3. 4. 80 Official  Journal  of the  European  Communities No C 84/7 
II 
(Preparatory  Acts) 
COURT  OF AUDITORS 
Opinion  of the Court  of Auditors  on a proposal  for a Regulation  to amend  the Financial 
Regulation  of 21 December  1977  and  on proposals  for  amendments  to, and  a draft 
amendment  of, related  legislation 
THE  COURT  OF AUDITORS  OF 
THE  EUROPEAN  COMMUNITIES, 
Having  regard  to the  proposal  for  a Council  Regu-
lation  amending  for the third  time  the Financial  Regu: 
lation  of 21 December  1977  as regards  the use  of the 
ECU  in  the  general  budget  of  the  European 
Communities, 
Having  regard  to the  proposal  for  a Council  Regu-
lation  (EEC,  Euratom)  on the  replacement  of the 
European  unit  of account  by the ECU  in Community 
legal  instruments, 
Having  regard  to the proposal  for a Council  Decision 
amending  Decision  75/250/EEC  on the  definition 
and conversion  of the European  unit  of account  used 
for expressing  the  amounts  of aid  mentioned  in 
Article  42 of the ACP-EEC  Convention  of Lome, 
Having  regard  to the  draft  Commission  Decision 
amending  Decision  No  3289/75/ECSC  on  the 
definition  and  conversion  of the unit  of account  to be 
used  in Decisions,  recommendations,  opinions  and 
communications  for  the  purposes  of the  Treaty 
establishing  the  European  Coal  and  Steel 
Community  , 
Whereas  all four  proposals  are to be dealt  with  in a 
single  opinion,  since  their  aim  is a standard  definition 
and use  of the  ECU  in the  relevant  activities  of the 
European  Communities, HAS  ADOPTED  THE  FOLLOWING  OPINION: 
On the proposal  to amend  the Financial  Regulation: 
1. The  second  paragraph  of the  amended  Article  10 
of the proposal  refers  to changes  'in the context  of 
the European  Monetary  System'.  This  is a 
somewhat  vague  reference  which  should  be 
completed  by an indication  of the procedure  to be 
followed  in order  to change  the composition  of the 
ECU.  This  could  be  achieved  by  adding  a 
reference  to Article  2 of Council  Regulation 
(EEC)  No 3180/78  of 18 December  1978. 
2. Footnote  2 on the same  page,  on the composition 
of the  ECU  at the date  of entry  into  force  of the 
Regulation,  is purely  informative  and  could  be 
deleted  so as to avoid  a mixture  of normative  and 
informative  material  in the same  text. 
3. The  amended  Article  10 (3) refers  to the  'special 
provisions  laid  down  in Article  108  (7)',  which  in 
turn refer  to implementing  measures  provided  for 
in Article  106  of the  Financial  Regulation  of 21 
December  1977.  The  Court  once  again  expresses 
its regret  that  these  implementing  measures  have 
not yet been  adopted. 
On the  proposal  to amend  the  Council  Decision  as 
regards  Article  42  of the  ACP-EEC  Convention  of 
Lome: 
4. The  observations  in paragraphs  1 and  2 of this 
opinion  are  equally  valid  for  the  proposal  to 
amend  Council  Decision  75/250/EEC  on  the 
No C 84/8 Official  Journal  of the  European  Communities 3. 4.80 
European  unit  of account  used  for  expressing  the 
amounts  of aid  mentioned  in Article  42 of the 
ACP-EEC  Convention  of Lome. 
5. The  second  paragraph  of the  amended  Article  1 of 
the proposal  to  amend  Council  Decision 
75/250/EEC  prescribes  that  any  subsequent 
change  in the  definition  of the  ECU  shall  auto-
matically  apply  to that  Decision. 
Such  an  automatic  mechanism  could  be  in 
contravention  of the declaration  in Annex  XVII  of 
the First  Convention  of Lome,  which  states  that 
the decision  of the Council  on the  definition  of the 
European  unit  of account  must  be taken  before  the 
entry  into  force  of the Convention. On the  draft  amendment  of  the Commission  Decision 
on the unit  of account  to be used  for the  purposes  of the 
ECSC  Treaty: 
6. The  observation  in paragraph  1 of the  opinion  is 
equally  valid  for  the  draft  amendment  of the 
Commission  Decision  on the  unit  of account  to be 
used  for  the purposes  of the ECSC  Treaty. 
This  opinion  was  adopted  by the Court  of Auditors  at 
its meeting  of 21 February  1980. 
For the Court  of Auditors 
The President 
Michael  N. MURPHY