A4-0079/97

Resolution on the guidelines for the 1998 budgetary procedure: Section I - Parliament, Annex Ombudsman, Section II - Council, Section IV - Court of Justice, Section V - Court of Auditors, Section VI - Economic and Social Committee and Committee of the Regions

The European Parliament,

- having regard to the 1997 budget ((OJ L 44, 14.2.1997.)),

- having regard to the Annual Report of the Court of Auditors concerning the financial year 1995 ((OJ C 340, 12.11.1996.)),

- having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgets (A4-0079/97),

A. whereas the 1997 budget, adopted on 18 December 1996, has left an amount of ECU 68.388m available within heading 5 'Administrative expenditure¨,

B. whereas expenditure on property will have a major impact on administrative expenditure as a whole, in 1998 as well, especially in the budget of the European Parliament,

C. whereas the institutions of the Union should step up interinstitutional cooperation,

D. whereas respecting the deadlines for the submission of the reports and other information requested from the institutions on various administrative matters by Parliament in its resolution of 12 December 1996 ((Minutes of that Sitting, Part II, Item 2(b).)) should aid a coherent examination of the proposals of these institutions when they submit their 1998 budget estimates,

E. whereas the analytical budgets drawn up on the basis of harmonised criteria identify the administrative expenditure in terms of human resources and appropriations, within each section of the budget, by the use to which expenditure is assigned, and provide added transparency to the budget process in each institution,

F. whereas the second reading of the 1997 budget for the other institutions concerned ECU 285 thousand in total, and whereas this difference was resolved through thirteen amendments; whereas focussing on rigour and cost-effectiveness during the examination of administrative expenditure, principles shared by the Council in its examination, should enable the two arms of the budgetary authority to dispense with the second reading of the draft budget in this area of expenditure,

G. whereas, in determining expenditure priorities, increased openness and transparency should be ensured to bring the institutions closer to the citizens of Europe,

General framework

1. Takes the view that, on the basis of the macroeconomic forecasts, heading 5 'Administrative expenditure¨ is expected to increase by 4.34%, i.e. to total ECU 4,541 m in appropriations at current prices ((In compliance with the provisions of the Interinstitutional Agreement of 29 October 1993 on budget discipline and improvement of the budgetary procedure, and in particular Article 19 thereof. ));

2. Notes, however, that this increase should not constitute a target, and that the Commission has adopted a guideline to keep the general budget increase in 1998 to a maximum of 3%;

3. Requests each institution and body to show in tabular form in the documents accompanying their estimates that part of the appropriations, the renewal of which is subject to rules in the Staff Regulations or to compliance with current contractual obligations or which are decided for specific purposes with precise supporting documentation;

4. Takes the view that all the institutions should, mutatis mutandis, develop programmes similar to the SEM 2000 introduced by the Commission to improve its financial management;

Human resources

5. Notes that the 'other institutions' of the Union have benefited from an increase in staff of 23% over the last ten years, including posts linked to enlargement;

6. Recognises that this increase has not changed the breakdown by category of posts in the establishment plans of the institutions, excepting the bottlenecks in the grades of end of career posts for certain categories of staff;

7. Notes that it is still common practice for institutions to recruit auxiliary staff while authorized posts remain vacant; furthermore notes that institutions have regularly increased the appropriations voted in the budget for auxiliary staff through transfers between items during the financial year;

8. Considers that each appointing authority's report should specify the departments that benefit from such staff and should set out clearly the reasons for this systematic recourse to such staff, accompanied, if necessary, by proposals for changes in grade of post;

9. Requests that each institution should show in tabular form, accompanying its budget estimates:

- the permanent and temporary posts by grade, category, function and department, to be vacated during the 1998 financial year through normal retirement;

- the tasks fulfilled by external, non-established staff, based on the basic instruments and specifications in contracts that are in force with third parties;

- the number of temporary officials occupying permanent posts, indicating the length of the contract, the department concerned, the category and the grade;

10. Takes the view that, as in 1997, no new posts should be created in 1998 for 'other institutions' overall, while recognising the special staff needs of the Court of Auditors, so that it can respond effectively to the additional tasks attributed to it by the TEU - preparing the Statement of Assurance; reminds the Court of the request in its abovementioned resolution of 12 December 1996 for a report on global staff needs over the coming years; insists that all staff requests by the institutions should first be covered by redeployment of existing human resources;

11. Underlines the need to provide justifications for each proposed upgrading of post in a report drawn up by each appointing authority which commits the latter to a clearly defined policy of planning and managing its human resources;

12. Considers that the EU institutions need highly qualified staff to carry out the policy task conferred on them; therefore calls for recourse to third parties (external consultants) to be reduced to a strict minimum;

13. Calls on the institutions to review in detail within the interinstitutional consultative bodies, including the interinstitutional joint committee, the organizational arrangements and tests for the different types of joint competitions to recruit regular staff, and to recommend changes, so that candidates with the technical and professional skills appropriate for the new and updated tasks conferred on the institutions may be recruited, while respecting good equal opportunities practices and a code of conduct for the employment of disabled persons;

Appropriations for property and supplies

14. Notes that the extent of its own property programme and its budgetisation in 1998 as well as the accommodation needs of the other institutions require effective coordination in programming the occupation and moving out of buildings between all the institutions concerned, and in taking account of the development of heading 5 of the financial perspective in 1998;

15. Reaffirms its policy of property acquisitions in as short a time as possible, consistent with other budget demands; recommends this as an appropriate policy for other institutions and urges that interinstitutional cooperation to this end be accelerated;

16. Insists that an appropriate and operational structure be set up without delay to evaluate the objective accommodation needs of the institutions on the basis of clear and unambiguous information, by administrative unit, starting from the current properties occupied by the institutions, taking account of the accord between the European Parliament President and the Luxembourg Government of 22 July 1996 and of the Bureau decision of 3 September 1996;

17. Calls on the institutions, within the framework of interinstitutional cooperation, to draw up a plan for occupancy of the buildings to ensure that any building to be vacated by an institution is the subject of a feasibility study by the other institutions who are to relocate in order to avoid any unnecessary expenditure; asks that in every case where a building is turned down a report setting out the reasons should be submitted to the budgetary authority;

18. Invites the institutions to specify the contracts in force for the acquisition of goods and services, that have been concluded by direct agreement, for reasons of apparent urgency, technical capabilities, exclusive capacity, or satisfying specific requirements according to past services rendered; they should include only those which have a financial impact (either as expenditure or as revenue) in the 1998 financial year;

Information technology, and information policy

19. Is aware of the measures to consult broadly in drawing up the institutions' information material, to avoid duplication, and to sharpen each individual institution's and body's image, with the aim of continuing towards the long- term goal of a coherent information and publications system for the European Union and its citizens; recalls the vital need for interinstitutional cooperation; recognises the role of a modern library and documentation centre, and the utility of other information sources; seeks clarification specifically on the role, functions and staffing of the EPICENTRE;

20. Records its concern about the information technology strategies adopted by institutions; seeks information on the extent to which the systems installed have provided the productivity gains initially forecast, have allowed operational interinstitutional communication of information, have extended staff capacities and encouraged staff reallocation, taking account of the investment cost in financial and human terms;

21. Calls on each institution to make available to the budgetary authority, with its draft estimates, the inventory of the hardware and software used in the information technology system and plans for migration over the next three years; regrets that the European citizen wishing to visit the European Union's web site has a number of disparate sites to visit, of uneven quality and not all fully linked; urges that interinstitutional cooperation should be made more effective in this sector, to ensure that the ordinary citizen's aspirations are not disappointed, and that funding on new technologies is wisely used;

Miscellaneous issues

22. Requests each institution to provide supporting documentation with the budget estimates:

- justifying its request for mission expenses by sector of activity, including mission expenses for professional training;

- describing the number and location of annual leave cases where the place of origin is outside the European Union according to Annex V Article 7 of the Staff Regulations, and the expenditure on these cases;

23. Calls on the institutions to continue work on harmonizing budgetary nomenclature and to present, in their estimates, an invoicing system for activities developed on the basis of interinstitutional cooperation;

24. Insists that this nomenclature should be accompanied by clear and relevant remarks which include references to the appropriate regulations in force;

25. Invites the institutions, wherever possible, to combine budget items that are intended for similar activities and for small amounts, ensuring appropriate remarks;

26. Considers that any new activity or any reorganisation of activities that allows each institution to fulfil the functions that the Treaty confers on it should nevertheless be covered by a financial statement which makes clear, inter alia, whether the activity is annual or multiannual;

27. Requests the institutions to submit to the budgetary authority with their budget estimates the conclusions and proposals arising from the most recent physical inventories that they have undertaken on their movable property, within interinstitutional cooperation;

28. States that the first reading of the draft budget for the financial year 1998 will be guided by the results of the implementation of the appropriations of the 1996 budget; close examination will be made of any lines in the 1997 budget which were made available as donors for transfers early in the financial year;

29. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to all the institutions and consultative bodies concerned.