A4-0162/96

Resolution on the estimates of revenue and expenditure of the European Parliament and the estimates of revenue and expenditure of the Ombudsman for the 1997 financial year

The European Parliament

- having regard to its resolution of 28 March 1996 on the guidelines for the 1997 budgetary procedure ((Minutes of that Sitting, Part II, Item 9(a).)),

- having regard to its resolution of 18 April 1996 on the proposal for a European Parliament and Council Decision on the adjustment of the financial perspective to take account of the conditions of implementation (submitted by the Commission pursuant to paragraph 10 of the Interinstitutional Agreement of 29 October 1993 ((Minutes of that Sitting, Part II, Item 1.)),

- having regard to the Secretary-General's report,

- having regard to the preliminary draft estimates established by the Bureau on 16 April 1996 pursuant to Rules 22(5) and (6) and 165(1) of the Rules of Procedure,

- having regard to the conclusions of the Edinburgh European Council of 12 December 1992 and in particular the 'decision taken by common agreement between the representatives of the governments of the Member States on the location of the seats of the institutions and of certain bodies and departments of the European Communities',

- having regard to the provisions of the Financial Regulation and in particular Articles 12, 13 and 55 thereof and the declaration on the presentation of an analytical budget,

- having regard to the decision of the European Parliament of 9 March 1994 on the regulations and general conditions governing the performance of the Ombudsman's duties and in particular Article 11 thereof ((OJ L 113, 4.5.1994, p. 15.)),

- having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgets (A4-0162/96),

I. GENERAL FRAMEWORK

1. Recalls that the 1997 budgetary procedure is subject to the financial framework established by the 1993/1999 financial perspective in force;

2. Points out in this connection that:

(a) the rate of increase in heading 5 of the financial perspective 'Administrative expenditure' is 3.8%;

(b) the appropriations must be used in accordance with the principles of sound financial management, in particular cost-saving and cost- effectiveness;

(c) the allocation of the volume of expenditure in heading 5 'Administrative expenditure' must, as a matter of priority, finance 'expenditure the renewal of which is subject to rules in the Staff Regulations or to compliance with current contractual obligations' ((See paragraph 2 of its abovementioned resolution of 28 March 1996 on the guidelines for the 1997 budgetary procedure.));

(d) the BF/ECU conversion rate used to calculate the appropriations requested is 38.6974 and the FF/ECU conversion rate is 6.4458;

(e) salary adjustments and the average rate of inflation have been estimated at 2.4% and 2% respectively for the 1997 financial year;

3. Notes that the 1997 financial year will be marked by a considerable increase in property expenditure because of the handing over of the D3 building in Brussels and the IPE IV building in Strasbourg;

4. Recalls the recommendation of the political group chairmen of 14 November 1988 that Parliament's budget should be established at a level equivalent to 20% of the expenditure provided for in heading 5 of the financial perspective;

5. Points out that in the conclusions of the Trialogue of 16 April 1996, the three institutions (Parliament, Council and Commission) confirmed the guideline that no new posts should be created in the budget;

6. Notes that these estimates are accompanied by an analytical budget and a report on staffing policy, in accordance with the financial provisions and the budgetary authority's conclusions concerning interinstitutional cooperation ((See conclusions concerning the rationalization of administrativeexpenditure in its resolution of 26 October 1995 on the draft general budget of the European Union for the financial year 1996 (OJ C 308, 20.11.1995, p. 122). ));

7. Notes, however, that this analytical budget will have to be supplemented by a section dealing with all expenditure relating to the Ombudsman;

8. Confirms the spirit of close cooperation in which these estimates have been adopted, the importance of such cooperation having been highlighted at the seminar of 21 November 1995 convened by its President;

Parliament

9. Adopts Parliament's estimates for the 1997 financial year ((For complete text see Volume 2 of the preliminary draft general budget for the financial year 1997, Section I - Parliament)) totalling ECU 884 387 095 in expenditure and ECU 54 062 283 in own resources, which correspond to an allocation of 20% of the volume of expenditure allowed for in heading 5 'Administrative expenditure'; estimates the volume for reuse at ECU 2 017 500;

II. ESTABLISHMENT PLAN

10. Draws attention to the following aspects of the Secretary-General's report:

(a) presentation of a list of posts in the budget by administrative unit, which provides greater budgetary transparency;

(b) figures for the rate of recruitment of officials who are nationals of the new Member States (of the 305 posts created, 186 posts or 61% have been filled, 109 by officials, 64 by temporary staff and 13 by auxiliary staff);

(c) information on implementation of the termination-of-service regulation for officials in the Secretariat and temporary staff in the political group secretariats;

(d) the structural reforms and new working methods introduced to meet new needs in the areas of legislative activity, external relations, the functional regrouping of committee secretariats, information, relations with the national parliaments of the Member States and the legal field;

(e) departmental reorganization, redeployments and posts abolished; between 1995 and 1997 18 posts will have been abolished, including 13 under Article 41 of the Staff Regulations;

(f) progress in career planning in the political group secretariats, in response to the request made during consideration of the draft budget for the 1996 financial year ((See paragraph 21 of its abovementioned resolution of 26 October 1995 on the draft general budget of the European Union for the financial year 1996.)) and the importance of continuing this process;

(g) developments in the area of interinstitutional cooperation and, in particular, interinstitutional competitions;

11. Maintains the establishment plan at is current staffing level, except for the creation of ten permanent posts in the Secretariat (2 A7, 2 B5 and 6 C5) in the department for relations with the political groups, which is without financial implications;

12. Authorizes the appropriations for upgradings and the award of 'ad personam' grades and other measures concerning the establishment plan as follows:

(a) in the Secretariat: 8 A5 to A4, 3 A7 to A6, 10 B2 to B1, 3 B4 to B3, 58 C2 to C1, 12 C4 to C3 and 12 LA5 to LA4;

(b) in the secretariat of the non-attached Members: 1 A6 to A5 and 1 C3 to C2;

(c) the award of 9 ad personam grades: 2 A2 to A1, 1 A3 to A2, 1 B1 to A5, 4 C1 to B3 and 1 D1 to C3;

(d) the regrading in the establishment plan of the former post of deputy Director-General of parliamentary committees in grade A2 following the Bureau's decision of 31 January 1996 to use this post for the appointment of a Director within the Directorate-General concerned;

(e) the extension from 1996 to 1998 of the time limit on two temporary A7 posts filled by two architects;

(f) the release of 7 LA7 posts to meet requirements in the area of the legal and linguistic checking of legislative texts;

(g) in the political group secretariats, 1 A5 to A4, 1 B2 to B1, 1 B3 to B2, 1 B4 to B3, 3 C1 to B4, 2 C2 to C1 and 1 C4 to C3;

13. Reaffirms its support for further interinstitutional cooperation and points out in this context the crucial importance of new information technologies;

14. Recalls here its request for a report to be drawn up assessing over a period of five years 'the impact of professional training, indicating in particular the disciplines chosen, the number of hours given over to them, the cost and number of persons per discipline, the impact on the organization of work, and the rate of participation per official and by category of staff, plus teachers of language courses for Members' ((See paragraph 11 of its abovementioned resolution of 28 March 1996 on the guidelines for the 1997 budgetary procedure.)) and therefore calls on the Secretary-General to submit his report before the first reading of the draft budget for 1997;

15. Points out that the movement of staff between categories, which is governed by the Staff Regulations, must be effected by means of the relevant procedures, in particular internal competitions of a general nature; emphasises that this approach does not call into question the career planning system as confirmed in recent financial years;

16. Stresses that budgetary means have to be complemented by non-budgetary means of creating confidence in EU institutions; as a first step, the European Parliament introduces the full accountability of its Members for secretarial and general expenditure allowances; recalls in this context its call in its resolution of 17 May 1995 on the functioning of the Treaty on European Union with a view to the 1996 Intergovernmental Conference - Implementation and development of the Union ((OJ C 151, 19.6.1995, p. 56.)) to establish a Statute for its Members;

17. Enters under item 1301 the following appropriations:

- part-sessions 10 960 000

- committee meetings in the three places of work1 190 000

- meetings of committees or their delegations away from the285 000

three places of work

- delegations for relations with the parliaments of third550 000

countries

- ACP meetings665 000

- political group meetings in the three places of work330 000

- political group meetings away from the three places of work1 050 000

- other missions in the three places of work2 000 000

- other missions away from the three places of work1 000 000

- professional training365 000

- joint parliamentary committee delegations420 000

- ad hoc missions away from the three places of work60 000

Total18 875 000

18. Calls, with regard to the interpretation service, with reference to the 1995 financial year, for a report analysing the organization of work and specifying, in particular, the rate of coverage of the various meetings (part-sessions, political groups, parliamentary committees, etc) by Staff Regulations staff (officials and temporary members of staff) on the basis of the number of posts authorized in the establishment plan for that financial year; enters an appropriation of ECU 4.5 million in Chapter 100 to be allocated to Item 1870;

III. MOVEMENTS IN APPROPRIATIONS

19. Points out that the scheduled handing over of the D3 building in Brussels in April 1997 and the IPE IV building in Strasbourg in October 1997 will result in a substantial increase in appropriations for Article 200 (Rent) based on an estimated investment cost of ECU 831.5 m for the D3 building, land included, and a provisional investment cost of ECU 410 m for the IPE IV building;

20. Points out that the financial implications will not be confined to a single financial year and will therefore:

(a) require austerity measures applying to the whole budget;

(b) presuppose optimum allocation of the resources available under heading 5 'administrative expenditure';

(c) necessitate further planning and interinstitutional cooperation with regard to the occupancy and relinquishment of buildings, bearing in mind the scale of the operation and the involvement of several institutions; consequently instructs its Secretary-General to submit a report on this matter before the first reading of the draft budget;

21. Sets the appropriations for Article 200 (Rent) at ECU 137 040 023 for all Parliament's stock of buildings (excluding external offices), an increase of 120.21% over 1996;

22. Points out in this context that this appropriation provides for calculation of the rent on the basis of:

(a) funding the new D3 and IPE IV buildings over a ten-year period;

(b) the Belgian authorities' honouring their commitment to provide the land for the D3 building;

(c) revision of the plan to relinquish the Van Maerlant building to the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions during 1997, and hence the allocation of appropriations for six months;

23. Points out that heading 5 'administrative expenditure' of the financial perspective for the financial year 1996 provides a margin of ECU 62.378 m and that the BF/ECU conversion rate has evolved favourably since June 1995;

24. Considers therefore that, at the present stage of implementation of the 1996 budget and in accordance with the financial provisions, this monetary situation should make it possible to:

(a) start the procedure for a supplementary and amending budget for 1996 designed exclusively to fund expenditure relating to the new buildings, with financial statements establishing whether funding can also be provided for subsequent financial years, from 1998 onwards;

(b) prevent this SAB from involving retrospective budgetization of expenditure which was not authorized when the 1996 budget was adopted;

(c) explore, in a concern for transparency and rational management of procedures, the possibility of coordination with other SAB requests from the other institutions;

25. Enters in Chapter 100 an appropriation of ECU 9 million, including ECU 4.5 million to be allocated to Article 203 'Cleaning and maintenance' and ECU 4.5 million to be allocated to Article 205, 'Security'; stipulates that the release of these funds should be conditional on the actual handing over of the new D3 and IPE IV buildings and calls, at the same time, for a report on the operation of the security system;

26. Instructs its Secretary-General to submit a report, before Parliament's first reading of the budget, on how Parliament might finance, over a three- year period, the construction of an annex to the Jean Monnet House, which is already the property of the European Parliament; this annex, which would also be the property of the European Parliament, will be needed to cope with the increasing flow of visitors, especially young people, to this highly symbolic commemorative building;

Epicentre

27. Considers that it is essential to continue the in-depth study of the implementation of the project, both with regard to equipment and the transfer of staff; enters the sum of ECU 9 700 000 under Item 2210, 'New purchases of furniture' and enters the sum of ECU 300 000 in Chapter 100, 'Provisional appropriations', to be allocated to Item 2210; instructs its Secretary-General to submit, before the first reading of the draft budget, a report on the stage of implementation of the project and a multiannual forecast of the cost of the Epicentre in staff and appropriations;

28. Notes the Bureau's wishes concerning the appropriations for the translation and new presentation of the verbatim report of proceedings; nonetheless insists that in the interests of openness and equal treatment of the official and working languages of the European Union speeches other than those concerning procedural matters and the conduct of proceedings should continue to be translated and published in all these languages after 1996; instructs the Secretary-General to submit a report on the new presentation of the verbatim report of proceedings before the first reading of the 1997 budget;

Information policy

29. Considers that the extra ECU 1 million for the information campaign of the Institutions (Chapter 27) should be put in reserve (Chapter 100); asks the Secretary-General to take all necessary measures to ensure that information campaigns are conducted on the basis of interinstitutional cooperation in accordance with the decisions taken during the 1996 budgetary procedure;

30. Enters under Item 3705 'Contribution to secretarial expenses of the political groups' an appropriation of ECU 12.5 million and under Item 3706 'Other political activities' an appropriation of ECU 7 million;

31. Recalls the request made in its resolution of 15 March 1996 on the closure of Parliament's accounts for the 1995 financial year ((Minutes of that Sitting, Part II, Item 2.)) with regard to the management of certain budget headings;

Parliamentary assistants

32. Notes its resolutions of April 1994 and October 1995; notes the discussions between the services of the Commission and Parliament on the status of parliamentary assistants; instructs its Secretary-General to submit, before the first reading, a report setting out the positions of the institutions and the steps taken to ensure that the Commission can submit the necessary proposal swiftly;

33. Enters a sum of ECU 2 500 000 in Chapter 101 'contingency reserve';

Ombudsman

34. Notes that, in accordance with the provisions of Article 12 of the Financial Regulation, the Ombudsman has forwarded to the European Parliament before 1 May 1996 estimates of his revenue and expenditure for the financial year 1997 together with a letter of amendment in accordance the provisions of Article 14 of the Financial Regulation establishing these overall estimates at ECU 2 820 819 in expenditure and ECU 260 321 in revenue;

35. Notes in this context the creation of six new posts, 1 A4, 1 A6, 1 B3, 1 C3, 1 C4 and 1 D2 and for entry in the budget of expenditure relating to buildings, equipment and miscellaneous expenditure;

36. Points out, in relation to the creation of new posts, that it would be desirable to consider creating new posts at the basic grade in each category and implementing the declaration annexed to Article 11 of Parliament's decision on the Ombudsman ((A joint statement by the three institutions will set out guiding principles for the number of staff employed by the Ombudsman, and the status as temporary or contract staff of those carrying out inquiries OJ L 113, 4.5.1994, p. 15.)) and that account should be taken of the conclusions of the Trialogue of 16 April 1996 advocating that establishment plans should be maintained at the levels authorized for the 1996 financial year;

37. Notes with regard to the appropriations:

(a) the high level of appropriations allocated to Articles 130 'Mission expenses, travel expenses and incidental expenditure', 112 'Further training', 117 'Supplementary services', 250 'Meetings in general', 260 'Limited consultations, studies and surveys', 270 'Expenditure on publishing and information', and the failure to take account of interinstitutional cooperation in the appropriations allocated to Article 210 'Data processing';

(b) the creation of a contingency reserve equivalent to 2% of the total appropriations required in Chapter 100 'Provisional appropriations';

38. Takes the view that these estimates can be considered under the same rules as applied to the estimates of the Economic and Social Committee when these were an annex to the Council budget;

39. Reserves the right therefore to examine these proposals as a whole within the framework of the draft budget established by the Council.

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40. Urges that, at the end of each annual budgetary procedure, a report should be published explaining the European Parliament's policy priorities in the context of the budget of the European Communities with the primary aim of supplying information to the national parliaments;

41. Points out that these estimates are presented for the first time in running text and that for their production the interinstitutional program for computerization of the budget (SEI-BUD) has been used;

42. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the institutions concerned and the Ombudsman.