FINANCIAL ACTIVITY REPORT 2020

Section II – European Council and Council

(2021/C 353/01)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION 2

2. OBJECTIVES AND BUDGET FOR THE 2020 FINANCIAL YEAR 2

2.1. Main financial objectives 2

2.2. Establishment of the budget for the European Council and Council in 2020 2

2.2.1. General approach 2

2.2.2. 2020 Budget 2

2.2.3. 2020 budget and Heading 5 of the Multiannual Financial Framework 3

3. GLOBAL OVERVIEW OF BUDGET IMPLEMENTATION IN 2020 4

3.1. Activities and objectives of the European Council and Council in 2020 4

3.1.1. Meetings 4

3.1.2. Legislative activities 4

3.1.3. Administrative modernisation 5

3.1.4. Achievement of objectives in 2020 5

3.2. Revenue 6

3.3. Expenditure in 2020 7

3.3.1. Modification of the budget in 2020 7

3.3.2. Overview of implementation of the budget 2010-2020 9

3.3.3. Implementation of appropriations by category in 2020 10

3.4. Appropriations carried over 12

3.4.1. Appropriations carried over automatically from 2019 to 2020 12

3.4.2. Appropriations carried over automatically from 2020 to 2021 13

3.5. Assigned revenue 14

3.5.1. Assigned revenue accrued before 2020 14

3.5.2. Assigned revenue carried over for payment from 2019 15

3.5.3. Assigned revenue accrued before 2020 carried over to 2021 for payment 16

3.5.4. Assigned revenue accrued in 2020 17

1. INTRODUCTION

In conformity with Article 249 of the Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046 of the European Parliament and of the Council (1) (Financial Regulation — FR), this document constitutes a report on the budgetary and financial management of Section II of the EU budget (European Council and Council) for the 2020 financial year.

The report is based on the provisional accounts for 2020, the findings of the annual activity reports of the Council's authorising officers and the budget implementation information from the Council's financial system.

Chapter 2 of this report presents a summary of the framework which was established for the 2020 financial year. A global overview of the implementation of the budget appropriations available in 2020 is given in Chapter 3.

The implementation of the 2020 budget by budget line is presented in the Annex.

2. OBJECTIVES AND BUDGET FOR THE 2020 FINANCIAL YEAR

2.1. Main financial objectives

The main financial objectives of the General Secretariat of the Council for 2020 were:

— to ensure decision-making could continue in the European Council and the Council in spite of the exceptional situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic;

— to ensure continuous support for the European Council and the Council by effective and efficient use of financial resources;

— to further proceed with the process of administrative modernisation with the objective of enhancing the quality of its organisation and the proper use of resources.

2.2. Establishment of the budget for the European Council and Council in 2020

2.2.1. General approach

The establishment of the 2020 budget for the European Council and Council (hereinafter EC/C) was based on the general objective of not exceeding, in nominal terms, the overall level of the 2019 budget for non-salary related expenditure.

Increases related to statutory or contractual obligations, or in areas considered essential for the proper functioning of the GSC, have been offset by prioritising and reprogramming certain projects taking into account budget implementation in recent years.

As for the establishment plan, the GSC continued to streamline the organisation by implementing the following actions:

— transfer of 1 AD5 and 7 AST1 posts to the Commission as part of the Service Level Agreement on SYSPER;

— addition of 5 AD5 posts and 1 AST1 post to reflect the new language regime for Irish translation, as instructed by the Commission.

2.2.2. 2020 budget

The budget authority established the overall 2020 EC/C budget at EUR 590,6 million. This represents an increase of EUR 8,7 million (+1,5 %) compared with 2019.

The number of posts in the establishment plan for 2020 for the EC/C was fixed at 3 029.

Table 1 gives an overview of the 2020 budget by category.

Table 1

EC/C budget for 2020 compared with 2019 (by category)

(EUR) Category Budget 2019 Budget 2020 Change 2020/2019 1 2 3=2/1 Establishment plan 336 749 511 341 218 000 1,3 % Other staff expenditure 25 077 000 25 366 000 1,2 % Buildings (excluding acquisitions) 55 888 948 56 644 000 1,4 % Computer systems 41 355 000 44 509 000 7,6 % Furniture 951 000 1 171 000 23,1 % Technical equipment 5 745 000 6 026 000 4,9 % Transport 1 134 000 2 284 000 101,4 % Delegations' travel expenses 17 372 000 17 228 000 -0,8 % Interpreting costs 81 694 000 81 450 000 -0,3 % Meetings and conferences 5 237 000 6 285 000 20,0 % Information 9 125 000 7 235 000 -20,7 % Miscellaneous 1 267 000 1 217 000 -3,9 % Reserve 300 000 - 100,0 % Total (excl. acquisition) 581 895 459 590 633 000 1,5 % Acquisition of immovable property — — Grand total 581 895 459 590 633 000 1,5 %

2.2.3. 2020 budget and Heading 5 of the Multiannual Financial Framework

Table 2 gives an overview of the evolution of the EC/C budget in 2010-2020. The EC/C share under Heading 5 of the multiannual financial framework decreased from 6,3 % in 2015 to 5,8 % in 2020.

Table 2

Evolution of Section II of the EU budget (European Council and Council) under Heading 5 of the Multiannual Financial Framework in 2015-2020

2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 (Amounts at current prices) M€ change M€ change M€ change M€ change M€ change M€ change Heading 5 8 659 3,0 % 8 951 3,4 % 9 395 5,0 % 9 666 2,9 % 9 945 2,9 % 10 222 2,8 % EC/C 542 1,4 % 545 0,6 % 562 3,0 % 573 2,0 % 582 1,6 % 591 1,5 % EC/C share in Heading 5 6,3 % 6,1 % 6,0 % 5,9 % 5,9 % 5,8 %

3. GLOBAL OVERVIEW OF BUDGET IMPLEMENTATION IN 2020

3.1. Activities and objectives of the European Council and Council in 2020

Within the framework of the financial activity report, the GSC provides information on its core activities which are relevant from the financial point of view, and describes the functioning of the European Council and Council over the financial year. The report also highlights the principal achievements of the year.

3.1.1. Meetings

Table 3 gives an overview of the evolution of the number of meetings organised by the GSC for the European Council and Council between 2015 and 2020.

In 2020, in addition to the 3 086 institutional meetings and meetings with third countries, the GSC organised 434 other meetings (e.g. seminars, information sessions and briefings).

Table 3

Evolution of the number of meetings 2015-2020

2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2020 Physical VTC / Hybrid TOTAL Summits 12 9 15 15 17 15 8 23 Councils 81 75 77 75 80 31 85 116 Coreper 138 109 105 117 124 152 2 154 Coreper art. 50 22 29 28 3 3 Working groups 3 471 3 569 4 039 4 304 3 706 1 538 1 252 2 790 Ad hoc Working group art. 50 32 61 28 Total 3 702 3 762 4 290 4 601 3 983 1 739 1 347 3 086 Other meetings 2 271 2 034 3 030 3 129 3 685 401 33 434 Grand total 5 973 5 796 7 320 7 730 7 668 2 140 1 380 3 520

2020 was marked by exceptional working conditions due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. This resulted in a decrease of 54,1 % (4 148) in the number of meetings compared with 2019, mainly in the category of meetings other than in the institutional context of the European Council and Council. New ways of holding meetings were reflected in the fact that there was an increase in the number of summits, Councils and COREPER meetings and that 39,2 % of meetings took place in videoconference or hybrid format (with some of the participants connecting remotely).

3.1.2. Legislative activities

Another quantitative indicator of activities is the number of legal acts published in the Official Journal (OJ) (Table 4). In 2020, 1 328 legal acts were published in the OJ. It should be noted that the publication of the legal acts in the OJ is the last step in the legislative process.

Table 4

Evolution of the number of legal acts in 2015-2020

2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 Legal acts published in OJ 1 412 1 259 1 187 1 210 1 326 1 328

Despite the challenging working conditions in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Council maintained its legislative activity at the same level as 2019.

3.1.3. Administrative modernisation

In 2020, the GSC continued to improve the quality and efficiency of its internal organisation, focusing in particular on dealing with the working restrictions arising from the COVID-19 pandemic situation:

— Implementation of the action plan on reducing the GSC vacancy rate, which includes closely and regularly monitoring the occupancy rate in relation to the establishment plan and the availability of relevant appropriations;

— In order to cope with the prolonged teleworking period, the GSC's platforms and bandwidth have been extended and increased respectively, allowing almost all staff to telework safely;

— In anticipation of a future gradual return to work in the GSC's buildings, small meeting rooms have been equipped with high-quality videoconferencing equipment in order to facilitate hybrid meetings.

3.1.4. Achievement of objectives in 2020

Achievement of the objectives established for the 2020 budget year may be summarised as follows:

— Establishment plan Out of 3 029 posts in the establishment plan of the European Council and Council, 2 817 posts were occupied in the GSC on 1 January 2020. Following turnover during the year, on 31 December 2020 there were 2 905 occupied posts, representing a difference of 88 additional occupied posts in the EC/C Establishment Plan.

— Financial management In 2020, the GSC continued to further improve its financial management and performance. Several improvements in corporate financial governance were implemented, e.g.: — migration and adaptation of digital financial processes to the new SAP HANA platform; — all non-budgetary salary activities, including management of staff bank accounts, were successfully transferred to the Accounting Unit; — e-Submission was successfully introduced for all open procurement procedures. Besides this, the unexpected outbreak of COVID-19 and the exceptional situation during the pandemic required immediate action and organisational measures to ensure continuity of service. Several circulars were published to provide authorising services with guidance for temporarily adapting the financial workflows and procedures to the new circumstances. In the context of improving the cash flow position of European businesses, the average payment time for invoices at the GSC was 20 days in 2020, the maximum time limit being 30 calendar days (Directive 2011/7/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (2)).

— Buildings policy The Council’s buildings policy is stable. Since 2004, the Council’s aim has been to ultimately accommodate all its activities and those of the European Council in Brussels in buildings which it owns, which are adapted to its needs and which are located near to one another. This reorganisation was completed with the delivery of the Europa Building on 30 June 2016.

3.2. Revenue

Table 5 gives an overview of the global outcome of revenue operations in 2020. The term ‘Established rights 2019’ refers to recovery orders which were made in 2019 but for which the recovery of the amounts took place only in 2020. The term ‘Established rights 2020’ refers to recoveries launched in 2020.

Table 5

Overview of revenue operations in the 2020 budget

(EUR) Chapter Established rights 2019 Recovered revenues from 2019 Established rights 2020 Recovered revenues from 2020 Total established rights 2019+2020 Total recovered 2019+2020 To be recovered in 2021 1 2 3 4 5=1+3 6=2+4 7=5-6 4 0 Deductions from staff remuneration 0 0 32 466 725 32 466 725 32 466 725 32 466 725 0 4 1 Contributions to the pension scheme 1 544 1 544 26 004 187 26 004 187 26 005 731 26 005 731 0 5 0 Proceeds from the sale of movable and immovable property 622 622 3 450 3 450 4 072 4 072 0 5 1 Proceeds from letting and hiring 9 821 9 821 736 508 352 241 746 329 362 062 384 267 5 2 Revenue from investments or loans granted, bank and other interest 0 0 6 929 6 929 6 929 6 929 0 5 5 Revenue from the proceeds of services supplied and work carried out 71 498 71 498 924 982 889 103 996 480 960 601 35 879 5 5 Revenue from the proceeds of services supplied and work (EEAS) 0 0 104 231 104 231 104 231 104 231 0 5 7 Other contributions and refunds in connection with administ. operation 779 051 312 571 40 031 129 39 974 593 40 810 180 40 287 164 523 015 5 8 Miscellaneous compensation 0 0 4 044 4 044 4 044 4 044 0 5 8 Miscellaneous compensation (EEAS) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 9 Other revenue arising from administrative management 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 3 Contributions under specific agreements 688 466 688 466 1 249 018 1 249 018 1 937 484 1 937 484 0 7 0 Interest on late payments 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 0 Miscellaneous revenue 0 0 0 0 1 038 0 1 038 Total 1 551 002 1 084 523 101 531 203 101 054 521 103 083 243 102 139 044 944 199

The total volume of revenue operations in terms of established rights, i.e. issued recovery orders, was EUR 103,1 million in 2020. Of this amount, EUR 102,1 million was recovered during the financial year and EUR 1,0 million will be collected in 2021.

Most of the total recovered revenues (57 %, or EUR 58,5 million out of EUR 103,1 million) in 2020 relates to community taxes, levies and dues collected from the GSC's personnel. Of this amount, EUR 32,5 million is accounted for by deductions from staff remuneration, while EUR 26,0 million corresponds to contributions and transfers of pension rights to the pension scheme.

The remainder, or 43 % (EUR 43,7 million), accrued from various administrative operations. This amount comes mainly from the following sources:

— recovery of parts of the amounts paid to Member States in previous years for delegates' travel expenses following their declarations for 2019 and 2020 (EUR 30,4 million, Chapter 5 7);

— recovery of advance payment to the European Commission’s interpretation service (EUR 6,3 million, Chapter 5 7) and payments by Member States for supplementary on-request interpretation into certain languages (EUR 1,7 million, Chapter 5 7);

— contributions to the administrative costs arising within the framework of the ‘Schengen acquis’ with Iceland and Norway (EUR 1,9 million, Chapter 6 3);

— contributions by other institutions and payments by Council officials for the Council crèche (EUR 0,8 million, Chapter 5 7);

— payments by the Court of Justice, the Court of Auditors and the European University Institute in Florence as their contributions to the common financial system with the Council (EUR 0,7 million, Chapter 5 5);

— proceeds from renting out premises and reimbursements related to them (EUR 0,4 million, Chapter 5 1);

— transfers from the EEAS to the Council as advance payments for the services provided by the GSC to the EEAS (EUR 0,1 million, Chapter 5 5).

3.3. Expenditure in 2020

3.3.1. Modification of the budget in 2020

During the 2020 financial year, the appropriations were reallocated by various transfers. Table 6 shows the decisions which modified the budget appropriations in 2015-2020.

Table 6

Number of budget modifications by type in 2015-2020

Modification Year Type Legal basis 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 Amending budget FR Article 44 0 0 0 0 0 0 Transfer B FR Article 29 27 31 45 52 39 44 Transfer C FR Article 29 2 2 1 2 2 2 Transfer D FR Article 31 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 29 33 46 54 41 46

Two C transfers, which involved informing the budget authority (in accordance with Article 29 of the Financial Regulation), were carried out in 2020:

— C1 transfer of EUR 7 141 000 on 16 July 2020 in order to: — reinforce the Council's teleworking capabilities and enhance the videoconference infrastructure for the European Council, the Council and preparatory bodies (EUR 3 247 000); — finance technical assistance for additional IT actions as a result of the health situation (EUR 2 613 000); — cover the purchase of additional IT equipment and software, including maintenance and servicing (EUR 246 000); — finance the acquisition of licences and tools to increase virtual-communication capacity (EUR 50 000); — support the President of the European Council in addressing the increased demand for communication in all forms, especially in the context of the EU’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic (EUR 400 000); — finance the additional travel expense needs of the President of the European Council and his close protection team (EUR 145 000); — cover unforeseen additional needs in legal expenses and costs corresponding primarily to potential payments of damages and compensation (EUR 440 000).

— C2 transfer of EUR 6 773 000 on 23 November 2020 in order to: — cover projects initially budgeted for a later year but for which the low occupancy of office spaces in GSC buildings due to the Covid-19 pandemic allowed the project cycle to be speeded up (EUR 1 720 000); — finance the purchase of equipment and software to adapt information-management tools and other related software to evolving requirements and needs (EUR 1 860 000); — finance additional assistance in several Council IT activity areas such as the additional analytical features of the Budgetary Database or the integration of the electronic signature functionality into the financial system (EUR 1 800 000); — cover improvements in the cyber defence capabilities necessary in order to better prepare to meet increased security challenges, in particular the adoption of cloud usage policy (EUR 825 000); — finance additional furniture needs linked to the advancement of renovation works (EUR 100 000); — cover a broader information service package including many of the services usually covered by the press (coverage of the event, national briefings and satellite transmission) (EUR 468 000).

In addition, 44 B transfers based on Article 29 (4) of the Financial Regulation internally modified the EC/C budget in 2020.

Table 7 gives an overview of the budget lines which were significantly (3) modified in 2020 by various transfers.

Table 7

Budget lines which were subject to significant transfers in 2020

(EUR) Item Heading Initial Budget 2020 Transfers Final appropriations Difference 1 3 2 0 Medical service 415 000 274 926 689 926 66 % 1 3 2 2 Crèches and childcare facilities 2 837 000 - 274 926 2 562 074 - 10 % 2 0 0 3 Fitting-out and installation work 10 465 000 2 150 000 12 615 000 21 % 2 0 0 4 Work to make premises secure 2 155 000 - 514 000 1 641 000 - 24 % 2 0 0 5 Expenditure preliminary to the acquisition, construction and fitting-out of buildings 918 000 - 280 000 638 000 - 31 % 2 0 1 0 Cleaning and maintenance 18 873 000 - 916 425 17 956 575 - 5 % 2 0 1 1 Water, gas, electricity and heating 4 396 000 - 554 000 3 842 000 - 13 % 2 0 1 2 Buildings security and surveillance 18 493 000 - 790 000 17 703 000 - 4 % 2 0 1 3 Insurance 285 000 312 425 597 425 110 % 2 1 0 0 Acquisition of equipment and software 10 138 000 6 244 964 16 382 964 62 % 2 1 0 1 Outside assistance for the operation and development of computer systems 25 108 000 5 550 692 30 658 692 22 % 2 1 0 2 Servicing and maintenance of equipment and software 7 318 000 -1 056 569 6 261 431 - 14 % 2 1 2 0 Purchase and replacement of technical equipment and installation 3 009 000 437 000 3 446 000 15 % 2 1 2 2 Rental, servicing, maintenance and repair of technical equipment and installations 2 707 000 -1 165 000 1 542 000 - 43 % 2 1 3 2 Rental, maintenance and repair of the vehicle fleet 1 784 000 - 630 000 1 154 000 - 35 % 2 2 0 0 Travel expenses of delegations 17 228 000 16 775 147 34 003 147 97 % 2 2 0 2 Interpreting costs 81 450 000 -24 956 147 56 493 853 - 31 % 2 2 0 4 Miscellaneous expenditure on internal meetings 4 980 000 -1 798 000 3 182 000 - 36 % 2 2 0 5 Organisation of conferences, congresses and meetings 650 000 - 250 000 400 000 - 38 % 2 2 1 3 Information and public events 4 585 000 753 106 5 338 106 16 % 2 2 3 6 Legal expenses and costs, damages and compensation 450 000 415 000 865 000 92 %

3.3.2. Overview of implementation of the budget 2010-2020

The overall implementation rate of the EC/C budget has been 92,8 % on average over the past six years (Graph 1). The implementation rate refers to the commitments made during the budget year out of the available voted budget.

The actual annual payments rate between 2015 and 2020 was on average 82,9 % of the budget. The difference between the overall implementation and payments in a given year (i.e. non-paid commitments) has been carried over, in accordance with Article 12(7) of the Financial Regulation, to the next budget year for payments. Expenditure for remunerations and allowances for members and staff of Union institutions cannot be carried over (Article 12(8) of the Financial Regulation.

Graph 1

Overall budget implementation 2015-2020

For 2020, the appropriations carried over relate to obligations duly contracted before the end of the budget year but where the goods and services had not yet been delivered and/or no invoices had been received before the end of the year.

3.3.3. Implementation of appropriations by category in 2020

The analysis of expenditure in 2020 is presented in 14 expenditure categories.

Table 8 compares the final budget after transfers (column 2) with the outturn of the budget in terms of commitments (column 3). The difference between the final budget and the committed appropriations corresponds to the amounts not used in 2020 and therefore cancelled.

Table 8

Overview of the implementation of the 2020 budget (by category)

(EUR) Category Budget 2020 (initial) Budget 2020 (final (*1)) Commitments Outturn rate Cancelled appropriations 1 2 3 4=3/2 5=2-3 Establishment plan 341 218 000 341 218 000 330 567 554 96,9 % 10 650 446 Other staff expenditure 25 366 000 25 366 000 19 288 360 76,0 % 6 077 640 Buildings (excluding acquisitions) 56 644 000 56 286 000 54 072 077 96,1 % 2 213 923 Computer systems 44 509 000 55 150 000 55 142 173 100,0 % 7 827 Furniture 1 171 000 1 271 000 1 223 252 96,2 % 47 748 Technical equipment 6 026 000 5 458 000 4 993 891 91,5 % 464 109 Transport 2 284 000 1 654 000 1 407 771 85,1 % 246 229 Delegations' travel expenses 17 228 000 34 003 147 34 003 147 100,0 % 0 Interpreting costs 81 450 000 56 493 853 36 837 394 65,2 % 19 656 459 Meetings and conferences 6 285 000 4 085 000 3 056 247 74,8 % 1 028 753 Information 7 235 000 8 103 000 8 100 534 100,0 % 2 466 Miscellaneous 1 217 000 1 545 000 1 476 561 95,6 % 68 439 Reserve — — — — Total (excl. acquisition) 590 633 000 590 633 000 550 168 962 93,1 % 40 464 038 Acquisition of immovable property — — — — Grand total 590 633 000 590 633 000 550 168 962 93,1 % 40 464 038

The overall implementation rate of the 2020 budget is 93,1 %. The difference between the final budget and implementation can be explained as follows:

— The total under-spending in the category of the establishment plan amounts to EUR 10,7 million. This under-spending relates mainly to lower needs for basic salaries (EUR 2,0 million) and to the fact that it was not necessary to use the provision for the annual adjustment of remuneration (EUR 3,6 million). Other elements that explain the underspending are lower needs for various statutory entitlements (EUR 4,1 million) and for social security (EUR 0,4 million) plus lower expenditure relating to overtime (EUR 0,6 million).

— In the category of other staff expenditure, 47 % of the under-spending (EUR 2,9 million out of EUR 6,1 million) relates to staff travel expenses. Savings in other expenditure related to staff (training, medical expenses, social services, etc.) total EUR 1,3 million. Lower payments for contract staff, seconded national experts and other outside services account for another EUR 1,8 million. As regards the President of the European Council, a saving of EUR 0,2 million comes from under-spending of the representation budget and allowances.

— The overall implementation of building-related expenditure resulted in a saving of EUR 2,2 million. Of this amount, EUR 2,1 million is due to lower costs in building security and surveillance, maintenance and cleaning, and consumption of water, gas and electricity. The remaining EUR 0,1 million comes from savings in certain preliminary studies and fitting-out works.

— In the IT domain, the budget implementation was 100 %.

— For furniture, under-spending of EUR 0,05 million is mainly due to lower needs arising from the renting and maintenance of furniture as the EU-Africa multilateral summit was postponed to a later date.

— The EUR 0,5 million saving in technical equipment is mainly due to reduced needs for renting technical equipment and installations and outside assistance.

— The EUR 0,2 million saving in transportation is mainly due to lower final needs for car leasing as the EU-Africa multilateral summit was postponed to a later date.

— The implementation of the delegations' travel expenses was 100 %. The amount available for delegations' travel expenses after transfers amounted to EUR 34,0 million. The initial budget was EUR 17,2 million, to which EUR 21,6 million was transferred from savings in some interpretation envelopes. On the other hand, EUR 4,8 million was transferred to interpretation for the technical envelope (4) and, over the year, EUR 0,05 million was transferred to finance supplementary interpretation in certain languages.

— The under-spending in appropriations for interpretation amounts to EUR 19,7 million. This under-spending is the final result after the transfer of EUR 21,6 million from interpretation envelopes to delegations' travel envelopes (5). The final result also includes the transfer of EUR 4,8 million from delegations' travel expenses as part of the implementation of the new mechanism and of EUR 0,05 million to finance supplementary interpretation in certain languages.

— EUR 0,4 million of the total under-spending of EUR 1,0 million on organising meetings and conferences reflects catering needs lower than were budgeted for. Reduced needs for the renting of external conference rooms and accreditation allowed for an additional saving of EUR 0,1 million. This can be explained by the effect of the pandemic on regular meetings combined with the postponement of the EU-Africa Multilateral Summit.

— The implementation rate of the appropriations in the ‘Information’ category was 100 %.

— In the ‘Miscellaneous’ category, the under-spending of EUR 0,07 million is explained mainly by a combination of reduced needs for office supplies, paper, studies, uniforms and other operating expenditure.

3.4. Appropriations carried over

3.4.1. Appropriations carried over automatically from 2019 to 2020

As presented in Table 9, an amount of EUR 52,5 million was carried over from 2019 to 2020.

Table 9

Implementation of appropriations carried over from 2019 to 2020 (by category)

(EUR) Category Appropriations carried over from 2019 Payments 2020 Outturn rate Cancelled appropriations 1 2 3=2/1 4=1-2 Establishment plan 374 910 295 052 78,7 % 79 858 Other staff expenditure 1 869 455 1 283 872 68,7 % 585 583 Buildings 22 265 219 17 149 124 77,0 % 5 116 094 Computer systems 16 742 152 16 214 304 96,8 % 527 848 Furniture 622 184 605 902 97,4 % 16 282 Technical equipment 2 463 968 2 338 140 94,9 % 125 829 Transport 526 139 383 068 72,8 % 143 071 Delegations' travel expenses — — — Interpreting costs 4 110 564 4 085 741 99,4 % 24 822 Meetings and conferences 889 543 552 737 62,1 % 336 806 Information 2 187 281 2 087 545 95,4 % 99 736 Miscellaneous 492 075 380 178 77,3 % 111 897 Reserve — — — Total 52 543 491 45 375 664 86,4 % 7 167 827

The implementation rate for the appropriations carried over from 2019 was 86,4 %. The main reasons for this implementation rate are:

— partial or complete non-delivery of works/goods/services ordered by the GSC during the previous year;

— invoices not received for works/goods/services delivered. This inevitably constitutes a budgetary burden for the next budget year, as new commitments will have to be introduced in 2021 for those transactions.

3.4.2. Appropriations carried over automatically from 2020 to 2021

Appropriations carried over from 2020 to 2021 totalled EUR 69,6 million.

Table 10

Appropriations carried over from 2020 to 2021 (by category)

(EUR) Category Budget 2020 (initial) Budget 2020 (final (*2)) Commitments Payments 2020 Appropriations carried over to 2021 Carry over rate 1 2 3 4 5=3-4 6=5/3 Establishment plan 341 218 000 341 218 000 330 567 554 330 241 206 326 349 0,1 % Other staff expenditure 25 366 000 25 366 000 19 288 360 17 907 492 1 380 868 7,2 % Buildings 56 644 000 56 286 000 54 072 077 32 099 038 21 973 039 40,6 % Computer systems 44 509 000 55 150 000 55 142 173 31 125 954 24 016 219 43,6 % Furniture 1 171 000 1 271 000 1 223 252 370 430 852 821 69,7 % Technical equipment 6 026 000 5 458 000 4 993 891 1 996 739 2 997 152 60,0 % Transport 2 284 000 1 654 000 1 407 771 889 076 518 695 36,8 % Delegations' travel expenses 17 228 000 34 003 147 34 003 147 34 003 147 0 0,0 % Interpreting costs 81 450 000 56 493 853 36 837 394 23 354 993 13 482 401 36,6 % Meetings and conferences 6 285 000 4 085 000 3 056 247 2 489 108 567 139 18,6 % Information 7 235 000 8 103 000 8 100 534 4 844 083 3 256 451 40,2 % Miscellaneous 1 217 000 1 545 000 1 476 561 1 262 794 213 767 14,5 % Reserve — — — — — Total (excl. acquisition) 590 633 000 590 633 000 550 168 962 480 584 061 69 584 901 12,6 % Acquisition of immovable property — — — — — Grand total 590 633 000 590 633 000 550 168 962 480 584 061 69 584 901 12,6 %

The amounts carried over from 2020 to 2021 come mainly from the following categories:

— buildings: EUR 22,0 million, where various fitting-out works account for EUR 9,9 million, cleaning and maintenance EUR 4,7 million, security and prevention EUR 2,9 million, electricity, water, gas and heating another EUR 1,6 million, works to make the premises secure EUR 1,5 million and EUR 1,4 million of other expenditure related to buildings e.g. building studies;

— computer systems: EUR 24,0 million, of which EUR 13,4 million relates to outside assistance, EUR 9,0 million to equipment and software, EUR 1,0 million to IT services and maintenance and EUR 0,6 million to telecommunications;

— EUR 13,5 million to cover part of the cost of interpretation provided in 2020, but for which invoices have not been fully agreed with European Commission services;

— EUR 3,3 million relates to information expenditure, of which EUR 2,4 million concerns information and public events, EUR 0,7 million documentation and library expenditure and EUR 0,2 million Council publications;

— technical equipment: EUR 3,0 million, of which EUR 2,4 million concerns the purchase and maintenance of conference equipment and EUR 0,6 million outside assistance and maintenance of equipment;

— other staff expenditure: EUR 1,4 million, especially in relation to training and recruitment expenditure (EUR 0,6 million), the medical service and childcare facilities (EUR 0,4 million) and support measures to assist staff (EUR 0,1 million);

— meetings and conferences: EUR 0,6 million, mostly relating to invoices not yet received for organising European Council and Council meetings in 2020;

— furniture: EUR 0,9 million, corresponding to purchases of furniture for certain hospitality areas, the pilot project for New Ways of Working (NWOW) and the crèche building;

— transport: EUR 0,5 million, covering provision for the Council staff mobility plan (EUR 0,3 million) and for rental and repair costs of the vehicle fleet (EUR 0,2 million);

— miscellaneous expenses: EUR 0,2 million, corresponding mostly to legal expenses (EUR 0,1 million), office supplies (EUR 0,03 million) and postal charges (EUR 0,03 million).

3.5. Assigned revenue

3.5.1. Assigned revenue accrued before 2020

The total amount of assigned revenue accrued before 2020 was EUR 14,7 million.

Table 11

Implementation of assigned revenue accrued before 2020 (by category)

(EUR) Category Assigned revenues before 2020 (final (*3)) Commitments 2020 Payments 2020 Outturn rate Cancelled assigned revenues 1 2 3 4=2/1 4=1-2 Establishment plan 4 469 — — 0,0 % 4 469 Other staff expenditure 2 068 489 1 564 717 1 555 069 75,6 % 503 772 Buildings 1 122 040 1 109 096 696 304 98,8 % 12 944 Computer systems 822 837 820 333 809 443 99,7 % 2 503 Furniture — — — — Technical equipment 5 700 4 511 4 511 79,1 % 1 189 Transport 2 616 2 616 — 100,0 % — Delegations' travel expenses 4 831 525 4 831 525 4 831 525 100,0 % — Interpreting costs 5 478 770 5 478 770 5 478 770 100,0 % — Meetings and conferences 90 014 87 854 87 773 97,6 % 2 160 Information — — — — Miscellaneous 7 073 7 073 7 073 100,0 % - 0 Total EC/C 14 433 534 13 906 495 13 470 469 96,3 % 527 038 SLAs with EEAS 262 865 260 794 163 598 99,2 % 2 071 Grand total 14 696 399 14 167 290 13 634 068 96,4 % 529 109

Assigned revenue related to the GSC's activities totalled EUR 14,7 million, of which EUR 14,2 million was duly committed in 2020. The remainder, EUR 0,5 million, was cancelled in accordance with Article 12(1) of the FR.

Another part of the assigned revenue accrued before 2020, EUR 0,3 million, relates to amounts transferred by the EEAS in 2019 to the Council to cover the expenses of services defined in various Service-Level Agreements (SLAs) between the two institutions and provided by the GSC. Of the committed amount of EUR 0,3 million, EUR 0,2 million was paid in 2020.

3.5.2. Assigned revenue carried over for payment from 2019

The total amount of assigned revenue carried over for payment from 2019 was EUR 0,4 million.

Table 12

Implementation of assigned revenue accrued before 2020 carried over to 2020 for payment (by category)

(EUR) Category Assigned revenues carried over for payment from 2019 Payments 2020 Outturn rate Cancelled assigned revenues 1 2 4=2/1 4=1-2 Establishment plan — — — — Other staff expenditure 49 893 4 042 8,1 % 45 851 Buildings 122 651 87 762 71,6 % 34 889 Computer systems 185 146 160 464 86,7 % 24 682 Furniture — — — — Technical equipment 90 30 33,3 % 60 Transport 3 248 1 197 36,9 % 2 051 Delegations' travel expenses — — — — Interpreting costs — — — — Meetings and conferences 915 — — 915 Information 5 028 3 918 — 1 110 Miscellaneous 5 330 — 0,0 % 5 330 Total EC/C 372 301 257 413 69,1 % 114 889 SLAs with EEAS 32 137 32 137 — — Grand total 404 438 289 549 71,6 % 114 889

3.5.3. Assigned revenue accrued before 2020 carried over to 2021 for payment

The assigned revenue accrued before 2020, duly committed but not paid in 2020, was carried over from 2020 to 2021 and totalled EUR 0,5 million.

Table 13

Assigned revenue accrued before 2020 carried over to 2021 (by category)

(EUR) Category Assigned revenues before 2020 (final (*4)) Commitments 2020 Payments 2020 Assigned revenuescarried over to 2021 Carry overrate 1 2 3 4=2-3 5=4/2 Establishment plan 4 469 — — — — Other staff expenditure 2 068 489 1 564 717 1 555 069 9 648 0,6 % Buildings 1 122 040 1 109 096 696 304 412 792 37,2 % Computer systems 822 837 820 333 809 443 10 890 1,3 % Furniture — — — — Technical equipment 5 700 4 511 4 511 — 0,0 % Transport 2 616 2 616 — 2 616 100,0 % Delegations' travel expenses 4 831 525 4 831 525 4 831 525 — 0,0 % Interpreting costs 5 478 770 5 478 770 5 478 770 — 0,0 % Meetings and conferences 90 014 87 854 87 773 81 0,1 % Information — — — — — Miscellaneous 7 073 7 073 7 073 0 0,0 % Total EC/C 14 433 534 13 906 495 13 470 469 436 026 3,1 % SLAs with EEAS 262 865 260 794 163 598 97 196 37,3 % Grand total 14 696 399 14 167 290 13 634 068 533 222 3,8 %

The amounts carried over relate mainly to fitting-out works on buildings (EUR 0,4 million).

3.5.4. Assigned revenue accrued in 2020

The total assigned revenue accrued in 2020 totalled EUR 43,7 million. Of this, EUR 80 000 corresponds to amounts transferred by the EEAS to the Council.

Table 14

Implementation of assigned revenue accrued in 2020 (by category)

(EUR) Category Assigned revenues 2020 (final (*5)) Commitments 2020 Payments2020 Available assigned revenue 1 2 3 4=1-3 Establishment plan 1 753 861 30 000 22 316 1 731 544 Other staff expenditure 1 592 952 224 904 204 996 1 387 956 Buildings 719 778 194 519 192 019 527 758 Computer systems 978 067 424 878 85 694 892 372 Furniture — — — — Technical equipment 16 619 1 326 — 16 619 Transport 6 113 — — 6 113 Delegations' travel expenses 30 385 449 — — 30 385 449 Interpreting costs 7 954 330 45 274 45 274 7 909 056 Meetings and conferences 84 097 — — 84 097 Information 12 784 11 157 240 12 544 Miscellaneous 82 540 6 929 - 0 82 540 Total EC/C 43 586 587 938 987 550 540 43 036 048 SLAs with EEAS 80 000 50 000 — 80 000 Grand total 43 666 587 988 987 550 540 43 116 048

The assigned revenue in 2020 relating to the activities of the GSC amounted to EUR 43,6 million. During the financial year, EUR 0,9 million was committed while EUR 43,0 million was carried over to 2021 in accordance with Article 12(4) of the FR.

Around 70 % of the assigned revenue (EUR 30,4 million) relates to the balance of delegations' travel expenses after submission of their travel declarations and the anticipated reimbursement of the 2020 travel envelopes by several Member States.

EUR 7,9 million corresponds to interpretation, EUR 6,3 million to the reimbursement of the advance payment to the Commission interpretation services, and EUR 1,6 million to top-up payments for certain languages to cover supplementary interpretation in those languages.

The remainder relates mainly to the reimbursement of amounts connected with various administrative operations of the Council.

(1) Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 July 2018 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union, amending Regulations (EU) No 1296/2013, (EU) No 1301/2013, (EU) No 1303/2013, (EU) No 1304/2013, (EU) No 1309/2013, (EU) No 1316/2013, (EU) No 223/2014, (EU) No 283/2014, and Decision No 541/2014/EU and repealing Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 (OJ L 193, 30.7.2018, p. 1).

(2) Directive 2011/7/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 2011 on combating late payment in commercial transactions (OJ L 48, 23.2.2011, p. 1).

(3) Net amount > EUR 250 000.

(*1) Includes internal reallocation of appropriations.

(4) In conformity with Decision 54/18 of the Secretary-General of the Council (Art. 10.3), an amount equivalent to the underspent amount from the previous year under delegates' travel expenses is to be transferred annually to interpretation. In 2020, this amounted to EUR 4,8 million.

(5) In conformity with Decision 54/18 (Art. 10.1), the GSC transfers 66 % of the unused amounts of interpretation language envelopes to the delegates' travel envelopes to be used during the same budget year. In 2020, this amounted to EUR 21,6 million.

(*2) Includes internal reallocation of appropriations.

(*3) Includes internal reallocation of appropriations.

(*4) Includes internal reallocation of appropriations.

(*5) Includes internal reallocation of appropriations.