Amended proposal for a Council Regulation (ECSC, EC, Euratom) adjusting the daily subsistence allowance rates for officials on mission within the European territory of the Member States of the European Union laid down in Article 13 of Annex VII to the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Communities and introducing an annual adjustment procedure (1) (97/C 277/03) COM(97) 429 final - 96/0232(CNS)

(Submitted by the Commission pursuant to Article 189a (2) of the EC Treaty on 31 July 1997)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing a single Council and a single Commission of the European Communities, and in particular Article 24 thereof,

Having regard to the Staff Regulations of officials and the conditions of employment of other servants of the European Communities laid down by Regulation (EEC, Euratom, ECSC) No 259/68 (2), as last amended by Regulation (EC, Euratom, ECSC) No 1329/97 (3), and in particular Article 13 of Annex VII to the Staff Regulations and Articles 22 and 67 of the conditions of employment,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission after consulting the Staff Regulations Committee (4),

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament (5),

Having regard to the opinion of the Court of Justice (6),

Having regard to the opinion of the Court of Auditors (7),

Whereas the rates of daily subsistence allowance for officials on mission should be adjusted in order to take account of the increased costs recorded since 1991 in the different places of employment in the Member States within the European Union;

Whereas, in the case of missions to the seats of the Community institutions, the European Parliament's practice of applying the same rates for officials in all grades, except grades A 1, A 2 and A 3, should be emulated;

Whereas daily allowance rates should be fixed for missions to Austria, Finland and Sweden;

Whereas, in the interests of equal treatment, the scale of rates should be aligned on those already applied by the European Parliament;

Whereas the financial perspective adopted under the Interinstitutional Agreement of 29 October 1993 on budgetary discipline and improvement of the budgetary procedure;

Whereas, as part of interinstitutional cooperation and in particular the conclusions on the rationalization of administrative expenditure, common criteria should be established for the provisions governing mission expenses;

Whereas a procedure should be introduced for the regular adjustment of daily subsistence allowance rates for missions to take account of changes in prices and exchange rates;

Whereas the other institutions must be given details of the annual adjustments decided by the Commission;

Whereas each institution must justify the overall budget adopted for mission expenses in its estimates on the basis of an annual work programme,

Whereas each institution, in exercising the powers conferred on it by the Financial Regulation as regards autonomous implementation of the budget, shall ensure strict application of the principles of sound financial management and, in particular economy and cost-effectiveness,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Article 13 of Annex VII to the Staff Regulations is hereby amended as follows:

1. The scale in paragraph 1 (a) is replaced by the following:

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2. The following subparagraph (c) is added to paragraph 1:

'(c) In the case of missions to one of the seats of the institutions, Column II of the foregoing scale shall apply to categories C and D.`

3. The first sentence of paragraph 2 is replaced by the following:

'2. In addition to the rates set out in Column I of the foregoing scale, the hotel bill covering room, service and taxes, but excluding breakfast, shall be reimbursed up to a maximum of:

Bfrs 4 657 for Belgium

Bfrs 5 785 for Denmark

Bfrs 3 863 for Germany

Bfrs 3 775 for Greece

Bfrs 5 040 for Spain

Bfrs 3 822 for France

Bfrs 5 217 for Ireland

Bfrs 5 340 for Italy

Bfrs 4 201 for Luxembourg

Bfrs 5 248 for The Netherlands

Bfrs 5 060 for Austria

Bfrs 5 028 for Portugal

Bfrs 6 150 for Finland

Bfrs 6 150 for Sweden

Bfrs 5 001 for the United Kingdom.`

4. The following subparagraph is added to paragraph 9:

'The rates set out in paragraphs 1 and 2 shall be adjusted by the Commission by 31 March each year on the basis of the hotel and catering price indices published by Eurostat for November of the preceding year and the relevant exchange rates. It shall notify the other institutions accordingly. The decision shall take effect on the first day of the month following its adoption.`

Article 2

Each institution shall attach to the annual estimate a statement justifying its request for appropriations for mission expenses on the basis of its annual work programme by sector of activity, including expenses engendered by professional training. This statement shall take account of the specific nature of each institution and provide information on measures, in particular on the final accounts for daily subsistence allowances. These measures shall seek to ensure strict application of the principles of sound financial management and, in particular, economy and cost-effectiveness.

Article 3

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

(1) OJ C 349, 20. 11. 1996, p. 8.

(2) OJ L 56, 4. 3. 1969, p. 1.

(3) OJ L 183, 11. 7. 1997, p. 1.

(4) Opinion No 158/96 of 3 March 1996.

(5) Opinion given 12. 3. 1997.

(6) Opinion given 11. 11. 1996.

(7) Opinion given 7. 11. 1996.