A4-0296/98

Resolution on the Interinstitutional Agreement between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on legal bases and implementation of the budget

The European Parliament,

- having regard to the Treaty, and notably its financial provisions,

- having regard to the Financial Regulation and in particular the provisions regarding sound financial management, financial statements and the implementation of the budget as they apply today, having been amended,

- having regard to the joint declarations by the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission:

a) of 4 March 1975 on the institution of a conciliation procedure ((Selected instruments taken from the Treaties, Book I, Volume I, OJ C 89, 22.4.1975.)),

b) of 30 June 1982 on various measures to improve the budgetary procedure ((Selected instruments taken from the Treaties, Book I, Volume I, OJ C 194, 28.7.1982.)),

- having regard to the Interinstitutional Agreement of 29 October 1993 on budgetary discipline and improvement of the budgetary procedure ((OJ C 331, 7.12.1993, p. 1.)),

- having regard to the joint declaration of 6 March 1995 which specifies the preconditions for entering the 'amount deemed necessary' in legislative acts in respect of multiannual programmes adopted under the codecision procedure and acts not subject to this procedure,

- having regard to its resolution of 12 December 1995 on the communication from the Commission to the budgetary authority on legal bases and maximum amounts ((OJ C 17, 22.1.1996, p. 27.)),

- having regard to the judgment handed down by the European Court of Justice on 12 May 1998 in Case C-106/96,

- having regard to the conclusions of the trilogue of 23 June 1998 on matters relating to the procedure for the adoption of the Community budget,

- having regard to the Commission statement in plenary on 1 July 1998,

- having regard to the Commission communication of 15 July 1998 on budget headings whose implementation is governed by the case law of the European Court of Justice,

- having regard to the conclusions on legal bases adopted on 17 July 1998 as part of the conciliation procedure between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission prior to establishment of the 1999 draft budget by the Council,

- having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgets (A4-0296/98),

A. recalling that the provisions of Articles 203 and 205 of the Treaty constitute the basis for the drawing up and implementation of the Community budget,

B. noting that the judgment handed down by the European Court of Justice on 12 May 1998, in conjunction with the provisions of the Treaty, has established an appropriate political and institutional framework which has led to the conclusions of the conciliation procedure of 17 July 1998,

C. taking the view that the existence of an interinstitutional agreement on legal bases contributes to the establishment of a clear procedural framework, and that this framework:

a) ensures that initiatives ((Pilot, preparatory and autonomous actions and measures of an administrative nature which are linked to the operation of the institutions.)) are undertaken through the Community budget;

b) creates the preconditions for the adoption of a legal framework for the further development of pilot and preparatory actions into Community measures,

D. believing that initiatives of this kind bring the Union closer to its citizens and must be adequately financed so that it can be established whether they are capable of being further developed into full Community actions;

E. taking the view that, if this Interinstitutional Agreement is to function smoothly, the autonomous actions proposed by the Commission must be included in its annual guidelines on drawing up the preliminary draft budget,

F. judging that if this Interinstitutional Agreement is respected, this will provide a solution to the present situation and ensure the conditions for a long-term viable solution,

1. Approves the annexed Interinstitutional Agreement;

2. Considers it indispensable, in particular in the interests of transparency and the need to keep citizens of the Union adequately informed, that the Interinstitutional Agreement be published in the Official Journal of the European Communities;

3. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and the Commission.

ANNEX

INTERINSTITUTIONAL AGREEMENTON LEGAL BASES AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE BUDGET

1. Under the system of the Treaty, the implementation of appropriations entered in the budget for any Community action requires the prior adoption of a basic act.

A 'basic act' is an act of secondary legislation which provides a legal basis for the Community action and for the implementation of the corresponding expenditure entered in the budget. Such an act must take the form of a Regulation, a Directive or a Decision (Entscheidung or Beschluß). Recommendations and Opinions do not constitute basic acts, nor do Resolutions or Declarations.

2. However, the following may be implemented without a basic act as long as the actions which they are intended to finance fall within the competence of the Community:

a) (i) appropriations for pilot schemes of an experimental nature aimed at testing the feasibility of an action and its usefulness. The relevant commitment appropriations may be entered in the budget for only two financial years. Their total amount may not exceed EUR 32 million;

ii) appropriations relating to preparatory actions intended to prepare proposals with a view to the adoption of future Community actions. The preparatory actions must follow a coherent approach and may take various forms. The relevant commitment appropriations may be entered in the budget for only three financial years at most. The legislative procedure should be concluded before the end of the third financial year. During the course of the legislative procedure, the commitment of appropriations must correspond to the particular features of the preparatory action as regards the activities envisaged, the aims pursued and the beneficiaries. Consequently, the means implemented cannot correspond in volume to those envisaged for financing the definitive action itself. The total amount of the new headings concerned may not exceed EUR 30 million per financial year and the total amount of the appropriations actually committed in respect of the preparatory actions may not exceed EUR 75 million.

When the preliminary draft budget (PDB) is presented, the Commission will submit a report on the actions referred to in points (i) and (ii) above which will also cover the objective of the action, an assessment of the results and the follow-up envisaged;

b) appropriations concerning actions of a specific, or even indefinite, nature carried out by the Commission by virtue of tasks resulting from its prerogatives at institutional level, other than its right of legislative initiative as referred to in point (a), and specific powers directly conferred upon it by the Treaty. A list is contained in the Annex. The list may be supplemented, when the PDB is presented, by an indication of the Articles in question and the amounts concerned;

c) appropriations intended for the operation of each institution under its administrative autonomy.

3. This interinstitutional agreement shall enter into force on the date of its signing by the representatives of the three institutions.

It shall be applicable from that date, for the continuation of the 1999 budget procedure and to the budgets for subsequent financial years, unless one of the three institutions denounces it.

Done at Brussels,

For the European Parliament For the Council For the Commission

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Annex

List of Articles of the EC and EAEC Treaties which directly confer powers on the Commission which are specific and likely to have financial implications in Part B (operating appropriations) of Section III * Commission * of the budget

I. EC TREATY

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II. EAEC TREATY

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DECLARATION BY THE COMMISSION

concerning point 2(a)(ii)

The Commission declares that it reserves the right to propose that the ceiling of EUR 30 million be exceeded in the event of exceptional external circumstances.