[pic] | COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES |

Brussels, 22.5.2006

SEC(2006) 633 final

PRELIMINARY DRAFT AMENDING BUDGET No 3 TO THE GENERAL BUDGET FOR 2006

GENERAL STATEMENT OF REVENUE STATEMENT OF REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE BY SECTION Section III - Commission Section VIII Part B - European Data-protection Supervisor

(presented by the Commission)

PRELIMINARY DRAFT AMENDING BUDGET No 3 TO THE GENERAL BUDGET FOR 2006

GENERAL STATEMENT OF REVENUE STATEMENT OF REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE BY SECTION Section III - Commission Section VIII Part B - European Data-protection Supervisor

Having regard to

- the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 272 thereof,

- the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community, and in particular Article 177 thereof,

- Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities,[1] and in particular Article 37 thereof,

the European Commission hereby presents to the budgetary authority the preliminary draft amending budget No 3 to the 2006 budget for the reasons set out in the explanatory memorandum.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 4

1. Introduction 4

2. Section III (Commission) 4

2.1. European GNSS Supervisory Authority 4

2.2. European Aviation Safety Agency 6

2.3. European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders 7

3. Section VIII part B (European Data-protection Supervisor) 8

SUMMARY TABLE BY HEADING OF THE FINANCIAL PERSPECTIVES 9

GENERAL STATEMENT OF REVENUE

STATEMENT OF REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE BY SECTION

The general statement of revenue and the statement of revenue and expenditure by section are forwarded separately via the SEI-BUD system. An English version of the general statement of revenue and of the statement of revenue and expenditure by section is attached for information as a budgetary annex.

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

1. INTRODUCTION

This preliminary draft amending budget comprises four elements, three being amendments to Section III (Commission) and one an amendment to Section VIII Part B (European Data-protection Supervisor). They specifically concern:

- strengthening the European GNSS Supervisory Authority to take account of the transfer to it of some of the activities of the Galileo Joint Undertaking;

- reinforcing the staff of the European Aviation Safety Agency to cover the standardisation inspections programme;

- reinforcing the staff of the European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders;

- increasing the appropriations entered in line B-1 1 7 5 “Translation and interpretation costs” for the European Data-protection Supervisor.

2. SECTION III (COMMISSION)

2.1. European GNSS Supervisory Authority

The European GNSS Supervisory Authority was established by Council Regulation (EC) No 1321/2004 of 12 July 2004[2]on the establishment of structures for the management of the European satellite radionavigation programmes.

The tasks of the Supervisory Authority are laid down in Article 2 of Regulation No 1321/2004. It is, in particular, the licensing authority vis-à-vis the private concession-holder for the system, with which it will conclude the concession contract. The Supervisory Authority has been gradually established since the summer of 2005 and will become fully operational in the course of 2006.

The Galileo Joint Undertaking was set up to implement the development phase, and its lifetime is based on the duration of that phase, which was initially intended to cover the years 2002 to 2005 inclusive, but has since been extended to 2008. As its Statutes currently stand, the Galileo Joint Undertaking would therefore not normally complete its activities before the end of 2008, a lifetime three years longer than originally planned.

However, the Commission believes that extending the lifetime of the Joint Undertaking beyond 2006 would be pointless and costly, as the Supervisory Authority is in a position to take over all the activities that are currently being carried out by the Joint Undertaking in the course of 2006.

In order to wind up the Galileo Joint Undertaking and provide the Supervisory Authority with a legal basis for taking over most of the activities it currently carries out, the Commission has set procedures in motion for the amendment of the respective regulations.

The activities which will be gradually transferred to the Supervisory Authority are as follows:

- supervision of implementation of the development phase: finalising technological developments relating to the system on the basis of an agreement to be concluded with the European Space Agency;

- preparing the deployment and operation phases, and negotiating the concession contract;

- research activities (6th and 7th FPRD). To define or promote future satellite radionavigation applications and prepare for the next generation of satellites, the Supervisory Authority will need to undertake or finance a considerable amount of research during the programme development, deployment and operation phases;

- monitoring scientific activities in the context of international cooperation with China and Israel in particular;

- proceedings involved in winding up the Joint Undertaking after 31 December 2006.

It should be noted that the Supervisory Authority’s 2006 Budget, as presented by the Commission in the 2006 Preliminary Draft Budget, could not reflect this situation for objective and, in particular, legal reasons.

Before the end of 2006, therefore, the Supervisory Authority must have the necessary resources, notably as regards staff, to complete the tasks of the Joint Enterprise.

The proposed preliminary draft amending budget is based on an estimated staff for 2006 of 39 (11 recruited in 2005, 9 in the first quarter of 2006 and 19 on adoption of the amending budget by the budgetary authority). This evaluation is based on the Supervisory Authority’s work programme for 2006 and a comparison with staff numbers at the Galileo Joint Enterprise. The Joint Enterprise, which had 43 members of staff at the beginning of 2006, must transfer all its activities to the Supervisory Authority as soon as the Authority is in a position to take them over and by the end of 2006 at the latest. The Supervisory Authority must therefore have its 39 staff in service by the third quarter at the latest to facilitate the transfer of know-how and activities to the Authority while the staff of the Joint Enterprise is being reduced until it is fully wound up in 2006, without jeopardising the smooth operation of the Galileo and EGNOS programmes.

The proposed increase in staff from 20 to 39 highly qualified personnel will mean not only a rise in the salary levels but also increased expenditure on recruitment, which will have to be fast-tracked, resulting in supplementary installation allowances and removal expenses. There will be many candidates invited for interview from across the world and many of them will be recruited.

Before the end of 2006 the Supervisory Authority should possess the necessary financing to carry out the tasks additional to those initially envisaged. A supplementary budget of EUR 3 050 000 would be required for that purpose.

2.2. European Aviation Safety Agency

The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) was set up by Regulation (EC) No 1592/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 July 2002[3] on common rules in the field of civil aviation and establishing a European Aviation Safety Agency.

The Agency’s remit is set out in Article 5 of the Regulation and concerns the airworthiness and environmental certification of aircraft and related products, parts and appliances, the certification of design and production organisations, the continuing airworthiness of aircraft and aeronautical products, parts and appliances, and the approval of organisations and personnel involved in these tasks.

Regarding the monitoring of compliance with Community law by Member States and those to whom the law applies, the Regulation lays down in particular:

- in Article 45, that the Agency shall assist the Commission in monitoring the application of this Regulation and its implementing rules, by conducting standardisation inspections of Member States competent authorities; and

- in Article 16(4), that the Commission shall establish the working methods of the Agency for conducting the standardisation inspections tasks in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 54(2) (comitology – advisory committee).

Pursuant to Article 16(4), the Commission is to adopt a regulation in the following weeks on the working methods used by the Agency for conducting standardisation inspections. The regulation will allocate the Agency’s resources in terms of expenditure on the training of its own staff and Member States’ staff participating in inspection groups and in terms of the number of inspectors to recruit for conducting these tasks.

Under the rules proposed by the Commission, the Agency must draw up a programme of standardisation inspections, the qualifications required by its own staff taking part in inspections and by participating Member State staff, and arrange for these staff to be trained. The Agency must also conduct inspections and submit reports to the national authorities inspected and to the Commission. Lastly, the Agency must reimburse mission expenses other than those of its own inspectors, of national authorities and of national coordinators participating in the inspection teams.

The regulation proposed by the Commission relates to the Agency’s work programme for 2006.

Before the end of 2006, therefore, the Agency must possess the necessary resources, notably as regards staffing, to complete the above standardisation tasks.

The proposed preliminary draft amending budget is based on an estimated staff for 2006 of 336 (328 planned for 2006 and a further 8 recruited on adoption of the amending budget by the budgetary authority). The above estimate is based on the EASA’s 2006 work programme.

The proposed increase in staff from 328 to 336 highly qualified personnel will mean a rise in salary levels and in particular an increase in mission expenses.

Before the end of 2006 the Agency should possess the necessary financing to carry out the tasks additional to those initially envisaged. A supplementary budget of EUR 1 114 000 would be required for that purpose.

The appropriations necessary will be taken from the budget heading for transport safety (06 02 03) by redeploying funds within the budget allocation for policy area TREN.

2.3. European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders

The FRONTEX Agency’s 2006 budget, as presented by the Commission in the preliminary draft budget 2006, was drawn up on the basis of the legislative financial statement attached to the proposal for the Council Regulation establishing the Agency. The requested amounts for administrative expenditure (titles 1 and 2) and operational expenditure (title 3) came, respectively, to EUR 2.314 million and EUR 7.440 million, i.e. a total of EUR 9.754 million.

During the budgetary procedure, Parliament introduced an amendment raising the title 3 allocation to EUR 9.440 million. The Community’s contribution to the Agency for 2006 therefore amounts to EUR 11.754 million. The number of temporary staff posts stayed at 17 as specified in the financial statement.

At its last meeting on 24 March 2006, the FRONTEX Agency’s management board agreed a new establishment plan and revised the 2006 budget accordingly.

It should be emphasised that FRONTEX started its activities in the autumn of 2005. The proposed revision is therefore based on recent operating experience and, in particular, a better understanding of its administrative environment.

It has therefore been estimated that the administrative expenditure should amount to EUR 6.1 million and that 28 temporary staff posts will be required in 2006, i.e. an increase of 11 posts. To avoid increasing the Community contribution, therefore, EUR 3.786 million in appropriations should be transferred from title 3 to titles 1 and 2.

The additional request relating to the administrative expenditure comes about mainly as a result of an underestimate of the staff required to carry out the Agency’s tasks.

Without this amendment, the Agency will be unable to provide the necessary administrative support and internal control structures to ensure the proper management of its activities. The temporary staff (representing 37% of the total) will be assigned to management and administrative posts only.

The estimate of staff costs takes account of the fact that recruitment will be staggered throughout 2006. 14 vacancies were advertised for this at the end of March.

3. SECTION VIII PART B (EUROPEAN DATA-PROTECTION SUPERVISOR)

The total budget for the European Data-protection Supervisor in 2006 amounts to EUR 3 583 833. It includes a budget heading, B-1 1 7 5 “Translation and interpretation costs”, with appropriations amounting to EUR 112 491. This figure was calculated on the basis of the number of translations done in 2004 and at the beginning of 2005, but the total number rose during the second half of 2005, triggering an upward trend.

Under an administrative cooperation agreement signed in June 2004 by the Secretaries-General of the Parliament, Council and Commission, and the European Supervisor, the Council is responsible for translation. A departmental agreement was signed in July 2005 laying down the practical arrangements for cooperation, in particular the charge rates, which correspond to the rates applied by the Translation Centre in Luxembourg. Based on these and given planned management by the Supervisor of translation requests, the rate will be EUR 61.5 per page. The European Data-protection Supervisor will limit the number of translations to the minimum necessary: translations into two languages of webpages and of the newsletter; translation of the annual report into 19 official languages; answering correspondents in their own language; translation of the Supervisor’s legal opinions into 19 languages for publication in the Official Journal.

In 2005 when the preliminary draft budget for 2006 was proposed, the post of European Data-protection Supervisor was not yet two years old. As a new organism at the deployment stage, it was still too early to prepare forecasts. The production of documents then was still quite limited and, as no operations cycle had yet been completed, the Supervisor had no basis of comparison for drawing up a budget on the basis of experience.

Now, however, the total number of documents for translation and the corresponding costs can clearly be calculated. This is the reason for requesting a preliminary draft amending budget for 2006; the appropriations entered in line B-1 1 7 5 “Translation and interpretation costs” should be increased from EUR 112 491 to EUR 667 036 in 2006.

SUMMARY TABLE BY HEADING OF THE FINANCIAL PERSPECTIVES

Financial perspectives Heading/subheading | 2006 Financial perspective | Budget 2006 incl. PDAB 1* - 2/2006 | PDAB 3/2006 | Budget 2006 incl. PDAB 1-3/2006 |

|CA |PA |CA |PA |CA |PA |CA |PA | |1. AGRICULTURE | | | | | | | | | |- Agricultural expenditure |44 847 000 000 | |43 279 720 000 |43 279 720 000 | | |43 279 720 000 |43 279 720 000 | |- Rural development and accompanying measures |7 771 000 000 | |7 771 000 000 |7 711 300 000 | | |7 771 000 000 |7 711 300 000 | |Total |52 618 000 000 | |51 050 720 000 |50 991 020 000 | | |51 050 720 000 |50 991 020 000 | | Margin | | |1 567 280 000 | | | |1 567 280 000 | | | 2. STRUCTURAL OPERATIONS | | | | | | | | | |- Structural funds |38 523 000 000 | |38 522 922 880 |32 134 099 237 | | |38 522 922 880 |32 134 099 237 | |- Cohesion fund |6 094 000 000 | |6 032 082 110 |3 505 500 000 | | |6 032 082 110 |3 505 500 000 | |Total |44 617 000 000 | |44 555 004 990 |35 639 599 237 | | |44 555 004 990 |35 639 599 237 | | Margin | | |61 995 010 | | | |61 995 010 | | | 3. INTERNAL POLICIES |9 385 000 000 | |9 387 512 774 |8 904 016 732 |+3 050 000 |+3 050 000 |9 390 562 774 |8 907 066 732 | | Margin | | |12 285 815 | | | |9 235 815 | | | 4. EXTERNAL ACTION |5 269 000 000 | |5 544 000 000 |5 369 049 920 | | |5 544 000 000 |5 369 049 920 | | Margin | | |-275 000 000 | | | |-275 000 000 | | | 5. ADMINISTRATION |6 708 000 000 | |6 656 369 817 |6 656 369 817 |+554 545 |+554 545 |6 656 924 362 |6 656 924 362 | | Margin | | |51 630 183 | | | | 51 075 638 | | | 6. RESERVES |458 000 000 | |458 000 000 |458 000 000 | | |458 000 000 |458 000 000 | |- Guarantee reserve |p.m. | |229 000 000 |229 000 000 | | |229 000 000 |229 000 000 | |- Reserve for emergency aid |p.m. | |229 000 000 |229 000 000 | | |229 000 000 |229 000 000 | | Margin | | |p.m. | | | |p.m. | | | 7. PRE-ACCESSION AID |3 566 000 000 | |2 572 159 038

|2 984 409 038

| | |2 572 159 038

|2 984 409 038

| | Margin | | | 1 085 400 000 | | | | 1 085 400 000 | | |8. COMPENSATION |1 074 000 000 | |1 073 500 332 |1 073 500 332 | | |1 073 500 332 |1 073 500 332 | | Margin | | | 499 668 | | | | 499 668 | | | TOTAL | 123 695 000 000 | 119 292 000 000 | 121 297 266 951 | 112 075 965 076 | +3 604 545 | +3 604 545 | 121 300 871 496 | 112 079 569 621 | | Margin | | |2 504 090 676 | 7 322 392 551 | | |2 500 486 131 | 7 318 788 006 | |* For PDAB 1, the EUSF amount is entered over and above headings 3 and 7 as foreseen by the IIA of 7 November 2002 (OJ C 283, 20.11.2002).

[1] OJ L 248, 16.9.2002, p. 1.

[2] OJ L 246, 20.7.2004, p. 1.

[3] OJ L 240, 7.9.2002, p. 1.