P6_TA(2005)0286

Conciliation procedure (2006 budget)

European Parliament resolution on the mandate for the 2006 budget conciliation procedure before the Council's first reading (2005/2080(BUD))

The European Parliament,

- having regard to Article 272 of the EC Treaty and Article 177 of the Euratom 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 procedure [1],

- having regard to its resolution of 13 April 2005 on the 2006 budget: the Commission's Annual Policy Strategy report (APS) [2],

- having regard to the Preliminary Draft Budget (PDB) for 2006,

- having regard to Rule 69 of and Annex IV to its Rules of Procedure,

- having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgets (A6-0223/2005),

1. Is fully committed to meeting the key objectives for 2006 as set out in its resolution on the Annual Policy Strategy; underlines, at the same time, the challenge of bringing to a successful conclusion the undertakings entered into over the current financial perspective and at the November 2004 conciliation;

2. Recalls that the maximum amount that could be financed through the flexibility instrument in 2006, not counting any possible further mobilisation during 2005, amounts to EUR 320 million;

3. Stresses that a realistic level of payments is essential for the 2006 budget; believes that the Commission's very modest proposal, representing 1,02% of Gross National Income (GNI) — EUR 1,19 billion lower than the 1,03 % of GNI proposed in the 2005 PDB — must be measured against real needs and implementation capacity: points out that the proposal of the Commission is far lower than the 1,08% ceiling of the current financial perspective;

4. Notes the Commission's statement at the trialogue of 5 April 2005 that an agreement between Council and Parliament on the transfer of funds from sub-heading 1a to sub-heading 1b is necessary before such amounts can be included in the Council's Draft Budget; is willing to make this possible through a formal revision of the sub-ceilings in accordance with the procedures set out in the Interinstitutional Agreement of 6 May 1999;

5. Considers that the amounts earmarked in the PDB, as regards both agricultural market intervention spending plus direct aids and rural development spending, are an absolute minimum; points out that any decrease would likely cause serious harm to the sector and would be all the more unwarranted, given that there is already a significant margin below the ceiling for the financial perspective as adjusted in December 2004;

6. Takes note of the amount proposed for fisheries agreements; points out that negotiations are to be undertaken for the renewal of agreements with Angola, Cape Verde, Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Kiribati, Mauritania, Sao Tomé and Senegal, for which an amount of EUR 124 million is provided for in the reserve; questions the amount of EUR 8 million for eventual conclusion of new agreements with Algeria, Croatia, Kenya, Libya and Morocco; recalls that for Morocco the annual amount between 1995-1999 was EUR 125 million; expects to receive further information of the Commission on the amounts in the reserve;

7. Believes that payment appropriations for the structural actions must be based on real needs and stresses that the Commission based the PDB on the most recent forecasts available; believes that the overall evaluation of the implementation of payment appropriations, to be carried out by the Commission by the end of July, will give an opportunity to re-assess payment needs and ensure that actual needs are fully budgeted for 2006;

8. Points out that the accession of 10 new Member States to the Union in 2004 — the beginning of a long cohesion process — means a new challenge for the Cohesion Policy; highlights that the Cohesion Policy should focus more on regions in order to avoid any possible conflict in the future between new cohesion Member States and the less developed regions of the EU-15;

9. Insists that the PEACE programme for Northern Ireland continue to receive support but cannot see the point of reducing other priority actions when there is EUR 62 million available under sub-heading 2b; notes that an agreement between Parliament and Council concerning the two sub-ceilings would be budgetaryneutral for the heading as a whole and could provide a solution; therefore rejects the Commission's approach of reducing by an additional EUR 12 million the amount set aside for "innovative measures", which was not agreed in the joint statement of the budgetary conciliation of 25 November 2004;

10. Considers that the Commission's PDB insufficiently reflects in budgetary terms the agreed political ambitions, especially as concerns the Lisbon strategy and taking into account the importance of strengthening the position of small and medium-sized enterprises; invites the Council to engage with the European Parliament in a serious and constructive dialogue on how to meet these political commitments; proposes that in this context the use of the provisions of point 33 of the Interinstitutional Agreement of 6 May 1999 should be included;

11. Recalls that human capital is Europe's most important asset and, especially following the recent referenda, believes it more important than ever to connect with young people; fully agrees with the Youth Pact endorsed by the European Council as one of the instruments to fulfil the Lisbon objectives; believes that the conditions set out under point 33 of the Interinstitutional Agreement of 6 May 1999 are applicable to the current situation and, within this framework, wishes to engage with the Council to increase the codecision financial frameworks for the Socrates and Youth programmes; points out that this was also done at the end of the last financial programming period;

12. Highlights the major external assistance programmes which could not be foreseen at the time of adopting the current financial perspective, such as Afghanistan, Iraq and the recent proposal for a reconstruction programme after the tsunami; is concerned about the need to provides resources for new strategic partnerships and expects the Council to recognise the current difficulties and to clearly commit to agreeing the new priorities without jeopardising the traditional policies; notes worrying decreases both for some geographical and thematic programmes and believes that a re-balancing of budgetary amounts and new resources is necessary; stresses the importance of the European Neighbourhood Policy, including support for democratic change in neighbouring countries; regrets the reduction in particular of the European Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights, the only external programme which can be applied without host country consent; highlights, further, the need to increase the EU's role at international level in the field of the CFSP and ESDP and wishes to explore the needs in the established joint CFSP-meetings with the UK Presidency before taking a final decision;

13. Stresses that Parliament, Council and Commission have agreed to back the UN Millennium Development Goals and will undertake to support those goals in the 2006 budget, including relevant targets for social infrastructure, basic health and education, and support for "Quick-Win-Actions"; regrets that there is currently no space under the ceiling to provide a true boost for these goals or to provide for possible support measures related to sugar reform;

14. Highlights again that justified administrative needs have to be covered in order to ensure the successful recruitment of representatives from the new Member States and the successful functioning of all institutions of the enlarged Union, including efficient implementation of the operational programmes; stresses, at the same time, the need to use financial and human resources in an efficient and rational manner and to identify all possible savings in order to guarantee value for money and respect budgetary rigour; reiterates its request that the Council apply the same principles of rigour, including with respect to the decentralised agencies and to its own budget;

15. Following the latest Commission proposal for a revision of the Financial Regulation, invites the Council to join the European Parliament in the deliberations on how to facilitate access to Community programmes and to simplify the corresponding administrative and control procedures; proposes in this context a regular dialogue in order to develop a common approach;

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

[1] OJ C 172, 18.6.1999, p. 1. Agreement as amended by Decision 2003/429/EC (OJ L 147, 14.6.2003, p. 25).

[2] Texts Adopted, P6_TA(2005)0126.

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