EN    EN EN 
 
EN    EN  COMMISSION OF THE E UROPEAN COMMUNITIES 
Brussels, 17.11.2008 
SEC(2008) 2840 final 
  
AMENDING LETTER No 3 
TO THE PRELIMINARY DRAFT BUDGET 2009 
STATEMENT OF EXPENDITURE BY SECTION 
Section II - Council 
 
EN 2   EN AMENDING LETTER No 3 
TO THE PRELIMINARY DRAFT BUDGET 2009 
STATEMENT OF EXPENDITURE BY SECTION 
Section II - Council 
Having regard to: 
– the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 272 
thereof, 
– the Treaty establishing the European At omic Energy Community, and in particular 
Article 177 thereof, 
– the Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002 on the 
Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities1, 
as last amended by Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1525/20072, and in 
particular Article 34 thereof, 
the European Commission hereby presents to the budgetary authority the amending letter 
No 3 to the Preliminary Draft Budget for 2009 for the reasons set out  in the explanatory 
memorandum. 
                                                 
1 OJ L 248, 16.9.2002, p. 1. 
2 OJ L 343, 27.12.2006, p.9. 
 
EN 3   EN TABLE OF CONTENTS 
1. Explanatory Memorandum........................................................................................... 4 
2. Summary Table ............................................................................................................ 5 
STATEMENT OF EXPENDITURE BY SECTION  
The statement of expenditure by section is fo rwarded separately via the SEI-BUD system. An 
English version of the expend iture by section is attached for inform ation as a budgetary 
annex. 
 
EN 4   EN 1. E XPLANATORY MEMORANDUM  
This budgetarily neutral letter  of amendment covers the e xpenditure relating to the 
proceedings of the Reflection Group esta blished by the European Council on 
14 December 2007. 
This requirement could not be specified when the preliminary draft budget for 2009 was 
drawn up, as the proposal by the Chairman  of the Reflection Group and its two 
Vice-Chairmen, regarding the composition of the Group, was not approved until the European Council meeting on 15 and 16  October 2008. At that meeting, the 
European Council also decided that the Group w ould start work as soon as possible and that 
the General Secretariat of the C ouncil would provide it with mate rial and logistical support. 
In the light of the Reflection Group's specific activity, and for reasons of budget transparency, 
it is proposed that the expenditure relating to  the Group's proceedings be presented under a 
separate title (Section II - Council, Titl e 4: "Reflection Group") in the 2009 budget. 
The draft letter of amendment comprises the following elements: (a) a sum of EUR 260 000 in non-different iated appropriations , to enable the 
General Secretariat of the Council to engage a special adviser to act as 
secretary-general to the Reflection Group; 
(b) a sum of EUR 220 000 in non-differentiated  appropriations, to cover the expense of 
travel to Brussels by members of the Re flection Group and thei r daily subsistence 
allowances during meetings; 
(c) a sum of EUR 200 000 in non-differentiate d appropriations, to cover the cost of 
interpretation made availa ble to the members of the Reflection Group as necessary; 
(d) a sum of EUR 300 000 in non-differentiate d appropriations, to cover the cost of 
seminars and studies by external experts in  line with the Group's mandate as adopted 
by the European Council; 
(e) a sum of EUR 30 000 in non-differentiate d appropriations, to cover the costs of 
representation, and a sum of EUR 50 000 in  non-differentiated appropriations, to 
cover other operating expenditure. 
Material and logistical support for Reflection Group meetings (Sec retariat officials, offices 
and meeting rooms) would be provided by th e General Secretariat of the Council at no 
additional cost. 
The Reflection Group's total oper ating expenditure for 2009 woul d thus be EUR 1 060 000. It 
is proposed that this sum be taken from the contingency reserve (EUR 2,5 million) which is included in the preliminary draft budget for 2009. 
Details of the budget headings concerne d are given in the attached table. 
 
EN 5   EN 2. S UMMARY TABLE  
TITLE 4 - Expenditure related to the Reflection Group 
Item Description PDB 2009 AL PDB 2009+AL 
4002 Special advisers   260.000 260.000 
400 Other staff and external personnel   260.000 260.000 
4010 Missions   p.m. p.m. 
401 Other expenditure in connection with staff   p.m. p.m. 
Total Chapter 40 - Staff     260.000 260.000 
4300 Travel expenses of members of the Reflection Group   220.000 220.000 
4301 Travel expenses of external experts   p.m. p.m. 
4302 Interpreting costs   200.000 200.000 
4303 Entertainment and representation expenses   30.000 30.000 
4305 Miscellaneous meeting expenses   p.m. p.m. 
430 Meetings and conferences   450.000 450.000 
4311 General publications   p.m. p.m. 
4312 Information and public events   p.m. p.m. 
431 Information   p.m. p.m. 
4321 Expenditure on studies, surveys and consultations   300.000 300.000 
4322 Other operating expenditure   50.000 50.000 
432 Miscellaneous expenses   350.000 350.000 
Total Chapter 43 - Operating expenditure     800.000 800.000 
TOTAL TITLE 4 - Expenditure related to  the Reflection Group   1.060.000 1.060.000 
10 0 Provisional appropriati ons   p.m. p.m. p.m. 
10 1 Contingency reserve   2.500.000 -1.060.000 1.440.000 
TITLE 10 - Other expenditure   2.500.000 -1.060.000 1.440.000 
TOTAL BUDGET   unchanged 0 unchanged