No C 80/16 Official Journal of the European Communities 28. 3. 88 
Opinion on the Commission Communication on budgetary discipline 
(88/C 80/08) 
In connection with the work already being carried out on own resources, the Committee's Bureau 
decided on 15 December 1987 to authorize the Section for Economic, Financial and Monetary 
Questions to examine, under the third paragraph of Article 20 of the Rules of Procedure, the 
Commission Communication on budgetary discipline. 
At its meeting on 12 January 1988 the Section delivered its Opinion. The Rapporteur was Mr 
Pardon. 
At its 252nd Plenary Session (meeting of 27 January 1988), the Economic and Social Committee 
adopted the following Opinion by a majority with 3 votes against. 
1. The following comments refer to the Commission 
Communication on budgetary discipline which explains in 
greater detail the proposals on budgetary discipline put 
forward by the Commission in its Communication 
'Making a Success of the Single Act' and in its Report on the 
financing of the Community budget. 
2. Tighter budgetary discipline goes hand in hand with 
any decision on an increase in own resources. In line with 
the standpoint it adopted in its Opinion on the financing of 
the Community, the ESC reiterates that discipline is 
essential both in drafting and in implementing the budget. 
3.1. The budgetary discipline proposed by the Commis­
sion bears heavily on agriculture. The arrangements for this 
sector, their implications and consequences, are linked to 
the CAP as a whole and cannot be dissociated from it. The 
agricultural component of budgetary discipline is therefore 
dealt with in the ESC's Opinion on agricultural stabilizers. 
3.2. The ESC would, however, point out that in its first 
Opinion of 19 November 1987 on the implementation of 
agricultural stabilizers it accepted the principle of such 
measures. Their implementation, by appropriate means, is 
crucial for the success of budgetary discipline. But their 
effectiveness depends in part on the mechanism for 
controlling agricultural spending; spending controls 
should be implemented in accordance with the general rules 
governing all budgetary expenditure. 
3.3. In the view of the ESC the aim of budgetary 
discipline is also to restore balance to Community 
spending, since agricultural spending cannot go on 
increasing more rapidly than gross national product. 
However, this means in real terms that agricultural 
spending could at least remain at its present level. 
Furthermore, the increase in financial resources allocated 
to the structural funds, EAGGF Guidance in particular, 
should benefit the less developed regions where agricultural 
structures are more precarious. 3.4. For the rest, the ESC will here confine itself to 
approving the setting-up of a 'monetary reserve' to mitigate 
the budgetary consequences of exchange rate fluctuations. 
The recent trend of the dollar, i. e. a devaluation of approx. 
10 % resulting in additional expenditure of some 800 mil­
lion ECU, makes this measure particularly opportune. 
Under the proposal the reserve would amount to one 
thousand million ECU. This is equivalent to a fall in the 
dollar of about 12 %, i. e. it is not an unreasonable sum. 
Any adjustments to rates of exchange within the EMS 
would also have to be taken into consideration. 
The ESC also approves the cancelling-out over a three-year 
period of the budgetary effects of exceptional circum­
stances. These are by their very nature unforeseeable; the 
ESC defines them as circumstances extraneous to develop­
ments on the agricultural markets but capable of influen­
cing them. 
4.1. The Commission's proposals comprise a whole 
series of measures aimed at reinforcing budgetary discipline 
both in setting the rates of increase for the various 
categories of expenditure and in controlling their growth. 
Two points would appear fundamental. 
4.2. The drawing-up of multiannual forecasts 1987 to 
1992 will make it possible (a) to fix an annual ceiling 
(always within the 1,4 % of gross national product) for the 
own resources which may be called in, and (b) to determine 
the proportion to be allocated to the major categories of 
non-obligatory expenditure. 
Hence these forecasts, submitted to the Council and 
European Parliament, play a key role not only as an 
instrument for achieving clarity and consistency, but also 
through the choices which they inevitably imply. They 
should therefore be drawn up with maximum objectivity. 
28. 3. 88 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 80/17 
4.3. The aim of the inter-institutional agreement is to 
involve all relevant parties in fixing the amount of non-
obligatory expenditure and in controlling the growth in 
such spending. 
Although they do not have to give their views on the details 
of this agreement, the socio-economic interest groups are 
certainly interested in its potential consequences. In this 
respect we would note that, inter-institutional agreement 
or not, everything will depend on a political consensus 
between the institutions. The agreement can facilitate such 
a consensus but cannot guarantee it. It may however be 
hoped that this agreement will help to optimize the role of 
the financial forecasts as a connecting link between the 
annual budget procedures and the medium-term commit­
ments resulting, inter alia, from the policies associated with 
the Single Act. It will, in any event, be advisable to press on 
ahead with reforming the financial regulation and the 
structural funds. 
5.1. The limits on commitment appropriations are 
necessary to reconcile the principle of budget annuality 
with the need to manage multiannual operations. 5.2. This is all the more necessary as the'cost of the past' 
has to be integrated into the Community's liabilities in a 
realistic fashion, closely linked to the payment appropri­
ations. 
5.3. Furthermore, the discontinuation of the automatic 
arrangement whereby commitment appropriations remain 
in existence and payment appropriations are carried over 
— or at least the obligation to review these appropriations 
— should in practice lead to greater discipline and 
transparency. The checking of 'dormant commitments' is 
also sensible so that, where necessary, they can be removed. 
6. At all events the application of budgetary discipline 
must be carefully balanced so as not to hamper achieve­
ment of the objectives laid down in the Single Act and not to 
hinder the pursuit of the Community's external policy 
objectives. 
7. Overall, this attempt to restore budgetary order is to 
be welcomed. If properly carried out it should enable the 
Community to manage its increased resources over the next 
five years in such a way as to help reinforce the economic 
and social cohesion of the Community. 
Done at Brussels, 27 January 1988. 
The Chairman 
of the Economic and Social Committee 
Alfons MARGOT 
Opinion on the: 
— proposal for a Council Directive on the approximation of the laws of Member States relating to 
the spray-suppression devices of certain categories of motor vehicle and their trailers 
and the 
— proposal for a Council Directive on the approximation of the laws of Member States relating to 
the lateral protection (side-guards) of certain categories of motor vehicle and their trailers (') 
(88/C 80/09) 
On 7 September 1987 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, under 
Article 100 A of the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, on the above-
mentioned proposals. 
The Section for Industry, Commerce, Crafts and Services, which was responsible for preparing the 
Committee's work on the subject, adopted its Opinion on 6 January 1988. The Rapporteur was Mr 
Perrin-Pelletier. 
At its 252nd Plenary Session (meeting of 27 January 1988) the Economic and Social Committee 
adopted the following Opinion by a majority, with 8 votes against and 9 abstentions. 
(i) OJ No C 265, 5. 10. 1987, p. 1 to 21.