A4-0227/99

Resolution on the estimates of revenue and expenditure of Parliament and the estimates of revenue and expenditure of the Ombudsman for the financial year 2000

The European Parliament,

- having regard to its resolution of 23 March 1999 on the guidelines for the 2000 budgetary procedure ((Minutes of that sitting, Part II, Item 10(b).)),

- having regard to the Secretary-General's report to the Bureau on the preliminary draft estimates of the European Parliament for the 2000 financial year,

- having regard to the preliminary draft estimates established by the Bureau on 23 March 1999 pursuant to Rules 22(5) and (6) and 165(1) of the Rules of Procedure,

- having regard to the provisions of the Financial Regulation, the declaration on the presentation of an analytical budget, and the interinstitutional conclusions on the rationalisation of administrative expenditure ((OJ C 308, 20.11.1995, p. 127.)),

- having regard the entry into force of the Treaty of Amsterdam, and the implications that this has for the legislative work of Parliament,

- having regard to the report of the Committee of Independent Experts, set up through Parliament's resolution of 14 January 1999 on improving the financial management of the Commission ((OJ C 104, 14.4.1999, p. 106.)) and mandated to examine the way in which the Commission detects and deals with fraud, mismanagement and nepotism,

- having regard to its decision of 9 March 1994 on the regulations and general conditions governing the performance of the Ombudsman's duties, and in particular Article 11 thereof ((OJ L 113, 4.5.1994.)),

- having regard to the fact that the procedure for the general budget for the year 2000 will be based on Article 272 (former 203) of the EC Treaty,

- having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgets (A4-0227/99),

A. whereas the economic forecasts, on which the future budgets are calculated, foresee growth in the Union's economy of 2.5% per annum over the next years, which Parliament considers optimistic, and lower levels of growth of national budgets of about 1.7% per annum, with low levels of inflation; whereas these forecasts justify a rigorous approach to the administrative budgets of the Union and whereas, therefore, Parliament's budget for the year 2000 can account for not more than 20% of heading 5 of the financial perspective (in so far as there is a financial perspective next year),

B. whereas Parliament will have to assume greater responsibilities due to the extension of the co-decision procedure under the Amsterdam Treaty, and will need to prepare itself for the enlargement of the Union in the next years,

C. whereas interinstitutional cooperation should be reinforced in order to exploit synergies and make better use of taxpayers' money in such areas as public supply contracts and tenders, services such as telecommunications and informatics, training, use of buildings and other facilities, such as crèches, sports facilities, access to library services and data bases, medical services, and use of translation and interpretation services,

D. whereas Parliament can draw lessons itself from the report of the Committee of Independent Experts mentioned above, for its own management,

On the Members of Parliament

1. Calls upon the Council to adopt as soon as possible the Statute for Members, as well as the Statute for Members' assistants; notes that the inclusion in Parliament's budget of the remuneration of Members entails an extra amount of some EUR 60 million (6.15% of the total budget), which has provisionally to be placed in the reserve, but that this amount will be deducted from the budgets of the Member States;

On Staff

2. Agrees with the principles of the Secretary-General's new staff policy, which aims to increase motivation through promotions on the basis of sustained merit and foresees a promotion cycle of an average of 5 years; agrees, against this background, to making available the financial means for 490 upgradings, and the other upgradings for permanent and temporary posts, as well as three 'ad personam' promotions (1 from A3 to A2 and 2 from C1 to B3);

3. Can accept the upgradings for the political groups as requested by their secretaries-general;

4. Calls on its Secretary-General to draw up a code of conduct for the appointment of senior officials and present this before Parliament's first reading;

5. Welcomes the re-deployment of staff for the entry into force of the Amsterdam Treaty and the preparation of enlargement; agrees with a maximum amount of EUR 500 000 in the reserve for new posts, in order to recruit new staff for new technical tasks in relation with the implementation of the Members´ Statute, if it comes into force in 2000 (and the management of the new Strasbourg premises), but emphasises that every request to release appropriations from the reserve will have to be duly motivated, and that the relative increase of posts at the Parliament must be in line, in the medium term, with those in other institutions, according to the forecast of basic needs;

6. Agrees with the creation of 2 temporary A posts for a maximum of 2 years in the Directorate-General for Administration, as provided for in the reserve for new posts mentioned in paragraph 5, to deal with matters concerning Parliament's premises; agrees to an extension until 30 June 2000 of the contract for the Secretary-General's special adviser with responsibility for property policy, on condition that the provisions of Article 82 of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants set out in the Staff Regulations are respected;

7. Requests the Secretary-General to insist on the establishment of an interinstitutional working party on the urgent reform of the pension scheme for EU staff and to budgetise the employer's and employee's contributions, as well as the payments to retired staff of the Parliament;

On Buildings policy

8. Recalls the parallelism agreed for the purchases of Parliament's premises in Strasbourg and Brussels; notes therefore that the French authorities offer to the European Parliament similar provisions concerning the acquisition of the land on which the Louise Weiss building (IPE IV) is built and land development costs, as were offered by the Belgian authorities for the Altiero Spinelli building (D3) in Brussels, as well as the usual exemption from VAT and other charges or taxes;

9. Stresses that the premises of the Parliament should be paid for in as limited a period as is possible in order to reduce the interest burden to a minimum over the whole repayment period; is in favour of a pay-back period for the Louise Weiss building (IPE IV) of 10 years;

10. Is of the opinion that in certain areas (such as telecommunications, informatics, printing and publishing), further savings should be possible; urges its Secretary-General to improve results and reduce costs in these sectors;

Miscellaneous

11. Welcomes the management of appropriations by delegating budget allocations to the main administrative units; notes that this has led to a slow-down in the rate of increase of mission and overtime expenses;

12. Believes that it is not in the interest of the European taxpayer nor in the interest of local business in Brussels that funding be provided as a direct subsidy from Parliament's budget for the setting up of a supermarket in the premises of the Parliament; is of the opinion that such an initiative should be directly financed by the promoter or entrepreneur, who wins the project through open competitive tendering, and that it should not entail the use of Community staff in the organisation and management of the project;

13. Is of the opinion that direct subsidies for the functioning of the catering services have to be avoided and that only indirect costs may be supported (e.g. providing furniture, electricity, water etc.); considers, however, that the dispersion of Parliament's activities over three places of work should not lead to higher prices but that any extra costs arising from this situation should be borne by Parliament's budget;

14. Recalls its resolution of 10 December 1996 on the constitutional status of European political parties ((OJ C 20, 20.1.1997, p. 29.))(budget Item 3710), paragraph 2 of which in particular calls for adoption by the Commission and the Council of a framework regulation on the legal position of European parties and a regulation on the financial status of European parties; calls for the procedure for drawing up these legislative acts to be put in hand and completed, thus enabling the European Parliament and European parties to ensure, in line with their wishes, that, in the context of their own activities, there is transparency and clarity with regard to financial and budgetary aspects;

15. Agrees with a budget for the year 2000 amounting to EUR 975 562 863 ((See Annex to Minutes.)), which implies an increase of 5.63% in comparison to the 1999 budget, and an amount equalling 1% of the budget total for a general reserve;

16. Takes favourable note of the estimates of the European Ombudsman;

17. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission and the Ombudsman, and to the other institutions and national parliaments.