A4-0105/94

Resolution on the draft general budget of the European Communities for the 1995 financial year - Section III (Commission) modified by the Council

The European Parliament,

-having regard to the draft budget for 1995 with amendments made and modifications proposed by Parliament, as modified by the Council's second reading of 16 November 1994 (C4-0210/94),

-having regard to the draft letter of amendment No.1/95 to the draft budget adopted by the Council on 31 October 1994 (C4-0110/94),

-having regard to the decision of 13 December 1994 on the adjustment of the financial perspective annexed to the Interinstitutional Agreement of 29 October 1993 on budgetary discipline and improvement of the budgetary procedure and its resolution thereon,

-having regard to draft letter of amendment No. 2/95 of 8 December 1994 (C4-0257/94),

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

-having regard to its amendments and proposed modifications adopted at first reading on 27 October 1994 and its resolution on the draft general budget of the European Communities for the 1995 financial year - Section III (Commission),

-having regard to its resolution of 24 October 1991 on the classification of expenditure in the budget,

-having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgets (A4-0105/94),

A.whereas the Council's draft budget of 16 November 1994 has not respected the Interinstitutional Agreement of 29 October 1993 as regards the 1.21% GNP own resources ceiling, but has been drawn up with a ceiling of 1.20% of GNP on the basis of a Union of twelve Member States;

B.whereas, following the European Parliament's vote at first reading, the Council's draft budget, as modified, recognised the need to vote a budget that "sets out forecasts of, and authorises in advance, the expected revenue and expenditure of the Communities for each year", to take account of the enlargement of the Union in 1995; whereas the Council has attempted to rectify the shortcoming in its adoption of letter of amendment 2/95;

C.whereas the Council has opposed all but six of Parliament's amendments at first reading, without providing justifications amendment by amendment;

1.Points out that, at first reading, Parliament respected the terms of the Treaty, the Financial Regulation and the financial perspective as adjusted and adopted on 13 December 1994, by ensuring that the foreseeable needs of an enlarged Union were taken into account;

2.Repeats its belief that a budget should be adopted that fulfils the expectations of the citizens of the enlarged Union of 15 and that takes full account of the commitments made by the Member States at the European Council at Edinburgh; further believes that the budget should take account of the current economic situation in the enlarged Union and the new obligations of that Union;

3.Regrets that the Council has refused to seek a solution as regards the increase in the own resources ceiling pending ratification by the national parliaments; notes, in the meantime, that the new ceiling of own resources allows a change in the amendment on frozen payments;

4.Notes that after the vote on the amendments to the draft budget, the margins under the ceilings in the different headings, in line with paragraph 19 of the Interinstitutional Agreement of 29 October 1993, are the following: Heading 1: ECU 18.5 m, Heading 2: ECU 0, Heading 3: ECU 4.3 m, Heading 4: ECU 13.6 m, Heading 5: ECU 13.6 m;

5.Notes that the 1995 budget shows an increase of 12.6% in commitment appropriations and 12% in payment appropriations on the 1994 budget, a 9.7% increase above the estimated maximum rate of increase; considers the rise to be consistent with those in the budgets of the Member States, even though new tasks have been allocated to the European Union and new bodies have been added to it;

6.Takes note of the Council decision on letter of amendment 1/95; accepts the outcome in respect of all the lines not amended by Parliament at first reading; approves the decision to retable the first-reading amendments in respect of the other lines;

7.As regards letter of amendment 2/95, approves the Council decision on the revenue of the Union integrating the three new Member States;

8.Also approves the Council decision in respect of all the lines connected with enlargement which were voted by Parliament at first reading;

9.Confirms, however, its first reading vote on the MEDA, Socrates and Leonardo programmes, the last two with an amount ECU 20 m higher than the preliminary draft budget, and the specific reserves for networks, research and internal policies, the last of these being a reserve for the whole heading, including research;

10.Reminds the Commission of its obligation to protect the Community's financial interests, levying fines or interest on arrears in the event of fraud or failure to comply with Community law, especially by the Member States;

11.Considers that where infringements are confirmed, fines or interest on arrears should be entered in the revenue section of the budget;

12.Recalls its above-mentioned resolution of 27 October 1994 and in particular the requests put to the Commission that it should inform Parliament about the implementation of certain operations; asks the Commission to take action on these various requests, which are summarized in the table attached to this resolution;

13.Instructs its relevant committees to verify that the appropriations voted by the budgetary authority are implemented in the most efficient way possible;

On agricultural spending

14.In these circumstances, approves the retabling at second reading of all the amendments considered by the Council to be "modifications", and which concern lines for which, according to the relevant rules, the Commission must respect the amount entered in the budget pursuant to its discretionary management powers;

15.Notes that the Commission, by its own admission, has overestimated the beef and veal storage costs by at least ECU 600 m for 1995; regrets once more the inaccuracy of these public expenditure forecasts which have such major implications for the Union's budget;

16.Notes that, according to the Commission's estimate that it is highly improbable that the agriculture guideline will be exceeded in 1995;

On the Structural Funds

17.Draws attention to its position on Community initiatives, stressing the need for greater transparency of Community activities;

18.welcomes the additional initiative to aid the peace process in Northern Ireland and in the border regions in the South, through a structural programme over three years; expects cooperation in the management of the new programme in heading 2 with the International Fund for Ireland, so that projects presented by the latter are favourably considered in the former;

On internal policies

19.Notes that, in two specific cases, the conditions for the unblocking of appropriations entered in the reserve were met before the second reading and, as regards lines B5-403 (Systran) and B3-4112 (European Union Migrants' Forum), approves entry of the overall amount on the line;

20.Welcomes the fact that the Council has finally accepted the views expressed by Parliament in its resolution of 3 May 1994 on the draft notice from the Commission to the Member States setting the guidelines for the modernization of the textile and clothing industry in Portugal, and approves the corresponding budget entry;

21.Notes the Commission's statement that lines B3-4010 (Labour market) and B3-4103 (measures to combat poverty and social exclusion) cover requests by organisations and networks that support homeless ex-servicemen;

22.Considers that the HELIOS programme (B3-4102) should also include the mentally handicapped, regardless of whether their condition is severe, moderate, partial or has an effect on their personality, when coming out of special professional education;

23.While accepting the need to include appropriations in the budgets for the specialised agencies, for which a legal basis exists, considers that budgetary consistency and transparency must be defined for all such agencies; points out that the Commission has already been asked to report on this subject; in the meantime confirms its decision to put part of the appropriations of each agency's budget in reserve; expects all the agencies to submit to the budgetary authority for prior consideration, as a matter of urgency, all the decisions with direct or indirect financial implications for the budget of the Union, until the appropriate information is made available;

24.Welcomes the decision of the Council to accept the amendment on the THERMIE II programme; considers, nevertheless, that if no decision is taken on the legal bases in due time, appropriations should be used for pilot projects on rational use of energy (ECU 10 m), renewable energy sources (ECU 10 m), coal and hydrocarbon technologies (ECU 10 m);

25.Asks the Commission to make available reliable statistical information, at European level, on tourism (line B5-325)

On external actions

26.Approves the retabling of amendments providing the appropriations necessary to launch a new Union initiative for the south of Europe (MEDA);

27.Welcomes the Council decision to adopt the principles of financing the CFSP by the Community budget (Section III); also approves the financial outlay made for the Union's sole CFSP action in Mostar;

28.Notes progress in the management of the PHARE and TACIS programmes, and approves the entry of ECU 1,609 m in commitments and ECU 1,311 m in payments for both these programmes and related programmes; notes that this indicates Parliament's willingness to maintain its ongoing support for these efforts, on condition that those appropriations are effectively utilised and fully accounted for;

29.Expects that about ECU 8.5 m on line B7-5022 (promotion of Community exports to non-Community countries, notably Japan) be attributed to the promotion of exports to Japan, that about ECU 2.35 m be attributed to specific measures concerning markets of other non-Community countries, and ECU 1.35 m be attributed to specific measures concerning the markets on non-Community countries in the textile, clothing, footwear and leather goods sectors;

30.Notes the likely effects of the GATT Agreement on the Union's annual revenue, particularly over the longer term, and invites the Commission to keep it regularly informed, at the presentation of the preliminary draft budget, of estimates of the agreement's effects; is concerned that the Community's participation in the World Trade Organisation should not extend the practice of decision-making without democratic accountability;

On administrative expenditure

31.Considers that the adopted budget should ensure that the institutions are run efficiently, whilst being particularly restrictive on administrative expenditure;

32.Underlines that it is indispensable for all institutions to take significant practical steps towards constructive and useful interinstitutional cooperation, so as to reduce the proportion of administrative expenditure in the overall budget, and to make the European public service yet more efficient,

33.Stresses that the money involved for future translation services (be it internal or by external translators) will be blocked until an overall cost-effective schedule is presented by the Commission and approved by the budgetary authority;

34.Approves the decision to reinstate appropriations for commitology lines (A-2510 - A-2511), 10% on the line and the rest on the reserve; invites the Commission to present to the budgetary authority a complete list of all the decisions taken during 1994 by the different committees mentioned in the annex to the budget;

35.Concerning the information policy, confirms its abovementioned resolution of 27 October 1994 and asks the Commission to prepare a report on the re-orientation of this policy; instructs its committee responsible to follow the matter; proposes that the Commission and Parliament should set up their information and representation offices jointly in one building in the new Member States and that the same arrangement should be adopted in all Member States by the year 2000;

On revenue

36.Confirms its vote on the amendments tabled at first reading in the revenue section of the budget, with regard in particular to taxation relating to the new posts created and an estimate of re-use;

Final provisions

37.Instructs its President to designate the budgetary act as the budget of the European Union;

38.Instructs its President to forward these budgetary decisions to the Commission and Council.

ANNEX