EN Official Journal of the European Union C 307/1

FINANCIAL ACTIVITY REPORT 2012

Section II — European Council and Council

2013/C 307/01

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION

2. SUMMARY

3. OBJECTIVES AND BUDGET FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR 2012

3.1. The main administrative objectives

3.2. Establishment of the budget for the European Council and Council in 2012

3.2.1. General approach

3.2.2. Budget 2012

3.2.3. Budget 2012 and the Financial Perspectives of Heading 5 of the EU budget

4. GLOBAL OVERVIEW OF BUDGET IMPLEMENTATION IN 2012

4.1. Activities and objectives in 2012

4.1.1. European Council and Council activities in 2012

4.1.2. Achievement of administrative objectives in 2012

4.2. Revenue

4.3. Expenditure in 2012

4.3.1. Overview of implementation of the budget in 2004-2012

4.3.2. Implementation of the appropriations by category 2012

4.3.3. Modification of the budget in 2012

4.4. Appropriations carried over

4.4.1. Implementation of the carry-over appropriations from 2011 to 2012

4.4.2. Appropriations carried over from 2012 to 2013

4.5. Assigned revenue

4.5.1. Assigned revenue accrued before 2012

4.5.2. Assigned revenue accrued in 2012

1. INTRODUCTION

In conformity with Article 142 of the Financial Regulation (FR) (1) this document constitutes a report on budgetary and financial management of Section II of the EU budget (European Council and Council) for the financial year 2012.

The report is based on the accounts for 2012, the findings in the annual activity reports of the Council’s authorising officers and the budget implementation information from the Council’s financial system.

Chapter 3 of this report presents a summary of the framework which was established for the financial year 2012. A global overview on the implementation of the budget appropriations available in 2012 is given in Chapter 4.

The implementation of the budget 2012 by budget line is presented in the Annex.

2. SUMMARY

The General Secretariat of the Council (GSC hereafter) continued efforts to rationalise the budget set up and implementation in 2012 by reinforcing substance knowledge and the operational competencies of its financial agents. As a result of a thorough analysis on the real needs and prioritisation, the budget for the European Council and Council (EC/C hereafter) 2012 was reduced by EUR 29 million compared to 2011.

The efforts to streamline the size and the use of GSC’s human resources was translated into a reduction of 20 posts in the establishment plan totalling, thus, to 3 153 posts in the EC/C establishment plan in 2012.

The EC/C budget 2012 was established at EUR 533,9 million. At the end of 2012, an amount of EUR 489,9 million was committed whereas EUR 44 million was cancelled. Thus, the implementation rate of the EC/C budget was 91,8 % in 2012.

The main reasons for the cancelled appropriation of EUR 44 million are:

— underspending of the delegations’ travel envelopes (EUR 14,7 million),

— underspending in interpretation (EUR 5,9 million),

— no salary adjustment (EUR 7,4 million),

— reduced need for the Official Journal (EUR 0,9 million),

— under-occupation of posts in the establishment plan and lower salary costs (EUR 6,4 million),

— smaller need for other staff expenditure (e.g. contractual agents, SNEs,), and missions (EUR 3 million),

— lower need for organising meetings, technical installations and office equipment (EUR 1,5 million),

— non-activation of the reserve (EUR 2 million).

As for the cancelled appropriations, it should be noted that the four first points (EUR 29 million) practically depend on the activities/actions of the Member States, i.e. use of delegations’ travel and interpretation envelopes, decisions on salary adjustments, and how and when the legislative decisions are converted into publications in the Official Journal.

3. OBJECTIVES AND BUDGET FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR 2012

3.1. The main administrative objectives

The main administrative objectives of the General Secretariat of the Council for 2012 were:

— To ensure continuous support to the President of the European Council and to the Council.

— To proceed further with the process of administrative modernisation with the objective to reinforce the quality of its organisation.

— To prepare the adaptation of its organisation to the accession of Croatia in July 2013.

3.2. Establishment of the budget for the European Council and Council in 2012

3.2.1. General approach

The establishment of the budget 2012 for the European Council and Council was based on two separate procedures:

(1) the proposal for the draft budget 2012 in March 2011; and

(2) an amending letter to the draft budget 2012 in August 2011 in view of the accession of Croatia.

The 2012 EC/C budget was based on the objective of zero growth in terms of appropriations compared to the level of 2011. In addition to this zero growth approach, the appropriations for some specific items were reduced, taking into account past years’ budget implementation.

In order to prepare the accession of Croatia, resources were necessary already for 2012, notably for the Croatian language (translators and lawyer linguists) and for the publication of the acquis communautaire in that language. Therefore, the Commission invited the institutions on 30 June 2011 to introduce by 5 August 2011 their proposals for the accession related resources which were then incorporated into the amending letter to the draft budget 2012 of the EU. To face the requirements of the accession of Croatia, the GSC proposed an addition to its draft budget 2012 of EUR 1 375 000.

3.2.2. Budget 2012

The budget authority established the overall EC/C budget 2012 at EUR 533,9 million.

The difference of EUR – 29,3 million (– 5,2 %) compared to the 2011 budget breaks down as follows:

— reduction of EUR 10 million from advance payments for the Europa-Building,

— reduction of EUR 9 million from delegations’ travel expenses,

— reduction of EUR 8 million from interpretation,

— reduction of EUR 4 million from the contingency reserve,

— reduction of EUR 2,5 million related to the building contracts transferred to EEAS,

— increase of EUR 2,8 million for operating expenditure (e.g. statutory and contractual obligations),

— increase of EUR 1,4 million to prepare the accession of Croatia, which breaks down as follows. — Contractual staff related expenditure: EUR 400 000, — Official Journal/acquis communautaire: EUR 550 000, — Buildings, equipment and operating expenditure: EUR 425 000.

The establishment plan 2012 of the EC/C was reduced by 20 posts from 3 173 to 3 153.

Table 1 gives an overview on how the budget 2012 was established by category. With the impact of the supplementary resources to prepare the accession of Croatia the nominal decrease of the 2012 EC/C compared to 2011 was 5,2 %. Given the estimated inflation of 1,8 % for 2012 the EC/C budget was actually reduced in real terms by 7 %.

Table 1

EC/C budget 2012 compared to 2011 (by category)

(EUR) Category Budget 2011 Draft budget 2012 Amending letter (Cro) Final budget 2012 Difference 2012/2011 1 2 3 4 = 2 + 3 5 = 4/1 Establishment plan 288 302 206 294 797 000 — 294 797 000 2,3 % Other staff expenditure 24 586 301 23 065 000 425 000 23 490 000 –4,5 % Buildings 38 255 000 38 153 000 350 000 38 503 000 0,6 % IT systems 35 782 000 36 091 000 25 000 36 116 000 0,9 % Interpreting costs 94 722 973 86 723 000 — 86 723 000 –8,4 % Delegations’ travel expenses 33 675 000 24 675 000 — 24 675 000 –26,7 % Official Journal 5 193 000 4 626 000 550 000 5 176 000 –0,3 % Title III (transferred to EEAS in 2012) 2 536 000 — — — – 100,0 % Miscellaneous 19 210 000 17 415 000 25 000 17 440 000 –9,2 % Reserve 6 000 000 2 000 000 — 2 000 000 –66,7 % Total (excl. acquisition) 548 262 480 527 545 000 1 375 000 528 920 000 –3,5 % Acquisition of immovable property 15 000 000 5 000 000 — 5 000 000 –66,7 % Grand total 563 262 480 532 545 000 1 375 000 533 920 000 –5,2 %

3.2.3. Budget 2012 and the Financial Perspectives of Heading 5 of the EU budget

Table 2 gives an overview on the evolution of the EC/C budget in 2006-2012. The EC/C share in the Heading 5 of the Multiannual Financial Perspectives has declined from 8,8 % in 2006 to 6,2 % in 2012.

The reductions achieved in 2006-2012 are largely a result of prudent budget management. The significant reduction in 2011 is mainly due to the transfer of resources to the EEAS, whereas the decrease in 2012 resulted from reductions of appropriations of certain activities in view of the previous years’ implementation and actual need (e.g. interpretation and delegations’ travel expenses; ref. point 3.2.2).

Table 2

Evolution of Section II of the EU budget (European Council and Council) under Heading 5 of the Financial Perspectives in 2006-2012

(Amounts at current prices) 2006 2007 2008 2009 (2) 2010 2011 2012 million EUR change million EUR change million EUR change million EUR change million EUR change million EUR change million EUR change Heading 5 6 708 5,5 % 7 115 6,1 % 7 457 4,8 % 7 603 2,0 % 7 962 4,7 % 8 173 2,7 % 8 607 5,3 % EC/C 592 5,2 % 594 0,3 % 595 0,2 % 603 1,3 % 634 5,1 % 563 –11,2 % 534 –5,2 % EC/C share in Heading 5 8,8 % 8,3 % 8,0 % 7,9 % 8,0 % 6,9 % 6,2 %

4. GLOBAL OVERVIEW OF BUDGET IMPLEMENTATION IN 2012

4.1. Activities and objectives in 2012

4.1.1. European Council and Council activities in 2012

In the framework of the financial activity report, the GSC provides information on its core activities which are relevant from the financial point of view, and which describe the functioning of the Council and European Council during the financial year.

Table 3 gives an overview of the development of the number of meetings organised by the GSC for the European Council and Council in 2003-2012. In addition to the 4 704‘institutional’ meetings, the GSC has organised a further 2 189 internal meetings, training sessions, seminars, information sessions and briefings, and meetings with third countries in 2012.

Table 3

Development of the number of meetings in 2003-2012

Institutional meetings 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Summits 6 5 3 3 3 5 7 7 9 7 Councils 77 76 80 76 68 81 74 86 85 77 Coreper 134 128 123 120 106 144 140 122 135 140 Working groups 4 333 3 971 3 918 4 037 4 183 4 480 4 272 4 127 4 373 4 480 Total 4 550 4 180 4 124 4 236 4 360 4 710 4 493 4 342 4 602 4 704 Other meetings 2 209 2 392 2 791 2 713 1 735 2 051 2 021 1 996 2 075 2 189 Grand total 6 759 6 572 6 915 6 949 6 095 6 761 6 514 6 338 6 677 6 893

Another quantitative indicator of activities is the legal acts published in the Official Journal (OJ) (Table 4). In 2012, 958 legal acts were published in the OJ. It should be noted that the volume of the legal acts depends on the finalisation of the legislative process before the acts can be elaborated into final texts for publishing in the OJ.

Table 4

Development of the number of legal acts in 2003-2012

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Legal acts published in the OJ 1 045 1 118 1 056 1 317 1 000 1 274 829 825 986 958

4.1.2. Achievement of administrative objectives in 2012

Achievement of the objectives established for the budget year 2012 may be summarised as follows:

— Establishment plan In 2012, the GSC recruited 165 officials (147 permanent officials and 18 temporary agents). During the year 246 officials (217 permanent officials and 29 temporary agents) left resulting in a net decrease of 81 in the EC/C establishment plan.

— Administrative modernisation As a consequence of management decisions taken by the GSC, the establishment plan was reduced by 20 posts. The reduction is a combination of a transfer of activities from the GSC’s Sickness Insurance Service (9 posts) to the PMO of the Commission, and a rationalisation of the working methods within the language units (11 posts). As part of a continued drive towards administrative modernisation and flexible working arrangements, and to help all staff to improve their work-life balance, new teleworking options were introduced at the GSC in November 2012. The arrangement expands, within certain conditions inter alia verifiable result and measurable output, the possibilities for standard and occasional teleworking of staff.

— Financial management In 2012, the GSC continued with measures to further improve its financial management and performance. During the year the GSC focused on reinforcing the substance knowledge and operational competencies of its financial agents. As a result authorising officers’ budget planning and implementation improved (less reallocation of funds and higher budget implementation rate compared to 2011). In the context of improving the cash flow position of European businesses, the average payment delay of invoices in the GSC continued to improve and was 19 days in 2012 (21 days in 2011 and 27 in 2010; maximum time limit being 30 calendar days (Directive COM(2009) 126 final).

— Building Policy The project to renovate the Residence Palace and convert it into the seat of the European Council and the Council of Ministers (Europa Building) continued in 2012 with the actual construction work including, among other things, starting to building up floors, insulation and various technical installations.

4.2. Revenue

Table 5 gives an overview on the global outcome of revenue operations in 2012. The expression ‘Established rights 2011’ refers to the recovery orders which were made in 2011 but for which the recovery of the amounts took place only in 2012. The expression ‘Established rights 2012’ in turn corresponds to recoveries launched in 2012.

As the 2011 revenue operations concern merely the finalisation of the outstanding recoveries in 2012, the analysis on revenue operations is focused on those launched in 2012 and on the totals.

Table 5

Overview of revenue operations in 2012 budget

(EUR) Title Chapter Established rights 2011 Recovered revenues from 2011 Established rights 2012 Recovered revenues from 2012 Total established rights 2011 + 2012 Total recovered 2011 + 2012 To be recovered in 2013 1 2 3 4 5 = 1 + 3 6 = 2 + 4 7 = 5 – 6 4 Miscellaneous Community taxes, levies and dues 1 781 865 1 613 558 56 728 674 55 732 900 58 510 539 57 346 459 1 164 080 40 Deductions from staff remuneration 0 0 25 237 663 25 237 663 25 237 663 25 237 663 0 41 Contributions to the pension scheme 1 781 865 1 613 558 31 491 011 30 495 238 33 272 876 32 108 796 1 164 080 5 Revenue accruing from the administrative operation 8 710 247 8 509 259 40 751 445 31 791 610 49 461 692 40 300 869 9 160 823 50 Proceeds from the sale of movable and immovable property 55 493 57 947 4 690 3 200 60 183 61 147 – 965 51 Proceeds from letting and hiring 50 917 50 917 322 152 287 378 373 068 338 295 34 773 52 Revenue from investments or loans granted, bank and other interest 161 92 525 92 525 92 686 92 525 161 55 Revenue from the proceeds of services supplied and work carried out 124 562 124 016 183 407 179 254 307 969 303 270 4 699 55 EEAS Revenue from the proceeds of services supplied and work etc. 2 788 6 334 595 6 327 661 6 337 383 6 327 661 9 722 57 Other contributions and refunds in connection with administrat. 8 191 127 7 991 179 33 250 315 24 462 809 41 441 442 32 453 988 8 987 453 58 Miscellaneous compensation 0 0 171 611 71 561 171 611 71 561 100 050 58 EEAS Miscellaneous compensation 285 200 285 200 392 150 367 221 677 350 652 421 24 929 6 Contributions and repayments under community agreements etc. 9 324 9 324 1 147 035 503 774 1 156 359 513 098 643 261 63 Contributions under specific agreements 9 324 9 324 1 147 035 503 774 1 156 359 513 098 643 261 7 Interest on late payments 0 0 395 395 395 395 0 9 Miscellaneous revenue 1 966 534 1 586 730 3 552 1 263 2 289 Total 10 503 403 10 132 676 98 629 134 88 029 409 109 132 537 98 162 085 10 970 453

The total volume of revenue operations in terms of established rights, i.e. issued recovery orders, was EUR 109 million in 2012. From this amount EUR 98 million was recovered during the financial year whereas EUR 11 million will be collected in 2013.

Almost 60 % (EUR 57 million) of the total recovered revenues in 2012 relates to Community taxes, levies and dues collected from the GSC’s personnel. From this amount EUR 25 million covers the deductions from staff remuneration. EUR 32 million corresponds to contributions and transfers of pension rights to the pension scheme.

The remainder, or 40 % (EUR 40 million), is accrued from various administrative operations. This amount comes mainly from the following sources:

— Recovery of parts of the amounts paid to Member States in previous years for delegates’ travel expenses following their declarations for 2010 and 2011 (EUR 7,5 million and EUR 15,4 million respectively) (Chapter 57).

— Recovery of payments by Member States for supplementary on-request interpretation into certain languages (EUR 7,1 million) (Chapter 57).

— Transfers from the EEAS to the Council as advance payments for the services rendered by the GSC to the EEAS (EUR 6,3 million and EUR 0,7 million) (Chapters 55 and 58 respectively).

— Contributions by other institutions and payments by Council officials for the Council crèche (EUR 1,1 million) (Chapter 57).

4.3. Expenditure in 2012

4.3.1. Overview of implementation of the budget in 2004-2012

The overall implementation rate of the EC/C budget has been on average 96 % over the past nine years (Graph 1). The implementation rate refers to the commitments made during the budget year.

The actual annual payments during the period have been on average 81 % of the budget. The difference between the overall implementation and payments of a given year (i.e. non-paid commitments) has been carried over, in conformity with Article 9(4) of the Financial Regulation, to the next budget year for the necessary payments.

The carried over appropriations break down into two major categories: functioning of the GSC and buildings. The first is related to obligations duly contracted before the end of the budget year but where the goods have not yet been delivered and/or for which no invoices have been received before the end of the year.

Graph 1

Global budget implementation 2004-2012

The second category refers to the GSC’s acquisition of buildings such as LEX, the crèche and the Europa Building. In the last few years, the GSC has been able to use the savings made during the budget implementation to finance these acquisitions.

In 2012, two payments were made for the acquisition of the Europa Building: the first in February of EUR 5 million and the second in December of EUR 10 million.

4.3.2. Implementation of the appropriations by category 2012

The analysis of expenditure in 2012 is presented at a level of the 10 most significant expenditure categories.

Table 6 compares the final budget after transfers (column 2) with the outturn of the budget in terms of commitments (column 3). The difference between the final budget and the committed appropriations corresponds to the amounts not used in 2012.

Table 6

Overview of the implementation of the 2012 budget (by category)

(EUR) Category Budget 2012 (initial) Budget 2012 (3) (final) Commitments Outturn rate Cancelled appropriations 1 2 3 4 = 3/2 5 = 2 – 3 Establishment plan 294 797 000 294 797 000 280 945 901 95,3 % 13 851 099 Other staff expenditure 23 490 000 23 490 000 20 460 594 87,1 % 3 029 406 Buildings 38 503 000 39 773 000 38 906 426 97,8 % 866 574 Computer systems 36 116 000 36 116 000 35 987 499 99,6 % 128 501 Interpreting costs 86 723 000 79 517 346 73 648 026 92,6 % 5 869 320 Delegations' travel expenses 24 675 000 20 095 654 5 425 528 27,0 % 14 670 126 Official Journal 5 176 000 5 176 000 4 306 791 83,2 % 869 209 Miscellaneous 17 440 000 17 955 000 15 241 542 84,9 % 2 713 458 Reserve 2 000 000 2 000 000 — — 2 000 000 Total (excl. acquisition) 528 920 000 518 920 000 474 922 307 91,5 % 43 997 693 Acquisition of immovable property 5 000 000 15 000 000 15 000 000 100,0 % — Grand total 533 920 000 533 920 000 489 922 307 91,8 % 43 997 693

The global implementation rate of the 2012 budget, including the advance payments for the Europa Building, is 91,8 %.

The difference between the final budget and implementation can be explained as follows:

— The fact that there were no adjustments of remuneration in 2011 and 2012 resulted in an underspending of EUR 7,4 million in the category of establishment plan. Another EUR 4,4 million underspending is due to a low occupation rate of posts in the establishment plan (on average 93 % (4)). The remainder of EUR 2 million mainly relates to a smaller need on entitlements as foreseen by the Staff Regulations (e.g. house hold and other allowances).

— Almost half of the global saving (EUR 1,4 million out of EUR 3 million) in the category of other staff expenditure relates to fewer payments for contractual agents, seconded national experts and other outside services. Smaller spending in mission related costs corresponds to a saving of EUR 1,1 million.

— The global implementation of the building related expenditure (without the Europa-Building) resulted in a saving of EUR 0,9 million. From this amount EUR 0,4 million is due to lower costs in water, gas and electricity whereas the rest corresponds to savings in certain fitting-out, installation and maintenance works.

— Underspending of EUR 5,9 million in appropriations for interpretation. It should be noted that this underspending is the final result after the transfer of EUR 9,4 million from interpretation envelopes to delegations’ travel envelopes (5) and of EUR 0,2 million to cover supplementary legal expenses of the Council. The final result includes also a transfer back of EUR 2,4 million from some travel envelopes to cover the supplementary interpretation in certain languages.

— The amount available for delegations’ travel expenses after transfers amounted to EUR 34,1 million. The initial budget was EUR 24,7 million to which EUR 9,4 million was transferred from the savings in some interpretation envelopes. On the other hand, during the year EUR 2,4 million was transferred to finance supplementary interpretation in certain languages. Since the Member States had to reimburse unused amounts from previous years, only EUR 5,4 million was committed for subsequent payments in the 2012 budget. This underspending made it also possible to transfer EUR 10 million as an additional payment for the Europa Building in 2012, EUR 1,3 million for fitting out and installation works in Justus Lipsius building and EUR 0,3 million for certain meeting expenditure in Brussels.

— The implementation of the appropriations for the Official Journal was 83 %. The cancelled amount EUR 0,9 million shown in Table 6 corresponds mainly to the lower number of co-decisions and other legal acts published in the Official Journal in 2012.

— In category miscellaneous, the relatively low implementation rate is explained by the following factors: — reduced financial need for documentation, publications and public events (EUR 0,9 million), — smaller need in organising meetings including protocol, conference and catering costs (EUR 0,7 million), — lower need in certain technical installations such as multimedia equipment in the conference rooms (EUR 0,5 million), — lower need for transport and furniture and office supplies (EUR 0,2 million and EUR 0,1 million respectively).

— The overall underspending of the budget made it possible to reallocate EUR 10 million in addition to the EUR 5 million earmarked in the budget for advance payments for the Europa Building.

4.3.3. Modification of the budget in 2012

During the financial year 2012, the appropriations were reallocated by different transfers. Table 7 shows the decisions which modified the budget appropriations in the years 2008-2012.

Table 7

Number of budget modifications by type in 2008-2012

Modification Year Type Legal Basis (6) 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Amending budget FR Article 29 0 1 0 0 0 Transfer B FR Article 22 72 46 47 23 23 Transfer C FR Article 22 3 2 2 2 2 Transfer D FR Article 24 1 0 0 0 0 Total 76 49 49 25 25

The C-transfers, which involve informing the budget authority (in accordance with Article 22 of the Financial Regulation), were made to reinforce the following subjects:

— C1-transfer on 31/5/2012: — the supplementary legal expenses related to unforeseen anti-dumping cases (EUR 240 000).

— C2-transfer on 29/11/2012: — advance payments for the Europa Building (EUR 10 million), — the supplementary expenditure (EUR 1 270 000) in three projects in Justus Lipsius building: improving emergency exits (EUR 217 000), replacing of cooler units for the air conditioning (EUR 318 000) and building up a local data centre (EUR 735 000), — the training budget: transfer of the remainder of the suppressed Fellowship program to (EUR 26 000).

In 2012, the EC/C budget was internally modified by 23 B-transfers based on Article 22 (4) of the FR. Even though these transfers do not require prior notification of the budget authority, they have to be duly justified, both for the lines to which the appropriations are to be transferred and for those from which they are to be taken.

Table 8 gives an overview of the budget lines which were significantly (7) modified in 2012 by different transfers.

Table 8

Budget lines which were subject to significant transfers in 2012

(EUR) Item/Article Heading Initial budget 2012 Transfers Final appropriations Difference 2002 Acquisition of immovable property 5 000 000 10 000 000 15 000 000 200 % 2003 Fitting-out of premises 8 030 000 1 602 500 9 632 500 20 % 2004 Work to make premises secure 1 110 000 – 325 000 785 000 –29 % 2010 Cleaning and maintenance 12 861 000 – 390 000 12 471 000 –3 % 2012 Buildings security and surveillance 9 412 000 532 000 9 944 000 6 % 2100 Acquisition of equipment and software 7 969 000 827 273 8 796 273 10 % 2101 Outside assistance for computer systems 19 032 000 – 291 121 18 740 879 –2 % 2102 Servicing and maintenance of equipment and software 4 891 000 300 648 5 191 648 6 % 2103 Telecommunications 4 224 000 – 836 800 3 387 200 –20 % 2120 Purchase and replacement of technical equipment etc. 4 243 000 – 809 000 3 434 000 –19 % 2122 Rental, servicing, maintenance and repair of technical equip. 580 000 300 000 880 000 52 % 2200 Travel expenses of delegations 24 675 000 –4 579 346 20 095 654 –19 % 2202 Interpreting costs 86 723 000 –7 205 654 79 517 346 –8 % 2203 Entertainment and representation expenses 2 000 000 377 000 2 377 000 19 % 2205 Organisation of conferences, congresses and meetings 800 000 – 400 000 400 000 –50 % 2210 Documentation and library expenditure 513 000 883 000 1 396 000 172 % 2230 Office supplies 657 000 – 265 000 392 000 –40 % 2236 Legal expenses and costs, damages and compensation 600 000 590 000 1 190 000 98 %

4.4. Appropriations carried over

4.4.1. Implementation of the carry-over appropriations from 2011 to 2012

As presented in Table 9, an amount of EUR 41,5 million was carried over from 2011 to 2012. Compared to 2011 the carried over amounts decreased by EUR 8,3 million.

Table 9

Implementation of appropriations carried over from 2011 to 2012 (by category)

(EUR) Category Appropriations carried over from 2011 Payments 2012 Outturn rate Cancelled appropriations 1 2 3 = 2/1 4 = 1 – 2 Establishment plan 318 160 316 662 99,5 % 1 499 Other staff expenditure 3 233 722 2 529 707 78,2 % 704 015 Buildings 8 092 005 6 015 243 74,3 % 2 076 762 Computer systems 17 074 869 16 046 010 94,0 % 1 028 859 Interpreting costs 5 599 875 5 507 872 98,4 % 92 003 Delegations' travel expenses — — — — Official Journal 2 348 791 1 016 989 43,3 % 1 331 802 Title III 19 079 4 029 21,1 % 15 050 Miscellaneous 4 808 554 4 137 433 86,0 % 671 121 Reserve — — — — Total 41 495 055 35 573 944 85,7 % 5 921 111

The implementation rate of the appropriations carried over from 2011 was 85,7 %. Even though there is an increase in the implementation rate compared to the previous year, it is not yet globally at the expected level (> 95 %).

The main reasons for the low implementation rate are:

— Partial or complete lack of delivery of works/goods/services ordered by the GSC during the year.

— Invoices not received for works/goods/services delivered. It should be noted that this inevitably constitutes a budgetary burden for future years.

4.4.2. Appropriations carried over from 2012 to 2013

The appropriations carried over from 2012 to 2013 totalled EUR 46 million (Table 10).

Table 10

Appropriations carried over from 2012 to 2013 (by category)

(EUR) Category Budget 2012 (initial) Budget 2012 (8) (final) Commitments Appropriations carried over to 2013 Carry-over rate 1 2 3 4 5 = 4/3 Establishment plan 294 797 000 294 797 000 280 945 901 471 458 0,2 % Other staff expenditure 23 490 000 23 490 000 20 460 594 3 425 715 16,7 % Buildings 38 503 000 39 773 000 38 906 426 12 669 803 32,6 % Computer systems 36 116 000 36 116 000 35 987 499 17 525 448 48,7 % Interpreting costs 86 723 000 79 517 346 73 648 026 6 048 263 8,2 % Delegations' travel expenses 24 675 000 20 095 654 5 425 528 — 0,0 % Official Journal 5 176 000 5 176 000 4 306 791 777 798 18,1 % Miscellaneous 17 440 000 17 955 000 15 241 542 5 082 161 33,3 % Reserve 2 000 000 2 000 000 — — — Total (excl. acquisition) 528 920 000 518 920 000 474 922 307 46 000 647 9,7 % Acquisition of immovable property 5 000 000 15 000 000 15 000 000 — — Grand total 533 920 000 533 920 000 489 922 307 46 000 647 9,4 %

The carried over amounts from 2012 to 2013 come mainly from following categories:

— Computer systems by EUR 17,5 million, of which EUR 8,1 million relates to outside assistance, EUR 5,7 million to equipment and software, EUR 1,9 million to service and maintenance and EUR 1,8 million to telecommunications.

— Buildings by EUR 12,7 million where different fitting-out works cover EUR 6,8 million, security and surveillance EUR 2 million, cleaning and maintenance EUR 1,5 million and electricity, water, gas and heating together another EUR 1,2 million.

— Interpreting costs by EUR 6 million.

— Miscellaneous by EUR 5,1 million including EUR 2 million for technical equipment, information and publications EUR 1,8 million and meeting and conference costs EUR 1 million.

— Other staff expenditure by EUR 3,4 million.

— Official Journal EUR 0,8 million.

4.5. Assigned revenue

4.5.1. Assigned revenue accrued before 2012

The total amount of assigned revenue accrued before 2012 was EUR 44,4 million. From this, EUR 38,8 million related to the activities of the GSC. During the financial year EUR 38,4 million was committed leaving EUR 0,45 million to be further carried over to 2013.

Another part of the assigned revenue accrued before 2012 (EUR 5,6 million) relates to amounts transferred by the EEAS in 2011 to the Council to cover the expenses of the services defined in different Service Level Agreements (SLA) between the two institutions and rendered by the GSC.

Table 11

Implementation of assigned revenue accrued before 2012 (by category)

(EUR) Category Assigned revenues before 2012 Commitments Available assigned revenues 1 2 3 = 1 – 2 Establishment plan 1 197 426 1 197 307 119 Other staff expenditure 2 514 142 2 267 414 246 728 Buildings 929 783 802 223 127 560 Computer systems 1 622 061 1 551 677 70 384 Interpreting costs 5 277 857 5 277 857 — Delegations' travel expenses 26 404 686 26 404 686 — Official Journal 194 897 194 897 — Miscellaneous 673 432 663 023 10 409 Total EC/C 38 814 284 38 359 083 455 201 SLAs with EEAS 5 611 152 5 379 947 231 205 Grand total 44 425 436 43 739 031 686 405

4.5.2. Assigned revenue accrued in 2012

The total assigned revenue accrued in 2012 was EUR 40,7 million (Table 12). From this, EUR 7 million corresponds to amounts transferred by the EEAS to the Council.

The assigned revenue 2012 relating to the activities of the GSC amounted to EUR 33,7 million. During the financial year EUR 0,7 million was used while EUR 33 million was carried over to 2013 in accordance with Article 10 of the FR.

Table 12

Implementation of assigned revenue accrued in 2012 (by category)

(EUR) Category Assigned revenues 2012 Commitments Available assigned revenues 1 2 3 = 1 – 2 Establishment plan 784 727 — 784 727 Other staff expenditure 1 404 014 168 488 1 235 526 Buildings 605 059 287 247 317 813 Computer systems 473 960 91 698 382 262 Interpreting costs 7 114 352 — 7 114 352 Delegations' travel expenses 22 860 824 — 22 860 824 Official Journal 127 337 — 127 337 Miscellaneous 371 086 118 825 252 261 Total EC/C 33 741 360 666 258 33 075 101 SLAs with EEAS 6 980 083 4 510 007 2 470 077 Grand total 40 721 443 5 176 265 35 545 178

The majority (68 %) of the assigned revenue is related to the delegations’ travel expenses (EUR 22,9 million). The amount of EUR 7,1 million in interpretation comes from the top-up payments on certain languages to cover the supplementary interpretation in those languages. The remainder is mainly related to reimbursement of amounts connected with various administrative operations of the Council.

(1) Regulation (EU, EURATOM) No 966/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union.

All other references to the Financial Regulation in this document refer to the Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities, which was applicable during the financial year 2012.

(2) The final budget after the reduction of EUR 40 million for the European Economic recovery Plan in December 2009 was EUR 563 million.

(3) Includes internal reallocations of appropriations.

(4) In 2011, the average occupation rate was 92 %. A flat rate reduction of 5,5 % was applied to the relevant appropriations in 2012.

(5) In conformity with Decision 111/07, the GSC transfers 66 % of the unused amounts of interpretation language envelopes to the delegates' travel envelopes to be used during the same budget year. In 2012, this corresponded to an amount of EUR 9,4 million.

(6) Financial Regulation 2002; Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002.

(7) Net amount > EUR 250 000.

(8) Includes internal reallocations of appropriations.