[pic] | COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES |

Brussels, 16.3.2005

SEC(2005) 361 final

COMMISSION DECISION

Carryover of appropriations

non-differentiated appropriations

differentiated appropriations

from 2004 to 2005

COMMISSION DECISION

Commitment appropriations to be made available again in 2005

COMMISSION DECISION

Non-automatic carryover of non-differentiated appropriations from 2004 to 2005

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to Article 9 and Article 149 point 3 of the Financial Regulation of 25 June 2002 applicable to the general budget of the European Communities[1], Council Regulation No 1605/2002,[2] [3]

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

Sole Article

1. The following appropriations from Section III (Commission) of the 2004 budget are hereby carried over to 2005 for the reasons set out in the annex.

€ 49.726.800 for non-differentiated appropriations

2. The Council and Parliament shall be informed of this decision.

Done at Brussels, […]

For the Commission

[…]

Member of the Commission

ANNEX

Extract from the Financial Regulation

Article 9

3. Appropriations which have not been used at the end of the financial year for which they were entered shall be cancelled.

However, they may be carried over to the following financial year only, by a decision taken by the institution concerned by 15 February at the latest, in accordance with paragraphs 2 and 3 or be carried over automatically in accordance with paragraph 4.

4. Appropriations for commitment of differentiated appropriations and non–differentiated appropriations not yet committed at the close of the financial year may be carried over in respect of:

(a) amounts corresponding to commitment appropriations for which most of the preparatory stages of the commitment procedure have been completed by 31 December. These amounts may then be committed up to 31 March of the following year;

(b) amounts which are necessary when the legislative authority has adopted a basic act in the final quarter of the financial year and the Commission has been unable to commit the appropriations provided for this purpose by 31 December.

Article 149

5. Uncommitted EAGGF Guarantee Section appropriations relating to rural development may be carried over to the next financial year only, up to a maximum of 3% of appropriations under the title concerned. Such carryover shall be possible only if the appropriations provided for under the relevant headings of the budget for the following financial year will not make it possible to make good the shortfall in implementation of the rural development programmes in relation to the level decided the previous year. The carryover decision shall be taken, at the latest on 15 February of the year to which the carryover is being made, by the Commission, which shall inform the budgetary authority.

CARRYOVER OF NON-DIFFERENTIATED APPROPRIATIONS

No. | 2004 Budget | Heading | 2005 Budget | Ref. Fin. Reg. | Amount to be carried over |

1 | 05 04 01 01 | Investments in agricultural holdings | 05 04 01 01 | article 149 § 3 | 8.300.000,00 |

2 | 05 04 01 07 | Agrienvironment | 05 04 01 07 | article 149 § 3 | 8.100.000,00 |

3 | 05 04 01 09 | Improving the processing and marketing of agricultural products | 05 04 01 09 | article 149 § 3 | 2.500.000,00 |

4 | 05 04 01 10 | Forestry - Former system | 05 04 01 10 | article 149 § 3 | 14.200.000,00 |

5 | 05 04 01 12 | Promoting the adaptation and the development of rural areas | 05 04 01 12 | article 149 § 3 | 9.600.000,00 |

6 | 05 04 01 13 | Other rural development measures in the EAGGF Guarantee Section | 05 04 01 13 | article 149 § 3 | 6.300.000,00 |

7 | 17 01 04 04 | Pilot study: risk financing model for livestock epidemics | 17 01 04 04 | article 9 § 2a | 500.000,00 |

HEADING 1 - TOTAL | 49.500.000,00 |

8 | 18 01 04 05 | Cooperation measures resulting from Member States' initiatives | 18 01 04 05 | article 9 § 2a | 86.000,00 |

HEADING 3 - TOTAL | 86.000,00 |

9 | 26 01 02 11 | Other management expenditure of policy area ‘Commission's administration’ | 26 01 02 11 | article 9 § 2a | 140.800,00 |

HEADING 5 - TOTAL | 140.800,00 |

GRAND TOTAL | 49.726.800,00 |

CARRYOVER OF NON-DIFFERENTIATED APPROPRIATIONS

Grounds

1. 05 04 01 01 Investments in agricultural holdings

Appropriation authorised 2004: 242.000.000,00 €

Commitments at 31.12.2004: 229.843.877,53 €

Amount not used at 31.12.2004: 12.156.122,47 €

Carryover: 8.300.000,00 €

Utilisation of appropriations in 2004 under Chapter 05.04.01 “Rural development” amounted to €4.748.869.365 out of a total available (Budget 2004 + 2003 carryover) of €4.844.200.000, leaving €95.330.635 unused.

The 2005 budget allocation for Chapter 05.04.01 “Rural development” is €4.910 million and stands at the upper limit for EU-15. This is €175,2 million below the 2005 expenditure forecasts communicated by the Member States on 30 September 2004. It will not therefore be sufficient to complete implementation of the programmes as stipulated in Article 149(3) of the new Financial Regulation.

After examination of the lines where there was underutilisation, a carryover is proposed for those for which a deficit is forecast for 2005, totalling €49.000.000.

2. 05 04 01 07 Agrienvironment

Appropriation authorised 2004: 204.000.000,00 €

Commitments at 31.12.2004: 192.532.950,64 €

Amount not used at 31.12.2004: 11.467.049,36 €

Carryover: 8.100.000,00 €

See grounds in point 1 (Line 05 04 01 01 )

3. 05 04 01 09 Improving the processing and marketing of agricultural products

Appropriation authorised 2004: 182.000.000,00 €

Commitments at 31.12.2004: 178.162.885,87 €

Amount not used at 31.12.2004: 3.837.114,13 €

Carryover: 2.500.000,00 €

See grounds in point 1 (Line 05 04 01 01 )

4. 05 04 01 10 Forestry - Former system

Appropriation authorised 2004: 145.000.000,00 €

Commitments at 31.12.2004: 127.588.292,15 €

Amount not used at 31.12.2004: 17.411.707,85 €

Carryover: 14.200.000,00 €

See grounds in point 1 (Line 05 04 01 01 )

5. 05 04 01 12 Promoting the adaptation and the development of rural areas

Appropriation authorised 2004: 600.300.000,00 €

Commitments at 31.12.2004: 584.877.294,63 €

Amount not used at 31.12.2004: 15.422.705,37 €

Carryover: 9.600.000,00 €

See grounds in point 1 (Line 05 04 01 01 )

6. 05 04 01 13 Other rural development measures in the EAGGF Guarantee Section

Appropriation authorised 2004: 63.000.000,00 €

Commitments at 31.12.2004: 54.935.066,62 €

Amount not used at 31.12.2004: 8.064.933,38 €

Carryover: 6.300.000,00 €

See grounds in point 1 (Line 05 04 01 01 )

7. 17 01 04 04 Pilot study: risk financing model for livestock epidemics

Appropriation authorised 2004: 500.000,00 €

Commitments at 31.12.2004: 0,00 €

Amount not used at 31.12.2004: 500.000,00 €

Carryover: 500.000,00 €

See grounds in point 1 (Line 05 04 01 01 )

8. 18 01 04 05 Cooperation measures resulting from Member States' initiatives

Appropriation authorised 2004: 182.700,00 €

Commitments at 31.12.2004: 0,00 €

Amount not used at 31.12.2004: 182.700,00 €

Carryover: 86.000,00 €

See grounds in point 1 (Line 05 04 01 01 )

9. 26 01 02 11 Other management expenditure of policy area 'Commission's administration'

Appropriation authorised 2004: 27.353.813,00 €

Commitments at 31.12.2004: 26.486.181,50 €

Amount not used at 31.12.2004: 867.631,50 €

Carryover: 140.800,00 €

See grounds in point 1 (Line 05 04 01 01 )

COMMISSION DECISION

CARRYOVER OF DIFFERENTIATED APPROPRIATIONS FROM 2004 TO 2005

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to Article 9 of the Financial Regulation of 25 June 2002 applicable to the general budget of the European Communities[4], Council Regulation No 1605/2002,[5]

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

Sole Article

6. The following appropriations from Section III (Commission) of the 2004 budget are hereby carried over to 2005 for the reasons set out in the annex.€ 160.716.912,13 in commitment appropriations€ 226.273.257,06 in payment appropriations

7. The Council and Parliament shall be informed of this decision.

Done at Brussels, […]

For the Commission

[…]

Member of the Commission

ANNEX

Extract from the Financial Regulation

Article 9

8. Appropriations which have not been used at the end of the financial year for which they were entered shall be cancelled.

However, they may be carried over to the following financial year only, by a decision taken by the institution concerned by 15 February at the latest, in accordance with paragraphs 2 and 3 or be carried over automatically in accordance with paragraph 4.

9. Appropriations for commitment of differentiated appropriations and non–differentiated appropriations not yet committed at the close of the financial year may be carried over in respect of:

(a) amounts corresponding to commitment appropriations for which most of the preparatory stages of the commitment procedure have been completed by 31 December. These amounts may then be committed up to 31 March of the following year;

(b) amounts which are necessary when the legislative authority has adopted a basic act in the final quarter of the financial year and the Commission has been unable to commit the appropriations provided for this purpose by 31 December.

10. Appropriations for payment of differentiated appropriations may be carried over in respect of amounts needed to cover existing commitments or commitments linked to commitment appropriations carried over, when the appropriations provided for the relevant lines in the budget for the following financial year do not cover requirements. The institution concerned shall first use the appropriations authorised for the current financial year and shall not use the appropriations carried over until the former are exhausted.

11. Non–differentiated appropriations corresponding to obligations duly contracted at the close of the financial year shall be carried over automatically to the following financial year only.

CARRYOVER OF COMMITMENT APPROPRIATIONS

No. | 2004 Budget | Heading | 2005 Budget | Ref. Fin. Reg. | Amount to be carried over |

1 | 04 02 01 | European Social Fund (ESF) - Objective 1 | 04 02 01 | article 9 § 2a | 48.702.203,00 |

2 | 04 02 04 | European Social Fund (ESF) - Objective 2 | 04 02 04 | article 9 § 2a | 505.500,00 |

3 | 04 02 06 | European Social Fund (ESF) - Objective 3 | 04 02 06 | article 9 § 2a | 33.151.800,00 |

4 | 04 02 08 | EQUAL | 04 02 08 | article 9 § 2a | 262.618,00 |

5 | 05 04 02 01 | European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund, Guidance Section - Objective 1 regions | 05 04 02 01 | article 9 § 2a | 21.456.502,00 |

6 | 05 04 02 06 | Leader | 05 04 02 06 | article 9 § 2a | 1.258.900,00 |

7 | 11 06 04 | Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance (FIFG) (outside Objective 1 areas) | 11 06 04 | article 9 § 2a | 400.000,00 |

8 | 13 03 04 | European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) - Objective 2 | 13 03 04 | article 9 § 2a | 3.225.500,00 |

9 | 13 03 08 | European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) - Innovative measures | 13 03 08 | article 9 § 2a | 3.000.000,00 |

10 | 13 03 08 | European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) - Innovative measures | 13 03 08 | article 9 § 2a | 1.109.040,00 |

11 | 13 04 01 | Cohesion Fund | 13 04 01 | article 9 § 2a | 2.084.326,00 |

HEADING 2 - TOTAL | 115.156.389,00 |

12 | 02 02 03 01 | Programme for enterprise and entrepreneurship, particularly for SMEs | 02 02 03 01 | article 9 § 2a | 3.930.329,00 |

13 | 02 03 01 | Research and innovation | 02 03 01 | article 9 § 2a | 543.177,00 |

14 | 02 04 01 | Operation and development of the internal market, particularly in the fields of notification, certification and sectoral approximation | 02 04 01 | article 9 § 2a | 250.233,00 |

15 | 02 05 01 | Industrial competitiveness policy for the European Union | 02 05 01 | article 9 § 2a | 610.960,00 |

16 | 04 04 02 02 | Measures combating and preventing social exclusion | 04 04 02 02 | article 9 § 2a | 150.000,00 |

No. | 2004 Budget | Heading | 2005 Budget | Ref. Fin. Reg. | Amount to be carried over |

17 | 05 08 03 | Restructuring of systems for agricultural surveys | 05 08 03 | article 9 § 2a | 1.234.971,00 |

18 | 06 02 03 02 | Transport security | 06 07 01 | article 9 § 2a | 71.025,00 |

19 | 06 02 04 01 | Internal market and optimisation of transport systems | 06 02 04 01 | article 9 § 2a | 700.000,00 |

20 | 06 03 02 | Financial support for projects of common interest in the trans-European energy network | 06 03 02 | article 9 § 2a | 3.209.260,00 |

21 | 06 06 01 | Aeronautics and space | 06 06 01 | article 9 § 2a | 13.354.499,00 |

22 | 09 03 01 | Information society | 09 03 01 | article 9 § 2a | 312.800,00 |

23 | 14 04 02 | Customs 2007 programme | 14 04 02 | article 9 § 2a | 245.000,00 |

24 | 14 05 02 | Computerisation of the excise system (EMCS) | 14 05 02 | article 9 § 2a | 3.550.000,00 |

25 | 14 05 03 | Fiscalis 2007 (Community programme to improve the operation of taxation systems in the internal market) | 14 05 03 | article 9 § 2a | 245.000,00 |

26 | 17 02 01 | Community activities in favour of consumers | 17 02 01 | article 9 § 2a | 833.365,88 |

27 | 18 05 01 02 | AGIS | 18 05 01 02 | article 9 § 2a | 1.650.000,00 |

28 | 18 06 01 02 | Cooperation programme in civil matters | 18 06 01 02 | article 9 § 2a | 500.000,00 |

29 | 29 02 01 | Statistical information policy | 29 02 01 | article 9 § 2a | 1.630.255,00 |

30 | 29 02 02 | Networks for intra-Community statistics (Edicom) | 29 02 02 | article 9 § 2a | 1.915.942,00 |

HEADING 3 - TOTAL | 34.936.816,88 |

31 | 06 04 02 | Intelligent energy for Europe programme (2003 to 2006), External strand | 06 04 02 | article 9 § 2a | 4.527.600,00 |

32 | 11 03 01 | International fisheries agreements | 11 03 01 | article 9 § 2a | 1.065.000,00 |

33 | 19 11 01 | Evaluation of results of Community aid, follow-up and audit measures | 19 11 01 | article 9 § 2a | 1.070.698,25 |

34 | 21 04 01 | Evaluation of the results of Community aid, follow-up and audit measures | 21 04 01 | article 9 § 2a | 2.240.408,00 |

HEADING 4 - TOTAL | 8.903.706,25 |

No. | 2004 Budget | Heading | 2005 Budget | Ref. Fin. Reg. | Amount to be carried over |

35 | 01 02 02 | Coordination and surveillance of economic and monetary union | 01 02 02 | article 9 § 2a | 220.000,00 |

HEADING 5 - TOTAL | 220.000,00 |

36 | 05 05 01 01 | The Sapard pre-accession Instrument | 05 05 01 01 | article 9 § 2a | 1.500.000,00 |

HEADING 7 - TOTAL | 1.500.000,00 |

GRAND TOTAL | 160.716.912,13 |

CARRYOVER OF COMMITMENT APPROPRIATIONS

Grounds

1. 04 02 01 European Social Fund (ESF) - Objective 1

Appropriation authorised 2004: 5.785.033.824,00 €

Commitments at 31.12.2004: 5.736.331.620,81 €

Amount not used at 31.12.2004: 48.702.203,19 €

Carryover: 48.702.203,00 €

Under the mid-term review, it was not possible to cover some payment orders (POs) with additional commitments because the decisions on them had not yet been adopted. The relevant inter-service consultations were closed in 2004.

2. 04 02 04 European Social Fund (ESF) - Objective 2

Appropriation authorised 2004: 349.735.992,79 €

Commitments at 31.12.2004: 349.230.492,42 €

Amount not used at 31.12.2004: 505.500,37 €

Carryover: 505.500,00 €

Under the mid-term review, it was not possible to cover a PO with additional commitments because the decision on it had not yet been adopted. The relevant inter-service consultations were closed in 2004.

3. 04 02 06 European Social Fund (ESF) - Objective 3

Appropriation authorised 2004: 3.834.820.139,00 €

Commitments at 31.12.2004: 3.801.668.336,44 €

Amount not used at 31.12.2004: 33.151.802,56 €

Carryover: 33.151.800,00 €

Under the mid-term review, it was not possible to cover some payment orders (POs) with additional commitments because the decisions on them had not yet been adopted. The relevant inter-service consultations were closed in 2004.

4. 04 02 08 EQUAL

Appropriation authorised 2004: 578.634.932,00 €

Commitments at 31.12.2004: 572.271.245,73 €

Amount not used at 31.12.2004: 6.363.686,27 €

Carryover: 262.618,00 €

Under the mid-term review, it was not possible to cover a PO with additional commitments because the decision on it had not yet been adopted. The relevant inter-service consultations were closed in 2004.

5. 05 04 02 01 European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund, Guidance Section - Objective 1 regions

Appropriation authorised 2004: 3.329.687.924,00 €

Commitments at 31.12.2004: 3.308.231.421,77 €

Amount not used at 31.12.2004: 21.456.502,23 €

Carryover: 21.456.502,00 €

Commitment for Operational Programme 2000.ES.061.PO.028 ; ISC finished in December 2004, but decision not adopted.

6. 05 04 02 06 Leader

Appropriation authorised 2004: 360.758.000,73 €

Commitments at 31.12.2004: 355.046.673,68 €

Amount not used at 31.12.2004: 5.711.327,05 €

Carryover: 1.258.900,00 €

For commitments in 10 Leader programmes (2000.ES.060.PC.017, 001, 002, 2000-2001.BE.060.PC.001, 2000.FR.060.PC.001, 2000.SE.060.PC.001, 2000.GB.060.PC.001, 002, 003) associated with the 2004 mid-term review and allocation of the performance reserve. The national authorities, have in all cases, after approval by the monitoring committees of the programmes, required the Commission before the end of 2004, to amend the programmes.

7. 11 06 04 Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance (FIFG) (outside Objective 1 areas)

Appropriation authorised 2004: 175.010.408,00 €

Commitments at 31.12.2004: 171.810.408,00 €

Amount not used at 31.12.2004: 3.200.000,00 €

Carryover: 400.000,00 €

Acceptable on the basis of Article 9(2)(a) - most of the preparatory stages of the commitment procedure were completed by 31 December 2004 (the Dutch authorities notified the Commission of their request for a review of the programme) and the amounts can be committed before 31 March 2005.

8. 13 03 04 European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) - Objective 2

Appropriation authorised 2004: 3.269.214.043,21 €

Commitments at 31.12.2004: 3.265.987.540,21 €

Amount not used at 31.12.2004: 3.226.503,00 €

Carryover: 3.225.500,00 €

Commitment for OP Schleswig-Holstein CCI: 2000DE162DO006; ISC finished in December 2004, but decision not adopted.

9. 13 03 08 European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) - Innovative measures

Appropriation authorised 2004: 34.479.021,00 €

Commitments at 31.12.2004: 25.256.825,00 €

Amount not used at 31.12.2004: 9.222.196,00 €

Carryover: 3.000.000,00 €

To commit IA Guyana CCI: 2004FR160PP002; ISC finished in December 2004, but decision not adopted

10. 13 03 08 European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) - Innovative measures

Appropriation authorised 2004: 34.479.021,00 €

Commitments at 31.12.2004: 25.256.825,00 €

Amount not used at 31.12.2004: 9.222.196,00 €

Carryover: 1.109.040,00 €

To commit IA Murcia CCI: 2004ES160PP001; ISC finished in December 2004, but decision not proposed.

11. 13 04 01 Cohesion Fund

Appropriation authorised 2004: 5.680.408.500,00 €

Commitments at 31.12.2004: 5.617.318.692,96 €

Amount not used at 31.12.2004: 63.089.807,04 €

Carryover: 2.084.326,00 €

To commit project CCI: 2000ES16CPE138; ISC finished in September 2004, but the decision procedure was delayed in order to include in it the other projects requiring modification, as proposed by the Spanish authorities, that are part of the same project group.

12. 02 02 03 01 Programme for enterprise and entrepreneurship, particularly for SMEs

Appropriation authorised 2004: 21.850.000,00 €

Commitments at 31.12.2004: 13.937.193,95 €

Amount not used at 31.12.2004: 7.912.806,05 €

Carryover: 3.930.329,00 €

This relates to €2.482.490 for two commitments linked to service contracts in respect of which open public procurement procedures were used. The award decisions were signed by the authorising officer on 28 December 2004 but the commitments could not be made by 31 December 2004 in view of the extra time needed to inform the tenderers [COM(2003) 395].

In addition, there is €1.447.839 for a commitment for which it was not possible for DG BUDG to validate the legal entity and the financial information sheet by 31 December 2004.

13. 02 03 01 Research and innovation

Appropriation authorised 2004: 59.550.015,00 €

Commitments at 31.12.2004: 55.186.515,42 €

Amount not used at 31.12.2004: 4.363.499,58 €

Carryover: 543.177,00 €

This relates to two commitments in respect of which open public procurement procedures were used. The award decisions were signed by the authorising officer on 28 December 2004 but the commitments could not be made by 31 December 2004 in view of the extra time needed to inform the tenderers [COM(2003) 395].

Details of commitments:

Publication service for innovation magazines ITT (lot 1) and Euroabstracts (lot 2)

lot 1: an amount of €374.879

lot 2: an amount of €168.298

14. 02 04 01 Operation and development of the internal market, particularly in the fields of notification, certification and sectoral approximation

Appropriation authorised 2004: 14.000.000,00 €

Commitments at 31.12.2004: 12.150.494,64 €

Amount not used at 31.12.2004: 1.849.505,36 €

Carryover: 250.233,00 €

This relates to two commitments for grants following calls for proposals carried out in 2004. The award decisions were signed by the authorising officer on 28 December 2004 but the commitments could not be made by 31 December 2004.

15. 02 05 01 Industrial competitiveness policy for the European Union

Appropriation authorised 2004: 7.400.000,00 €

Commitments at 31.12.2004: 4.792.119,17 €

Amount not used at 31.12.2004: 2.607.880,83 €

Carryover: 610.960,00 €

This relates to two commitments in respect of which open public procurement procedures were used. The award decisions were signed by the authorising officer on 23 and 28 December 2004 but the commitments could not be made by 31 December 2004 in view of the extra time needed to inform the tenderers [COM(2003) 395].

16. 04 04 02 02 Measures combating and preventing social exclusion

Appropriation authorised 2004: 16.370.000,00 €

Commitments at 31.12.2004: 15.737.888,71 €

Amount not used at 31.12.2004: 632.111,29 €

Carryover: 150.000,00 €

The amount to be carried over is for a study carried out by the OECD on the replacement rates provided by the pension systems in the 25 Member States. It is to be funded 50% by DG EMPL and 50% by DG ECFIN (by subdelegation to DG EMPL).

Although agreement was reached with the OECD on the content of the contract, it proved necessary to check certain legal aspects prior to signature (interpretation of “joint management” under Article 53 of the Financial Regulation). Despite several inter-service meetings, it was not possible to finalise the contract in time for the commitment to be made by 31 December 2004.

17. 05 08 03 Restructuring of systems for agricultural surveys

Appropriation authorised 2004: 5.800.000,00 €

Commitments at 31.12.2004: 2.997.019,29 €

Amount not used at 31.12.2004: 2.802.980,71 €

Carryover: 1.234.971,00 €

The methodological discussions in preparation of the Lucas 2006 survey only finished in June 2004. This affected publication of the contract notice and selection of tenders.

The preparatory stages of the commitment procedure have been completed – the evaluation committee completed its evaluation and submitted a recommendation for award of the contract on 1 December 2004. The award report was finalised on 23 December 2004 after additional information requested from the two companies selected had been received and checked for compliance with the tender specifications. The commitment can be made by the end of March 2005.

18. 06 02 03 02 Transport security

Appropriation authorised 2004: 4.600.000,00 €

Commitments at 31.12.2004: 3.169.637,11 €

Amount not used at 31.12.2004: 1.430.362,89 €

Carryover: 71.025,00 €

This relates to a grant to the Union Internationale de Transport Public, which is a de facto monopoly for which DG TREN proposed the direct award of a grant under Article 168 of the Regulation laying down detailed implementation rules.

The negotiations took a long time and were completed towards the end of the year. Since the ISC finished on 16 December 2004, it was not possible to start the written procedure in time for the end of the year.

19. 06 02 04 01 Internal market and optimisation of transport systems

Appropriation authorised 2004: 11.700.000,00 €

Commitments at 31.12.2004: 8.087.466,43 €

Amount not used at 31.12.2004: 3.612.533,57 €

Carryover: 700.000,00 €

This relates to CESARE III (Interoperability of electronic fee collection systems in Europe), which is a de facto monopoly for which DG TREN proposed the direct award of a grant under Article 168 of the Regulation laying down detailed implementation rules. The negotiations took a long time because they involved a large number of parties (a private-law association (ASECAP, the recipient of the grant), and the national authorities of several Member States and Switzerland, whose participation is essential. In the course of the negotiations Switzerland agreed to take part free of charge.

As a result, the ISC could not be started until December 2004 and it was not possible to finalise the written procedure for adoption of the funding decision by 31 December 2004.

The Commission decision will therefore be adopted at the beginning of 2005. The preparatory stages have progressed such that commitment can be made as soon as the appropriations carryover is approved and the Commission has adopted the financing decision.

20. 06 03 02 Financial support for projects of common interest in the trans-European energy network

Appropriation authorised 2004: 21.500.000,00 €

Commitments at 31.12.2004: 18.275.000,00 €

Amount not used at 31.12.2004: 3.225.000,00 €

Carryover: 3.209.260,00 €

The commitment appropriations for 2004 total €21.500.000, €3.225.000 of which have been entered in the reserve by the budgetary authority. The €18.275.000 entered in this line are covered by a global commitment on the basis of the Commission decision on the work programme for the Energy TENs for 2004.

This global commitment will make it possible for individual commitments to be made in 2005. The €3.225.000 in the reserve, a transfer of which was approved on 9 December 2004, are not covered by the global commitment.

Following a selection and evaluation procedure, the Commission submitted a proposal on Community funding of €21.484.260 to the TEN-Energy Financial Assistance Committee, the TEN-Energy Financial Assistance Committee delivered a unanimous opinion on 12 November 2004, and the transfer of the released reserve was not approved until December, all of which meant that the Commission could not adopt individual financing decisions by 31 December 2004.

21. 06 06 01 Aeronautics and space

Appropriation authorised 2004: 60.591.900,00 €

Commitments at 31.12.2004: 47.237.400,92 €

Amount not used at 31.12.2004: 13.354.499,08 €

Carryover: 13.354.499,00 €

The Aeronautics and Space work programme laid down an indicative amount of €70.000.000 for the Galileo second call. In view of the budget availability, in its decision DL/2004/802 of 19 March 2004, the Commission awarded a grant of €66.900.000 to the Galileo joint undertaking to launch its second call for proposals.

In November 2004, in a report to the Commission, the Galileo joint undertaking identified specific needs highlighted in the first evaluation phase of its second call for proposals. It pointed out in this respect that a contribution in addition to the grant referred to above could strengthen the critical activities of the call for proposals.

In view of the available financial resources under DG TREN’s budget line for research and the substantiated request from the Galileo joint undertaking to use this additional funding, it was thought essential to award the Galileo joint undertaking an additional grant of €13.700.000.

In order to commit these appropriations to the GALILEO programme, it was necessary to amend the work programme by written procedure, which constitutes a financing decision. Following that, decision DL/2004/802 of 19 March 2004 had to be amended by delegation, which constitutes a decision to award the grant to the Galileo joint undertaking.

These decisions were adopted on 28 December 2004. The budget commitment was made on 31 December 2004. However, although the Commission had signed the agreement to grant the additional funding in question, it was not possible to complete the legal commitment since the recipient was not able to sign the agreement the same day.

22. 09 03 01 Information society

Appropriation authorised 2004: 3.200.000,00 €

Commitments at 31.12.2004: 1.268.729,03 €

Amount not used at 31.12.2004: 1.931.270,97 €

Carryover: 312.800,00 €

The MODINIS work programme for 2004 constituting the financing decision adopted on 29 April 2004 had to be reviewed as a result of the revision of the eEurope action plan 2005 (for which MODINIS provides the financial support). The revised work programme was not adopted until 22 October 2004. As a result, some of the measures were not begun until late in the year, affecting the following two cases:

1) The eBusiness readiness indicators study: €75.000

This study, to be managed by the JRC, will be carried out under an administrative arrangement in accordance with the DG BUDGET Circular of 9 July 2004. Some details of the administrative arrangement needed to be clarified, which prevented it from being signed by DG INFSO and the JRC before the end of 2004.

2) European Biometrics Portal: €237.800

The call related to this action was published in the OJ on 24 August 2004 with a deadline for submission on 18 October 2004. A total of 144 companies were interested and contacted the Commission in order to get the full tender specification. The opening session took place on 26 October 2004 and 16 tenders were received and accepted as valid. A second opening session had to be organized on 4 November 2004 in order to open an additional tender which was delivered late by the mail services. This gave a total of 17 tenders to be evaluated.

In order to deal with the unexpected high number of valid proposals the Evaluation Committee agreed to meet in two occasions, 12 and 22 November. The Committee delivered its final evaluation results on 2 December 2004.

The final report together with the supporting documents was submitted to the secretariat of the INFSO public procurement committee on 7/12/2004. The Committee delivered its positive opinion on 23/12/04. The 15 days delay established in the procedure to inform the non-successful bidders of the outcome of the evaluation made impossible to finalize the procedure and conclude the contract before the end of the year.

23. 14 04 02 Customs 2007 programme

Appropriation authorised 2004: 28.450.000,00 €

Commitments at 31.12.2004: 22.018.074,78 €

Amount not used at 31.12.2004: 6.431.925,22 €

Carryover: 245.000,00 €

This carryover relates to the conclusion of a specific contract under a framework quality assurance contract covering the computerisation of systems in the areas of customs and taxation. Since the framework contract was signed on 15 December 2004, after the favourable opinion delivered by TAXUD’s procurement committee meeting on 15 November 2004, it was not possible to have the offer required for signing the contract before 31 December 2004. The specific contract should be signed in February.

24. 14 05 02 Computerisation of the excise system (EMCS)

Appropriation authorised 2004: 5.500.000,00 €

Commitments at 31.12.2004: 1.773.700,69 €

Amount not used at 31.12.2004: 3.726.299,31 €

Carryover: 3.550.000,00 €

This carryover relates to a specific contract estimated at €3.550.000.00 under a framework contract awarded in 2003 which was covered by an initial specific contract signed on 22 December 2003. That contract provided for the issue of operational specifications for the Excise System project by 23 August 2004. For reasons due to the contractor, those specifications have not been issued to date. The contractor was notified of the contractual consequences (penalties and possible termination of the framework contract) on 27 August 2004. A second specific contract, scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2004, relating to the second phase of work, was made conditional on presentation of these specifications. By an exchange of letters on 18 October 2004 and 3 December 2004 it was agreed that the specifications would be submitted by 21 January 2005 at the latest. Under these circumstances, this second contract can begin in March 2005.

25. 14 05 03 Fiscalis 2007 (Community programme to improve the operation of taxation systems in the internal market)

Appropriation authorised 2004: 12.950.000,00 €

Commitments at 31.12.2004: 11.893.655,99 €

Amount not used at 31.12.2004: 1.056.344,01 €

Carryover: 245.000,00 €

This carryover relates to the conclusion of a specific contract under a framework quality assurance contract covering the computerisation of systems in the areas of customs and taxation. Since the framework contract was signed on 15 December 2004, after the favourable opinion delivered by TAXUD’s procurement committee meeting on 15 November 2004, it was not possible to have the offer required for signing the contract before 31 December 2004. The specific contract should be signed in February.

26. 17 02 01 Community activities in favour of consumers

Appropriation authorised 2004: 19.077.778,00 €

Commitments at 31.12.2004: 17.142.803,77 €

Amount not used at 31.12.2004: 1.934.974,23 €

Carryover: 833.365,88 €

The carry forward is needed in order to complete two actions that have been initialized and for which the financial and legal commitment process has almost been completed by the end of 2004. This report is necessary as the 2005 budget will be insufficient to cover these actions in addition to the planned work programme.

The first action concerns a joint action on market surveillance (action 10 of the consumer legal base). The project ‘Suzy Safe’ has been evaluated and approved, the amount has been committed and the contract sent to the beneficiary. Unfortunately, the beneficiary did not manage to return the signed originals to the Commission before the end of the year.

The second action concerns the operations of the Consumer HelpNet (new network resulting from the merge of the Euroguichet network and the EEJ-Net, action 9 of the consumer legal base) for 3 countries: Spain, Cyprus and Malta. As the Commission was in possession of all necessary elements only in the second half of December 2004, the timeframe was too tight to complete the financial and legal commitments before the end of the year.

The two concerned actions were planned in the annual work plan 2004, adopted by the Commission on the 31st of March 2004.

Summary

Joint project ‘Suzy Safe’ EUR 77.127,88

Consumer HelpNet Spain 2005 EUR 450.000,00

Consumer HelpNet Cyprus 2005 EUR 184.474,00

Consumer HelpNet Malta 2005 EUR 121.764,00

27. 18 05 01 02 AGIS

Appropriation authorised 2004: 15.270.000,00 €

Commitments at 31.12.2004: 12.841.546,48 €

Amount not used at 31.12.2004: 2.428.453,52 €

Carryover: 1.650.000,00 €

A call for proposals under the AGIS programme was published in 2004. 113 projects were selected and the authorising officer responsible adopted an award decision on them.

Each project has to be covered by its own individual commitment and a grant agreement signed for it. It was possible to do this for 102 projects by the end of 2004.

However, for 11 projects it was not possible to obtain the information required for finalising the grant agreements from the applicants in time. An appropriations carryover must therefore be requested. The agreements can be signed by the end of March 2005.

28. 18 06 01 02 Cooperation programme in civil matters

Appropriation authorised 2004: 3.750.000,00 €

Commitments at 31.12.2004: 2.948.415,92 €

Amount not used at 31.12.2004: 801.584,08 €

Carryover: 500.000,00 €

This carryover is required for concluding a contract for a feasibility study on the creation of a discussion network on international private law, civil law and civil procedure. The contract (ref. JAI/C4/2004/05) was awarded and on 22 December 2004 the internal committee of DG JLS responsible for verifying compliance with the contract award procedures delivered a favourable opinion. Preparation of the contract is at an advanced stage but it was not possible to complete it in 2004. The contract can be signed by the end of March 2005.

29. 29 02 01 Statistical information policy

Appropriation authorised 2004: 35.675.757,00 €

Commitments at 31.12.2004: 24.730.709,98 €

Amount not used at 31.12.2004: 10.945.047,02 €

Carryover: 1.630.255,00 €

The main reason for these carry-overs concerns the political decision taken by the ESTAT management to give full priority to the commitment of the Phare 2003 commitments files. This decision had to be taken at the end of the year because of the impossibility to extend the commitment schedule as originally foreseen. This decision took up a big amount of resources to commit these funds in priority making it impossible to commit all other files which were in the pipeline.

Furthermore, from the evidence in the files, most of them also mention for certain dossiers:

- a lack of human resources to finalise the formalities in the end of year period

- the fact that the Financing Decision 2004 was only adopted within the second quarter of the year

- the information on review of work programs in the scope of DIGIT framework contracts arriving lately,

- the renewal of certain contracts needing final deliverables related to preceding ones which were signed also late the year before

- the withdrawal of contractors after having been selected.

30. 29 02 02 Networks for intra-Community statistics (Edicom)

Appropriation authorised 2004: 10.154.300,00 €

Commitments at 31.12.2004: 6.000.978,29 €

Amount not used at 31.12.2004: 4.153.321,71 €

Carryover: 1.915.942,00 €

The main reason for these carry-overs concerns the political decision taken by the ESTAT management to give full priority to the commitment of the Phare 2003 commitments files. This decision had to be taken at the end of the year because of the impossibility to extend the commitment schedule as originally foreseen. This decision took up a big amount of resources to commit these funds in priority making it impossible to commit all other files which were in the pipeline.

Furthermore, from the evidence in the files, most of them also mention for certain dossiers:

- the late approval of the EDICOM Financing Decision.

- the information on review of work programs in the scope of DIGIT framework contracts arriving lately.

31. 06 04 02 Intelligent energy for Europe programme (2003 to 2006), External strand

Appropriation authorised 2004: 4.915.000,00 €

Commitments at 31.12.2004: 387.400,00 €

Amount not used at 31.12.2004: 4.527.600,00 €

Carryover: 4.527.600,00 €

This carryover relates to 10 COOPENER grants under the ‘Intelligent Energy – Europe’ programme which it was not possible to sign by 31 December 2004 but for which most of the preparatory stages of the commitment procedure have been completed. The beneficiary selection phase has been completed. Work on the dossiers has progressed such that the individual commitments can be made at the beginning of 2005.

32. 11 03 01 International fisheries agreements

Appropriation authorised 2004: 173.532.561,00 €

Commitments at 31.12.2004: 171.035.480,71 €

Amount not used at 31.12.2004: 2.497.080,29 €

Carryover: 1.065.000,00 €

On the basis of guidelines issued by the Council and Commission, negotiations between the Commission and Côte d'Ivoire on a protocol laying down the fishing opportunities and financial contribution began in November 2003. In March 2004 a protocol covering the period 1 July 2004 to 30 June 2007 was initialled by the Commission and Côte d'Ivoire. A proposal for a Council decision on the provisional application of the protocol and a proposal for a Council regulation were forwarded to the Council in September 2004. Adoption of these two documents by the Council was then delayed as a result of the political events in Côte d'Ivoire. It was not possible to adopt them in 2004, but the Council decision was taken on 24 January 2005.

The agreement was not interrupted on 1 July 2004. The amount to be carried over relates to the first year of application of the protocol.

33. 19 11 01 Evaluation of results of Community aid, follow-up and audit measures

Appropriation authorised 2004: 12.475.000,00 €

Commitments at 31.12.2004: 11.404.301,75 €

Amount not used at 31.12.2004: 1.070.698,25 €

Carryover: 1.070.698,25 €

This carryover relates to a contract under an invitation to tender. All the stages of the award procedure were completed by 31 December and the letter of notification of award of contract was sent to the selected contractor on 6 December.

The commitment procedure and signature of the contract were delayed by an appeal lodged by one of the tenderers not selected, requesting additional information on the reasons for the choice made. The department responsible is providing the explanations requested and commitment can be finalised by 31 March 2005.

34. 21 04 01 Evaluation of the results of Community aid, follow-up and audit measures

Appropriation authorised 2004: 7.050.000,00 €

Commitments at 31.12.2004: 4.809.592,00 €

Amount not used at 31.12.2004: 2.240.408,00 €

Carryover: 2.240.408,00 €

This carryover relates to a contract under an invitation to tender. All the stages of the award procedure have been completed, but one of the tenderers lodged an appeal with the Court of First Instance. The Court gave a preliminary ruling not to proceed with signing the contract. That order was not lifted until 20 December. Commitment can be finalised by 31 March 2005.

35. 01 02 02 Coordination and surveillance of economic and monetary union

Appropriation authorised 2004: 5.650.000,00 €

Commitments at 31.12.2004: 5.398.802,37 €

Amount not used at 31.12.2004: 251.197,63 €

Carryover: 220.000,00 €

This carryover relates to two studies carried out by the OECD:

- ‘Modelling Pension Entitlements’ - €150.000 (joint delegation ECFIN/EMPL);

- ‘Role of product market regulation for growth and employment countries’ - €70.000.

Although agreement was reached with the OECD on the content of the contract, it proved necessary to check certain legal aspects prior to signature (interpretation of “joint management” under Article 53 of the Financial Regulation). Despite several inter-service meetings, it was not possible to finalise the contract in time for the commitment to be made by 31 December 2004.

36. 05 05 01 01 The Sapard pre-accession Instrument

Appropriation authorised 2004: 226.700.000,00 €

Commitments at 31.12.2004: 225.200.000,00 €

Amount not used at 31.12.2004: 1.500.000,00 €

Carryover: 1.500.000,00 €

Following the transfer of €1.500.000 from line 05.01.04.03 to line 05.05.01.01 at the end of 2004, DG AGRI launched an inter-service consultation on an amendment of the Annual Financial Agreements 2004 to allocate the €1.500.000 to the recipient countries Romania and Bulgaria.

The inter-service consultation on an amendment of the AFA 2004 was approved by all the services concerned by the end of 2004. However, it was not possible for the Commission decision to be adopted by the 2004 deadline (it is scheduled for January 2005) and the commitment was not made.

In accordance with the criteria in Article 6 of the Regulation laying down detailed rules for implementing the Financial Regulation, the preparatory stages are sufficiently advanced to make it reasonable to surmise that the commitment will be made by 31 March 2005.

CARRYOVER OF PAYMENT APPROPRIATIONS

No. | 2004 Budget | Heading | 2005 Budget | Amount to be carried over |

1 | 04 49 04 01 | European Social Fund (ESF) - Phasing-out of expenditure on administrative management | 04 49 04 01 | 1.922.372,00 |

2 | 11 06 01 | Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance (FIFG) - Objective 1 | 11 06 01 | 37.887.382,28 |

3 | 11 06 06 | Completion of earlier programmes | 11 06 06 | 5.273.831,85 |

4 | 13 03 06 | URBAN | 13 03 06 | 2.293.988,97 |

5 | 13 03 13 | Interreg III Community initiative | 13 03 13 | 3.378.830,69 |

6 | 13 04 01 | Cohesion Fund | 13 04 01 | 133.138.854,00 |

HEADING 2 - TOTAL | 183.895.259,79 |

7 | 04 49 04 02 | Industrial relations and social dialogue | 04 49 04 02 | 194.894,00 |

8 | 04 49 04 04 | EURES (European employment services) | 04 49 04 04 | 5.060,00 |

9 | 04 49 04 05 | Community measures to achieve equality between men and women | 04 49 04 05 | 33.528,00 |

10 | 04 49 04 07 | Measures combating and preventing social exclusion | 04 49 04 07 | 362.553,69 |

11 | 04 49 04 08 | Free movement of workers, coordination of social security systems and measures for migrants, including migrants from third countries | 04 49 04 08 | 163.239,00 |

12 | 04 49 04 10 | Labour market | 04 49 04 10 | 413.235,07 |

13 | 04 49 04 12 | Measures combating and preventing discrimination | 04 49 04 12 | 93.087,51 |

14 | 07 03 01 01 | Protection of forests | 07 03 01 01 | 14.860.400,00 |

15 | 07 04 01 02 | Subsidy for the European Environment Agency | 07 04 01 02 | 410.000,00 |

16 | 10 02 01 | Food, chemical products and health | 10 02 01 | 790.000,00 |

17 | 10 02 03 | Horizontal activities | 10 02 03 | 400.000,00 |

18 | 10 04 01 | Completion of previous joint programmes | 10 04 01 | 4.500.000,00 |

19 | 18 05 01 02 | AGIS | 18 05 01 02 | 2.000.000,00 |

20 | 18 07 02 | Preparatory measures for a programme to combat drug trafficking | 18 07 02 | 287.000,00 |

21 | 18 08 02 | Schengen information system (SIS II) | 18 08 02 | 3.200.000,00 |

No. | 2004 Budget | Heading | 2005 Budget | Amount to be carried over |

22 | 18 08 03 | Visa information system (VIS) | 18 08 03 | 5.000.000,00 |

23 | 25 03 02 | Prince | 25 03 02 | 3.600.000,00 |

HEADING 3 - TOTAL | 36.312.997,27 |

24 | 01 03 02 02 | Macroeconomic assistance for the countries of the western Balkans not concerned by a preaccession strategy | 01 03 02 02 | 5.000.000,00 |

25 | 11 03 01 | International fisheries agreements | 11 03 01 | 1.065.000,00 |

HEADING 4 - TOTAL | 6.065.000,00 |

GRAND TOTAL | 226.273.257,06 |

CARRYOVER OF PAYMENT APPROPRIATIONS

Grounds

1. 04 49 04 01 European Social Fund (ESF) - Phasing-out of expenditure on administrative management

Appropriation authorised 2004: 3.777.015,00 €

Payments at 31.12.2004: 1.220.936,07 €

Amount not used at 31.12.2004: 2.556.078,93 €

Carryover: 1.922.372,00 €

Payments appropriations in 2005 are 'pm' which is insufficient to cover a RAL of 1.9 million euros

2. 11 06 01 Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance (FIFG) - Objective 1

Appropriation authorised 2004: 371.934.809,00 €

Payments at 31.12.2004: 334.047.426,72 €

Amount not used at 31.12.2004: 37.887.382,28 €

Carryover: 37.887.382,28 €

Budget 2005 likely to be insufficient to cover needs, after PDB 2005 was cut by 8% to 328 million by the budget authority.

3. 11 06 06 Completion of earlier programmes

Appropriation authorised 2004: 5.876.873,00 €

Payments at 31.12.2004: 603.041,15 €

Amount not used at 31.12.2004: 5.273.831,85 €

Carryover: 5.273.831,85 €

Budget 2005 likely to be insufficient to cover needs. Payment appropriations for 2005 are p.m., against a RAL at the end of 2004 of some 20 million euros. The carry-over represents only 25% of the RAL.

4. 13 03 06 URBAN

Appropriation authorised 2004: 91.345.963,00 €

Payments at 31.12.2004: 89.051.974,03 €

Amount not used at 31.12.2004: 2.293.988,97 €

Carryover: 2.293.988,97 €

The analysis of most of the payment requests received from Member States could not be finalised in due time in order to execute the payments before 31/12/2004. The payment appropriations adopted for 2005 are not sufficient to cover estimated payment requests because the amount proposed in the PDB was cut by 18% to 63 million euro (while the execution in 2004 was 89 million euros)

5. 13 03 13 Interreg III Community initiative

Appropriation authorised 2004: 541.658.727,00 €

Payments at 31.12.2004: 538.279.896,31 €

Amount not used at 31.12.2004: 3.378.830,69 €

Carryover: 3.378.830,69 €

A large number of payments claims was received at the end of 2004, and the analysis of most of them could not be finalised in due time in order to execute the payments before 31/12/2004. The payment appropriations adopted for 2005 are not sufficient to cover estimated payment requests because the amount proposed in the PDB was cut by 18% to 196 million euros (while the execution in 2004 was 239 million)

6. 13 04 01 Cohesion Fund

Appropriation authorised 2004: 2.776.491.505,00 €

Payments at 31.12.2004: 2.642.101.717,53 €

Amount not used at 31.12.2004: 134.389.787,47 €

Carryover: 133.138.854,00 €

Decisions for the new Member States were signed late in 2004, and a significant part of the advance payments could not be executed in 2004. The 2005 payment appropriations consist of the EU-10 share fixed in the Copenhagen Council, and the EU-15 part that is based on the best implementation estimates. Consequently, the payment appropriations adopted for 2005 are likely to be insufficient to cover all the remaining advance payments for the new Member States that could not be made in 2004.

7. 04 49 04 02 Industrial relations and social dialogue

Appropriation authorised 2004: 582.453,00 €

Payments at 31.12.2004: 319.825,09 €

Amount not used at 31.12.2004: 262.627,91 €

Carryover: 194.894,00 €

In 2004 this line was intended to clear the outstanding commitments on the former BA lines.

It was not possible to clear all the outstanding commitments in 2004.

The outstanding commitment at the end of 2004 is €194.894,00 and the 2005 appropriations are insufficient.

8. 04 49 04 04 EURES (European employment services)

Appropriation authorised 2004: 181.090,00 €

Payments at 31.12.2004: 166.779,36 €

Amount not used at 31.12.2004: 14.310,64 €

Carryover: 5.060,00 €

In 2004 this line was intended to clear the outstanding commitments on the former BA lines.

It was not possible to clear all the outstanding commitments in 2004.

The outstanding commitment at the end of 2004 is €5.060,00 € and the 2005 appropriations are insufficient.

9. 04 49 04 05 Community measures to achieve equality between men and women

Appropriation authorised 2004: 83.524,00 €

Payments at 31.12.2004: 37.132,46 €

Amount not used at 31.12.2004: 46.391,54 €

Carryover: 33.528,00 €

In 2004 this line was intended to clear the outstanding commitments on the former BA lines.

It was not possible to clear all the outstanding commitments in 2004.

The outstanding commitment at the end of 2004 is €33 528,00 and the 2005 appropriations are insufficient.

10. 04 49 04 07 Measures combating and preventing social exclusion

Appropriation authorised 2004: 547.578,00 €

Payments at 31.12.2004: 181.059,12 €

Amount not used at 31.12.2004: 366.518,88 €

Carryover: 362.553,69 €

In 2004 this line was intended to clear the outstanding commitments on the former BA lines.

It was not possible to clear all the outstanding commitments in 2004.

The outstanding commitment at the end of 2004 is €379.310,00 and the 2005 appropriations are insufficient.

11. 04 49 04 08 Free movement of workers, coordination of social security systems and measures for migrants, including migrants from third countries

Appropriation authorised 2004: 619.575,00 €

Payments at 31.12.2004: 289.064,47 €

Amount not used at 31.12.2004: 330.510,53 €

Carryover: 163.239,00 €

In 2004 this line was intended to clear the outstanding commitments on the former BA lines.

It was not possible to clear all the outstanding commitments in 2004.

The outstanding commitment at the end of 2004 is €163.239,00 and the 2005 appropriations are insufficient.

12. 04 49 04 10 Labour market

Appropriation authorised 2004: 1.574.737,00 €

Payments at 31.12.2004: 1.138.068,16 €

Amount not used at 31.12.2004: 436.668,84 €

Carryover: 413.235,07 €

In 2004 this line was intended to clear the outstanding commitments on the former BA lines.

It was not possible to clear all the outstanding commitments in 2004.

The outstanding commitment at the end of 2004 is €781.723,00 and the 2005 appropriations are insufficient.

13. 04 49 04 12 Measures combating and preventing discrimination

Appropriation authorised 2004: 562.192,00 €

Payments at 31.12.2004: 469.104,49 €

Amount not used at 31.12.2004: 93.087,51 €

Carryover: 93.087,51 €

In 2004 this line was intended to clear the outstanding commitments on the former BA lines.

It was not possible to clear all the outstanding commitments in 2004.

The outstanding commitment at the end of 2004 is €145.255,00 and the 2005 appropriations are insufficient.

14. 07 03 01 01 Protection of forests

Appropriation authorised 2004: 17.000.000,00 €

Payments at 31.12.2004: 2.139.600,00 €

Amount not used at 31.12.2004: 14.860.400,00 €

Carryover: 14.860.400,00 €

The late adoption of the implementing rules for the programme and the difficult process of the accreditation of the Member States' bodies selected to carry out the programme delayed the commitment process.

Consequently, few advance payments were made. The amount of payment credits foreseen for 2005 (14.020.000€) will not be enough to cover the payments needs for 2003, 2004 and 2005 commitments. We therefore request the carry-forward of the unused balance of 2004 payment credits.

15. 07 04 01 02 Subsidy for the European Environment Agency

Appropriation authorised 2004: 13.889.750,00 €

Payments at 31.12.2004: 13.479.750,00 €

Amount not used at 31.12.2004: 410.000,00 €

Carryover: 410.000,00 €

In 2004 DG ENV concluded two administrative transfer agreements with the European Environment Agency (EEA) for additional work on the environmental biodiversity indicators and a study on cross-compliance in the context of the farm advisory system. These additional tasks were not foreseen in the core-budget for the activities of the EEA under title 3. Therefore, transfers of both commitment and payment credits were carried out.

Since the agreements were signed in late 2004, DG ENV did not receive requests for advance payments. The amount of payment credits foreseen for 2005 (12.900.000€) only covers the core-funding of the activities of the EEA under title 3. We therefore request the carry-forward of payment credits related to the two transfers of 2004 to be able to fulfil our legal obligations towards the EEA.

16. 10 02 01 Food, chemical products and health

Appropriation authorised 2004: 7.895.073,00 €

Payments at 31.12.2004: 7.100.765,49 €

Amount not used at 31.12.2004: 794.307,51 €

Carryover: 790.000,00 €

At the end of 2004, commitments outstanding on line 10 02 01 totalled €6,7 million. On the basis of the historical data available from previous framework programmes, the outstanding commitments at the end of 2004 were estimated at €5,3 million, i.e. €1,4 million off the figure actually achieved. The main reason for this difference is underutilisation (compounded by transfers of payment appropriations in the course of the year) and partly an increase in commitment appropriations in the course of the year.

There are therefore more bills to be covered that estimated at the beginning of the 2005 budget procedure. On the basis of the statistics (observed average cover rate), and in order to avoid a request for an increase in appropriations in the course of the year, a carryover of payment appropriations of €790.000 from 2004 to 2005 is requested to cover the shortfall in implementation of the outstanding commitments in 2004 on line 10 02 01.

17. 10 02 03 Horizontal activities

Appropriation authorised 2004: 7.764.141,60 €

Payments at 31.12.2004: 7.354.877,95 €

Amount not used at 31.12.2004: 409.263,65 €

Carryover: 400.000,00 €

At the end of 2004, commitments outstanding on line 10 02 03 totalled €10 million. On the basis of the historical data available from previous framework programmes, the outstanding commitments at the end of 2004 were estimated at €9,5 million, i.e. €0,5 million off the figure actually achieved. The reason for this difference is the increase in commitment appropriations in the course of the year which, although implemented, were not paid out in 2004.

There are therefore more bills to be covered that estimated at the beginning of the 2005 budget procedure. On the basis of the statistics (observed average cover rate), and in order to avoid a request for an increase in appropriations in the course of the year, a carryover of payment appropriations of €400.000 from 2004 to 2005 is requested to cover the shortfall in implementation of commitments outstanding in 2004 on line 10 02 03.

18. 10 04 01 Completion of previous joint programmes

Appropriation authorised 2004: 15.672.000,00 €

Payments at 31.12.2004: 11.109.022,39 €

Amount not used at 31.12.2004: 4.562.977,61 €

Carryover: 4.500.000,00 €

The payment appropriations on this line intended to cover completion of previous framework programmes were increased during the budget procedure on the initiative of Parliament. This relates to one line covering several operations to complete various lines whose implementation rate is composite and therefore difficult to estimate. Given the increase in payment appropriations on this line by Parliament and the difficulty in estimating the level of payment appropriations required to cover appropriations outstanding, a carryover of €4.500.000 from 2004 to 2005 is proposed.

19. 18 05 01 02 AGIS

Appropriation authorised 2004: 10.580.000,00 €

Payments at 31.12.2004: 6.264.436,09 €

Amount not used at 31.12.2004: 4.315.563,91 €

Carryover: 2.000.000,00 €

The appropriations carryover will be used to cover the prefinancing of grants awarded under the AGIS programme following the 2004 call for proposals. This amounts includes the prefinancing of grant agreements which have already been signed but for which it has not yet been possible to arrange prefinancing, as well as agreements that will be signed as a result of carryovers of commitment appropriations requested elsewhere. The prefinancing accounts for about €4 million for projects selected following the 2004 call for proposals. The level of payment appropriations allocated in 2005 (€14 million) will not provide sufficient funding for this prefinancing, the prefinancing for the 2005 call for proposals (60% of the 2005 appropriations, i.e. approximately €9.5 million) or the foreseeable final payments for previous commitments (approximately €2.5 million).

20. 18 07 02 Preparatory measures for a programme to combat drug trafficking

Appropriation authorised 2004: 287.000,00 €

Payments at 31.12.2004: 0,00 €

Amount not used at 31.12.2004: 287.000,00 €

Carryover: 287.000,00 €

Payment appropriations in 2005 are ''pm'. In 2004, out of an amount of €447.070,70 committed, €287.000,00 are still outstanding and the 2005 appropriations are insufficient. A carryover of €287.000 is proposed to cover these commitments.

21. 18 08 02 Schengen information system (SIS II)

Appropriation authorised 2004: 3.730.000,00 €

Payments at 31.12.2004: 528.782,50 €

Amount not used at 31.12.2004: 3.201.217,50 €

Carryover: 3.200.000,00 €

The award procedure for contract JAI-C3-2003-01 on the SIS II/VIS information system is the subject of an appeal before the Court of Justice and has been temporarily suspended. As a result, the payments initially scheduled for 2004 will probably have to be made in 2005, the year in which the next phase of the contract will also be started.

It should also be noted that:

- the signing of an IT support contract at the beginning of 2005, although it was originally scheduled for 2004, will entail payments;

- the emergence of policy requirements at the end of 2004 (court records studies/impact on SIS II/VIS) resulted in commitments for which payments are necessary in 2005.

The expenditure forecasts for 2005 total approximately €8,85 million, exceeding the appropriations available (€4,7 million) and thus making the requested carryover (€3,2 million) necessary.

22. 18 08 03 Visa information system (VIS)

Appropriation authorised 2004: 5.000.000,00 €

Payments at 31.12.2004: 0,00 €

Amount not used at 31.12.2004: 5.000.000,00 €

Carryover: 5.000.000,00 €

The award procedure for contract JAI-C3-2003-01 on the SIS II/VIS information system is the subject of an appeal before the Court of Justice and has been temporarily suspended. As a result, the payments initially scheduled for 2004 will probably have to be made in 2005, the year in which the next phase of the contract will also be started.

It should also be noted that:

- the signing of an IT support contract at the beginning of 2005, although it was originally scheduled for 2004, will entail payments;

- the emergence of policy requirements at the end of 2004 (court records studies/impact on SIS II/VIS) resulted in commitments for which payments are necessary in 2005.

The expenditure forecasts for 2005 total approximately €11,5 million, exceeding the appropriations available (€5,5 million) and thus making this carryover necessary.

23. 25 03 02 Prince

Appropriation authorised 2004: 10.000.000,00 €

Payments at 31.12.2004: 5.924.242,66 €

Amount not used at 31.12.2004: 4.075.757,34 €

Carryover: 3.600.000,00 €

Payment appropriations for 2005 are estimated at €10.768.501,51:

- €3.761.516,94 to cover the 2004 outstanding commitment falling due in 2005. The reason for this amount is that, as a result of the approval of the Treaty by the Council of Ministers in June 2004, most of the 2004 commitment appropriations (98%) were not committed until the second half of 2004;

- €7.006.984,57 to cover the 2005 commitments falling due in 2005.

Since the allocation for the 2005 payment appropriations is €7.185.000,00, it is necessary to carry over the difference in the 2004 payment appropriations, i.e. €3.600.000,00 (€10.768.501,51 - €7.185.000,00 = €3.583.501,51, rounded up to €3.600.000,00).

24. 01 03 02 02 Macroeconomic assistance for the countries of the western Balkans not concerned by a preaccession strategy

Appropriation authorised 2004: 5.100.000,00 €

Payments at 31.12.2004: 42.988,17 €

Amount not used at 31.12.2004: 5.057.011,83 €

Carryover: 5.000.000,00 €

The payment appropriations required in 2005 to cover previous commitments are €76 million. Therefore, the allocation of €64 million in the 2005 budget is not enough to cover commitments to be honoured in 2005. It is necessary to carry over the payment appropriations not used 2004, i.e. €5 million.

25. 11 03 01 International fisheries agreements

Appropriation authorised 2004: 179.517.561,00 €

Payments at 31.12.2004: 173.257.303,71 €

Amount not used at 31.12.2004: 6.260.257,29 €

Carryover: 1.065.000,00 €

These payment appropriations correspond to the commitment appropriations for which a carryover is also proposed since the 2005 appropriations are insufficient.

COMMISSION DECISION

Commitment appropriations to be made available again in 2005

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to Article 157 of the Financial Regulation of 25 June 2002 applicable to the general budget of the European Communities,[6] Council Regulation No 1605/2002[7] and

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

Sole Article

12. € 298.199.95 from Section III (Commission) of the 2004 budget shall be made available again in 2005 for the reasons set out in the Annex.

13. The Council and Parliament shall be informed of this decision.

Done at Brussels, […]

For the Commission

[…]

Member of the Commission

ANNEX

Extract from the Financial Regulation of 25 June 2002

Article 157

The Commission shall automatically decommit appropriations that have been committed as provided for in the regulations referred to in Article 155.

The decommitted appropriations may be made available again in the event of a manifest error attributable solely to the Commission or in the case of force majeure which has serious repercussions for the implementation of operations supported by the Structural Funds.

To this end, the Commission shall examine decommitments made during the previous financial year and decide, by 15 February of the current year, on the basis of requirements, whether it is necessary to make the corresponding appropriations available again.

COMMITMENT APPROPRIATIONS TO BE MADE AVAILABLE AGAIN

No. | 2004 Budget | Heading | 2005 Budget | Amount made available again |

1 | 11 06 03 | Completion of earlier programmes | 11 06 03 | 298.199,95 |

HEADING 2 - TOTAL | 298.199,95 |

GRAND TOTAL | 298.199,95 |

COMMITMENT APPROPRIATIONS TO BE MADE AVAILABLE AGAIN

Grounds

1. 11 06 03 Completion of earlier programmes

Decommitments in 2004: 3.080.999,95 €

Amount made available again: 298.199,95 €

Request for the reconstitution of decommitted appropriations on the basis of Article 157 of the Financial Regulation as a result of a manifest error attributable to the Commission (erroneous decommitment of the total amount of the balance of a programme; subsequent realisation that an amount still had to be paid).

[1] OJ L 248, 16.09.2002, p.1

[2] Regulation of 25.06.2002

[3] These provisions are set out on the following pages.

[4] OJ L 248, 16.09.2002, p.1

[5] Regulation of 25.06.2002; these provisions are set out on the following pages.

[6] OJ L 248, 16.09.2002, p. 1.

[7] Regulation of 25.06.2002; these provisions are set out on the following pages.