A4-0059/96

Decision on the results of the conciliation procedure provided for in the Joint Declaration by the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission of 4 March 1975 on the joint guideline adopted by the Council with a view to adopting a Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) amending Regulation (EEC, Euratom) No 1552/89 implementing Decision 88/376/EEC, Euratom on the system of the Communities' own resources (C4-0543/95)

The European Parliament,

- having regard to its opinion ((OJ C 329, 6.12.1993, p. 107.)) on the Commission's proposal to the Council, COM(92)0519 - C3-0030/93,

- having regard to the amended proposal submitted by the Commission, COM(94)0458 ((OJ C 382, 31.12.1994, p. 6.)),

- having regard to the joint guideline adopted by the Council on 17 November 1995 (C4-0543/95),

- having regard to the Joint Declaration by the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission of 4 March 1975 and in particular Articles 2 and 7 thereof,

- having regard to Rule 63(4) of its Rules of Procedure,

- having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgets and the opinion of the Committee on Budgetary Control (A4-0059/95),

1. Approves the attached joint text;

2. Instructs its Secretary-General, in agreement with the Secretary-General of the Council, to arrange for the joint text to be published in the Official Journal;

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

ANNEXJOINT TEXT

AMENDMENT OF REGULATION (EEC, EURATOM) No 1552/89 (OWN RESOURCES)

(Changes to the text of the joint guideline adopted by the Council on 17 November 1995, C4-0543/95).

I. Amendment of text of joint guideline

(i) In Article 2, the following is added to paragraph 1a:

'Should that notification not be explicitly provided for, the date shall be the date of establishment by the Member States of amounts due by the debtors, where necessary by way of advance payment or payment of balance.'

(ii) In Article 6, paragraph 2 is supplemented by a new subparagraph (c) worded as follows:

'(c) Established entitlements relating to levies and other charges connected with the common organization of the sugar market shall be entered in the accounts referred to in point (a). If these entitlements are not then recovered within the time limits set, the Member States may correct the entry and, by way of exception, enter the entitlements in the separate accounts.'

II. Statements attached

're Article 10(1):

The Commission undertakes, in the report on the operation of the own resources system which it is required to submit by the end of 1999, to deal, among other matters, with the matter of the retention of an amount of 10% of amounts recovered in connection with cases of fraud and irregularities already notified in accordance with the provisions of Article 6(4).'

're Article 17:

In order to reaffirm its position on the matter of guarantees, the Commission considers that the lack of a sufficient guarantee is attributable to the Member State, except in cases where the customs rules have established conditions and a specific level for the guarantee, the competent authorities of the Member State have complied with it and have made every possible effort to recover the debt.

The Commission will attempt, in cooperation with the Member States, to define procedures making it possible to carry out Commission spot checks on the government departments responsible for recovering traditional own resources. It will draw up a report by the end of 1996 on the results of this initiative and, where necessary, will take the appropriate measures'.