EN Official Journal of the European Union CE 247/78

Thursday 10 April 2008

2009 budget guidelines, other sections

P6_TA(2008)0115

European Parliament resolution of 10 April 2008 on the guidelines for the 2009 budget procedure, Section I — European Parliament, Section II — Council, Section IV — Court of Justice, Section V — Court of Auditors, Section VI — European Economic and Social Committee, Section VII — Committee of the Regions, Section VIII — European Ombudsman, Section IX — European Data Protection Supervisor (2008/2021(BUD))

2009/C 247 E/17

The European Parliament,

having regard to Article 272 of the EC Treaty,

having regard to the Interinstitutional Agreement of 17 May 2006 between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on budgetary discipline and sound financial management (1),

having regard to Council Decision 2000/597/EC, Euratom of 29 September 2000 on the system of the European Communities’ own resources (2),

having regard to Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities (3),

having regard to the fifth report by the Secretaries-General of the Institutions on trends in heading 5 of the financial perspective of May 2006,

having regard to the Annual Report of the Court of Auditors on the implementation of the budget for the financial year 2006, together with the institutions’ replies (4),

having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgets (A6-0082/2008),

A. whereas, at this stage of the annual procedure, the European Parliament is awaiting the other institutions’ estimates and its own Bureau's proposals for the 2009 Budget,

B. whereas a pilot exercise was agreed in which enhanced cooperation and relations between the Bureau and the Committee on Budgets would be applied throughout the 2009 budget procedure,

C. whereas the ceiling of heading 5 in 2009 is EUR 7 777 000 000 (5), representing an increase of 4,3 % compared to 2008,

D. whereas the European Parliament’s budget for 2008 amounts to EUR 1 452 517 167, representing 19,68 % of heading 5 this year,

European Parliament

General Framework and main challenges

1. Stresses that 2009 will be a year of far-reaching change for the Parliament and considers that this should be reflected in its budget procedure; believes that this is a fresh opportunity to ensure that its political priorities are properly financed while, at the same time, being scrutinised in order to identify savings wherever possible and to ensure sustainability of the budget;

2. Considers that the following main challenges must be met while insisting on the most effective use of resources: — Challenges related to the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon, — Challenges related to 2009 as an election year for the Parliament, — Challenges related to the new Statute for Members and to the change of term;

3. Notes the opening of the question of the voluntary 20 % share of the Parliament presented in the Bureau's document; wishes to recall that successive budgets have shown surpluses at the end of the year and, although it is ready to consider additional expenditures that will certainly be needed for the particular demands of 2009, wishes to review all expenditure items while staying within the 20 % share;

4. Is of the opinion that a tendency to temperance is a virtue when establishing the budget, although this may not necessarily hold true in other circumstances; welcomes, therefore, the Secretary-General's intention to carefully examine all expenditure before making detailed proposals; insists that the forthcoming draft estimates reflect as closely as possible the final proposal for the Parliament’s expenditure from the administration and the Bureau, especially now that the Bureau and the Committee on Budgets have adopted a new pilot conciliation procedure; believes that such an approach will send a good message to the taxpayer in the European Union and, also, serve the Parliament well in the run-up to the review of the multi-annual financial framework; considers that this examination should be available in good time for the preparation of the 1st reading;

5. Points out, nevertheless, that the evolution of the financial ceiling must continue to be monitored carefully over the remainder of the MFF 2009-2013, especially as the annual adjustment is done according to a fixed rate (+2 %) and any divergence in real inflation will have an impact on the margin; calls on all institutions to thoroughly assess their budget needs in light of the means available in the current MFF;

6. Also wishes to explore, in this regard, how different institutions can adapt to changing staffing needs under the budget; notes that the Commission, contrary to the other institutions, finances an increasing share of staff from their operational programmes (thus not heading 5), normally through the creation of agencies in an out-sourcing process; recognises that the Parliament does not have recourse to such possibilities and must finance all its needs under heading 5;

7. Welcomes the 2008 pilot exercise to enhance cooperation between its Bureau and Committee on Budgets, which should test a streamlined budget procedure as well as allowing for more timely and transparent consultation on all parliamentary matters with significant financial implications; underlines that the pilot exercise should be carefully evaluated before any decisions are taken for the longer term;

Challenges related to the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon

8. Considers that the Parliament’s increased responsibilities following a ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon should be of prime concern for the formulation of the 2009 budget, especially as regards its role as lawmaker on an equal footing with the Council; stresses that its role as one arm of the budgetary authority of course remains, but with changed provisions as regards both expenditure classification and budgetary procedures;

9. Considers that all efforts should be made to fully assist Members to fulfil their responsibilities in this new context and that the appropriate structures and facilities must be put in place, including adequate and easily accessible meeting facilities for individual Members; underlines that such changes are not new to the Parliament and that growing co-decision powers have been smoothly integrated into its structures following previous treaty changes; looks forward to the conclusions of the Working Party on Human and Financial resources set up by the Secretary-General, especially regarding the requirement to respond to the enhanced legislative role of parliamentary committees and the other new responsibilities of Parliament;

10. Does not take the view, however, that this is automatically a question of financial resources but, rather, that more relevant and cost-effective ways of organising the work must always be sought, including a stronger focus on core activities, redeployment of staff when possible, re-structuring of services to suit new circumstances, better use of modern technologies and, also, increased inter-institutional cooperation;

11. Invites the Secretary-General to analyse in greater detail which tasks and responsibilities can genuinely be regarded as new compared to the current ones following on from the Treaty of Lisbon, perhaps also prompting new working practices, and which could motivate the requests for a certain amount of new resources as flagged in the Bureau's guidelines document; emphasises that requests for new resources should be accompanied by clear accounts of what has been achieved with previous increases in staff and expenditure, such as the use and results of the new ‘comitology posts’ granted in 2008;

12. Also stresses the importance of a thorough analysis on the possible impact on the 2009 budget stemming from the proposals of its Working Party on Parliamentary Reform, which, in conjunction with the Treaty changes, will certainly influence its working methods;

13. Wishes to see an assessment of the structure and capacity of the committee secretariats in order to ensure that they are ready to step up the quality of their legislative work; is surprised at recent claims that a mere 6 % of staff work on committees and invites the Secretary-General to provide, before 1 July 2008, a mid-term evaluation of human resources needs, including more precise information on the needs of the various committees, as well as a detailed organisation chart of all staff (officials and other staff) working in the administration and to suggest appropriate solutions, including redeployment, in order to strengthen the core activity of legislative work;

14. Reiterates its belief that the introduction of a Knowledge Management System, bringing together multiple sources of information, texts and references into a single point access- system for both Members and staff, will constitute a useful management tool; follows with interest the recent discussion of this issue in the Bureau; calls for an early exchange of views and for information, including cost estimates, as already requested in 2007; urges the Bureau to decide on the next steps during the budgetary procedure;

15. Welcomes the pilot project on individual interpretation for Members and looks forward to its rapid launch; notes that it is directed, in a first stage, towards rapporteurs and/or shadow rapporteurs ‘in legislative or budgetary procedures’; invites the Secretary-General to follow up this project during its 6 months and, in due time before first reading, present an objective cost-benefit analysis;

16. Recalls that EUR 2 million was placed in the reserve during the 2008 budgetary procedure in order to encourage the administration to give priority to more efficient linguistic support for Members during official meetings; calls on the administration to provide information on measures taken and progress made to improve linguistic services at official meetings;

17. Awaits the outcome of the evaluation of the pilot project for the analytical service to be provided to Members in the library of Parliament and its implications for 2009; recalls that in its resolution of 29 March 2007 on the guidelines for the 2008 budget procedure (6), Parliament asked to be able to publish the answers to such queries on its Intranet; points out that such publication would serve transparency and enable all members to benefit from such service;

Challenges related to 2009 as an election year for the Parliament

18. Underlines that 2009 will be a year of European elections and considers this an essential aspect of the budget to be agreed; reiterates its conviction that European citizens must be adequately informed of the work carried out by their elected representatives as well as the political and legislative role of the Parliament;

19. Draws particular attention to the importance it attaches to decentralised communication measures that also involve regional and local media; considers this a cost-effective way to achieve the targeted information necessary and, furthermore, insists that Members should actively participate in such initiatives;

20. Believes that changes related to the election year must however be seen in the context of prudent financial management and not automatically considered as additional expenditure that comes ‘on top’ of other activities; believes that an election year also requires a certain amount of focus of actions and expenditure in that particular year;

21. Will monitor in this regard the financing of three major information-related projects directed towards citizens, i.e. the visitors centre and the audiovisual centre, which are meant to be fully operational by 2009, and the web-TV project, which should be operational before 1 July 2008; while noting that this area has already seen substantial growth in recent years, believes the web-TV project will achieve added value from the investment under communication policy, as it offers easy access to all Union citizens to the proceedings of the Parliament; asks to receive information on a regular basis, assessing the results by reference to a set of performance indicators;

22. Also notes the proposal to earmark funds for a ‘House of European History’ project in the Bureau's document and, in view of the limited margin of financial manoeuvre and the pressing needs relating to Parliament’s core tasks, awaits a more detailed analysis concerning the financial and budgetary elements and also the results of the work of the committee of experts; wishes to explore the possibility of support for this important project also from the Commission;

Challenges related to the new Statute for Members and to the change of term

23. Attaches high importance to the unified statute for its Members, which will be introduced in the second half of 2009; notes that the additional expenditure, taking into account the transitional arrangements that can be used for a period of up to ten years, is so far approximate and welcomes the Secretary-General's statement that the figures will be re-examined before the Estimates stage;

24. Asks the Secretary-General to provide an updated budgetary estimate for these expenditures as soon as possible given the fact that more Members than originally foreseen are likely to opt for the new system; also wishes an update on the financial impact of the new rules on allowances that should be reformed in tandem with the new Statute;

25. Agrees that a provisional amount could be foreseen for the possibility of admitting Croatian observers at the end of 2009 and looks forward to an estimation of the financial implications;

26. Supports the recommendations of the conference of Presidents and the Bureau to ensure the consistent implementation of Parliament’s internal rules on the reimbursement of parliamentary assistance expenses and to charge the Bureau working party on the Members’ Statute, the Assistants’ Statute and the Pension Fund with assessing in detail and as a matter of urgency the operation of the existing rules and, given the importance of the matter, to put forward proposals for amendments to those rules; calls on the working group set up within the Bureau to put forward, together with the competent Commission services, proposals relating to a statute for Members’ assistants to be forwarded as a matter of urgency to the Council for adoption under the French presidency so that it can become applicable on the same day as the new Members’ Statute; believes that this proposed statute would ensure equal treatment of Members’ assistants that is also transparent, and help ensure that tax and social obligations, such as salaries and social security rights, are fulfilled; welcomes the decision of the Bureau of 10 March 2008 on Members’ parliamentary assistance, as a first step towards complying with the request expressed in its resolution of 25 October 2007 on the draft general budget for 2008 (7); calls on the Bureau and its Secretary General to report on the progress on the matter in due time before the first reading;

Buildings

27. Welcomes the preparation of a long-term strategy proposal for its buildings policy, including the expected development of maintenance costs, which should be analysed during the 2009 procedure; considers particularly important the financial implications stemming from rental arrangements, on the one hand, and acquisitions, on the other hand; wishes to see the arguments put forward and debated during the year; appreciates the Secretary-General's inter-institutional initiative to improve conditions concerning public procurement, especially to avoid cartel or monopolistic situations; awaits further information so that it can continue to follow the process very closely;

28. Recognises that considerable savings have been achieved due to the advance payments made on buildings over the last ten years, considers that Parliament’s acquisition policy in the longer term needs to be assessed in the light of the limits of the financial ceiling and the particular needs in its three places of work; would welcome a debate on this issue following the presentation of the long-term strategy;

29. Insists that environmental concerns should be a key element of its policy; believes that further improvements in terms of energy efficiency are necessary, as well as a further shift towards the use of green energy sources in all premises occupied by Parliament; expects the commitments undertaken in the framework of EMAS to be honoured and awaits more detailed information on the results of the EMAS action plan as well as on the use of solar panels, the possibility of renewing Parliament’s car fleet with environmentally friendly cars, and the new mobility point, which should also become easily accessible online;

30. Recalls that in its resolution of 25 October 2007 on the draft general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2008, Parliament asked the administration to present an action plan for reducing and off-setting CO2 emissions caused by Parliament’s activities;

31. Wishes to see a report on the constraints, both regulatory and practical, which may have led to unnecessarily high maintenance costs for EU buildings, including the Parliament’s; wishes the report to be a cross-cutting effort in order to establish the root causes, whether linked to a restricted market in any way, burdens imposed by the Financial Regulation and public tendering, or any other relevant factor; considers that the rule requiring the blacklisting of firms that have put forward unnecessarily high costs should be enforced; believes that Parliament should seek ways to achieve savings in the building budget;

32. Is pleased to note that the implementing practices concerning the sharing of external offices with the Commission (European Houses) are currently being modified in order to better reflect the occupancy share of each institution; congratulates the Secretary-General for work in this direction, as called for last year, and asks to be informed at each stage of the process;

Staff

33. Considers that staffing levels have now entered a phase of consolidation following the very significant increases made with the last enlargements; calls on all services and the political groups to provide a detailed analysis and justification of staff deployment in Parliament’s various departments before making any requests for staffing and creating any new posts, and to use possibilities of re-deployment whenever feasible; considers that this budgetary exercise shall constitute a continuation of such efforts in 2008, while recognising the special challenges for 2009 and the fact that redeployment possibilities will vary from one year to the next;

34. Is therefore prepared to consider reasonable requests for new posts after the administration has presented a clear analysis, also including any training and development programmes necessary; welcomes the Secretary-General's intention to carry out an extensive effort in this regard;

35. Considers that the previously mentioned analysis of what can be considered genuinely new tasks and responsibilities emanating from the Treaty of Lisbon, and the possible financial implications, including establishment plans, will be a crucial element for the budget;

Other institutions

36. Invites the institutions to present realistic and cost-based budget requests that take full account of the general context of financial rigour, effective management of resources, and added value for European citizens;

37. Is very interested in how a future European External Action Service would be integrated into the EU budget overall and, in the event of this Service, or parts thereof, being absorbed into the Council's section, calls on the Council and the Commission to be fully transparent and pro-active as to the implications this will have, including the dividing lines between administrative and operational expenditure;

38. Notes with some trepidation the significant increases in building expenditure over the medium-term and invites all institutions to examine such plans carefully and to present all financing plans and/or solutions in an open and easily understandable format; recognises that there are also unavoidable needs for such expenditure in certain cases, for example linked to legal requirements and to achieving satisfactory conditions for staff;

39. Invites its rapporteur for 2009 to carry out individual visits to the Council, Court of Justice, Court of Auditors, European Economic and Social Committee, Committee of the Regions, the Ombudsman and the European Data Protection Supervisor, in order to hear them before the Estimates stage and to report back to its Committee on Budgets;

*

* *

40. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Court of Justice, the Court of Auditors, the European Economic and Social Committee, the Committee of the Regions, the European Ombudsman and the European Data Protection Supervisor.

(1) OJ C 139, 14.6.2006, p. 1. Agreement as amended by Decision 2008/29/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 6, 10.1.2008, p. 7).

(2) OJ L 253, 7.10.2000, p. 42.

(3) OJ L 248, 16.9.2002, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1525/2007 (OJ L 343, 27.12.2007, p. 9).

(4) OJ C 273, 15.11.2007, p. 1.

(5) Including EUR 78 000 000 in staff contributions for pensions.

(6) OJ C 27 E, 31.1.2008, p. 225.

(7) Texts Adopted, P6_TA(2007)0474.