A4-0027/94

Resolution on draft supplementary and amending budget No. 2 for the 1994 financial year

The European Parliament,

-having regard to the EC Treaty and in particular Article 203 thereof,

-having regard to the Financial Regulation and in particular Articles 14, 15 and 55 thereof,

-having regard to preliminary draft supplementary and amending budget (PDSAB) No. 2/94 and the letter of amendment submitted by the Commission on 5 October 1994,

-having regard to draft supplementary and amending budget (DSAB) No. 2/94 (C4-0164/94),

-having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgets (A4-0027/94),

A.whereas the budget adopted for the 1994 financial year left an available margin of ECU 16 376 737 in category 5 'administrative expenditure' of the Financial Perspective,

B.whereas supplementary and amending budget No. 1/94 was adopted on 6 May 1994,

As regards Sections II (Council), IV (Court of Justice) and VI (Economic and Social Committee and Committee of the Regions)

1.Takes note of the opinion of the Commission, which submitted a PDSAB complying with the ceiling for category 5 - administrative expenditure - whereas the estimates of the institutions concerned exceeded this ceiling by ECU 7 223 263;

2.Notes that DSAB No. 2/94 concerns Section II (Council), Section IV (Court of Justice) and Section VI (Economic and Social Committee and Committee of the Regions);

3.Points out, however, that, contrary to the provisions of the Financial Regulation, it is not accompanied by information on implementation of the budget during the previous and current financial years available when it was established;

4.Observes that Section II (Council) concerns 4 items with financial implications: removal of the Council to its new building: ECU 3 million; expenditure related to the entry into service of the new building: ECU 0.9 million; payment of arrears invoiced by the Commission for the services of interpreters supplied during previous years: ECU 3 million; creation of one temporary A3 post and one temporary B1 post and conversion of one permanent A2 post into a temporary A2 post, all for the Office of the Secretary-General, and conversion of one A4 post to A2 for the requirements of the CFSP;

5.Deplores the fact that the Council has entered an overall amount of ECU 6.9 million in Chapter 100 'provisional appropriations' without specifying in the remarks for this chapter the purpose of the appropriations (articles concerned), despite the provisions of the Financial Regulation;

6.Expresses its concern at the creation of a 'cost of the past' in the area of administrative expenditure and calls on the Council to specify the overall amount thereof; recalls that the Council has not acted on the repeated requests from its competent committee to all the institutions with regard to information on the trend in administrative expenditure and the submission of an analytical budget;

7.Points out that, as part of implementation of the 1994 budget, the Council provided funding from its own budget totalling ECU 100 000 as support for the administration of the town of Mostar by the European Union pursuant to Decision 94/308/CFSP;

8.Observes in this connection that the financing of this 'administrative' expenditure presupposes definition and content, both for an item of administrative and an item of operating expenditure, and compliance with budgetary principles;

9.Has accordingly decided, by way of amendments:

(a)to reduce by ECU 100 000 the appropriation intended for the removal of the Council to its new building;

(b)that details be given in the remarks to Chapter 100 'provisional appropriations' concerning the appropriations entered (articles concerned);

10.Calls on the Council to submit a functional establishment plan for the CFSP and to provide details of the allocation of appropriations in Article 111 'other staff' and in particular Item 1113 'special advisers' before Parliament's first reading of the 1995 draft budget;

11.Notes that Section IV (Court of Justice) concerns building expenditure relating to the rental/purchase of annexes A, B and C;

12.Stresses that consideration of this request presupposes the submission of a detailed financial memorandum expressed in ECU and a contractual agreement between the Court of Justice and the Luxembourg State; notes in this context that the Court authorities have in the meantime forwarded information concerning the financial memorandum;

13.Considers it necessary, however, for details to be supplied concerning the financial implications for the period covered by the rental/purchase of annexes A, B and C and the contractual commitments of the Court for the Palais building;

14.Accordingly decides, by way of amendment, to enter ECU 9 576 737 in Chapter 100 'provisional appropriations' for Article 200 'rent';

15.Notes that Section VI (Economic and Social Committee and Committee of the Regions) concerns the list of posts of Part B - Committee of the Regions -and that of Part C - Joint Organizational Structure;

16.Deplores the fact that the Council has already appointed the Secretary-General of the Committee of the Regions and has determined his emoluments, whereas the post recommended does not appear in the establishment plan of the Committee of the Regions as established in SAB No. 1/94;

17.Emphasizes that:

-the setting up of the Joint Organizational Structure should ensure synergy and economies of scale by carrying out certain identical administrative tasks (staff recruitment, translation, restaurants, publishing, library, security);

-the range of departments amalgamated within the Joint Organizational Structure and the amount of human resources assigned to it do not justify the creation of a post of Director-General; reserves the right, however, to consider, in the context of the 1995 draft budget, a more balanced distribution of A2 posts between the Economic and Social Committee, the Committee of the Regions and their Joint Organizational Structure;

-the operation of each department within the Joint Organizational Structure depends on the consultative activities, or the volume of work, generated by the two institutions;

18.Recalls, moreover, that the Financial Regulation provides for the appointment of a common financial controller and accounting officer for the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions;

19.Calls on the two institutions therefore to draw up a code of conduct on the method of administration of the departments amalgamated within the Joint Organizational Structure in order to prevent any counterproductive effects;

20.Considers it necessary, however, for the two institutions to retain the other administrative departments which are closely related to their individual profiles, thus enabling them to develop their specific activities; considers it necessary therefore for each of the institutions, in addition to its own registry, consultancy and communication and public relations departments, to have legal, administrative and staff management services;

21.Believes that the posts needed to enable the Secretariat-General of the Committee of the Regions to operate properly must be created as soon as possible and must take account of the need for balance between the different categories of staff;

22.Supports the Council's position in favour of granting an overall establishment plan of 106 posts split between SAB No. 2/94 and the 1995 budget;

23.Nevertheless believes that it would be advisable to place the emphasis, through SAB No. 2/94, on the list of posts for the Secretariat-General of the Committee of the Regions and to finalize the list of posts for the Joint Organizational Structure in the context of the 1995 budget;

24.Supports this approach since it would be paradoxical to attempt to determine the establishment plan of the Joint Organizational Structure when

-the Committee of the Regions is in the process of recruiting the staff necessary for its own Secretariat-General,

-in the 1995 draft budget, the transfer of certain departments of the Economic and Social Committee to the Joint Organizational Structure is also being proposed;

25.Has accordingly decided, by way of amendments:

(a)to amend the list of posts for the Committee of the Regions as follows: one permanent A2 post, two permanent A3 posts, two permanent A5 posts, one permanent A7 post and 2 permanent C1 posts to be abolished; one permanent A3 post to be converted into a temporary A3 post and one permanent C3 post into a temporary C3 post; one temporary B3 post, six permanent B5 posts and one permanent D3 post to be created;

(b)to amend the list of posts for the Joint Organizational Structure as follows: three permanent LA4 posts to be converted into three permanent LA5 posts and two permanent LA6 posts into two permanent LA7 posts; nine permanent C2 posts to be abolished; three permanent C3 posts to be created;

(c)to adjust accordingly the appropriations in Chapters B-11, B-18, C-11, C-18 and C-101 of Part B - Committee of the Regions - and Part C - Joint Organizational Structure;

26.Calls on the Committee of the Regions to submit, at the earliest opportunity, a functional establishment plan, with a departmental breakdown, for its Secretariat-General;

As regards Section III - Commission

27.Approves the entry in the budget of the 1993 balances and the advance entry in the budget of the agricultural savings for 1994 so as to reduce those balances and the creation of new lines to guarantee the granting of medium-term financial assistance to the Slovak Republic, Romania, Algeria and long-term financial assistance to Moldavia; approves the increase in certain administrative appropriations with a view to enlargement; believes, however, that the unused margin below the own resources ceiling, amounting to ECU 363 million, should also be entered in the budget;

28.Approves the creation of a new article (B5-420) to benefit the textiles and clothing industry in Portugal and the entry of ECU 2 million in commitment appropriations and of ECU 0.8 million in payment appropriations for the implementation of the modernization programme submitted by the Portuguese Government;

29.Approves the entry in the budget of the remainder below the ceiling of the financial perspective, an appropriation of ECU 3 million in commitment appropriations and payment appropriations, against Article B5-322, "Employment and growth for Europe", to benefit SMEs;

30.Notes that the Council has not been able to finance adequately the joint action of the Union in Mostar and approves the entry in the budget of ECU 20 million from various unused appropriations in category 4;

31.Calls on the Council to adopt the amendments tabled;

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