A4-0061/95

Resolution on draft supplementary and amending budget No. 1 for the financial year 1995: 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 the EC Treaty and in particular Article 203 thereof,

- having regard to the interinstitutional agreement of 29 October 1993 on budgetary discipline and improvement of the budgetary procedure ((OJ C 331, 17.12.1993, p. 1.)),

- having regard to the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities ((OJ L 356, 31.12.1977, p. 1.)), as last amended on 31 October 1994 ((OJ L 293, 12.11.1994, p. 7.)), and in particular Articles 15 and 55 thereof,

- having regard to its opinion of 16 December 1994 on the proposal for a Council Regulation (EC) introducing special and temporary measures applicable to the recruitment of officials of the European Communities as a result of the accession of Austria, Finland, Norway and Sweden ((Minutes of that Sitting, Part II, Item 9.)),

- having regard to preliminary draft supplementary and amending budget No. 1/95 submitted by the Commission on 21 February 1995 (SEC(95)0223),

- having regard to draft supplementary and amending budget No. 1/95 (C4-0083/95),

- having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgets (A4-0061/95),

A. whereas Parliament, the Council and the Commission, the parties to the interinstitutional agreement of 29 October 1993, have adjusted the amounts available under the various categories of the financial perspective to take account of the enlargement of the Union,

B. whereas the budget for the financial year 1995 adopted on 15 December 1994 includes a reserve in each section to cover the requirements of enlargement; whereas the release of this reserve is governed by the provisions of the Financial Regulation and in particular those articles dealing with transfers of appropriations and the submission of supplementary and amending budget No. 1/95,

I. General framework

1. Reaffirms its position that the provisional appropriations entered in the reserves created in each section of the budget are intended exclusively to meet the new requirements resulting from enlargement as regards human resources and the administrative operation of the institutions (paragraph 6 of resolution of 15 December 1994 ((Minutes of that Sitting, Part II, Item 1(b).))); points out that other current operating needs have been taken into consideration in the regular budget for 1995;

2. Stresses that the budget adopted for the financial year 1995 left an overall available margin of ECU 13 677 827 within category 5 of the financial perspective ('Administrative expenditure');

3. Points out that the current unfavourable trend in the ECU/Belgian franc exchange rate is particularly affecting the administrative budgets of the institutions; points also to the need for sound financial management and the concern of the institutions party to the interinstitutional agreement to ensure as far as possible that margins are available within the ceilings for the different categories of expenditure;

4. Considers that, under the circumstances, a reasonable available margin needs to be maintained within category 5, 'Administrative expenditure';

5. Notes that the main objective of supplementary and amending budget No. 1/95 is to distribute the reserves provided to cater for enlargement among the appropriate budget lines;

6. Stresses, nevertheless, that this distribution should not be automatic and that allocations to individual budget lines should be subject to proper assessment and should comply with the rules and criteria laid down for administrative expenditure;

7. Considers that, in this instance, the main aim of the allocation of appropriations is to create new posts, which will involve substantial changes to the establishment plans of the various institutions;

8. Endorses in this connection the position taken by the Council, which has condemned the failure by the institutions concerned to properly justify their ability to take on new staff in line with the initial requests put forward in their draft estimates, as well as their inability to manage existing staff to the best effect;

9. Recalls in this regard the position it has repeatedly taken regarding the need for rational and effective management of human resources, as well as its request concerning the need to submit both analytical budgets and operational establishment plans with a breakdown by directorate or group of services in line with the administrative organization of each institution, so as to enable the budgetary authority to monitor hierarchical structures, as well as the relations between them and the duties assigned to staff;

10. Invites the institutions including the Council to present an interinstitutional programme reorganizing and regulating their translation services; considers that this programme should: involve the Translation Centre; create economies of scale on staff; require decentralized forms of management including work from home; use advanced technology while ensuring the functioning of each institution; agrees to raise this matter in the interinstitutional trialogue;

11. Points out that the creation of new posts in all the institutions and the simultaneous nature of the procedures for the recruitment of staff from the new Member States should provide an opportunity for stepping up interinstitutional cooperation;

12. Considers therefore that, in the present case and taking account of the specific characteristics of each institution, such interinstitutional cooperation should be a source of synergy, seeking to avoid duplication and extra costs for the institutions and enabling a common set of recruitment criteria to be drawn up; believes that this approach should make it possible to avoid 'competition' between the institutions over the recruitment of potential candidates;

13. Calls therefore on the Council to adopt this approach when organizing the recruitment of its own staff;

II. With regard to the European Parliament

14. Recalls that, by means of transfer of appropriations C1/95 (SEC(95)0248), Parliament has already allocated a sum of ECU 18 748 500 from the reserve of ECU 30 m intended to meet the requirements of enlargement;

15. Notes that, in the context of the supplementary and amending budget, the main aim of Parliament's budget is to create 274 posts, including the 32 temporary posts for the political groups, the upgrading of 5 permanent A4 posts to A3 and 3 permanent A5 posts to A4; notes that, in addition to the priority to be given to the language services, the creation of these posts should also meet the immediate needs of the parliamentary committees, including parliamentary assistants, allow for career progression for deserving staff and take into account responsibilities and working conditions in certain sectors;

16. Welcomes the decision to create these posts at the basic grades for the different categories of staff concerned, since this will make it possible both to satisfy the requirements of enlargement and ensure optimum integration and management of all human resources;

17. Notes, however, that the creation of these posts will involve a substantial increase in its establishment plan, which will thus have to be maintained in future financial years with effect from 1996; notes that any further requirements will have to be met through the redeployment and mobility of existing staff, a staff management operation that will require a thorough analysis of the various posts included in the establishment plan and lead to improved exploitation of human resources;

18. Instructs its Administration to carry out an assessment of staff requirements for part-sessions in Strasbourg and to submit the findings to the Committee on Budgets by 30 October 1995;

III. With regard to the Council

19. Notes that the Council has decided to create 86 posts (18 A, 40 LA, 3 B and 25 C), in addition to the 75 posts (3 temporary A, 40 LA, 2 B and 30 C) created when the 1995 budget was adopted (letter of amendment No. 2/95) to meet the most pressing needs in the language services as far as possible;

IV. With regard to the Court of Justice

20. Notes that the Council has decided to create 100 new permanent and temporary posts depending on their allocation to the Chambers of the new Members of the Court of Justice and the Court of First Instance, as well as to the translating and interpreting services and other administrative services of the institution;

21. Considers, however, that the number of new posts should be increased by the creation of 13 additional posts, including 3 for the translation and interpreting services and 10 for the Chambers of the new Members;

22. Considers that the creation of these posts should on the one hand meet the specific needs of the institution and, on the other, comply with the common criteria as regards the grades at which the different categories of staff are recruited;

23. Has therefore decided, by means of amendments, to create 2 permanent LA5 posts for the interpreting division, 1 permanent C5 post for the Directorate of Translation, 3 permanent B3 posts, 2 permanent C3 posts, and 5 permanent D3 posts for the Chambers of the new Members; to convert 8 temporary A4 posts to A5, 6 temporary A5 posts to A6, 2 temporary B2 posts to B3, 8 temporary B4 posts to B5, 6 permanent C2 posts to C3, 4 permanent B2 posts to B3, 1 permanent A3 post to A5, 4 permanent C1 posts to C3, 1 permanent B1 post to B5, 12 permanent LA4 posts to 6 LA5 and 6 LA6, 2 permanent B3 posts to B5, 4 permanent C3 posts to C5, 2 permanent C4 posts to C5 and 1 permanent D1 post to D3;

24. Calls on the Court of Justice to inform the budgetary authority before the first reading of the 1996 draft budget of the conclusions of the report to be drawn up by an independent expert provided for in the rental/purchase agreement for the three new buildings attached to the Palais; takes this opportunity to ask the Court to provide details in the same report of its overall buildings policy and its other contractual commitments, including the conditions for the occupation of the Palais;

V. With regard to the Court of Auditors

25. Notes that the Council has decided to create 45 permanent and temporary posts depending on their allocation to the private offices of new Members of the Court of Auditors, as well as to the translation services and other administrative services of the institution;

26. Considers, nevertheless, that not all of the posts for the language services are directly linked to the requirements of enlargement and that some of the grades included do not correspond to the operational needs of the institution;

27. Has therefore decided, by means of amendments, to convert 2 permanent LA6 posts to LA7, 1 permanent B1 post to B3, 2 permanent C1 posts to C5, 3 permanent A3 posts to A5 and 2 permanent C3 posts to C5;

28. Has entered by means of amendments a sum of ECU 50 000 in Chapter 100 - Provisional appropriations, under item 2391 - Joint Interpreting and Conference Service, and calls on the Secretary-General of the institution to submit by 30 June 1995 a report showing the Court's interpreting needs and giving details of the charging system employed by the organizations which supply interpreters;

VI. With regard to the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions

29. Supports the Council's decision to bring the allowances granted to members of the Committee of the Regions into line with those for members of the Economic and Social Committee;

30. Deplores the fact that, in submitting its draft estimates, the Committee of the Regions has used a nomenclature different from that employed by the budgetary authority in the 1995 budget;

31. Notes that the Council has decided to create 7 permanent posts for the Economic and Social Committee, 7 permanent posts for the Committee of the Regions and 54 permanent posts for the joint organizational structure;

32. Considers, however, that, taken as a whole, the posts allocated for these two consultative bodies and their joint organizational structure do not correspond to their operational needs and to the requirement for equal treatment for staff from the new Member States;

33. Has therefore decided, by means of amendments, with regard to Part A - Economic and Social Committee - to convert 2 permanent A5 posts to A7, 1 permanent B5 post to A7, 3 permanent C3 posts to C5 and to delete 1 permanent C3 post; with regard to Part B - Committee of the Regions - to convert 2 permanent A5 posts to A7, 1 permanent B3 post to A7, 3 permanent C2 posts to C5 and to delete 1 permanent B5; with regard to Part C - Joint Organizational Structure - to delete 8 permanent LA4 posts and 3 permanent LA5 posts and to convert 10 permanent LA6 posts to LA7 and 4 permanent C3 posts to C5;

34. Points out that the posts created in Part A - Economic and Social Committee - and Part B - Committee of the Regions - are intended to cover advisory services, whereas the posts created in Part C - Joint Organizational Structure - are to cater both for the establishment of two new language divisions, each with 11 LA posts, and for an additional 9 LA posts to be divided up among the nine other language divisions;

VII. With regard to the institutions as a whole

35. Has deleted by amendment Chapter 102 - Enlargement, which was created during adoption of the 1995 budget to house the provisional appropriations to cater for enlargement and which is no longer necessary following the submission of draft supplementary and amending budget No. 1/95;

36. Has entered, by means of amendments, flat-rate amounts to cover expenditure on staff recruitment in Chapter 100 - Provisional appropriations - in the different sections of the budget and calls on the institutions concerned to make use of interinstitutional cooperation in their staff recruitment procedures;

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