A4-0311/96

Resolution on the draft general budget of the European Union for the financial year 1997: Section I - European Parliament - Ombudsman Annex, Section II - Council, Section IV - Court of Justice, Section V - Court of Auditors, Section VI - Economic and Social Committee and Committee of the Regions

The European Parliament,

- having regard to Article 203 of the EC Treaty,

- having regard to the Interinstitutional Agreement of 29 October 1993 on budgetary discipline and improvement of the budgetary procedure ((OJ C 331, 7.12.1993, p. 1.)),

- having regard to its resolution of 28 March 1996 on the guidelines for the 1997 budgetary procedure: Section I - Parliament - Ombudsman Annex, Section II - Council, Section IV - Court of Justice, Section V - Court of Auditors

Section VI - Economic and Social Committee and Committee of the Regions ((OJ C 117, 22.4.1996, p. 61.)),

- having regard to its resolution of 23 May 1996 on the estimates of revenue and expenditure of the European Parliament and the estimates of revenue and expenditure of the Ombudsman for the 1997 financial year ((OJ C 166, 10.6.1996, p. 184.)),

- having regard to the preliminary draft general budget for the financial year 1997 (COM(96)0300),

- having regard to the draft general budget for the financial year 1997 (C4-0350/96),

- having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgets and the opinions of the other committees concerned (A4-0311/96),

I. General framework

1. Points out that, for the financial year 1997, heading 5 (administrative expenditure) of the financial perspective in force provides for an amount of ECU 4352 m, or an increase of 3.84% over the financial year 1996;

2. Believes that the Union budget, including the administrative expenditure section, cannot be exempt from the austerity effort which all the Member States are being compelled to make in the light of the entry into force of EMU;

3. Notes, however, that the atmosphere of budgetary austerity and stringency should not interfere with the environment necessary for the institutions to operate adequately;

4. Stresses its support for the conclusions of the trialogue of 16 April 1996 and, in particular, the twin requirement for the institutions to make a systematic assessment of the activities financed by the Union budget, in order to improve cost-effectiveness, and to limit the creation of new posts to the commitments already entered into in connection with enlargement;

5. Stresses that the 1997 preliminary draft budget did not leave a margin within heading 5 and even exceeded the ceiling for it by ECU 14.55 m and that this situation stems from rates of increase which are significantly higher for the institutions' estimates than that for heading 5;

6. Notes that, in establishing the institutions' draft administrative-spending budget at ECU 4244.65m, the Council has granted an increase of 1.28%, which is less than the average rate of inflation in the Union, and that this increase nonetheless leaves a margin of ECU 107.35 m within the ceiling for heading 5;

7. Notes that, in setting the appropriations against Title 1 and in particular Chapter 11 (Staff in active employment), the Council has taken as its basis an estimated remuneration adjustment rate of 1.8% as at 1 July 1996 and 2.2% as at 1 July 1997;

8. Points out furthermore that, apart from the Commission budget, the Council has agreed to the creation of 14 LA posts for the Court of Auditors and the ESC-CoR, because of enlargement, and three temporary posts for the Ombudsman;

II. With regard to Section I, European Parliament

9. Takes note of the various reports submitted by its Secretary-General, which it requested when the 1997 estimates were adopted, and the subsequent decisions within the relevant competent bodies;

10. Declares its strong interest in the openness of parliamentary work and accessibility of proceedings; consequently insists that, pursuant to Rule 134 of its Rules of Procedure, a verbatim report of the proceedings of each sitting should continue to be drawn up in the official languages in 1997 and that the verbatim report should continue to be published as an annex to the Official Journal of the European Communities;

11. Confirms, with regard to staffing, all the decisions taken in connection with the adoption of the 1997 estimates; notes, however, the need to fine- tune certain establishment plan aspects on the basis of the updated figures and the need to apply the latest parameters adopted for estimating the remuneration adjustment rates to the appropriations against Chapter 11, Staff in active employment;

12. Has decided, by means of amendments, to delete one temporary A2 post and to modify the footnotes in the list of posts which indicate the status of certain establishment plan posts, to convert the two A7 established posts into temporary A7 posts in the Data-Processing Directorate and to maintain one temporary A3 post and one temporary B3 post for an indefinite period in DG III - Information - and one temporary A5 post;

13. Reiterates its attachment to a continuing policy of intensive mobility within and between directorates-general which does not rule out, in particular, rotation with external information offices; takes the view that this staggered measure ought to lead to optimum allocation of human resources and meet the institution's objective operating requirements;

14. Takes the view that, overall, the volume of appropriations set aside in the 1997 estimates is sufficient to ensure that the institution operates smoothly and that should duly justified new requirements emerge, account having been taken of the state of implementation of the 1996 budget, including SAB 1/96 and also that for the financial year 1995, appropriations should be reallocated as a matter of priority by means of transfers in accordance with the financial rules;

15. Points to the scale of its property programme and, in particular, the occupancy and surrendering of buildings, especially in Brussels; stresses that the surrendering of buildings in Brussels is arousing the interest of other institutions with a view to their future occupancy; therefore invites its competent bodies to establish an appropriate structure in order to ensure interinstitutional cooperation in this regard;

16. Notes that the world fair will be held in Lisbon in 1998; points out that participation by the Community institutions in that event ought to be handled in a spirit of interinstitutional cooperation and, in particular, on the basis of synergy between the European Parliament and the Commission; has entered to this end, by means of an amendment, a provisional appropriation of ECU 300 000 in Chapter 100 for Item 2721, Expenditure on publication, information and participation in public events, and invites the institutions concerned to submit a joint report by 31 March 1997 on the arrangements for their participation in that fair;

17. Acknowledges the need for information to be given to all European citizens - irrespective of their location, in an exhaustive fashion and on-line - on the European Union's goals, on the policies pursued and to be implemented and on the institutions via advanced communications facilities; has created the appropriate budget heading in this connection: Article 284, Advanced telecommunications systems; takes the view, however, that this activity should be developed on the basis of synergy between the European Parliament and the Commission; therefore intends to develop this activity together with the Commission, in the context of interinstitutional cooperation; calls on the Commission to submit a report to the budgetary authority by 31 March 1997 on the implementing arrangements for it, together with an exhaustive financial statement;

18. Points to the positions it has adopted in support of the disabled and, in particular, on treatment of them on the same footing as other citizens; believes that it is therefore necessary to make available to them the appropriate means for supplying them with information on its activities and on the accessibility of its buildings;

19. Points out that the agreement on administrative cooperation concluded with the European Ombudsman on 22 September 1995 provides that the latter should pay for services supplied to him by Parliament's various departments, in particular in the following areas: telecommunications, mail, security, research and documentation, social affairs, financial services, buildings, translation and publications; has decided, by means of amendments, to adjust the remarks and, where appropriate, the appropriations against the budget headings concerned pursuant to the provisions of Article 27 of the Financial Regulation;

20. Has entered an appropriation of ECU 4 182 587 in Chapter 101, Contingency reserve;

OmbudsmanAnnex

21. Stresses that the European Ombudsman has for the first time been in a position to prepare his own budget; stresses that the financial year 1997 will therefore be a normal budgetary year; notes, however, in the spirit of the conclusions reached concerning interinstitutional cooperation, that the temporary posts authorized are allotted at the basic grade within each staff category;

22. Has decided, by means of amendments, to convert the following temporary posts: one A4 to A5, one A6 to A7, one B3 to B5, one C4 to C5 and one D2 to D3; has decided, by means of amendments, to apply the parameters adopted for estimating the remuneration adjustment rates to the appropriations in Chapter 11, Staff in active employment, and to adjust the appropriations for other administrative expenditure on the basis of the updated figures;

III. With regard to Section IV, Court of Justice

23. Points out that, in its estimates, the Court of Justice had requested the creation of 14 posts and the upgrading/conversion of 52 posts; points out that this request for the creation of posts is at odds with the conclusions of the trialogue of 16 April 1996 and with the rate of occupancy of its establishment plan, on which a total of 27 permanent posts are not occupied, including nine in the language service;

24. Has decided by means of amendments, and on the basis of the information supplied by the Court of Justice on the average period spent by officials eligible for promotion within their category, to upgrade the following permanent posts: one A5 to A4, six LA5 to LA4, two B2 to B1, one B3 to B2, one B4 to B3, one B5 to B4, four C2 to C1 and two C3 to C2;

25. Points out that, under the 1996 budget, authorization was given for an ECU 50 m ((Transfer of appropriations 27/96, SEC(96)1406 - C4-0427/96.)) top-up in appropriations for the Court of Justice for the early payment of rent for its annexes, enabling it to bring forward the date of the final payment for acquiring its buildings from 2007 to 2002 and thereby reducing the cost to the Union;

26. Regrets that the Council has not responded favourably to the submission of PDSAB 2/96, which would have made it possible to reduce this cost further;

27. Notes that the Court of Justice has asked the owner of the Palais building to terminate the existing lease and to draw up a fresh lease by common accord; notes that that request was made essentially on the basis of the general dilapidated nature of that building and the fact that, because of asbestos, a remedy was impossible; has therefore entered in Chapter 100, Provisional appropriations, by means of an amendment, the appropriations equivalent to the rent for that building for the necessary period permitting clarification of the action to be taken on the matters raised;

28. Has decided, by means of amendments, to top up the following headings: Article 203, Cleaning and maintenance (+ ECU 357 500), Article 220, Technical installations and electronic office equipment (+ ECU 264 000), Article 225, Documentation and library expenditure (+ ECU 65 200) and Item 2710, General publications (+ ECU 240 000);

IV. With regard to Section V, Court of Auditors

29. Notes that since enlargement of the Union, and in particular on the basis of the information supplied by the Court, a shortage of auditors has emerged because of the increase in the range of on-the-spot checks, the growing volume of work subsequent to the audits and annual reports to be produced for each of the agencies of the European Union, but also as a result of the extent of the checks relating to the statement of assurance;

30. Points out in this connection that, in its estimates, the Court of Auditors had requested an increase in audit staff through the creation of 26 category A posts and two category C posts, augmenting of the translation service by two category LA posts and two category C posts, and the upgrading of 14 posts;

31. Confirms the Council's decisions concerning the creation of two LA posts intended to cover requirements arising from enlargement;

32. Believes, however, that the request for 26 auditor posts would result in a 16.90% increase in staff in permanent category A posts; believes that, as regards organization of the Secretariat's work, this priority request does not rule out other staffing requests and hence inevitable increases will result in other operating expenditure, in particular in the buildings sector;

33. Therefore invites the Court of Auditors, with a view to giving it the necessary auditor resources to ensure that it performs all its expanding auditing tasks, to submit a proposal quantifying all these parameters and setting out how new administrative structures would be established and how they would overlap with the existing structures; stresses that, following in-depth and targeted examination, this comprehensive proposal ought to be taken into consideration in yearly phases from a forthcoming budgetary procedure onwards;

34. Points, however, to the increase in appropriations against Item 1110, Auxiliary staff, i.e. a 36.5% increase in relation to the appropriations adopted in the 1996 budget, and in particular the fact that this increase, carried out by means of transfers of appropriations from one article to another, is taking place at the expense of appropriations authorized for establishment plan staffing; consequently instructs its committee responsible to examine this budget implementation situation during the discharge procedure;

V. With regard to Section VI

(a) Economic and Social Committee

35. Points out that, in its estimates, the Economic and Social Committee had requested the upgrading of 12 posts;

36. Restates its concern to provide the ESC's Secretariat with a functional establishment plan based on objective criteria; points out that, in authorizing Transfer of appropriations 26/96 ((SEC(96)1394 - C4-0424/96.)), its competent committee highlighted the excessive number of A2 and A1 posts out of a total of 135 posts and the need to carry out the necessary conversions in this regard;

37. Has decided, by means of an amendment, to convert one permanent A1 post to a permanent A7 post and to upgrade the following temporary posts allocated to the Secretariat of the President and the groups: one A5 to A4, one B3 to B2 and one C3 to C2;

38. Points out that the ESC systematically avails itself of Commission services with regard to interpreters; points out that there is an increase of 5.44% in the invoiced volume, which is essentially based on the cost of an interpreter-day; points out that, when establishing the 1997 draft budget, the Council drew attention to the steady increase in the average cost of an interpreter-day and persistent discrepancies between forecasts and the actual invoiced volume; calls therefore on the ESC to submit a report on its consultative business which, in the light of requirements in terms of interpreter-days, illustrates the arrangements for organizing sessions, section meetings, working party meetings and all other meetings of its bodies which use interpreting;

39. Stresses that the ESC attaches considerable importance to the Community decision-taking procedure; stresses that its permanent involvement in the Community institutional proceedings presupposes ongoing updating of its arrangements for planning consultative business; stresses that this empirical operation ought to be carried out in a spirit of austerity and rational management of appropriations;

40. Notes in addition that, to conduct its consultative business, the ESC avails itself of the joint organizational structure, which also covers the requirements of the Committee of the Regions;

41. Invites the ESC, under the circumstances, to submit a plan to reorganize its consultative business which, without having an undesirable impact on the conditions under which its members perform their duties, will bring about genuine savings and, in the case of the joint organizational structure, generate economies of scale by developing synergies;

(b) Committee of the Regions

42. Points out that, in its estimates, the Committee of the Regions had requested the creation of 19 posts, the upgrading of a further three and an increase of 154.71% in appropriations for Item B-1113, Special advisers;

43. Notes that the request for the creation of new posts is at odds with the conclusions of the trialogue of 16 April 1996, and fails to take account of the vacant posts on its establishment plan or of the financial rules concerning savings and cost-effectiveness as regards utilization of appropriations;

44. Points out that the use of Article 82 of the Staff Regulations and, in particular, the concluding of definitive contracts for the remuneration of special advisers is the subject of an exchange of views with the budgetary authority; has therefore entered, by means of amendments, an appropriation of ECU 30 000 in Chapter B-100 and makes the release of those appropriations subject to submission of a report providing detailed information on the contracts concluded under that article;

(c) Joint organizational structure

45. Confirms the Council's decisions concerning the creation of 12 new posts (six LA5 and six LA 7), while pointing out that they are intended to cover the needs of the new Finnish and Swedish language sections;

46. Has decided, by means of amendments, to upgrade five permanent LA5 posts to LA4 and one permanent LA6 post to LA5; confirms the granting of one ad personam promotion from LA3 to A2 on the basis of the proposal submitted and the criteria adopted ((Official aged at least 60 near the end of his career and having been in the last step of the highest grade in his category for at least two years.)) by the ESC-CoR;

47. Points out that, as at 30 September 1996, the appropriations against Item C-1110, Auxiliary staff, had increased by 78.94% over those adopted in the 1996 budget; points out that that increase, brought about by means of transfers of appropriations from one article to another, has been realized on the basis of appropriations authorized for Item C-1100, Basic salaries; under the circumstances invites the ESC and CoR, since they are jointly responsible for JOS staff management, to submit a report illustrating the rate of occupancy of permanent posts as at 30 September 1996 and detailing the duration of contracts and the duties allocated to the auxiliary staff recruited;

48. Points out that, pursuant to the provisions of the Financial Regulation and in particular Article 22(5) thereof, analytical accounting arrangements for expenditure have been established in the JOS which make it possible to determine, on the basis of implementation, the proportion of services supplied to the ESC and the CoR; therefore makes the release of a total appropriation of ECU 79 000 entered in Chapter C-100 for lines C-2255 (Subscriptions to databases), C-230 (Stationery and office supplies) and C- 240 (Postage and delivery charges) subject to application of this financial provision;

49. Takes note of the memorandum on future accommodation arrangements for the ESC and the CoR ((Notice to members 26/96.)) and, in particular, their intention to occupy the Van Maerlant building after it has been surrendered by Parliament; does not believe at this stage, however, that circumstances permit an assessment of all the resulting financial implications;

VI. With regard to the institutions as a whole

50. Notes that each institution's estimates have been accompanied by an analytical budget setting out appropriations by area of activity; notes, however, that certain institutions have simply submitted this analytical budget in the form of a legend with no other details; therefore invites the institutions, when they submit their estimates for the financial year 1998, to capitalize on their respective experience in this regard and hence to continue harmonization of the way in which their analytical budgets are presented;

51. Notes that the administrative expenditure section (all institutions) of the draft budget thus amended leaves a margin of ECU 15 m within heading 5, Administrative expenditure; takes the view therefore that that margin should be allocated, should this prove necessary as the 1997 budget is implemented, to honour commitments the effect of which is to reduce the financial burden in subsequent financial years;

52. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Community institutions and bodies concerned.