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COM(76)515
Vol.1976/0154

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COMMISSION OFTHEEUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
\
A<•■ :
COM(76)515final
Brussels.29thSeptember1976
(
-Application oftheunitofaccounttotheEuropean
CommunityBudget-
DraftresolutionoftheCouncilandproposalfora
Councilregulation (ECSC^EEC,EURATOM)amendingthe
FinancialRegulationof25April1973applicableto
thegeneralbudgetoftheEuropeanCommunities
(SubmittedbytheCommissiontotheCouncil)
COM(76)515final
/

COUNCIL RESOLUTION OF
The Council takes note ofthe lodging bythe Commission of
aproposal for aRegulation introducing from 1January 1978 the
application ofthe European unit ofaccount tothebudget ofthe
Communities .
Itobserves that the proposal embodies insubstance the
relevant provisions contained inthetext laid before iton26May
1976 providing foranoverall revision oftheFinancial Regulation
of25April 1973 .
Having regard tothe reasons ofurgency adduced asnecessitating
the lodging ofaproposal ,the Council undertakes toact without
delay upon that proposal sothat theunit ofaccount shall effectively
apply tothebudget oftheCommunities forthefinancial year 1978
atthe latest .
Itdecides toforward the Commission 'sproposal tothe European
Parliament for the opinion ofthe latter .

EXPLANATORY TOTOTLUTJUM
With aview tofinding acommon neutral way ofexpressing therevenue and
expenditure oftheCommunities which faithfully reflects actual rates of
exchange ,theCommission isproposing tointroduce theEuropean unit of
account (EUA)"based ona""basket "ofMember States' currencies ;itsfixed
composition has "been worked outonthe "basis ofeconomic indicators and
itsdaily value interms ofthevarious national currencies iscalculated
from therates operating ontheexchange markets .
This new unit ofaccount hasalready "been introduced toexpress theamounts
ofaidmentioned inArticle 42ofthe ACP-EEC Convention ofLome . Ithas
applied tothe "balance sheet oftheEuropean Investment Bank since
18March 1975 and "totheoperational "budget oftheEuropean Coal and Steel
2Community since 1January 1976 .
AstheCommission recently stated initsCommunication of24March 1976^
totheCouncil ,theEUAistoreplace thepresent unit ofaccount (defined
"byreference togold )from 1January 1978 asfarasthegeneral "budget is
concerned .
InitsCommunication totheaugmented Council of5April 1976 this position
was confirmed ,and the Council agreed that "itisessential that theEuropean
unit ofaccount should "beintroduced inallaspects ofCommunity activity at
theearliest possible date .Itistoapply totheCommunity "budget forthe
financial year 1978atthelatest "^. TheCommission wasaccordingly requested
/
to"make thenecessary proposals andrecommendations asamatter ofurgency ".
OJNoL104 ,24April 1975 *
OJNoL327 ,19December 1975 .
^Communication onproblems posed bytheapplication oftheunitofaccount to
thebudget oftheCommunities (C0M(76)123 final of24March 1976 ).
R/959/76(PIN222)of13April 1976 .

The draft amendment tothe Financial Regulation which the Commission
1sent totheCouncil on26May 1976 already contains thegeneral
provisions needed for theapplication ofthis principle .Notwithstanding
inview ofthelength oftime this will take toconsider andadopt ,the
urgent need for aformal decision onthe introduction ofthe European
unit ofaccount inrespect ofthebudget from 1January 1978
requires the submission ofaseparate proposal ,which ±kisthe
subject oftheattached .
ι
Theprocedures for theimplementation ofthis principle will be
thesubject ofseparate proposals ,which will besubmitted tothe
Council assoon aspossible .
C0M(76)210 final of19May 1976 .

ARTICLE ONE
TheFinancial Regulation of25April 1973 applicable tothegeneral
budget oftheEuropean Communities (73/91/ECSC ,EEC ,Euratom )shall
beamended asfollows :
1.Thefollowing Articles shall beworded asfollows t
Article 10
1,Thebudget shall bedrawn upinEuropean units ofaccount (EUA).
Theunit ofaccount shall beexpressed asthesumofthe
following amounts ofthecurrencies oftheMember States ofthe
Community j
DM 0.828
*,Stg .0.0885
PP 1.15
Lit 109
FL 0.286
Bfrs 3.66
Lfrs 0.14
Dkr 0.217
.felrl .0.00759
2.Thevalue oftheunit ofaccount inanational currency shall
beequal tothe sumoftheequivalents inthat currency ofthe
amounts ofthecurrencies set out inParagraph 1.Itshall
bedetermined bythe Commission onthebasis oftheexchange
rates recorded each dayontheexchange markets (l);
Thedaily rates for conversion into thevarious national currencies
shall beavailable each day :they shall bepublished inthe
Official Journal oftheEuropean Communities .
3.Anyoperations involving conversion oftheEuropean unit of
account (EUA)into anational currency shall ,where appropriate ,
beeffected onthebasis oftheexchange rate applicable onthat
day ,without prejudice tothe special provisions ofArticle 119 •
Article 32
Thepayments ofownresources provided forinArticle 26and30
shall beeffeoted innational currency and converted into and
entered inthe accounts inunits ofaccount .
The contributions referred toinArticles 26and 30shall be
expressed inunits ofaocount ;their payment shall beeffected
innational currency .
I(I)OJUoC21/4f30January 1976 .

Article 71
Theaccounts shall bekept xnunits ofaccount bythedouble
entry method ,onthebasis ofthecalendar year .They shall
show allrevenue andexpenditure forthefinancial year .
They shall beauthenticated bysupporting documents .
Therevenue andexpenditure account andthebalance sheet shall
bedrawn upinunits ofaccount .
Article 119§8
8.a)Theprovisions amending Articles 10and71shall notenter
into force until 1January 1978 .
From that date the term "unit ofaccount "used inthis Finanoial
Regulation shall betaken tomean theEuropean unit ofaccount
(EUA)asdefined inArticle 10.
Until 31December 1977 theprovisions ofArticles 10,27and 71
ofFinancial Regulation No73/91/ECSC ,EEC ,Euratom of
25April 1973 shall remain inforce .
b)Theconditions inwhich theunit ofaccount (EUA)istobe
applied torevenue andexpenditure shall bedecided inaccordance
with theimplementing measures envisaged inArticle 118ofthis
Finanoial Regulation .
ARTICLE TW0
This Regulation shall come into force on
This Financial Regulation shall bebinding initsentirety anddirectly
applicable inallMember States .
Done atBrussels ,