A4-0059/94

Resolution on the modifications submitted by the Council to the amendments tabled by Parliament in respect of: Section II - Council; Section III - Commission; Section IV - Court of Justice; Section VI - Economic and Social Committee and Committee of the Regions - of draft supplementary and amending budget No. 2/94

The European Parliament,

-having regard to the Treaty on European Union,

-having regard to the interinstitutional agreement of 29 October 1993 on improving the budgetary procedure and budgetary discipline,

-having regard to the amendments adopted at first reading and its resolution of 27 October 1994 on draft supplementary and amending budget No. 2/94 for the 1994 financial year (Sections II, III, IV and VI),

-having regard to the Council's decisions of 7 November 1994 on draft supplementary and amending budget No. 2/94 as amended (and modified) by Parliament at first reading (C4-0211/94),

-having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgets (A4-0059/94),

A.whereas the content of amending letter 1 to preliminary draft supplementary and amending budget No 2/94 has been covered by the European Parliament's vote at first reading of 27 October 1994 and by the Council's second reading on 7 November 1994,

Section III - Commission

I.General background

1.Notes with satisfaction that the Council has agreed to fund Mostar Hospital and to adopt the amendment increasing the administrative appropriations set aside in view of enlargement;

2.Notes also the agreement to set up budgetary lines under the guarantee for macrofinancial aid operations; reiterates, however, that it considers that the 'modifications' are in fact amendments, since if no sum is entered in respect of these lines they cannot be described as 'compulsory';

3.Regrets that the Council has been unable to accept the amendments on the establishment of a budgetary line on the modernization of the textile and clothing industry in Portugal and maintains this amendment at second reading;

4.Maintains at second reading all other amendments concerning Section III of the budget which had been rejected by the Council without any particular justification;

5.Calls on the Commission to examine the possibility of funding special assistance to the regions of the Union recently hit by flooding, from the funds already committed, even before 1994, and not taken up by the regions of the Member States concerned, within the framework of the Structural Funds;

II. GNP/VAT balances

6.Notes the Council's desire to find an ad hoc solution to settle the negative balance of the GNP/VAT revenue for 1993 which amounts to ECU 4080 m; continues to believe that the legislative proposal submitted by the Commission would have allowed a legal framework to be set up to solve the problem of balances without jeopardizing the implementation of the budget and regrets that the Council has failed to act on this matter;

7.Reiterates its refusal to accept the principle that the implementation of the budget may be jeopardized by the need to settle possible revenue deficits; considers, however, that, exceptionally and under precisely defined circumstances, it can accept the solution put forward by the Council of entering an advance of ECU 1500 m consisting of appropriations not utilized in 1994;

8.Notes the declaration by the Commission that the supplementary surplus of ECU 1500 m consists of approximately ECU 800 m of unutilized EAGGF Guarantee Fund appropriations, ECU 400 m of unutilized appropriations carried over from the 1993 financial year which would be cancelled in any case and ECU 300 m from Category II (structural actions);

9.Considers that the cancellation of ECU 300 m for structural actions may be accepted as an exceptional measure, taking into account the fact that the total appropriations which are expected to remain unutilized amount to ECU 1000 m and that the Commission has explained to the relevant committees the reasons for this failure to use the appropriations in question and the measures taken to improve implementation as from 1995;

10.Notes that the conditions for carrying over appropriations within the terms of Article 7 of the Financial Regulation will not be met for the whole amount of the appropriations that have not been implemented and that as a result part of the appropriations would be cancelled;

11.Endorses, in its capacity as arm of the budgetary authority, the declaration by the Council which has undertaken to take a favourable view of proposals for increasing payment appropriations for structural actions should the need arise during 1995;

III. Statement of revenue

12.Rejects the Council's arguments regarding Parliament's powers in respect of revenue; considers that the Council has accepted in part its amendment at first reading concerning the entry of non-implemented agricultural appropriations and the 1993 balance and, in view of the solution given to the problem of balances, agrees not to retable that part of the amendment which dealt with the budgetization of the available margin below the own-resources ceiling;

Sections II - Council; IV - Court of Justice; VI - Economic and Social Committee and Committee of the Regions

IV. Section II - Council

13.Welcomes the Council's position that the funding of Mostar Hospital cannot be considered a precedent as regards the interpretation of the budgetary principles, powers and rules;

14.Notes with satisfaction that the Council has acknowledged in this context that the funding of the administration of the town of Mostar by the European Union actually constitutes operational expenditure which should not have been funded from the Council's budget; stresses, therefore, that its amendment tabled at first reading was justified;

15.Stresses, moreover, that the Council has still not addressed the need to specify the object of administrative and operational expenditure; calls on the Court of Auditors to draw up an opinion on the conditions governing the implementation of expenditure relating to the CFSP and to provide Parliament with information pursuant to Article 188c of the EC Treaty, with particular reference to the provisions of paragraph 4 thereof, before 31 March 1995;

16.Notes, furthermore, that the Council has refused to comment on the other questions relating to administrative expenditure (Joint Interpreting and Conference Service, removal costs) although it has seen fit to lay down principles governing such expenditure during the budgetary procedures;

V.Section IV - Court of Justice

17.Notes that the Council has accepted the principle that the appropriations covering the rent for the Court of Justice buildings should be entered in Chapter 100 until such time as a contract is concluded between the Court and the Luxembourg State concerning the lease/purchase of the buildings concerned;

VI. Section VI - Economic and Social Committee and Committee of the Regions

18.Regrets the Council's rejection of the amendments concerning the list of posts of the Committee of the Regions and of the Joint Organizational Structure without giving any particular justification;

19.Recalls in this respect the recent positions adopted by the Council (1995 budgetary procedure) regarding administrative appropriations and staff policy, in particular matters relating to the redeployment and effectiveness of human resources;

20.Decides to re-enter amendments Nos. 1, 8 and 9 adopted at first reading but rejected by the Council;

21.Instructs its President to forward these budgetary decisions to the Community institutions and consultative bodies concerned.