stress, having regard to compliance with the financial perspective, that allocation of the appropriations entered in Chapter C-100 in respect of buildings and related expenditure for the Committee of the Regions is subject to the procedures specified in its aforementioned resolution of 24 March 1994 on the guidelines for the 1995 budget;

32.Has therefore decided by means of amendments, for this section of the general budget:

-for the Economic and Social Committee: to transfer four permanent posts (1 A7, 1 B1 and 2 C2) from the list of posts in part C, joint organizational structure;

-for the Committee of the Regions: to abolish one permanent A2 post, one A3 post, one A5 post and seven A7 posts, to convert one A3 post from permanent to temporary, one A7 from permanent to temporary, to abolish one permanent B1 post, to create one permanent B3 post, one temporary B3 post and six permanent B5 posts, to abolish three permanent C1 posts, to convert one C3 post from permanent to temporary, to create six permanent C5 posts, and to transfer one permanent D3 post from the joint structure;

-for the joint structure: to award one ad personam grade from LA3 to A2, to upgrade one permanent A7 post to A5 for the coordination service and four permanent C3 posts to C1, to abolish six LA4 posts and five LA6 posts, to create five LA5 posts and six LA7 posts, and to make the remarks against Title 2 of the joint organizational structure more detailed in order to enhance budgetary transparency;

VI.With regard to the Institutions as a whole

33.Has created a new Chapter 102 'Enlargement' within Title 10 'Other expenditure', with an overall appropriation intended to permit the financing of administrative expenditure relating to enlargement of the European Union to include the new countries; notes, however, that this amount must not be regarded as fixed for each Institution concerned, since it has not been formally approved by their respective supervisory political authorities;

34.Points out that the allocation of these appropriations is subject to adjustment of the financial perspective and requires submission of a draft supplementary and amending budget /95 which will deal primarily with expenditure resulting from the expansion of the Institutions' establishment plans;

35.Stresses in this connection the special significance of new posts to be created for the language services and invites the Institutions to make a start now on considering forms of cooperation enabling economies of scale to be achieved;

36.Invites the Commission to submit a proposal for a regulation introducing special and temporary measures for the termination of service of staff subject to the Staff Regulations; stresses the disparities between, and the specific features of, the establishment plans of the Institutions, and in particular that of the Commission by comparison with those of the other Institutions; points out that this proposal should be accompanied by a financial statement indicating the period of application, the net financial implications between recruitment of new staff subject to the Staff Regulations and the termination of service of staff in active employment who are subject to the Staff Regulations, the number of posts saved by category and grade of officials and the net impact on the development of each Institution's establishment plan, capitalizing on both possible systems (augmenting the Administration with and without special retirement measures); attaches considerable importance moreover, in this context of the re

organization of the services of the Administration, to establishing a proper balance between nationalities;

37.Calls, therefore, on all the Institutions to forward their updated estimates to it before the second reading of the 1995 draft budget;

38.Notes that the 'Administrative appropriations' (all institutions) section of the draft budget in its amended form leaves a margin of ECU 7.728 m in heading 5, administrative expenditure;

39.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Community Institutions and bodies concerned.