21.6.93 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities NoC170/33
OPINIONNo5/93OFTHECOURTOFAUDITORS OFTHEEUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
onaproposedCouncilRegulation (EEC,Euratom)amendingRegulation (EEC,Euratom)No
1552/89implementing Decision88/376/EEC,EuratomonthesystemoftheCommunities '
ownresources
(93/C170/05)
differentfromthoseusedinthecaseoftheEAGGF
monetaryreserve.Theseproceduresshouldpreferablybe
standardized ,takingthoseusedfortheEAGGFreserveasa
reference .
Financingthereserves
2.TheCommission ,inthenewfourthsub-paragraph of
Article10(3),hasgivenitselftheoptionofdispensingwith
callingupthespecificGNPresourceswhicharenecessary
forfinancingtheEAGGFmonetaryreserveandthereserve
foremergencyaidifthesituationasregardstheimplemen­
tationoftheBudgetsoallows.Thesameoptionhasnot
beenallowed,however,forthereservetoguarantee
Communityloansandloanguaranteestonon-member
countries .THECOURTOFAUDITORS OFTHEEUROPEAN COM­
MUNITIES ,
HavingregardtotheTreatyestablishingtheEuropean
AtomicEnergyCommunity ,andinparticularArticle183
thereof,
HavingregardtotheTreatyestablishingtheEuropean
EconomicCommunity ,andinparticularArticle209
thereof,
HavingregardtoCouncilDecision88/376/EEC,Euratom
of24June1988(!)onthesystemoftheCommunities 'own
resources ,
HavingregardtoCouncilRegulation (EEC,Euratom)No
1552/89of29May1989(2)implementing Decision88/
376/EEC,EuratomonthesystemoftheCommunities 'own
resources ,
HavingregardtotheproposalpresentedbytheCommis­
sionon17February1993,
HavingregardtotheCouncil'srequest,receivedbythe
Courton12March1993,fortheCourtofAuditorstobe
consultedaboutthisproposal,
WhereastheCommission'sproposalintroduces,forthe
newreservestoguaranteeCommunityloansandloan
guaranteestonon-membercountriesandtoguarantee
emergencyaid,operationalprocedurescomparableto
thosecurrentlygoverningtheEAGGFmonetaryreserve;
whereastherewouldthusbegroundsfortreatingallof
thesereservesinthesameway,
HASADOPTEDTHEFOLLOWING OPINION :3.Tofinancethisonereserve,theCommissionwillthus
havetocallupspecificfundsfromtheMemberStates,even
whensurplusfundsareavailableintheBudget.TheCourt
notesthattheprocedureswhichapplytotheothertwo
reservesweremeanttopreventthisverysituationarising,
intheinterestofbudgetarygoodhousekeeping .
4.Furthermore ,theadministration ,onacase-by-case
basis,ofcallsforfundsfromthisparticularGNPresource
couldbeespeciallytime-consuming ifindividualoperations
financedbytheGuaranteeFundprovetobenumerousand/
orfrequent.
PARTONE
Generalobservations
Proceduresforenteringownresourcesinthe
accounts
1.TheproceduresfortheentryintheCommission
accountprovidedforinArticle9ofRegulation (EEC,
Euratom)No1552/89ofresourcesforthenewreservesareAdjustmentoftherateoftheGNPresource
expressedintheBudget
5.Accordingtothebudgetaryprocedure,therateofthe
GNPresourceistobecalculated,inaccordancewith
Article5ofRegulation (EEC,Euratom)No1552/89,in
suchawaythatitcoversappropriations enteredunderthe
headingswhichcorrespondtothetwonewreserves,asis
alreadythecasefortheEAGGFmonetaryreserve.Theown
resourcesinquestionwillonly,however,becalledupwhen
thereservesareimplemented .(!)OJNoL185,15.7.1988,p.24.
(2)OJNoL155,7.6.1989,p.1.

NoC170/34 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities 21.6.93
6.Itwillthusbenecessary,inordertocalculatethe
balancesoftheGNPresourceinthefollowingfinancial
year,toapplytotheGNPstatisticsprovidedbythe
MemberStatesfortheyearinquestionabudgetaryrate
whichhasbeenamendedbecausethesenewreserveshave
beenused,aslaiddowninArticle10(7)ofthesame
RegulationfortheEAGGFreserve.Therearethusgrounds
foraddingthetwonewreservestotheEAGGFreserve.MemberStates,andtheamountsinquestionmayexceed,if
necessary,itstotalassets,regardlessofavailableappropri­
ationsandthelimitforownresourcesaslaiddowninthe
Budget.
8.Evenifsuchasituationcanonlybeprovisional,thereis
thepotentialriskthatthefinancialmanagementmayhave
deleteriousconsequencesfortheCommunityBudget.Inits
previousOpinions,theCourtstressedthenecessityof
referringthemattertothebudgetaryauthority.Itcanonly
repeatitspreviousproposal :thatauthorization besought
fromthebudgetaryauthoritypriortoanycallforsurplus
expenditure .
PARTTWO
Examination ofindividualarticles
Inthefollowingsummarytable,theCourtsetsoutthe
amendmentstotheCommission'sproposalthatwere
adumbrated inPartOne:Financialmanagement
7.TheproposalforaRegulationsettingupaGuarantee
Fundservestotightentheprovisionsforcopingwith
defaultsonthepartofrecipientsofloansguaranteedbythe
Community .Nevertheless ,thereremainsthepossibility
thattheCommunitymayhavetomakeadirectcommit­
mentviaitsBudget.Inthiscase,theprovisionsofArticle12
(3)ofRegulation (EEC,Euratom )No1552/89allowthe
Commission ,bywayofanexception,towithdrawthe
requisitesumsfromitsownresourceaccountsinthe

THECOMMISSION 'SPROPOSAL THECOURT'SPROPOSAL COMMENTS
Article1
Thisamendmentaimstostandardize,forthethree
reserves,theentryproceduresforownresourcescalled
upfromMemberStates.Movetothefirstsubparagraph afterthewords
'Decision88/376/EEC,Euratom'thefollowingwords
fromthesecondsubparagraph :
'ofthereservetoguaranteeCommunityloansandloan
guaranteestonon-membercountriesandinthose
countriesandthereserveforemergencyaidestablished
byCouncilDecision...(*)[concerningbudgetarydisci­
pline]'Thesecondsubparagraph ofArticle10(3)ofRegu­
lation(EEC,Euratom)No1552/89,isreplacedbythe
following.
'TheentryinrespectoftheEAGGFmonetaryreserve
referredtoinArticle6ofDecision88/376/EEC,
Euratomshallbemadeonthefirstworkingdayofthe
monthfollowingthechargingtotheBudgetofthe
expenditureconcernedandshallbelimitedtothesaid
expenditureifchargingiseffectedbeforethe16thdayof
themonth.Ifsuchisnotthecase,theentryshallbemade
onthefirstworkingdayofthesecondmonthafter
charging.'21.6.93 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities NoC170/35Theentryinrespectofthereservetoguarantee
Communityloansandloanguaranteestonon-member
countriesandinthosecountriesandthereservefor
emergencyaidestablishedbyCouncilDecision...
[concerningbudgetarydiscipline*]shallbemadeonthe
firstworkingdayofthesecondmonthfollowingthe
chargingtotheBudgetoftheexpenditureconcerned
andshallbelimitedtothesaidexpenditure .
BywayofderogationfromArticle5oftheFinancial
Regulation,theseentriesshallbetakenintoaccountin
thefinancialyeartowhichtheyrelate.
However,ifthesituationasregardstheimplementation
ofthebudgetfortheyearissuchthattheentriesrelating
totheEAGGFmonetaryreserveandthereservefor
emergencyaidarenotnecessarytoachieveabalance
betweenrevenueandexpenditurefortheyear,the
Commissionmaydecidetodispensewiththeseentries
orpartoftheseentries.
(*)ojNoL

THECOMMISSION 'SPROPOSAL THECOURT'SPROPOSAL COMMENTS
Thisamendmentaimstodeterminecorrectlythe
amendedGNPratetobeappliedtostatisticalGNPs.Afterthewords'EAGGFmonetaryreserve'add:
'ofthereservetoguaranteeCommunityloansandloan
guaranteestonon-member countriesandinthose
countriesandthereserveforemergencyaid,'
in'12paymentsmadeduringthatpreviousfinancial
year',delete'12'ToArticle10(7)(notamendedbytheCommission ):
7.OnthebasisoffiguresforaggregateGNPatmarket
pricesanditscomponentsfromtheprecedingyear,
suppliesbytheMemberStatesinaccordancewith
Article3(2)ofDirective89/130/EEC,Euratom,each
MemberStateshallbedebitedwithanamount
calculatedbyapplyingtoGNPtheuniformrateadopted
forthepreviousfinancialyear,amended,where
appropriate,inthelightofanyuseoftheEAGGF
monetaryreserve,andcreditedwith12paymentsmade
duringthatpreviousfinancialyear.TheCommission
shallworkoutthebalanceandshallinformtheMember
Statesintimeforthemtoenteritintheaccountreferred
toinArticle9(1)ofthisRegulationonthefirstworking
dayofDecemberofthesameyear.NoC170/36 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities 21.6.93InitsopinionsNos6/88of14July1988and8/88of17
November1988,theCourtstressedthatifthe
Communityguaranteeisindeedtobehonouredwhen
recipientsofloansdefault,theconsequencesofsucha
financialguaranteemaynotbebornedirectlybythe
CommunityoritsMemberStateswithouttheprior
authorizationofthebudgetaryauthority.Article12
3.Inthesolecaseofdefaultunderaloancontracted
pursuanttoCouncilRegulationsandDecisions,in
circumstances inwhichtheCommissioncannotactivate
othermeasuresprovidedforbythefinancialarrange­
mentsapplyingtotheseloansintimetoensure
compliancewiththeCommunity'slegalobligationsto
itslenders,theprovisionsofparagraphs2and4may
provisionallybeapplied,irrespectiveoftheconditions
inparagraph2inordertoservicetheCommunity's
debts.Article12
3.Inthesolecaseofdefaultunderaloancontracted
pursuanttoCouncilRegulationsandDecisions,in
circumstances inwhichtheCommissioncannotactivate
othermeasuresprovidedforbythefinancialarrange­
mentsapplyingtotheseloansintimetoensure
compliancewiththeCommunity'slegalobligationsto
itslenders,theprovisionsofparagraphs2and4may
provisionally beapplied,afterauthorization bythe
budgetaryauthorityallocatingappropriations tothe
budgetaryheadingwhichgivesconcreteformtothe
Community'sobligationtoguaranteesuchloans,
irrespectiveoftheconditionsinparagraph2inorderto
servicetheCommunity'sdebts.
ThisOpinionwasadoptedbytheCourtofAuditorsinLuxembourgattheCourtmeetingof
22April1993.
FortheCourtofAuditors
AndreJ.MIDDELHOEK
President