European Parliament resolution on the draft general budget of the European Communities for the financial year 2000: 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 (C5-0300/1999).
Date: 1999-10-28
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: administrative expenditure (EU), budgetary procedure, draft budget (EU), interinstitutional cooperation (EU)

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tiating procedures in the form of a trialogue and conciliation introduced by the IIA, which ought to allow
the institutions to reach overall agreement on the entire budget, and on the financing thereof, prior to
Parliament’s second reading;

States its willingness to defend its position in order to help to enlighten public opinion on the
68.
question of the Union’s finances and common policies which are regarded as essential in spite of the fact
that the governments of the Member States are unwilling to shoulder their responsibilities in respect of the
financial efforts needed;oo o

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the European

69.
Investment Bank, the European Central Bank and the other institutions and bodies.

*

*

*

2. Budget 2000: Sections I, II, IV, V and VI

A5-0031/1999

European Parliament resolution on the draft general budget of the European Communities for the
financial year 2000: 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 (C5-0300/1999).

The European Parliament,

) having regard to Article 272 of the EC Treaty,

) having regard to the Interinstitutional Agreement of 6 May 1999 between the European Parliament,
the Council and the Commission on budgetary discipline and improvement of the budgetary pro-
cedure (1),

) having regard to its resolution of 23 March 1999 on the guidelines for the 2000 budgetary procedure:
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, Committee of
the Regions and the Joint Organisational Structure (2),

) having regard to its resolution of 5 May 1999 on the estimates of revenue and expenditure of the
European Parliament and the estimates of revenue and expenditure of the Ombudsman for the finan-
cial year 2000 (3),

) having regard to its opinion of 15 September 1998 on the proposal for a Council Regulation
(EC, ECSC, Euratom) amending the Financial Regulation of 21 December 1977 applicable to the gen-
eral budget of the European Communities (COM(1998) 206 ) C4-0290/1998 ) 1998/0130(CNS) (4)),

) having regard to its decisions of 4 May 1999 giving discharge in respect of the implementation of the
budget for the 1997 financial year, Section I ) European Parliament/Ombudsman Annex, and giving
discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget for the 1997 financial year, Sections IV )
Court of Justice, V ) Court of Auditors, VI ) Part B: Committee of the Regions, and to its resolution
of the same date informing the Economic and Social Committee of the reasons for the postponement
of the decision concerning discharge for the general budget of the European Union for the 1997
financial year ) Section VI ) Part A ) Economic and Social Committee (5),

) having regard to the preliminary draft general budget of the European Communities for the financial

year 2000 (COM(1999) 200),

) having regard to the draft general budget of the European Communities for the financial year 2000

(C5-0300/1999),

(1) OJ C 172, 18.6.1999, p. 1.
(2) OJ C 177, 22.6.1999, p. 44.
(3) OJ C 279, 1.10.1999, p. 227.
(4) OJ C 313, 12.10.1998, p. 34.
(5) OJ C 279, 1.10.1999, p. 129.

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) having regard to Article 199 of the EC Treaty, Article 25 of the ECSC Treaty and Article 112 of the

EAEC Treaty,

) having regard to Annex VI(II) of its Rules of Procedure,

) having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgets and the opinion by the Committee on

Petitions (A5-0031/1999);

General framework

1.
Reinstates its basic policy of setting the 2000 budgetary procedure in a context of rigour comparable
to that which the Member States are imposing on themselves, and respecting the roles each institution or
advisory body has to play according to the Treaties;

Stresses the need for continued interinstitutional cooperation, in particular to evaluate which internal

2.
services could be outsourced, and without endangering the quality of the services in question;

Confirms its opinion that the scope for applying Activity Based Budgeting in the administration of
3.
the institutions should be explored; intends to make concrete proposals in that direction in its estimates for
the 2001 budget and calls on the Court of Auditors, the Court of Justice, the Economic and Social Com-
mittee and the Committee of the Regions, within the framework of interinstitutional cooperation, to do
the same;

4.
Asks its Secretary-General and the Secretaries-General of the Court of Auditors, the Court of Justice,
the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions to present, before the end of June
2000, a medium-term plan of their staff needs;

Proposes that all the institutions located in Luxembourg, in the context of expanding interinstitu-
5.
tional cooperation in the buildings sector, develop a global and coherent property policy approach; there-
fore directs these institutions to define, globally, the real needs of all the institutions in Luxembourg and to
conduct the relevant negotiations with the Luxembourg authorities;

6.
Intends to address more seriously the integration of environmental requirements in the administra-
tions of the institutions and other bodies of the Community calls on them to consider more carefully the
durability of equipment to be purchased and the sustainability of working methods within the institutions
and other bodies of the Community;

Requests its own Secretary-General to take without delay the initiative to set up an inter-institutional

7.
working group on the pensions of the staff of the institutions and other Community bodies;

Notes that, in its deliberations at first reading on the 2000 draft budget, the Council left a margin of

8.
EUR 134 126 281, and that after the vote in plenary this margin has decreased to EUR 97 595 707;

9.
Is of the opinion that the standard abatement should reflect the expected rate of vacant posts in the
coming year, and is not to be used as a policy instrument; has therefore adjusted the standard abatements
of the Court of Justice and the Court of Auditors;

10. Welcomes the fact that incorporating the salary weightings for staff of the institutions into the
institutions’ own budgets, following observations by the Court of Auditors, brings the practice of interin-
stitutional transfers outside the budget to an end; has therefore provided additional appropriations for the
budgets of Parliament (EUR 2,9 million), the Economic and Social Committee (EUR 120 000) and the Joint
Organisational Structure (EUR 500 000);

11.
Stresses that promotions must be based on sustained merit, and has therefore decided to place the
appropriations required for the upgradings requested by the Court of Justice, the Court of Auditors, the
Economic and Social Committee, the Committee of the Regions and the Joint Organisational Structure in
the reserve, pending their reports on their long-term staffing and staff promotion policy; stresses that the
relevant conclusions and recommendations of the second report of the Committee of Independent Experts
must be taken into account in the reports requested;

Section I (cid:17) European Parliament

12.
Expresses its commitment to establishing a Statute for the Members of the European Parliament as
soon as possible and calls upon the Council and the Member States to reopen the discussion with Parlia-
ment towards this end;

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Requests the Council to adopt the statute for Members’ assistants, since there is no reason to link it

13.
to the Members’ statute;

Has decided, by means of amendments, to provide the necessary appropriations for the following

14.
measures:

) establishment plan, temporary posts:

) to create two A7 posts and release the appropriations for them; these posts involve matters relat-

ing to Parliament’s premises;

) to provide the appropriations for full-time contracts for the secretaries of the Quaestors:

) establishment plan, permanent posts:

) to create two B5 posts for the administration of Parliament’s buildings;

) to create one A7 post for the audiovisual service;

) to create one LA 7 for the Legal Service;

) to create five A7 and five C5 posts for regional information offices in some Member States, but
the appropriations will remain in the reserve until its Bureau has decided whether regional offices
will actually be set up ) and, if so, which ones ) and until its Committee on Budgets has decided
on a transfer request for the appropriations concerned;

with regard to the Travel Office, asks its Secretary-General to find a temporary C post on the current
establishment plan so as to augment the present team in order to ensure a satisfactory service for Mem-
bers;

Requests its Secretary-General to submit a report before 1 March 2000 on how Parliament’s

15.
Administration can act on and apply the principle of Activity-Based Budgeting;

16.
Stresses that the possible opening of each of the regional information offices in the Member States
must be properly substantiated and should take into account existing information structures in order to
prevent overlap, with due account being taken of regional differences, which are greater in some Member
States than in others;

17.
Recalls the significant efforts made in recent years to promote interinstitutional cooperation on
information policy; underlines in particular the objective, now nearing achievement, of bringing the infor-
mation offices of the European Parliament and the Commission under the same roof in the Member States;
calls for a joint report by the two institutions concerned to be drawn up by 31 March 2000;

18.
Has decided to place EUR 1 million in the reserve for Item 1301 (‘Mission expenses’), and will
consider releasing these appropriations from the reserve when its Secretary-General has presented, by
1 March 2000, a detailed progress report and strict guidelines concerning the number of missions per
year and the duration of missions for its staff;

Has decided, by means of an amendment, to top up Item 2000 (‘Rent and annual lease payments’)
19.
by EUR 7 million as Parliament is still legally liable for the rent for the Belliard buildings until the con-
tracts between the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions and the owners of
the Belliard buildings have been signed, but has placed these appropriations in the reserve;

Has decided,

20.
in addition, to increase Items 202 (‘Water, gas, electricity and heating’) and 203
(‘Cleaning and maintenance’) by a total of EUR 935 000 for the Atrium Building, as Parliament will occupy
this building in 2000;

Has decided, on the other hand,

21.
lease payments’),
Articles 202 (‘Water, gas, electricity and heating’) and 203 (‘Cleaning and maintenance’), with a total of
EUR 5,9 million, as Parliament will be giving up the Bertha von Suttner Building as of 1 January 2000,
and has furthermore decided to reduce Article 206 (‘Acquisition of immovable property’) by nearly
EUR 16 million, this being possible because of extra capital injections in 1999;

to reduce Item 2000 (‘Rent and annual

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22.
Has decided on an overall amount of EUR 2,37 million for Item 260 (‘Limited consultations, studies
and surveys, STOA programme’), of which EUR 300 000 of the appropriations for STOA has been placed
in the reserve, the release of this part of the appropriations for STOA being subject to compliance with the
conditions set out in paragraph 8 of the European Parliament’s abovementioned decision of 4 May 1999
giving discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget for the financial year 1997, Section I )
European Parliament/Ombudsman; points out that EUR 300 000 of this budget article has been earmarked
for an external study which should lead to proposals for improving the working methods and staff struc-
ture of Parliament’s administration in the light of the challenges which Parliament will face in the future;

23.
Once again urges the Commission to draw up, without delay, a proposal for a regulation on a
European statute for parties in close collaboration with European political parties ) in compliance with
the Treaty of Amsterdam (Article 191 of the EC Treaty), in an effort to achieve greater democracy and
transparency, and their European opinion-forming role given expression therein ) and to introduce it for
passage through Parliament;

Ombudsman Annex

24.
Has decided, by means of an amendment, to place the appropriations concerning Items A102
(‘Temporary allowances’) and A105 (‘Allowances and expenses on entering and leaving the service’) in
the reserve, as the need for these appropriations is not yet clear-cut;

Section IV (cid:17) Court of Justice

25.
Points out that the Court of Justice had requested the creation of 104 posts, many of them for the
translation directorate; points out that the Council authorised four A, thirty LA, seven B and four C posts;

26.
Has decided, by means of an amendment, to create another two A7, one B5 and one C5 posts and
to increase Item 1896 (‘Supplementary services for the translation department’), and Articles 210 (‘Electro-
nic office equipment’) and 211 (‘Data-processing work’); is of the opinion that these additional resources
will enable the Court to deal with its backlog in texts to be translated within a reasonable time span and
ensure that the annual report of the Court can be translated into all the languages of the Union;

Section V (cid:17) Court of Auditors

27.
Notes that, at its first reading of the 2000 budget, the Council reduced Article 206 (‘Acquisition of
immovable property’) by EUR 2 million; observes that this manoeuvre defers the budgetary burden further
into the future and stresses that the total construction costs of the extension to the Court’s building,
of EUR 25 million in 1998 prices, shall not be exceeded;

Section VI (cid:17) Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions

28.
Has decided, by means of an amendment, to split up the Joint Organisational Structure in line with
the abolition of Protocol 16 in the Amsterdam Treaty; has therefore amended the nomenclature, with
Section VI now covering the Economic and Social Committee and new Section VII the Committee of the
Regions;

29.
Is of the opinion that the working conditions in, and the productivity of, the translation service
which the two Committees share must be compared with the working conditions in, and the productivity
of, the translation services of the institutions of the Community and with the Translation Centre in Lux-
embourg; has therefore placed part of the appropriations of Items A-1110 and B-1110 (‘Auxiliary staff’) in
the reserve, which may be released after submission of the report;

Observes that the Committee of the Regions needs considerably more appropriations for the above-
30.
mentioned item than the Economic and Social Committee, and asks to be informed about the reasons for
that difference;

Has decided, by means of an amendment, to allow for the creation of two temporary posts (one A7

31.
and one B5) to monitor the refitting works at the Belliard buildings;

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32.
Has decided, by means of an amendment, to make the appropriations for the take-over of the
Belliard buildings available as from 1 January 2000 onwards, in order to provide for a rapid and smooth
take-over of the rent (and supplementary costs) for the Belliard buildings; has decided to reduce the
amount in the reserve for the take-over of buildings (Chapter C-102) by EUR 3,1 million, however, as
those appropriations are not needed in 2000;

33.
Has decided, by means of amendments, to place a small proportion of the appropriations against
Articles A-250 and B-250 (‘Meetings in general’) in the reserve, pending submission of reasons, by the two
Committees, for their increased needs for these articles in 2000;

Committee of the Regions

Has decided, by means of amendments, to create two temporary A7 posts, two temporary B5 posts
34.
and one temporary C5 post at the Committee of the Regions in order to enable the political groups on the
Committee to cope with their increased workload; notes that this increase comes on top of the four A7
posts for the Committee to cope with the extension of its powers as a result of the entry into force of the
Treaty of Amsterdam;

35.
Agrees that appropriations should be made available to the Committee of the Regions to invite
observers from applicant States to its plenary meetings; has nevertheless placed part of these appropria-
tions in the reserve, pending an evaluation report on the effectiveness of the initial observers’ visits;

36.
Has amended the establishment plan of the Committee of the Regions to make the post of Secre-
tary-General temporary in future, which is in line with the Committee’s amended Rules of Procedure;oo o

*

*

*

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Community institutions and bodies con-

37.
cerned.

3. Operating budget: ECSC

A5-0032/1999

European Parliament resolution on the draft ECSC operating budget for 2000 (SEC(1999) 803 ’
C5-0017/1999)

The European Parliament,

) having regard to the provisions of the ECSC Treaty, and in particular Articles 55, 56 and 95 thereof,

) having regard to the draft ECSC operating budget for 2000 (SEC(1999) 803 ) C5-0017/1999),

) having regard to the preliminary draft general budget (COM(1999) 200) and the draft general budget

(C5-0300/1999) for the financial year 2000,

) having regard to its resolution of 15 November 1996 on the incorporation of the ECSC into the

budget of the European Communities (1),

) having regard to the Communication from the Commission to the Council on the expiry of the ECSC

Treaty ) financial activities (COM(1997) 506 ) C4-0573/1997),

) having regard to its resolution of 22 October 1998 on the Communication from the Commission to

the Council on the expiry of the ECSC Treaty ) financial activities (2),

(1) OJ C 362, 2.12.1996, p. 327.
(2) OJ C 341, 9.11.1998, p. 123.