WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1587/98 by Umberto BOSSI to the Commission. Italy's surplus liabilities
Date: 1998-05-25
Institutions: BOSSI, European Parliament
Subjects: Italy, budget appropriation, budgetary control, budgetary expenditure, carry-over of appropriations, commitment of expenditure, economic growth, economic stabilisation, implementation of the budget, national accounts

C 402/146

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

22.12.98

Answer given by Mr Marin on behalf of the Comission

(22 June 1998)

Details of developing countries(cid:146) slate exports will be sent to the Honourable Member and Parliament(cid:146)s
Secretariat.

Sensitivity classification under the GSP is based on the product sensitivity levels for the Community market
established during the Uruguay Round negotiations.

(98/C 402/194)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1587/98

by Umberto Bossi (NI) to the Commission

(25 May 1998)

Subject: Italy(cid:146)s surplus liabilities

The Italian Audit Court has recently opened an inquiry into the surplus liabilities in Italian public accounts. This
is not the first such case to have occurred, since the Commission was initially alerted in July 1997 to the unused
sums entered in the Italian State budget.

The danger is that the accumulation of unused tied resources is creating a huge volume of potential expenditure
which sooner or later could turn into actual expenditure, throwing the State accounts out of control. Italy(cid:146)s surplus
liabilities amounted to Lit 94 767 billion in 1996 and over Lit 160 billion in 1997, giving a total in excess of
Lit 250 billion for the two years.

A high proportion of the surplus liabilities have apparently arisen on account of bookkeeping delays, whereas
others are surplus appropriations, that is to say, sums earmarked to finance projects which have not yet been
implemented.

Can the Commission say what European limits it considers admissible?

Does it not consider Italy(cid:146)s surplus liabilities to be unduly high?

If it emerges that the above-mentioned limits are being exceeded, what precautionary measures will the
Commission take?

Answer given by Mr de Silguy on behalf of the Commission

(15 June 1998)

In the Italian budgetary procedures, the Parliament allocates funds on both a commitment and a cash basis.
A difference between the two could lead to the formation of unspent budget appropriations that can be carried-
over to following exercises, the so-called (cid:145)residui passivi(cid:146).

The Commission believes that the existence of the (cid:145)residui passivi(cid:146) does not represent a danger for future
expenditure, as long as the Italian Parliament maintains limits to the cash budget which are consistent with the
overall budgetary targets. This is indeed the approach which the Italian authorities have adopted for the next three
years with the budget law for 1998. However, the Commission welcomes the intention of the Italian authorities,
expressed in the (cid:145)Documento di Programmazione Economica e Finanziaria(cid:146) for 1999-2001, adopted by the
government on 17 April 1998 and endorsed by the Parliament on 13 May 1998, to close the gap between the
budget in commitment terms and the budget in cash terms as of 1999.

The Commission monitors the developments in the government accounts of all Member States, also according to
the procedures laid down in the framework of the Stability and growth pact, effective as of 1 July 1998.
The monitoring will focus on the development of the general government balance following the provisions of
Article 104c of the EC Treaty which sets a reference value only to the government deficit.