12. Welcomes the efforts by the Commission and the Court of Auditors to discover anomalies, irregu-
larities and instances of fraud; notes that the Commission carried out 70 inspections during the period1997-1999, discovering 246 anomalies in the process; insists that the Commission step up efforts torecover a higher volume of costs stemming from anomalies, irregularities and fraud, and finally reducethe scale on which these infringements of rules take place in order to avoid additional costs for theEuropean taxpayer;
13. Welcomes the Commissions announcement to examine the operational consequences of holding
the Member States liable for some of the errors committed by their administrations; invites, however, theCommission to explore all possibilities of including losses to the EU budget because of non-collection ofTOR in the Member States payments to the EU budget;
14. Supports the legal action by the Commission against US tobacco companies for cigarette smuggling,
and deplores the fact that not all Member States have become joined to the Commissions suit, whichmight result in a major loss of taxpayers money in those Member States;
15. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Court of
Justice and the Court of Auditors.
5. 2002 budget: conciliation procedure
A5-0241/2001
European Parliament draft resolution on the 2002 budget in view of the conciliation procedure
before the Councils first reading (2001/2063(BUD))
The European Parliament,
 having regard to Article 272 of the EC Treaty, Article 177 of the Euratom Treaty and Article 78 of the
ECSC Treaty,
 having regard to the Interinstitutional Agreement of 6 May 1999 between the European Parliament,
the Council and the Commission on budgetary discipline and improvement of the budgetary pro-cedure (
1), and in particular Annex III thereof,
 having regard to the preliminary draft budget of the Commission for 2002 (C5-0300/2001) having regard to its resolution of 3 April 2001 on the guidelines for the 2002 budget procedure 
Section III  Commission (
2),
 having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgets and the opinions of the Committee on
Agriculture and Rural Development, Committee on Fisheries, the Committee on Foreign Affairs,Human Rights, Common Security and Defence Policy and the Committee on Employment and SocialAffairs (A5-0241/2001),
A. whereas the Commission has presented a preliminary draft budget for 2002 which foresees an
increase of 3,49 % in commitment appropriations compared to the 2001 budget,
B. whereas the increase in total payment appropriations is 4,8 % compared to the 2001 budget, repre-
senting nonetheless only 1,06 % of the combined GNP of the Member States which represents anhistorical low; whereas the ceiling under the financial perspective for 2002 is 1,14 % of EU GNP,
C. whereas the conciliation before Councils first reading aims, in particular, to evaluate the needs and to
secure an agreement on the appropriate level of expenditure for agriculture, international fisheriesagreements and the common foreign and security policy, now including defence policy; whereas thefirst reading conciliation is also an occasion to secure agreement on other expenditure,
(1) OJ C172, 18.6.1999, p 1.
(2) Texts Adopted, Item 9.C 65 E/284 EN 14.3.2002 Official Journal of the European Communities
Thursday 5 July 2001
D. whereas Parliament in its guidelines set out the following priorities for the 2002 budget: food safety,
consumer confidence and sustainable agriculture; improved performance and priority setting in exter-nal policies; improved implementation of the budget, and Commission reform; whereas other ini-tiatives announced in the guidelines include the encouragement of e-learning and other measures toimprove employment and social inclusion, as well as the development of policy on asylum andmigration,
Financial framework
1. Considers that an appreciable margin exists under the overall ceiling for payment appropriations in
2002; underlines that this margin should be used better to implement Community policies, especiallyunder Heading 3 and 4 and to liquidate the continuing large volume in outstanding commitments invarious sectors; considers that the payments to be made available for the reserve for agriculture shouldnot prejudice the assessment of needs for payments in Heading 3 and 4; states that this margin representsa one-off opportunity, given the likely evolution of the ceiling in payment appropriations in future years;
Agriculture
2. Considers that the proposal by the Commission to create a reserve for agriculture earmarked for
measures regarding BSE and FMD partly meets the concerns expressed by Parliament on this subject onsuccessive occasions in the past; wonders at the Commissions reasons for proposing such a large reserveat this stage when it still has the opportunity of adjusting the PDB by means of a Letter of Amendmentlater in the procedure; warns against the creation of excessive reserves whenever it is extremely uncertain ifthe appropriations will be needed or what kind of measures will have to be covered; expects the Commis-
sion to substantiate the need for this reserve in detail in the Letter of Amendment on the most recent
estimates for agriculture expenditure, in time for Parliaments first reading;
3. Notes the Commissions readiness to present a study analysing the different measures taken as part of
the 1999 reforms already underway and of the impact of the current crisis measures on Agenda 2000;
expects that on the occasion of the presentation of the Letter of Amendment, this study should give thebudget authority a clearer and more detailed view of the future course of reform before it takes its finaldecisions on the 2002 agricultural budget;
4. Is disappointed that the Commission failed fully to implement appropriations for food safety, con-
sumer confidence and sustainable agriculture which have been entered in the budget by the budgetaryauthority in recent years; calls on the Commission to seize the opportunities provided by the budgetaryauthority in this respect, in view of the future orientation of the CAP;
5. Once more reaffirms its determination that agricultural expenditure should remain within the ceilings
laid down in the financial perspective, in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 2040/2000 on budgetarydiscipline; notes that, according to the Commissions budget estimates, a margin of € 365 million belowthe ceiling remains within Titles B1-1 to B1-3; calls for it to be made possible, in future, to transferfunding not needed from the compulsory expenditure area to non-compulsory CAP expenditure, in orderto give appropriate acknowledgement to the growing importance of Title B1-4 (Rural development) interms of policy formulation and budgeting;
6. Asks the Commission to submit a report on the implementation and possible violation of rules
relating to animal transport in the Community; suggests that this report should be made available by15 September 2001 so that it can be taken into account before Parliaments first reading;
Fisheries
7. Recalls the conclusions of the Fisheries Council of 25 April 2001 that it has not been possible to
conclude a fisheries agreement with Morocco; asks the Commission therefore to propose a specific actionprogramme for restructuring the Community fleet which fished in the framework of the former fisheriesagreement with Morocco, following the conclusions of the Nice European Council;14.3.2002 EN C 65 E/285 Official Journal of the European Communities
Thursday 5 July 2001
8. Notes that the PDB still includes a provision of € 125 million in the reserve for line B7-8000 without
further specifying the purpose of the appropriations; considers that an agreement should be reached on theamount which is actually needed in the reserve for international fisheries agreements under discussion;expects any amounts made available under Heading 4 to be used to finance Parliaments priority policies;
Common foreign and security policy
9. Notes that the Commission in the PDB maintains the allocation for CFSP at the same level as in
recent years; expresses doubts that this allocation is really justified given the number of activities pre-viously financed under CFSP which now have their own separate legal base and given the actual imple-mentation record of the last three years; considers also that the inclusion of administrative expenditurerelated to Special Representatives in the Council budget should lead to savings in the Commission budget;
10. Notes the Commissions proposed changes in the nomenclature; before taking its final decisions on
this nomenclature and on the overall financial allocation for 2002, insists that the use to be made of thisappropriations is better specified in the budget remarks, notably by reference to the legal base for theactions;
11. Supports the Commissions efforts to secure a better planning and evaluation of CFSP actions; urges
the Council and Commission to move towards a multiannual programme of actions;
12. Calls for the further development of actions for the reduction and destruction of weapons of mass
destruction, as part of the development of the CFSP;
Administrative expenditure
13. Considers that its position on further resources for the Commission and other Institutions will be
conditioned by the overall situation in Heading 5 and by the progress of the reforms; points out that thecurrent estimates submitted by the other institutions taken together with the Commissions proposals for
its own administrative budget already exceed the ceiling in Heading 5, with the increase requested by the
Council for its budget being among the largest of all, at 9,10 % compared to 2001;
14. Insists that the cost of the new European security and defence policy is presented in a transparent
way in a separate title of Section II of the budget, in line with the Councils undertakings on the occasionof SAB No 2/2001; considers it a sine qua non that the Council presents as well the separate establishmentplan relating to its ESDP activities; points out that similar questions are raised in connection with Eurojust,the EC data protection officer and the data protection bodies under Schengen and Europol;
15. Considers that it is now urgent for the Council to engage with Parliament, as the two arms of the
budgetary authority, and Commission in a study both for budget 2002 and of the longer-term needs of theESDP, enlargement, other expanding budget areas and their implications for Heading 5, suggests that thetime has come for the Council to name an overall envelope within Heading 5, which it undertakes to
respect;
Improved implementation and Commission reform
16. Welcomes the Councils budget guidelines of 12 March 2001, which share Parliaments concern for
improving implementation and evaluation; looks forward to developing further with the Council theapproach taken in their joint declaration of December 2000 on the basis of the progress report presentedby the Commission;
17. Repeats its broad support for the reform process; will examine closely the effectiveness of the
reforms, the progress report, the proposed allocation of the requested posts and the impact of the earlyretirement scheme as a necessary basis for further decision-making;C 65 E/286 EN 14.3.2002 Official Journal of the European Communities
Thursday 5 July 2001
18. Intends to continue linking the evaluation of needs for different programmes with their implemen-
tation record; intends in particular to elaborate performance targets for budget implementation and criteriafor evaluating outstanding commitments in light of expected implementation; looks forward to developingfurther the other issues in the joint declaration, especially concerning the role of commitology in imple-mentation and the match between the legislative programme and the budgetary procedure;
Implementation of EP initiatives
19. Considers that the implementation of the budget as decided by the budgetary authority, is not only
a matter of loyal cooperation between the institutions and respect of their obligations under the Treaty,but also a matter of Parliaments confidence in the Commission; would regret if any failure to implementbudget decisions were to lead to a re-consideration of the relevant provisions of the IIA or to questionsbeing raised in the discharge procedure;
20. Expresses its willingness to discuss with the Commission and the Council the pilot projects and
preparatory actions that it intends to include in the budget;
E-learning, employment and social inclusion
21. Stresses the importance of this subject for enhancing employment and increasing the competitive-
ness of the European economy; notes the statements by the European Council on this subject and the twocommunications from the Commission; expects that this initiative will lead to a specific proposal of theCommission for appropriate actions at EU level; recalls its intention, as announced in the guidelines, toprovide appropriate budgetary support for this initiative;
22. Urges the Commission and Council to strengthen the measures introduced last year on employ-
ment, new technologies and SMEs and to improve their implementation;
External actions
23. Expresses its concern about the Commissions reductions in commitments in Heading 4, as regards
Parliaments traditional priorities;
Policy on migration and asylum
24. Confirms its intention, as stated in the guidelines, to launch appropriate initiatives related to policy
on asylum and migration; notes the needs identified by the Commission, including re-admission policy, thefight against trafficking, cooperation on external border controls, joint measures to do with clandestineimmigration, and measures for the social inclusion of migrants; takes note of the Commission proposal onfamily reunification;
*
**
25. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and the Commission.14.3.2002 EN C 65 E/287 Official Journal of the European Communities
Thursday 5 July 2001