EN Official Journal of the European Union C 399/220

P8_TA(2015)0435

Methods and procedure for making available the traditional, VAT and GNI-based own resources and the measures to meet cash requirements *

European Parliament legislative resolution of 15 December 2015 on the proposal for a Council regulation amending Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 609/2014 on the methods and procedure for making available the traditional, VAT and GNI-based own resources and on the measures to meet cash requirements (COM(2015)0447 — C8-0277/2015 — 2015/0204(NLE))

(Consultation)

(2017/C 399/40)

The European Parliament,

— having regard to the Commission proposal to the Council (COM(2015)0447),

— having regard to Article 322(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and Article 106a of the Euratom Treaty, pursuant to which the Council consulted Parliament (C8-0277/2015),

— having regard to Rule 59 of its Rules of Procedure,

— having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgets (A8-0357/2015),

A. Whereas Council Decision 2014/335/EU, Euratom (1) is expected to enter into force in early 2016;

B. Whereas that Decision is accompanied by Council Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 609/2014 (2), entering into force on the same day as the Decision;

C. Whereas the corresponding legislation currently in force linked to Council Decision 2007/436/EC, Euratom (3) had to be revised in late 2014 due to exceptionally high amounts of VAT and GNI-based adjustments for certain Member States;

D. Whereas Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 609/2014 also needs to be revised in light of the experiences of the 2014 adjustments;

E. Whereas the provision and adjustment of Member States' contributions to the Union budget should not be subject to political bargaining but should be a technical process to meet cash requirements;

F. Whereas, as a general rule, Member States have, so far, been paying the full amounts of their VAT and GNI-based contributions to the Union budget without significant delay, even in times of crisis and severe fiscal strain;

G. Whereas, for the sake of transparency, a report on the calculations and underlying data for VAT and GNI balance adjustments should be presented to Parliament every year, as well as the dates and amounts of the contributions transferred by Member States to the Union budget;

H. Whereas the Commission proposal furthermore contains modifications with regard to the interest rules, and a number of more technical issues and clarifications;

I. Whereas Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 609/2014 should therefore be amended accordingly;

1. Stresses the need for efficient rules on how Member States make their timely contributions to the Union budget available, to allow the Commission to effectively manage its treasury;

2. Supports the option granted to the Commission to ask Member States for the payment of a third twelfth of VAT and GNI resource in the first half of the year, in order to allow the Commission to reduce a more important part of the previous year’s payment backlog in the European Agriculture Guarantee Fund and in the European Structural and Investment Funds, and to reduce default interest;

3. Stresses in particular the need for the timely delivery of payments to beneficiaries of the Union budget; welcomes, in this context, the proposed amendment to the Article 12 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 609/2014, which aims not only at increasing the incentives to pay on time by making more expensive any late payment but also at ensuring proportionality, by capping the maximum increase of the interest rate at 20 percentage points;

4. Underlines that the proposed modifications to the methods applicable to adjustments of contributions aim at avoiding that a similar incident as the one which occurred in 2014 could happen again;

5. Stresses that those adjustments of contributions should be dealt with as automatically as possible to avoid political interference with the agreed ways of financing the Union budget and to limit the discretion left to Member States as to the timing of their additional contributions resulting from GNI adjustments to the Union budget to a minimum;

6. Agrees therefore to the Commission proposal to shift the timing for the communication and especially the due date for making available the adjustments to the beginning of the year instead of on 1 December, which will make it easier for national treasuries to manage the financing of possible adjustments;

7. Supports furthermore the Commission proposal that, in order to prevent any losses for the Union budget, each Member State ensures that the amounts it has credited to the own resources account is not reduced by any negative interest or other charges for the time it has to remain in the account;

8. Notes the high degree of diversity as regards the way in which Member States handle their national accounting of contributions to the Union budget and calls on the Commission to study recommendations in this regard to allow for an easier comparison between Member States;

9. Underlines the fact that the own resources system remains too complex and needs to be fundamentally reformed with the next Multiannual Financial Framework; stresses, against this background, the crucial role of the High Level Group on Own Resources in delivering proposals for overcoming the deficiencies of the current system;

10. Approves the Commission proposal as amended;

11. Calls on the Commission to alter its proposal accordingly, in accordance with Article 293(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and Article 106a of the Euratom Treaty;

12. Calls on the Council to notify Parliament if it intends to depart from the text approved by Parliament;

13. Asks the Council to consult Parliament again if it intends to substantially amend the Commission proposal;

14. Instructs its President to forward its position to the Council and the Commission.

Amendment 1

Proposal for a regulation

Article 1 — point 4

Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 609/2014

Article 10b — paragraph 5 — subparagraph 3

Text proposed by the Commission Amendment The Commission shall inform the Member States of the amounts resulting from this calculation before 1 February of the year following the year of supply of data for the adjustments. Each Member State shall enter the net amount in the account referred to in Article 9 on the first working day of June of that same year. The Commission shall inform the Member States and the European Parliament of the amounts resulting from this calculation before 1 February of the year following the year of supply of data for the adjustments. Each Member State shall enter the net amount in the account referred to in Article 9 on the first working day of June of that same year.

(1) Council Decision 2014/335/EU, Euratom of 26 May 2014 on the system of own resources of the European Union (OJ L 168, 7.6.2014, p. 105).

(2) Council Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 609/2014 of 26 May 2014 on the methods and procedure for making available the traditional, VAT and GNI-based own resources and on the measures to meet cash requirements (OJ L 168, 7.6.2014, p. 39).

(3) Council Decision 2007/436/EC, Euratom of 7 June 2007 on the system of European Communities' own resources (OJ L 163, 23.6.2007, p. 17).