A4-0302/96

Resolution on the incorporation of the ECSC into the budget of the European Union

The European Parliament,

- having regard to the provisions of the ECSC Treaty and, in particular, Articles 49 to 56 thereof,

- having regard to its resolution of 9 July 1992 on the future of the ECSC Treaty: budgetary and financial consequences ((OJ C 241, 21.9.1992, p. 181.)),

- having regard to its resolution of 21 April 1994 on the future of the ECSC Treaty ((OJ C 128, 9.5.1994, p. 368.)),

- having regard to the Commission Communication of 18 November 1992 on the future of the ECSC Treaty financial activities (SEC(92)1889),

- having regard to the Green Paper of 11 January 1995 entitled 'For a European Union Energy Policy' (COM(94)0659),

- having regard to the Council conclusions of 24 November 1992,

- having regard to the ECSC Consultative Committee memorandum of 24 March 1994 and that of 28 June 1995,

- having regard to the Court of Auditors annual reports on implementation of the budget in 1991 and 1994,

- having regard to Rule 148 of its Rules of Procedure,

- having regard to its resolution of 18 July 1996 on the Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament entitled 'Fresh impetus for restructuring the steel industry in the Community' ((OJ C 261, 9.9.1996, p. 149.)),

- having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgets and the opinions of the Committee on Research, Technological Development and Energy, the Committee on Social Affairs and Employment, the Committee on Regional Policy and the Committee on Budgetary Control (A4-0302/96),

A. whereas, on the basis of the Commission Communication to the Council and the European Parliament on the future of the ECSC Treaty (SEC(91)0407) and the Industry Ministers Council meetings of 29 April 1991 and 24 November 1992, it was decided that the ECSC Treaty would expire on 23 July 2002,

B. having regard to the pioneering role of the ECSC in European integration and its contribution to peace in Europe,

C. whereas the ECSC Treaty had reached a high degree of supra-nationality, was financed by revenue of a fiscal nature and enabled sector-based industrial policy intervention focusing on highly specific social and economic activities to be developed, and regretting that it was not possible for these particular features to be preserved at later stages of European integration,

D. whereas none of the proposals considered and none of the scenarios put forward has so far been formally adopted by the relevant bodies and institutions as regards the post-2002 period,

E. whereas, although the phasing out of the ECSC Treaty came into operation following the 1994 budget, the Commission has not made any practical arrangements for phasing ECSC activities into the general budget, even though it has started to curb ECSC financial activities,

F. whereas, on expiry of the ECSC Treaty, some of the various activities conducted pursuant to that Treaty will not automatically cease to be necessary and may not have any counterpart in the Community policies which have been developed in the meantime by the European Union,

G. whereas Parliament, in its resolution of 17 May 1995 ((OJ C 151, 19.6.1995, p. 56.)) on the functioning of the Treaty on European Union with a view to the 1996 Intergovernmental Conference - Implementation and development of the Union, specified in paragraph 14(i) that the existing treaties should be unified by means of the direct incorporation into the unified treaty of the relevant features of the ECSC and Euratom treaties,

H. whereas the Commission, having inherited the role of High Authority and budget authority for the ECSC, gave an undertaking back in 1973 ((Cheysson Declaration, sitting of 11 December 1973.)) to take Parliament's opinion into account as regards the operating budget,

I. whereas, since 1973, Parliament has given its views on the ECSC operating budget,

1. Considers it essential for Parliament to be closely involved in the phasing- in negotiations in its capacity as a legislative and budgetary authority;

2. Restates its view that the phasing-out of ECSC activities should progress in parallel with the phasing in of those activities into the general budget, so as to enable the budgetary authority to check each year that the two processes are advancing at the same pace;

3. Points out that phasing-in should apply equally to ECSC research activities and to activities of a social nature, in particular opportunities for early retirement, subsidized housing, regional activities such as, in particular, aid for redevelopment which has until now been dispensed by the Treaty, market surveillance and the monitoring of competition;

4. Recalls its support for social and redevelopment measures and its view that these should continue to be part of Structural Fund Objectives 2, 3, 4 and 5 and of Community initiative programmes, in accordance with arrangements which need to be determined;

5. Attaches great importance to the agreements for funding social intervention under the ECSC Treaty in view of the direct link which these have always established between the Community level and the grassroots level, thus raising public awareness of European aid in relation to the intended objectives, and stresses the usefulness of the activities of the Paul Finet Foundation, whose assistance to families affected by mining accidents should be maintained;

6. Trusts that the Commission report which was due to be submitted in the spring of 1996 will pay particular attention to the future of the ECSC social accompanying measures and the incorporation thereof into other appropriate EU instruments;

7. Considers that expiry of the Treaty will leave unresolved the problems which the financial activities provided for in that Treaty are intended to remedy and that, therefore, appropriate arrangements must be made to continue ECSC activities for the benefit of the areas dependent on the coal and steel industries and the workers employed in those industries;

8. Considers that the Structural Funds and the Rechar, Resider and Adapt Community initiatives already play an important role in assisting the redevelopment of areas dependent on the coal and steel industries and, in this context, recalls its decision contained in its resolution of 28 March 1996 on the allocation of the reserve for Community initiatives ((OJ C 117, 22.4.1996, p. 70.)) to provide extra budget funding for the Rechar II Community initiative up to 1999;

9. Believes that the abolition of intervention to encourage industrial restructuring may have a negative effect on areas dependent on the industrial sectors in question and considers that it should be possible to devise a financial instrument to alleviate the impact of such restructuring on the basis of the principle of social and economic cohesion financed under 'industrial policy' in the EU budget (heading 3 of the Financial Perspective);

10. Points out the important role of research, both general, social and sector- based, and recognizes the importance of preserving the acknowledged achievements of the ECSC Treaty as regards the development of research based on:

- a low-cost internal coordination structure;

- a Community network of specialists and research centres concentrating on coordinated programmes in order to prevent duplication of effort;

- assessment of the multiplier effects of research into the coal and steel industries and health and safety at work;

11. Considers that the activities provided for in the ECSC Treaty, in particular Article 55 thereof, could logically be continued by means of the main EU research instrument, i.e. the research framework programme, and therefore supports the proposal to incorporate ECSC Treaty research activities into some of the specific programmes within the framework programme, avoiding any overlap and placing all responsibility in the hands of the Commission;

12. Draws attention, however, to the negative effects which such incorporation could have on heading 3 of the Community budget in view of the fact that 60.9% of the funds for that heading were allocated in 1995 to activities stemming from implementation of the fourth research framework programme, in which, according to the Commission, only 15% of the appropriations allocated to research projects in the steel sector and 50% of the appropriations allocated to research projects in the coal sector correspond to the appropriations of the fourth framework programme;

13. Calls, therefore, on the Commission to forward to Parliament a list of criteria as regards the fourth framework programme and the aspects of the fifth programme which have already been defined, and to put forward a specific proposal as regards the ECSC research projects which, on the basis of the lists, do not meet those criteria; this assessment will have to take into account the co-financing of current ECSC Treaty research activities;

14. Stresses the need for ways of incorporating the social research sector to be found quickly so that such research can be appropriately developed by means of the budget resources under heading 3 of the financial perspective;

15. Considers that the greatest caution should be exercised as regards the rate at which the ECSC financial activities are gradually abandoned and is in favour of the incorporation of the coal and steel sectors into the EU Treaty; expresses its concern in particular at the planned review in 1997 of the aid code and the suspension of the low-interest property loan programme after 1997;

16. Calls on the Commission to put forward, before the 1998 ECSC budgetary procedure, practical proposals for the implementation of sectoral measures in order to ensure that the activities carried on pursuant to the ECSC Treaty can be continued beyond 2002 by means of existing instruments such as the Structural Funds (including Objective 4 of the ESF), the Community Initiatives and the research framework programmes, or by means of new instruments;

17. Instructs its Committee on Budgets to propose, in connection with the forthcoming budgetary procedures, that the appropriations required for the continuation of ECSC activities should be entered under the appropriate budget headings;

18. Calls on the Commission to forward as soon as possible the study which was due to be submitted in the spring of 1996 and which should provide a detailed analysis of the current situation and future development, until the expiry date of the Treaty, of the ECSC reserves, including ECSC property stock;

19. Calls on the Commission, in view of certain suggestions made by Parliament, to include in this study the evidence needed to remove the legal uncertainties relating to the availability of the remaining funding;

20. Calls on the Commission to forward full information regarding the continuation of borrowing and lending operations which are due to cease in 2019 and regarding a possible transfer of those operations after 2002, together with specific details of the institutional cover which it intends to provide;

21. Calls on the Commission to ensure transparency regarding the ECSC assets and to formulate proposals on their future use (including guarantee funds, special funds and pension funds);

22. Calls on the Commission to carry out a comparative study between retraining loans (Article 56) with interest subsidies which could be progressively reduced or even abolished, and similar arrangements established at the Copenhagen and Edinburgh Summits;

23. Stresses the particular importance of the role played by research in general as a factor in the competitiveness of the European coal and steel industries, whilst emphasizing the particularly positive consideration which should be given to social research, which should be developed;

24. Reminds the Commission that, in its abovementioned resolution of 21 April 1994, Parliament asked it to consider possible phasing-in arrangements concerning partial or total incorporation of research activities into the framework programme and also the possible correspondences between the social and regional aid so far dispensed by the ECSC and the activities carried on under the ESF (including Objective 4) and the Structural Funds in general;

25. Considers that, in view of the Structural Fund reform scheduled for 1999 and the Commission's undertaking pursuant to Article 25 of the Interinstitutional Agreement to put forward proposals for a new financial perspective before 1 July 1998, the Commission should take these two deadlines into account in order to make appropriate practical proposals;

26. Calls on the Commission to specify how it intends to ensure the transition of the coal and steel sectors in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe by means of the Phare and Tacis programmes;

27. Calls on the Council to take these factors into account when preparing the negotiations on enlarging the Union to include these countries and to inform Parliament at the appropriate time;

28. Considers that consultation between the appropriate bodies regarding allocation of remaining residual assets, irrespective of the amount thereof, should begin immediately;

29. Considers that the European Union holds the title to these assets and that it may entrust the full or partial management thereof to a body under its control;

30. Expresses its preference for the remaining activities, following expiry of the Treaty, to be carried on within the Community administration;

31. Stresses that, with this in view, provision must be made for a gradual reduction in the administrative expenditure allocated for the annual needs of the operating budgets of the ECSC with a view to the expiry of the Treaty in 2002;

32. Recognizes that certain activities, particularly research ones, may require a flexible organizational framework, albeit subject to political and budgetary control;

33. Calls on the Commission to carry out a study into the establishment of a European foundation or agency for Community coal and steel based on the following principles:

- the capital for the foundation/agency should come from the remaining ECSC resources and be subject to the Union's legal right of disposal;

- the annual interest on the capital should be paid over to the Union budget and be credited as revenue;

- the administrative and operational expenditure of the foundation/agency should be entered in the Union budget and be made subject to the annual budgetary procedure pursuant to Articles 203 and 206 of the EC Treaty;

- the interest on the foundation's/agency's capital should be made available for the co-financing of multi-annual coal and steel research programmes in a ratio of 1/3 to 2/3, and also for social research;

- the foundation's/agency's governing body should comprise the members of the existing ECSC Consultative Committee and representatives of the Commission;

34. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission and the Council.