EN Official Journal of the European Union CE 15/142

Thursday 23 October 2008

Draft general budget 2009 (Section III)

P6_TA(2008)0515

European Parliament resolution of 23 October 2008 on the draft general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2009, Section III — Commission (C6-0309/2008 — 2008/2026(BUD)) and Letter of amendment No 1/2009 (SEC(2008)2435) to the preliminary draft general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2009

2010/C 15 E/47

The European Parliament,

having regard to Article 272 of the EC Treaty and Article 177 of the Euratom Treaty,

having regard to Council Decision 2000/597/EC, Euratom of 29 September 2000 on the system of the European Communities’ own resources (1),

having regard to Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities (2),

having regard to the Interinstitutional Agreement of 17 May 2006 between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on budgetary discipline and sound financial management (3),

having regard to its resolution of 24 April 2008 on the Commission’s Annual Policy Strategy for 2009 (4),

having regard to its resolution of 24 April 2008 on the budgetary framework and priorities for 2009 (5),

having regard to its resolution of 8 July 2008 on the 2009 budget: First reflections on the 2009 Preliminary Draft Budget and mandate for the conciliation, Section III — Commission (6),

having regard to the preliminary draft general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2009 which the Commission presented on 16 May 2008 (COM(2008)0300),

having regard to the draft general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2009, which the Council established on 17 July 2008 (C6-0309/2008),

having regard to Letter of amendment No 1/2009 (SEC(2008)2435) to the preliminary draft general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2009,

having regard to Rule 69 of and Annex IV to its Rules of Procedure,

having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgets and the opinions of the other committees concerned (A6-0398/2008),

Key issues

1. Recalls that its political priorities and its assessment of the budgetary framework for the year 2009 were set out in its two abovementioned resolutions of 24 April 2008; notes that these two resolutions provided a sound basis for its ensuing first evaluation of the Commission’s preliminary draft budget (PDB) for 2009, as set out in its abovementioned PDB resolution adopted on 8 July 2008; recalls that Parliament, in this resolution, was highly critical of the low level of payment appropriations and of the small margins available in most of the headings of the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF);

2. Welcomes the agreement of six joint statements, annexed to this Resolution, of the European Parliament and Council at the first reading conciliation on the 2009 budget of 17 July 2008; has taken them into account in the preparation of its amendments to the draft budget; points out, however, that on some issues, such as the evaluation of agencies, no joint position with Council has yet been reached;

3. Deplores the fact that Council has reduced an already low-level PDB even further: commitment appropriations in the draft budget total EUR 133 933 million which represents a decrease relative to PDB of EUR 469 million, and payment appropriations of EUR 114 972 million lie a full EUR 1 771 million beneath PDB corresponding to 0,89 % of GNI, bringing payments down to an unprecedentedly low level; underlines that this has even further increased the disparity between the level of commitments and payments, which is contrary to the principle of equilibrium;

4. Calls for the ceiling for heading 4 to be adjusted at the first opportunity to correspond to actual needs; deplores the fact that Council is not willing to budget appropriately in this way;

5. Supports Letter of amendment No 1 to the PDB 2009 adopted by the Commission on 9 September 2008, as it seems to give a slightly more realistic picture of needs in heading 4 than the PDB; regrets, however, that due to the constraints of the MFF 2007-2013 it is not in a position to take over new unforeseen and urgent needs such as food aid and the reconstruction needs of Georgia, Kosovo, Afghanistan and Palestine; underlines that it is only recourse to the possibilities provided for by the provisions of the Interinstitutional Agreement of 17 May 2006 (IIA) and firm political determination which is an absolute necessity to allow the EU to fulfil its commitments undertaken in the external policy area;

6. Considers that the figure adopted by Council for payment appropriations is far from being coherent with the various EU political priorities and commitments; expresses its astonishment that Council can officially propose a mere 0,89 % of GNI in payments, given an overall RAL of already EUR 139 000 million in 2007; in consequence, decides to increase the overall level of payments to 0,959 %;

7. Is of the opinion that the EU budget in its present format cannot address effectively and realistically the goals that the EU has set for climate change; considers that European citizens need a tangible European initiative to face the consequences of climate change; deplores the fact that the support to climate change measures is still very limited in the EU budget; is convinced that a serious effort should be made to increase and concentrate adequate financial resources to boost European leadership in facing the consequences of climate change; invites the Commission to present, by 15 March 2009, an ambitious plan for an adequate increase of climate change funds which considers the establishment of a specific ‘climate change fund’ or the creation of a dedicated budget line which would improve the budget capability to deal with these issues, especially by mitigation, adaptation and stabilisation measures; believes that the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) should also be considered as a potential resource at EU level;

8. Is not prepared to accept any kind of new earmarking in the remarks of Budget 2009; has therefore deleted all proposed new references to concrete amounts and/or to individually named organisations or bodies, since such earmarkings are not in line with the Financial Regulation;

9. Has decided to accept Council’s small cuts in the administrative expenditure lines of some multi-annual programmes given the fact that the Commission itself frequently reallocates funds from these lines by transfer in a general clearing exercise; stresses, however, that these reductions in one annual budgetary procedure must under no circumstances lead to reductions in the overall co-decided envelopes of the programmes concerned; insists that the Commission compensate for the amounts reduced in later years of the programme period;

10. Considers growth and employment, the fight against climate change and strengthening the safety and security of the European Union’s citizens and its social dimension, for instance through the growth for jobs initiative and the support for SMEs and for research and innovation, as well as by supporting cohesion amongst regions, to be important priorities of Budget 2009; will reinforce appropriations on budget lines financing these priorities in line with its previous resolutions;

On sub-heading 1a

11. Is astonished by Council’s additional cuts on lines supporting the Lisbon strategy which is, after all, based on a European Council decision; points out that the objectives of growth and employment are at the very core of the Lisbon strategy and that the Commission, in its PDB, had already decreased some lines compared to the previous year;

12. Will do its utmost to secure adequate financing for all activities and policies under this heading which can bring direct and tangible advantages for European citizens; is prepared to use all the available margin to finance pilot projects and preparatory actions in this sub-heading;

13. Concerning the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), cannot accept the Commission’s attempt to reverse the decisions taken by the budgetary authority in the 2008 budget; will therefore insist that the budget of the EIT be included in policy area ‘Research’ and that its governing structure, being of an administrative nature, be financed under heading 5 of the MFF; decides to change the nomenclature accordingly;

14. Stresses that the disbursement of funds from budget line 06 03 04 (TENs Energy) and accordance of TEN-E status to any gas pipeline or project that facilitates the transmission of gas from Russia or from entities ultimately controlled by Russia shall be conditional on the realisation of the NG3 Route, as confirmed by the EU Coordinator;

On sub-heading 1b

15. Reiterates the importance it attaches to the solidarity principle within the European Union; intends to make every effort to guarantee sufficient funding for cohesion policy in order to be able to deal with current and future challenges;

16. Underlines that this sub-heading finances numerous important policies and activities aimed at fighting climate change and supporting growth for jobs;

17. Regrets that the PDB has been cut by Council in particular as regards European Social Fund financing devoted to regional competitiveness and employment; reminds Council that the Lisbon strategy is based on joint efforts from both the European Union’s and the Member States’ budgets;

On heading 2

18. Notes that the Commission has claimed that the fight against climate change is one of its priorities for Budget 2009; considers, however, that this priority is not sufficiently reflected in the PDB and intends, consequently, to put stronger emphasis on this key policy; proposes, for reasons of visibility, to allocate appropriations in one specific budget line solely for this purpose; will top up resources going to LIFE+ and to the European Rural Development Fund accordingly;

19. Takes note of the recent proposals by the Commission on the CAP health check and defends the view that any modulation from the first to the second pillar must remain budgetarily neutral;

20. Notes the creation of budget lines for three new funds in the common agricultural and fisheries policy — the fund for restructuring in the dairy sector, the Eco-Aid to maintain sheep and goat farming in the EU and the ad-hoc financial instrument — Adaptation of the fishing fleet to the economic consequences of the rise in fuel prices — all of which have been created with the aim of adapting to new situations and opening up opportunities for the future, particularly in disadvantaged and sensitive regions; considers that these funds should primarily be financed from unused agriculture budget appropriations;

21. Notes with satisfaction that Council and Commission are finally willing to establish a school fruit scheme, making available a substantial annual amount to fight obesity and health problems amongst pupils, but deplores the fact that one year has been lost because this European Parliament initiative was rejected by Council in Budget 2008;

On sub-heading 3a

22. Acknowledges European citizens’ wish for a safe and secure Europe and welcomes the increases in this sub-heading relative to Budget 2008; points out the importance of the principle of solidarity and of safeguarding the highest level of protection of fundamental rights;

23. Stresses the importance of sufficient funding being made available via the EU budget to manage legal immigration and integration of third country nationals while, in parallel, tackling illegal immigration and strengthening border protection, including the strengthening of the European Refugee Fund to facilitate solidarity between the Member States;

On sub-heading 3b

24. Recalls that sub-heading 3b covers vital policies that have a direct impact on the everyday life of European citizens; reiterates its disappointment about the low increase compared to 2008 proposed by the Commission for this sub-heading, especially for those activities that are important for a citizens’ Europe, some of which have even suffered a decrease in their budgets;

25. Cannot accept that Council has cut these ‘citizens’ lines’ even further, and will make sure that adequate resources are guaranteed in this important area; points out that it will make use of the small remaining margin in this sub-heading to finance pilot projects and preparatory actions to boost this policy area;

On heading 4

26. Notes the significant re-shuffling of funds carried out by Council in heading 4 and considers this a strong indication of the serious shortage of resources available under the MFF ceiling; points out that heading 4 ceilings will make regular recourse to the provisions of the IIA more and more necessary; believes that the funds available do not, as they stand, allow the European Union to assume its role as a global partner;

27. Calls on the European Council not to make far-reaching political commitments, as for example in its Presidency conclusions of 20 June 2008, in which the heads of State and government called for stronger EU financial support to developing countries, or to commit, at the same time, to the necessary budgetary suggestions and actions when there is an obvious contradiction with the funds available under the annual ceilings of the current MFF;

28. Reiterates its assessment of the urgent need for a massive and concrete mobilisation of the European Union to tackle soaring food prices and the resulting food crisis and reiterates the need to respond in an sound budgetary way; recalls that the available margins under heading 2 cannot be spent for heading 4 purposes since the current ceiling of heading 4 does not suffice to finance the instrument without jeopardising existing priorities; considers that the two branches of the budgetary authority should make every effort and examine all possibilities provided for in the IIA to finance the amounts foreseen for food aid under heading 4; nevertheless recalls that the final decision on the financial envelope will be taken in the course of the annual budgetary procedure, and will be linked to an overall assessment of current instruments for cooperation policy with developing countries;

29. Continues to count support for the peace process in Palestine and for Kosovo amongst its unchanged key priorities for which sufficient resources have to be entered in the EU budget; notes, however, that such an adequate level of funding might require re-programming under heading 4, with some budgetary compensation being provided by other budget lines; recalls the importance of a functioning public administration which is needed to guarantee the special care necessary to ensure proper use of EU funds;

30. Welcomes the reinstatement of resources on the line for financial support for encouraging the economic development of the Turkish Cypriot community; also welcomes the support for the exhumation, identification and return of remains of missing persons in Cyprus;

31. Supports the police mission launched under the European Security and Defence Policy in Kosovo; however, asks the Commission to provide a concrete plan and timetable for the European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX), in particular with respect to the take-over of tasks from the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) and the related human resources needs and costs as well as the cooperation with the European Commission Liaison Office in Kosovo (ECLO); further, asks the Commission to provide detailed information on the training given to the local forces;

32. Underlines its will to assist Georgia in its lengthy and costly reconstruction process, and to take an active part in finding an appropriate financial solution as expressed in its resolution of 3 September 2008 on the situation in Georgia (7); therefore urges the Commission to present proposals fulfilling the EU’s commitments; insists, therefore, on observance of the politically and financially sound principle of new financing for new needs; notes in this connection the Commission’s intention to consider the provision of up to EUR 500 million in the period from 2008 to 2010 inclusive and, if necessary, pledge these funds in connection with a donor conference for Georgia;

33. Notes the growing importance of the Energy Community and welcomes Turkey’s intention to join it; is of the opinion that the entry of Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia into the Energy Community should be facilitated and the energy solidarity measures between its members should be developed; awaits the Commission report to be presented in 2009 on the experiences gained from the implementation of Council Decision 2006/500/EC of 29 May 2006 on the conclusion by the European Community of the Energy Community Treaty (8);

34. Points out that the EU priority of combating climate change has also an external component and that relevant activities, such as those in connection with the Global Climate Change Alliance, are to be financed under heading 4;

35. Underlines that the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has proven to be an effective financing mechanism but deplores that the Global Fund is not an implementing agent; reminds the Commission that in order to effectively implement Global Fund grants, increased financial resources will need to be spent on technical assistance;

36. Reminds Council that the Emergency Aid Reserve is supposed to finance unforeseen emergency needs and believes not only that the appropriations on this budget line are justified but also that the deletion of these appropriations would jeopardise the EU’s capacity to react properly to a possible crisis situation in the early months of 2009; therefore restores the PDB for the Emergency Aid Reserve, also in respect of Point 25 of the IIA;

On heading 5

37. Will, as a general principle, restore Council’s cuts of PDB figures in this heading; notes, however, that it still has some open questions regarding specific aspects of the Commission’s allocation of staff among administrative support and coordination functions and possibilities of redeployment, and the need for further information on its building policy; has decided to put some amounts in the reserve in order to make sure that it obtains answers to those questions in due time;

38. Points out that in PDB 2009 an overall amount of EUR 1 120 million is budgeted to finance administrative expenditure outside heading 5; considers this amount quite substantial;

39. Underlines the fact that administrative spending continues to rise well above the average EU level of inflation, leading to concerns as to whether taxpayers are getting value for money; calls on the Commission to launch a fundamental review of all aspects of administrative expenditure reporting on progress since the 2000 reforms, paying particular attention to the impact of the 2004 enlargement and the need to continue the search for efficiency savings; requests that this review be made available by 31 July 2009.

40. Is, in this context, concerned about the fact that the amounts taken from operational programme envelopes in order to finance executive agencies are continually increasing and have already reached a substantial level, financing over 1 300 staff in 2009; would like to get a clearer picture of the effects of the creation of executive agencies and the ongoing extensions of their tasks on those parent Directorates General which were responsible for the implementation of the relevant programmes before the executive agencies took over;

41. Notes that current data has shown that, in the Commission’s Directorates General, the ratio between staff in administrative support and coordination functions and those which perform operational tasks can vary significantly; asks the Commission for an analysis of the reasons for these discrepancies;

42. Expects to be fully informed of all developments in connection with the so-called ‘Holmquist’ staff reform within the Commission;

43. Asks the European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO) to continue its efforts to streamline and shorten competition cycles; considers that the appropriate human resources should be provided to EPSO in support of the efforts undertaken to improve its internal procedures and methods and accelerate the management of reserve lists in order to guarantee that it can provide the institutions with the appropriate staff according to needs, including the adequacy of admissibility criteria, notably for AST posts;

44. Calls on the Council to present a calendar for the negotiations with Parliament concerning the Commission’s proposals on Regulation (EC) No 1073/1999 (OLAF) to strengthen the efficiency of the European Anti-fraud Office and to clarify the legal framework of its mission;

45. Regrets the lack of consistency and coherence regularly noticeable in the communication policy implemented by the Commission’s Directorates General; is in favour of the development of a coherent and recognisable ‘EU identity’ to be used in all communication measures; would therefore like to encourage the individual services of the Commission to fine-tune and coordinate all information and communication activities carried out at their level;

46. Calls on the institutions to coordinate their efforts systematically with a view to: — making information accessible to citizens on their rights and on how they are acted on in practice in the Member States, — improving the accessibility and transparency of European law through efficient search tools, through consolidation of texts and by using the best available technical format for at-source formatting of directives, regulations and decisions, — establishing, on the basis of resources available at both European and national level, a digital library on the European Union;

47. Welcomes the reform of the European Schools’ system recently launched by the Commission but urges the Member States to meet their commitments according to the existing agreements; draws attention to Point 47 of the IIA according to which the authorisation of the budgetary authority is required for the creation of new schools having implications for the budget;

48. Underlines the importance of respecting Point 47 of IIA; asks the Commission to work with the budgetary authority on the definition of a proper detailed procedure for its application

49. Calls on the Commission to present the report on the possible solutions concerning the EU gas security and diversification mechanism in the NG3 corridor, including inter alia the possible role of the European Investment Bank in purchasing gas in bulk from non-traditional supplier states (having less than 5 % share of the EU market) in the NG3 corridor or in facilitating its purchase, either through direct purchase or through the creation of a purchase entity;

On agencies

50. Welcomes the Commission’s decision to finally follow the requests of the budgetary authority and take assigned revenues into account when drawing up the PDB for the decentralised agencies for 2009; considers that this is undoubtedly a step towards more budgetary transparency; reiterates, however, in line with its amendments to the agencies’ budgetary remarks of the Budget 2008, that those agencies depending to a large extent on revenue generated by fees should still be able to use the instrument of assigned revenues to give them the budgetary flexibility they need;

51. Welcomes the Commission’s communication of 11 March 2008, entitled ‘European Agencies — The way forward’ (COM(2008)0135), noting, in particular, the Commission’s commitment to conducting an evaluation of regulatory agencies during 2009; requests that that evaluation pay particular attention to examining the effectiveness, efficiency and impact of the agencies’ work, identifying commensurate efficiency savings within the Commission’s own services as work is outsourced to agencies, and that it be completed by 30 June 2009;

52. Points out the fact that smaller sized agencies tend to have a very high share of staff (50 % or more) who deal with the internal administration of the agency itself; would consider the cost-efficiency of small agencies to be one of the questions the interinstitutional working group on the future of decentralised agencies that is due to be set up in Autumn 2008 should assess;

53. Has taken note of the EUR 290 million surplus of the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market in the current financial year; would like the Commission to reflect on whether it might be appropriate that any excess income of the Office, being a direct consequence of the Internal Market, should flow back into the EU budget;

54. Underlines the fact that the Euratom Supply Agency, as created by the Euratom Treaty, is an independent agency the subsidies for which should be presented in the EU budget in a transparent way;

On pilot projects and preparatory actions

55. Recalls that the IIA allows for a total amount for pilot projects of up to EUR 40 million in any budget year and for a total amount for preparatory actions of up to EUR 100 million out of which a maximum of EUR 50 million can be allocated to new preparatory actions;

56. Considers these projects an indispensable tool for Parliament to initiate new policies that are in the interest of European citizens; has analysed a series of interesting proposals out of which only a small number could be entered into the Budget 2009 due to the constraints of IIA and MFF ceilings;

57. Insists that those proposed projects and actions which have not been included in Budget 2009 due to the fact that, according to the Commission, they are already covered by an existing legal base should really be implemented under this legal base and asks the Commission to report also on those proposals within its report on the pilot projects and preparatory actions; expects the Commission to make every effort in this direction regardless of whether or not the projects and actions will eventually be explicitly mentioned in the relevant remarks of the legal bases of Budget 2009; intends to monitor closely the implementation of these projects and actions under their legal bases during the financial year 2009;

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58. Takes note of the opinions adopted by the specialised committees as contained in report A6-0398/2008;

59. Instructs its President to forward this resolution, together with the amendments and proposed modifications to Section III of the draft general budget, to the Council and Commission, and also to the other institutions and bodies concerned.

(1) OJ L 253, 7.10.2000, p. 42.

(2) OJ L 248, 16.9.2002, p. 1.

(3) OJ C 139, 14.6.2006, p. 1.

(4) Texts Adopted, P6_TA(2008)0174.

(5) Texts Adopted, P6_TA(2008)0175.

(6) Texts Adopted, P6_TA(2008)0335.

(7) Texts Adopted, P6_TA(2008)0396.

(8) OJ L 198, 20.7.2006, p. 15.