WRITTEN QUESTION E-3424/95 by Jean-Yves Le Gallou (NI) to the Commission (13 December 1995)

Subject: Operating appropriations of the European institutions

Will the Commission state how much of the appropriation under heading B7-850 was allocated in 1994 to

- expenditure on research,

- expenditure on meetings of experts,

- expenditure on conferences and congresses,

- expenditure on information and publications?

Can the Commission also specify the proportion which these four types of expenditure represent out of the total appropriation allocated to the above heading and state whether or not it regards this proportion as reasonable?

Supplementary joint answer to Written Questions E-3335/95, E-3336/95, E-3337/95, E-3338/95, E-3339/95, E-3340/95, E-3341/95, E-3342/95, E-3343/95, E-3344/95, E-3345/95, E-3346/95, E-3347/95, E-3348/95, E-3349/95, E-3350/95, E-3351/95, E-3352/95, E-3353/95, E-3354/95, E-3355/95, E-3356/95, E-3357/95, E-3358/95, E-3359/95, E-3360/95, E-3361/95, E-3362/95, E-3363/95, E-3364/95, E-3365/95, E-3366/95, E-3367/95, E-3368/95, E-3369/95, E-3370/95, E-3371/95, E-3372/95, E-3373/95, E-3374/95, E-3375/95, E-3376/95, E-3377/95, E-3378/95, E-3379/95, E-3380/95, E-3381/95, E-3382/95, E-3383/95, E-3384/95, E-3385/95, E-3386/95, E-3387/95, E-3388/95, E-3389/95, E-3390/95, E-3391/95, E-3392/95, E-3393/95, E-3394/95, E-3395/95, E-3396/95, E-3397/95, E-3398/95, E-3399/95, E-3400/95, E-3401/95, E-3402/95, E-3403/95, E-3404/95, E-3405/95, E-3406/95, E-3407/95, E-3408/95, E-3409/95, E-3410/95, E-3411/95, E-3412/95, E-3413/95, E-3414/95, E-3415/95, E-3416/95, E-3417/95, E-3418/95, E-3419/95, E-3420/95, E-3421/95, E-3422/95, E-3423/95, E-3424/95, E-3425/95, E-3426/95 and E-3427/95 given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission (26 March 1996)

The Honourable Member asked the Commission to indicate the volume of appropriations devoted to support expenditure (i.e. expenditure on studies, meetings of experts, conferences and congresses, and information and publications) under 93 budget headings in 1994. Detailed tables containing the information requested have been sent direct to him and to Parliament's General Secretariat.

The proportion of the appropriations allocated to the headings in question which this support expenditure represents is determined by the operational objective of each heading. The main criteria which this kind of support expenditure must satisfy in order that it may be charged to a budget heading are that there must be a clear link between the expenditure and the policy in question and that the expenditure must be for the purchase of a product or service, in other words there must be a tangible result (these criteria were set out in a Commission memorandum of 22 April 1992 ((SEC(92) 769. ))). To illustrate this approach, the Commission has set out below a justification for the headings where the proportion of support expenditure exceeded roughly 25% of the total in the 1994 budget.

B2-704

This Article is headed 'Establishment of a common sustainable transport policy'. The remarks entered in the budget indicate that the appropriation was intended to include studies for the development of the common transport policy in all its aspects, including the multimodal and environmental side.

Almost 50% of the appropriation was used for studies of this kind, either to give the Commission a clear picture of existing plans for trans-European networks and help it develop them further with the Member States, or to pave the way for instruments to improve the operation of the internal market in transport (price surveys, analyses of airline restructuring plans, etc).

These studies are clearly closely linked to operations and fully satisfy the Commission's criteria. None of them could have been carried out by the Commission itself. The remaining support expenditure related to highly specialized information measures on specific issues (e.g. trans-European networks).

B2-705

This Article, headed 'Specific operations on shipping', covers the same objectives as Article 704, but solely for shipping. It has been deleted in the 1996 budget, the operations covered now being financed under the general heading.

Slightly more than 40% of the appropriation was used for studies, in line with the remarks entered in the budget.

B3-4010

The remarks against budget item B3-4010 - Labour market (1994) state that 'This appropriation will cover, in addition, the development of the Community-wide framework for employment adopted by the Commission ... by supporting ... analysis, dissemination ...'.

Some 25 % of the appropriation was used to produce the annual report on employment, analyses of the European labour market and of employment policy, and publications on the social dimension of the single market.

B3-4100

Budget item B3-4100 is headed 'Measures and studies in the field of social protection'. The remarks indicate that 'These measures are designed to develop consideration of the phenomena acting on social security by means of studies, meetings and seminars and the gradual implementation and perfecting of an information system ... covering the main fields of social security ...'.

The use of 41 % of the appropriation for support expenditure is therefore justified by the stated purpose of the heading and mainly involved the preparation (network of experts) of the second report on social protection in Europe. ((COM(95) 457. ))

B4-1032

The remarks entered against budget item B4-1032 'Observation of the markets' state that the appropriation is intended to cover expenditure on surveys of the energy market in order to measure the impact of national and Community policies in this area and so be in a position to propose medium and long-term development scenarios.

The Commission's effort to achieve this objective mainly involves co-financing subsidies, market surveys and studies, the purchase of statistical data and the development analytical software.

The Commission's working document for the preliminary draft budget for 1994 shows that expenditure on studies was estimated at 80% of the proposed appropriation, in line with the 77.5 % utilization rate normally observed with this type of expenditure.

B4-3040

Most of the support expenditure related to the commissioning of studies (ECU 4.54 million). In fact in 1994, the Commission launched 59 studies under this budget item. The greatest part of these studies covers the fields of protection and management of water resources, protection and management of land, the environment and natural resources, urban environment, economics and the environment.

These studies were necessary for the development and evaluation of policy alternatives in accordance with the objectives of this heading.

Further to the above, 3.7% of the total amount in this category represents conferences and publications. The main publication relates to the bathing water report, ((Published by the Official Publications Office - EUR/15/976. )) which was a clear obligation stemming from legislation.

B4-307

The purpose of this heading is to fulfil specific responsibilities in respect of health protection against radiation. It concerns in particular:

- projects relating to the implementation of directives laying down basic standards and updating such standards in the light of new scientific knowledge (Articles 30 to 33 Euratom Treaty);

- Community-wide consultation on plans for radioactive waste disposal (Article 37);

- monitoring levels of background radioactivity and other tasks (Articles 35 and 36);

- training and information activities.

In order to implement the above tasks, it was necessary to incur in 1994 support expenditure for the development of radiation protection amounting to ECU 290 436. 51% of this amount is related to 15 essential publications exploring and explaining the consequences and the developments in this field, 36 % is related to a series of studies and 13 % to conferences.

B5-3000

The specific objectives of this heading are to manage the acquis communautaire and consolidate the single market, organize partnership between the Member States and the Commission, structure the operation of the single market, and provide information for economic operators.

To attain these objectives the Commission used support expenditure to finance:

- preparatory and feasibility studies, in particular with a view to the introduction of a definitive VAT system and the taxation of financial services;

- groups of experts (monitoring operations, working party) from the customs and tax authorities in the Member States, third countries and outside bodies;

- studies, analyses and simulations to measure the effectiveness of the measures adopted in connection with the single market and their economic impact on other Community policies (environment, regional and social cohesion, etc.);

- information measures, in particular publications in the fields of foodstuffs, pharmaceuticals, road transport, construction and market service promotion;

In 1994 these various categories of expenditure accounted for 25.34% of the appropriation allocated to this budget heading. They are absolutely essential to enable the Commission, in cooperation with the Member States, to adopt appropriate measures for the smooth working of the single market, evaluate their impact and keep citizens informed.

B5-3120

This budget heading covering relations with the United States was largely used for organizing seminars and conferences and for carrying out studies. The projects chosen were carefully selected in view of the substantial reduction in appropriations allocated to this heading in 1994. They all related to the objectives of cooperation with an industrialized country.

B5-3250

Support expenditure under item B5-3250 mainly went on studies carried out as part of the 1993/1995 Community action plan to assist tourism adopted by the Council on 13 July 1992, ((OJ L 231, 13.8.1992. )) which provided for improved information on this sector, in particular:

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The remaining support expenditure related to three conferences (publication of findings of earlier work and a working meeting on staggering of holidays), at a cost of ECU 140 000, and technical printing work in connection with the publication of the results of work carried out under the above plan, at a cost of ECU 120 000.

B5-401

In accordance with the objectives of this budget heading, areas of the Commission's work on telecommunications and posts are defined by Treaty provisions and specified by the Council and the Parliament in resolutions and directives. Together these provide a programme of work, generally according to a specific timetable. These provisions require (or, in the case of certain resolutions, encourage) the Commission to act in various ways in order to study and lay down objectives and actions which further define and implement the Community telecommunications and postal policy, including initiating analysis; drawing up analysis and progress reports; eliciting comment from industry and the public; drawing up proposals for legislation; monitoring the application of legislation; ensuring the timely availability of European standards and the necessary frequency resources on a pan-European basis and promoting the implementation and use of new telecommunications services and applications.

These actions require a range of support activities, including the commissioning of studies and the organization of seminars and consultations, in order to analyse markets, technologies, objectives and policies, as well as the submission of mandates or work orders to standardization and frequency bodies.

B5-4110

The objectives set for this heading in 1994 were better knowledge of structural change in industry, closer consultation between the various parties involved, to promote relations between national and Community authorities and to monitor the industrial strategies of partners and competitors.

Support expenditure to these ends took the form of finance for consultation exercises (meetings of experts, workshops) and for preparatory, feasibility or evaluation studies.

In 1992 the Commission adopted a communication on the relationship between industrial competitiveness and environmental protection ((SEC(92) 1986. )) entailing a substantial increase in consultation measures, as the communication indicated that the Commission would have to undertake a major analysis effort in these areas.

Implementation of this work is the main reason why support expenditure accounts for a relatively high proportion of the appropriation allocated in 1994.

B7-5020

In 1994 the coverage of item B7-5020 included the cooperation agreements with Canada, China and GATT. The ratio of operational to support expenditure came to 56:44 including expenditure relating to GATT, and 74:26 excluding it.

The budget authority had chosen to combine the specific heading for 'support measures relating to GATT' with the heading for 'economic cooperation agreements and agreements with non-member countries' in 1994. The support measures relating to GATT serve two main objectives: monitoring the commitments made by non-member countries and informing economic operators about the results obtained under these agreements. All expenditure for this purpose therefore appeared as support expenditure since it covered the cost of studies, seminars and publications, the latter accounting for a substantial proportion in 1994 owing to the conclusion of the Uruguay round. However, it is perfectly in line with the objectives of the heading and can be considered as operational expenditure.

As regards China, operational expenditure accounted for 85% and therefore the proportion of support expenditure can also be regarded as reasonable, considering the objectives of the heading.

In the case of Canada, the proportion of support expenditure was greater (74%). This is due, however, to the very nature of the cooperation measures taken in the case of developed countries, which mainly involve establishing closer links between economic sectors in the countries concerned and in the Community. The budget therefore regularly serves to finance the organization of seminars and the carrying out of studies and such expenditure should not be regarded as anything other than operational.