PRELIMINARY DRAFT AMENDING BUDGET No 2 TO THE BUDGET FOR 2004 - GENERAL STATEMENT OF REVENUE - STATEMENT OF REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE BY SECTION - Section VIII Part B: European Data-protection Supervisor

(presented by the Commission)

Having regard to:

- the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 272 thereof,

- the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community, and in particular Article 177 thereof,

- Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities, [1] and in particular Article 37 thereof,

[1] OJ L 248, 16.09.2002, p.1.

The European Commission hereby presents to the budgetary authority the preliminary draft amending budget No 2 to the 2004 budget for the reasons set out in the explanatory memorandum.

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STATEMENT OF REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE BY SECTION

The general statement of revenue and the statement of revenue and expenditure by section are forwarded separately via the SEI-BUD system.

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

1. INTRODUCTION

This proposal provides appropriations for the budget lines in Section VIII Part B of the 2004 budget to finance the European Data-protection Supervisor. This amending budget contains a total of EUR 1 272 000 in expenditure and EUR 90 000 in revenue. It also proposes the entry of 15 posts in the establishment plan of Section VIII Part B. This proposal is identical to the budget adopted in 2002 for Section VIII Part B in terms of expenditure and the establishment plan. It is slightly different in terms of revenue to take account of the impact of the transitional reform measures on revenue. [2]

[2] COUNCIL REGULATION (EC, EURATOM) NO 2181/2003 OF 8 DECEMBER 2003 CONCERNING TRANSITIONAL MEASURES TO BE ADOPTED FOR THE REFORM OF THE STAFF REGULATIONS, IN PARTICULAR WITH REGARD TO PAY AND PENSION.

2. GROUNDS FOR THE PROPOSAL

Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2000 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data by the Community institutions and bodies and on the free movement of such data [3] provides for the establishment of an independent supervisory authority to monitor the application of the provisions of this Regulation. This authority, referred to as the "European Data-protection Supervisor" (hereinafter the "Supervisor"), is aided by an Assistant Supervisor.

[3] OJ L 8, 12.1.2001, p. 1.

On 1 July 2002 the Council, Parliament and the Commission approved Decision No 1247/2002/EC on the regulations and general conditions governing the performance of the European Data-protection Supervisor's duties. [4]

[4] OJ L 183, 12.7.2002, p. 1.

On 22 December 2003 the Council and Parliament approved the appointment of the European Data-protection Supervisor on the basis of these rules. This appointment was published on 17 January 2004.

According to the Treaty, each institution evaluates its needs and makes the necessary financial requests to the budgetary authority. This means the Supervisor himself should table budgetary requests, according to his estimates and under his responsibility.

However, to give the Supervisor the necessary resources to start his work, the budgetary authority, acting on a proposal by the Commission, created a Section VIII Part B in the 2002, 2003 and 2004 budgets to contain the appropriations intended for the Supervisor to carry out his duties.

In the 2002 budget this Section VIII Part B contained an establishment plan and appropriations. However, as the appropriations for 2002 were not used and it was uncertain when the Supervisor and his assistant were to be appointed, the budgetary authority did not allocate appropriations to Section VIII Part B in 2003 or 2004.

The Supervisor has now been appointed and it is important that his budget be allocated the amount he needs to start his duties. As he has been appointed only recently and there is no practical possibility of him presenting an amending budget in such a short term, the Commission proposes that the appropriations and establishment plan approved by the budgetary authority in the 2002 budget be entered in Section VIII Part B.

The Supervisor himself could present another amending budget in the course of 2004 to fine-tune the budget and/or establishment plan in Section VIII Part B.

3. POSTS AND APPROPRIATIONS REQUESTED FOR SECTION VIII PART B - EUROPEAN DATA-PROTECTION SUPERVISOR

3.1. Reminder of the framework chosen for the 2002 budget

Under Article 43(2) of Regulation No 45/2001, the budget authority ensures that the European Data-protection Supervisor is provided with the human and financial resources necessary for the performance of his or her tasks.

In Article 43(4) and (3), the Regulation mentions that the European Data-protection Supervisor shall be assisted by a Secretariat and that the Supervisor's budget shall be shown in a separate budget heading in Section VIII of the general budget of the European Union.

This budgetary framework has mainly been based on the budget allocations for the European Ombudsman, an institution which is comparable as regards its size and as its type.

3.2. Establishment plan

As they are to be considered as members of the authority, the European Data-protection Supervisor and his Assistant are not mentioned in the establishment plan:

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3.3. Appropriations

3.3.1. Remuneration of the European Data-protection Supervisor and his Assistant

Under Decision No 1247/2002/EC of the European Parliament, of the Council and of the Commission of 1 July 2002, the European Data-protection Supervisor is treated in the same way as a judge of the Court of Justice of the European Communities as regards the determination of remuneration, allowances, retirement pension and any other benefit in lieu of remuneration. The Assistant Supervisor is treated as the Registrar of the Court of Justice of the European Communities in this respect.

3.3.2. Human resources for the secretariat

It seems realistic to assume that the Supervisor will as soon as possible recruit a central team of five people (for example one A, two B and two C). Recruitment of the remaining 10 staff would take place in a second stage. The 2002 budget which serves as a reference for this amending budget was based on this assumption.

3.3.3. Infrastructure

While being based on the budget allocations for the European Ombudsman, the calculation of the appropriations required for the lines under Title 2 has also taken account of the fixed costs related to the starting up period.

SUMMARY TABLE PER HEADING OF THE FINANCIAL PERSPECTIVE

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STATEMENT OF REVENUE

SECTION VIII Part B - EUROPEAN DATA-PROTECTION SUPERVISOR

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STATEMENT OF EXPENDITURE

SECTION VIII Part B - EUROPEAN DATA-PROTECTION SUPERVISOR

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