Report on the activities of the sixth, seventh and eighth European Development Funds, together with the institutions' replies
Date: 2000-12-01
Institutions: European Court of Auditors
Subjects: European Court of Auditors, European Development Fund, activity report, financial year, general budget (EU)

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REPORT ON THE ACTIVITIES OF THE SIXTH,
SEVENTH AND EIGHTH EUROPEAN
DEVELOPMENT FUNDS (EDFs)

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REPORT ON THE ACTIVITIES OF THE SIXTH, SEVENTH AND EIGHTH
EUROPEAN DEVELOPMENT FUNDS (EDFs) (*)

CONTENTS

Paragraph

Chapter I — Implementation of the sixth, seventh and eighth EDFs as at
31 December 1999

Situation at the end of the financial year 1999

Noteworthy aspects of the implementation of appropriations during the
financial year

Movements of appropriations during the financial year

Eighth EDF Stabex

Delays in implementing programmable aid

Chapter II — Statement of Assurance concerning the European Development
Funds

Statement of Assurance concerning the sixth, seventh and eighth European
Development Funds (EDFs) for the financial year 1999

Information in support of the Statement of Assurance

Introduction

Reliability of the accounts

Legality and regularity of the underlying transactions

Chapter III — Follow-up to previous observations

Introduction

Mechanism to ensure that unused appropriations from previous EDFs are not
tied up unproductively

Information on the viability of operations financed from risk capital

Justification by authorising officers of requests for payment in foreign
currency

Application of tax and customs arrangements applicable to public works
contracts in the context of the Lomé Conventions

Chapter IV — Other observations

The ACP States’ supreme audit institutions

Public works contracts

Audits carried out by the Commission in 1999

1-17

1-9

10-17

10-12

13-15

16-17

18-35

I-IV

18-35

18-22

23-33

34-35

36-45

36-37

38-39

40-42

43-44

45

46-55

46-47

48-51

52-55

(*) The Commission’s replies are on page 221.

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Table 1 — Use of the sixth, seventh and eighth EDFs as at 31 December 1999

Resources and use (ACP and OCT)

Sixth EDF
(expiry 1990)

Seventh EDF
(expiry 1995)

Eighth EDF
(expiry 2002)

Initial allocation

EIB special contribution

Resources collected

Resources still to be collected from the Member States

Transfers of resources between the sixth and the seventh EDF

Transfers of resources between the seventh and the eighth EDF

Transfers of resources between the sixth and the eighth EDF

Net resources

Payments prior to 1999

Payments for 1999

Decisions still to be settled

Use

Balance available for new uses

7 500,0

60,0

8 103,3 (2)
0,6 (5)

(181,7)

—

(39,0)

7 883,2

6 931,5

103,8

430,9

10 940,0

12 840,0 (1)

—

—

8 137,9 (3)
3 542,5 (5)

1 479,0 (4)

11 400,0

181,7

(253,0)

—

—

253,0

39,0

11 609,1

13 171,0

7 394,1

627,1

2 619,4

7 466,2

10 640,6

417,0

968,5

466,6

544,5

3 723,1

4 734,2

8 436,8

(Mio EUR)

Total

31 280,0

60,0

17 720,2

14 943,1

0,0

0,0

0,0

32 663,3

14 792,2

1 275,4

6 773,4

22 841,0

9 822,3

(1) This amount should include EUR 292 million transferred from the fourth, sixth and seventh EDFs under Article 1(2)(a)(ii), of the internal agreement of

20 December 1995 (OJ L 156, 29.5.1998).

(2) Including a transfer of resources from the fourth EDF and the interest earned on bank deposits.
(3) Including a transfer of resources from the fifth EDF and the interest earned on bank deposits.
(4) Including the interest earned on Stabex funds.
(5) Including VAT to be recovered from the Member States.

Source: Court of Auditors.

CHAPTER I — IMPLEMENTATION OF THE
SIXTH, SEVENTH AND EIGHTH EDFS AS AT
31 DECEMBER 1999

Situation at the end of the financial year 1999

2.
In 1999, the sixth (3), seventh (4) and eighth (5) EDFs
were implemented in parallel since, although in prin-
ciple they last five years, the corresponding appropria-
tions may be called up at any time (6). Only when the
Commission considers that a fund is near completion
does it transfer the balance to a subsequent fund.

1. The European Development Funds (EDFs) are the
product of international agreements (1) between the
Member States of the European Union and 71 African,
Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) States and of Council deci-
sions concerning the association of 24 overseas coun-
tries and territories (OCT). The Commission is respon-
sible for managing the EDFs, without prejudice to the
responsibilities entrusted to the European Investment
Bank (EIB) as regards the implementation of certain
financial instruments (2).

(1) The first of which, the First Yaoundé Convention, dates

from 1964.

(2) Risk capital and interest-rate subsidies.

3. Table 1 illustrates the use of the sixth, seventh and
eighth EDFs as at 31 December 1999. Payments for the
financial year 1999 totalled 1 275,4 million euro

(3) Third Lomé Convention (OJ L 86, 31.3.1986).
(4) Fourth Lomé Convention (OJ L 229, 17.8.1991).
(5) Fourth Lomé Convention, amended in Mauritius

(OJ L 156, 29.5.1998).

(6) See Article 7(1) of the Internal Agreement of 20 Decem-

ber 1995 (OJ L 156, 29.5.1998).

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compared with 1 439,6 million euro in 1998. Commit-
ments (7), after deduction of cancellations, totalled
2 692,8 million euro. They amounted to 2 296,3 mil-
lion euro in 1998.

4. Fourteen years after it came into force, disburse-
ments under the sixth EDF accounted for 89,2 % of its
net resources. In 1999, they rose by only 1,3 %. If that
rate were maintained, it would take a further eight years,
at least, for the sixth EDF to be used up entirely. Ques-
tions should be raised as to the justification for keeping
active a Fund which has actually run its course, as the
ACP-EC Committee remarked in the report for 1998
presented under Article 327 of the Lomé Convention.

5. The disbursement rate for the seventh EDF was
69,1 % at the end of its ninth year of implementation,
i.e. an increase of 5,3 % in 1999. At the same stage, dis-
bursements under the sixth EDF were 76,8 %. The dis-
bursement rate for the eighth EDF was 7,7 % at the end
of its second year of implementation; in the case of the
seventh EDF, it was 9,8 % after the same period.

validity of Article 7(1) of the Internal Agreement of
20 December 1995, which lays down that remaining
balances shall be used up but does not set a deadline
which serves as an incentive for EDF national authoris-
ing officers, should be re-examined. However, the Euro-
pean Parliament, in the resolution accompanying its
decision to grant discharge for 1995, had called on the
Commission ‘to reallocate to non-programmable aid
programmes appropriations under national or regional
indicative programmes which remain unused for defined
lengths of time following their transfer to subsequent
EDFs’.

8. Article 67(2) of the Financial Regulation of the eighth
EDF requires the revenue and expenditure account to be
preceded by an analysis of the financial management. In
the case of 1999, as for 1998, this analysis was not pro-
vided. In its Annual Report concerning the financial
year 1998 and the implementation of the general bud-
get, the Court highlighted the fact that, with regard to
external measures, the analysis provided was very
poor (9). A special effort must therefore be made in this
area to improve the quality of the information. The fact
that responsibility for managing the EDFs is vested in
three different Commission Directorates-General (Devel-
opment DG, Budget DG and SCR) does have some rel-
evance to the current situation.

6. Although greater use has been made of rapid dis-
bursement instruments since the seventh EDF, the rate
at which the EDFs are implemented continues to fall.
The numerous conflicts endured by some of these coun-
tries are merely one of the causes of this slowdown. The
endemic weakness of the ACP States’ national authori-
ties is another cause which EDF technical assistance does
not remedy, as was once again revealed by on-the-spot
audits carried out in 1999 (Uganda, Tanzania, Senegal,
Chad and Cameroon).

9. The presentation of the EDFs’ balance sheets, which
are subsequently reproduced in the discharge decision,
should be thoroughly reworked to ensure the data com-
piled are more consistent. The liabilities side should
highlight the net situation of the funds (allocations
minus implemented expenditure) and any miscella-
neous creditors. The assets side should analyse the use
of the remaining resources and include only cash and
debtors.

7. On 4 November 1995, at Mauritius, the ACP States
and the Member States of the European Union signed
an agreement amending the fourth Lomé Conven-
tion. It was agreed that 292 million euro of the resources
allocated to the eighth EDF would come from previous
EDFs (see Table 1). However, this decision does not
resolve the question of remaining balances of EDFs
which have been closed (8). The fact is that, on 31 Decem-
ber 1999,
totalled
243,7 million euro, i.e. 45 % of the resources trans-
ferred (see Table 2). Under these circumstances, the

these remaining balances

still

Noteworthy aspects of the implementation of appropria-
tions during the financial year

Movements of appropriations during the financial year

(7) Financing decisions. These decisions are not indicated
clearly in Table 1 as the corresponding payments are made
gradually.

(8) Annual Report of the Court of Auditors concerning the

financial year 1996, paragraph 12.7.

10. The value of subsidies for the sixth EDF was
increased by 18,6 million euro by using appropriations
earmarked for special loans (17,8 million euro) and aid

(9) See paragraph 5.14 of the Annual Report of the Court of

Auditors concerning the financial year 1998.

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Table 2 — Situation of remaining balances of EDFs closed on 31 December 1999

(Mio EUR)

Balances of the fourth EDF transferred to the sixth EDF

Balances of the fifth EDF transferred to the seventh EDF

Total transfers

Payments as at 31 December 1999

Remaining balances as at 31 December 1999

Source: Court of Auditors.

110,1

433,9

544,0

300,3

243,7

for refugees (0,8 million euro); these two sums corre-
spond to decisions cancelled in 1999. However, over
the period in question, net decisions concerning subsi-
dies were negative (- 3,4 million euro). This certainly
suggests that when the Commission comes to restruc-
ture the way its external aid is managed, a transfer from
the remaining balance of the sixth EDF to a subsequent
EDF should be envisaged after the balances of com-
pleted operations have been cancelled.

In the case of the seventh EDF, no movement of
11.
appropriations occurred, with the exception of bank
interest totalling 23,7 million euro (Stabex and admin-
istrative expenditure as envisaged in Article 9(2) of the
Internal Agreement concerning the seventh EDF (10).

12.
In the case of the eighth EDF, the sum of 1 250 mil-
lion euro was withdrawn from appropriations ear-
marked for programmable aid (subsidies), first to increase
the structural adjustment facility by 250 million euro (11)
and then to create a new instrument for heavily indebted
countries (1 000 million euro). This new instrument
was still unused at 31 December 1999. The decision by
the ACP-EC Council of Ministers (12) creates two distinct
components, one of 320 million euro for outstanding
debt to the Community and another of 680 million euro
for the requirements of the African Development Bank
via a ‘trust fund’ managed by the World Bank (see para-
graph 25).

Eighth EDF Stabex

13. Article 2 of the Internal Agreement of 20 Decem-
ber 1995 allocates 1 805,5 million euro to the system
for stabilising export revenue, divided up, pursuant to
Article 191 of the Agreement, into a number of equal
annual instalments corresponding to the number of
years of implementation of the financial protocol. This
system aims to provide a minimum supply of appro-
priations each year but also to ensure that these appro-
priations will remain available to the Stabex instrument.
Under Article 54 of the Financial Regulation of the
eighth EDF, Member States may choose between pay-
ing their contributions directly into a ‘special Stabex
bank account’ or transforming this contribution into an
‘open debt producing interest for the benefit of the sys-
tem’.

14. As at 31 December 1999, although the Commis-
sion had, on account of the system’s automatic mecha-
nisms, called up instalments totalling 1 440 million euro
and received interest of 43,6 million euro, it had never-
theless established transfer entitlements for the ACP
States of only 302,9 million euro, of which 169,9 mil-
lion euro had been disbursed, thereby producing a theo-
retical cash balance of 1 313,7 million euro. According
to the EDF’s financial statements, the actual cash flow
of Stabex was paid into the ‘special bank account’
(109,8 million euro), invested in the form of bonds
(772,2 million euro) or held in the form of open debts
by the Member States (594,4 million euro), thereby pro-
ducing a total balance of 1 476,4 million euro. The
cash-flow surplus of 162,7 million euro is due to opera-
tions related to the seventh EDF which have still not
been cleared.

(10) Internal Agreement 91/401/EEC of 16 July 1990

(OJ L 229, 17.8.1991).

(11) Decision No 2/1999 of the ACP-EC Council of Ministers

of 8 December 1999 (OJ L 103, 28.4.2000).

(12) Decision No 1/1999 of the ACP-EC Council of Ministers

of 8 December 1999 (OJ L 103, 28.4.2000).

15. The system for managing Stabex funds leads, for
short-term economic reasons (13), to considerable funds

(13) Very low levels for the system’s reference years in terms
of major products, coupled with market buoyancy in
recent years.

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remaining unused contrary to the principles otherwise
adopted for the management of the Lomé Conventions’
other resources. Without calling into question the allo-
cation of Stabex resources, current funding surpluses
can be corrected only by a Council decision following a
proposal by the Commission.

Delays in implementing programmable aid

16. The revenue and expenditure account shows that,
in the case of the sixth and seventh EDFs, the imple-
mentation of programmable aid is subject to delays
which, in some cases, could jeopardise the sums ini-
tially earmarked by the Commission for the States con-
cerned. In the case of the sixth EDF, which would nor-
mally have been closed, payments for 10 countries were
less than 80 % of the value of their indicative pro-
grammes at the end of 1999. In the case of the seventh

EDF, after nine years, payments for 29 countries do not
amount to 65 % of their programmable total. Table 3
shows which countries fall into both categories.

17. Although in the case of some countries which
experience delays internal disturbances are responsible
for implementation problems, in other cases questions
must be raised as to their ability or their willingness to
make use, in good time and in an appropriate fashion,
of the funds they have been allocated. In such cases, the
Commission’s initial allocation decisions should be reap-
praised and readjusted on the basis of urgent needs after
agreement has been obtained from the States con-
cerned. In this respect, the mechanism for releasing in
two instalments the sums allocated to the indicative
programmes of the eighth EDF seems to be the most
appropriate way of ensuring that resources are not tied
up unnecessarily.

Table 3 — Sixth and seventh EDFs: countries experiencing significant delays in implementing their indicative
programmes

(Mio EUR)

Country

National indica-
tive programme
sixth EDF

Payments

%

National indica-
tive programme
seventh EDF

Payments

%

Barbados

Congo (Brazzaville)

Ethiopia

Kenya

Democratic Republic of Congo

Rwanda

Suriname

Trinidad and Tobago

Source: Court of Auditors.

5,0

48,0

210,0

135,0

166,5

110,0

24,0

15,0

2,7

35,9

167,7

102,3

112,8

82,2

15,8

6,7

54,0

74,8

79,9

75,8

67,7

74,7

65,8

44,7

5,5

51,0

214,0

140,0

170,0

118,0

27,0

18,1

2,9

15,1

90,7

55,0

12,9

51,9

13,4

11,5

52,7

29,6

42,4

39,3

7,6

44,0

49,6

63,5

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CHAPTER II — STATEMENT OF ASSURANCE CONCERNING THE EUROPEAN DEVELOPMENT
FUNDS

Statement of Assurance concerning the sixth, seventh and eighth European Development Funds (EDFs) for the
financial year 1999

I. The European Court of Auditors (‘the Court’) has examined the accounts of the sixth, seventh and eighth
EDFs for the financial year ending 31 December 1999. These accounts, which include the financial statements
and the revenue and expenditure accounts (14), were submitted belatedly by the Commission in Communica-
tion COM(2000) 357 final of 15 June 2000 to the European Parliament, the Council and the Court. Pursuant to
the Financial Regulations (15), the Court is required to provide the European Parliament and the Council with a
Statement of Assurance as to the reliability of the accounts and the legality and regularity of the underlying
transactions.

II. The Court carried out the audit in accordance with its auditing policies and standards. These latter are based
on generally accepted international auditing standards, adjusted to suit the context of the EDFs. The audit com-
prised an appropriate range of audit procedures which aimed to examine, on the basis of samples, supporting
information on the sums and information listed in the accounts and the legality and regularity of the underly-
ing transactions. It also included an assessment of the accounting principles applied by managers, of the prin-
cipal estimates they selected, and of the presentation of the accounts. The Court thus obtained a reasonable basis
to support the opinions expressed below.

Reliability of the accounts

III. Except for the effects of the problems described in paragraphs (a) and (b) below, the Court is of the opinion
that the financial statements and the revenue and expenditure accounts for the financial year 1999 reliably
reflect the revenue and expenditure pertaining to the sixth, seventh and eighth EDFs for the financial year and
their financial situation at the end of the year:

(a) the extent and degree of implementation of macrofinancial (macroeconomic) aid are not indicated;

(b) the statement of commitments does not correspond to the actual situation and does not provide a reliable

picture of the appropriations which are actually available.

(14) As defined in Articles 66 and 67 of the Financial Regulation governing the eighth EDF, applied by analogy to the sixth and

seventh EDFs.

(15) Article 73 of the Financial Regulation governing the eighth EDF, applied by analogy to the sixth and seventh EDFs.

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Legality and regularity of the underlying transactions

IV.

(a) In the case of the revenue entered in the accounts for the financial year, the Court’s audit did not reveal,

with regard to the Commission, errors with a substantive effect.

(b) In the case of the amounts allocated to the eighth EDF for the financial year, the Court’s audit did not reveal,

with regard to the Commission, errors with a substantive effect.

(c) In the case of the commitments for the financial year, the Court’s audit did not reveal, with regard to the

Commission, errors with a substantive effect.

(d) In the case of the assigned appropriations of the eighth EDF for the financial year, the Court’s audit did not

reveal, with regard to the Commission, errors with a substantive effect.

(e) In the case of the payments for the financial year the Court’s audit did not reveal, with regard to the Com-

mission, errors with a substantive effect.

(f) In the case of payments made in the ACP States under the responsibility of national or regional authorising
officers in the context of certain programmes or financial instruments, the financial audits performed pursu-
ant to the financing agreements and those performed at the request of the SCR’s internal audit department
show that ineligible transactions can be charged to the EDFs (see paragraphs 52 to 55).

(g) With regard to macroeconomic aid, a strict check of its legality and regularity based on a systematic review

of the conditions of the financing agreements is pointless (see paragraph 35).

In the light of the findings set out above and except for the findings of audits performed at local level of opera-
tions carried out under the responsibility of the beneficiary authorities (see paragraph (f)), the Court is of the
opinion that the transactions underlying the financial statements of the sixth, seventh and eighth EDFs for the
financial year ended 31 December 1999 are, taken as a whole, legal and regular.

12 October 2000

Jan. O. KARLSSON
President

European Court of Auditors
12, rue Alcide De Gasperi, L-1615 Luxembourg

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Information in support of the Statement of Assurance

fact that the framework is often indicative considerably
limits
the
in respect of
legality/regularity of the underlying transactions.

the scope of checks

Introduction

18. The observations which follow should be read
alongside the Statement of Assurance concerning the
reliability of the accounts of the sixth, seventh and
eighth EDFs and the legality and regularity of the under-
lying transactions for the financial year 1999.

Scope of the audit

19. The Financial Regulation applicable to the eighth
EDF lays down that in addition to commitments (deci-
sions) and payments, allocations of appropriations and
assigned funds must be entered in the accounts. In the
case of the eighth EDF, these latter two categories are
therefore included in the Statement of Assurance (16).

20. Some deliberate irregularities committed to the
detriment of the EDFs cannot, by their very nature, be
uncovered using traditional audit procedures. Primary
responsibility for preventing and detecting irregularities
and for the corresponding enquiries falls to the bodies
which manage the EDFs’ revenue and expenditure
(national and regional authorising officers, but also the
principal authorising officer of the EDF). The observa-
tions made here must not be regarded as correspond-
ing in general to cases of fraud.

Limitation of audit work concerning the underlying transactions

21. The Court examined the underlying transactions
on the basis of the documentation available at the Com-
mission in Brussels and, where appropriate, its Delega-
tions in the ACP States. On-the-spot audits were also
carried out in a few cases, in respect of five countries,
to establish whether the expenditure incurred by the
final beneficiaries was legal and regular. For certain cat-
egories of payment concerning macroeconomic sup-
port mechanisms (Stabex and the structural adjustment
facility), the audit was confined to an examination of
the legality and regularity of payments made by the
Commission in euro to the ACP States.

22. The Court draws attention to the fact that, because
the legal framework of the EDFs affords many oppor-
tunities for exemptions, it is difficult to perform strict
checks for compliance with rules and legislation. The

(16) Article 37 of the Financial Regulation of 16 June 1998
applicable to the eighth EDF (OJ L 191, 7.7.1998, pp. 54
to 66).

Reliability of the accounts

23. The Court’s opinion on the accounts was qualified
due to the observations made in paragraphs 25 to 33.

Revenue

24. Article 54 of the Financial Regulation of the eighth
EDF states that the annual instalments called up under
Stabex and made available to the Member States at their
request are to bear interest. Although Annex II to the
Financial Regulation specifies that this interest is com-
pound interest, in 1999 the Commission calculated it as
simple interest. For 1999, the interest foregone totals
approximately 0,5 million euro. Moreover, interest on a
sum of 0,94 million euro has not been charged to the
Member States.

Implementation of macroeconomic aid

25. Budgetary aid occupies an increasingly important
place among EDF rapid disbursement instruments. This
aid, the rules for which are quite separate, is difficult to
identify in the EDFs’ end-of-year accounts as it is drawn
from several financial instruments, only some of which
are programmable. Thus, on 31 December 1999 it had
been provided on the basis, inter alia, of the structural
adjustment facility, Stabex, and national and regional
indicative programmes. Furthermore, the creation at
the end of 1999 of a new instrument for heavily indebted
poor countries now provides an additional source of
macroeconomic support which is provided according
to new methods. Within the indicative programmes
some of this aid is presented as complementary to the
structural adjustment facility, whereas other aid takes
the form of specific projects. Table 4 attempts to list
direct and indirect budgetary aid provided under the
various financial instruments of the seventh and eighth
EDFs.

26. Although there used to be a direct link between
financial instruments and the types of aid provided, this
is no longer the case. Steps should be taken to ensure
that the financial statements or the analysis of financial
management (see paragraph 8) give a precise indication
of this aid.

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Table 4 — Macroeconomic support provided under the seventh and eighth EDFs (decisions) — situation as at
31 December 1999

Source of financing

Structural adjustment facility

National indicative programmes

Regional indicative programmes
Stabex (1)

Sysmin

Others

Seventh EDF

1 152,9

479,5

3,2

p.m.

60,0

4,5

Total

1 700,1

Eighth EDF

892,3

99,4

40,0

p.m.

—

98,3

1 130,0

(Mio EUR)

Total

2 045,2

578,9

43,2

p.m.

60,0

102,8

2 830,1

(1) A significant proportion of Stabex funds are used by some beneficiaries as macroeconomic support. These sums can be registered only by means of the mutual

obligation frameworks concluded with the ACP States concerned.

Source: Court of Auditors. The Commission’s accounting nomenclature does not make it possible systematically to register this kind of transaction.

27.
In the case of macroeconomic aid, the payments
listed in the EDFs’ accounts correspond to amounts
transferred en bloc to the beneficiary countries. In order
to obtain an overview of the actual implementation of
this aid, an explanatory note should indicate sums still
to be called up at the end of the financial year. The fact
is that audit visits to ACP countries in 1999 revealed
that certain Stabex transfers for the years after 1990
had still not been called up and that the EDF’s accounts
had not drawn attention to the problems encountered.
This was true of Uganda (80 million euro), Tanzania (18
million euro) and Cameroon (45 million euro).

Situation of commitments

28. Since June 1998, the EDF financing agreements
have had to come into effect by a given date. If imple-
mentation has not commenced by the date in question,
the agreements become void and the Commission must
take new decisions regarding operations which have
been retained. The EDF’s management accounts system
does not allow these decisions to be identified. This
being so, it is impossible to establish the amount of
commitments concerned without vetting thousands of
operations individually.

29. Article 291(1) of the fourth ACP-EC Lomé Con-
vention requires financing agreements to be drawn up
within sixty days of the Commission’s decision. On
5 March 1999, the Commission adopted a decision in
respect of 79,5 million euro for four proposed commit-

ments. One year later, no financing agreement had yet
been drafted. Moreover, a decision in respect of 55 mil-
lion euro adopted by the Commission on 21 December
1999 did not give rise to a financing agreement as the
project was suspended. The corresponding commit-
ments must be regarded as premature.

30.
In Annex 3.1.1 to the financial statements the Com-
mission presents an analysis of the commitments for
which no movement has been recorded in the accounts
for more than 18 months (72,5 million euro for the
sixth EDF and 326,9 million euro for the seventh EDF),
including the sum of 52,5 million ecus relating to actions
managed by the EIB under mandate.

31. Among the dormant commitments the Commis-
sion identified 53,1 million euro to be decommitted
(23,8 million euro for the sixth EDF and 29,3 million
euro for the seventh EDF). The Commission conducted
this survey by examining those primary commitments
that had not given rise to any movements of funds over
the previous 18 months. This survey was an inadequate
way of assessing the true scale of the dormant transac-
tions. In fact, among the primary commitments being
implemented, there are assigned appropriations (sec-
ondary commitments) against which there has been no
movement. The Commission should have carried out a
systematic examination of these commitments before
transferring the outstanding balance of the EDFs cur-
rently being implemented to the ninth EDF.

32. Stabex transfers (103,8 million euro for Sudan)
under the seventh EDF are still included under outstand-
ing commitments even though the Commission has

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suspended operations. The steps taken by the Commis-
sion in June 1999 to secure the national authorising
officers’ agreement to close the projects in question had
still not produced results in June 2000 and the sums in
question therefore remained tied up unproductively.

fact, no longer a question of assessing whether the situ-
ation conforms to a previously established standard,
but of judging whether it is advisable to continue the
programmes.

33.
In Annex 3.1.2 to the financial statements, the
Commission states that of the 6 774 million euro in
outstanding commitments in respect of the EDFs (i.e.
financing decisions taken but not implemented), an esti-
mated 1 230 million euro (18,1 %) will in all likelihood
not be disbursed. This amount mainly represents the
contingency reserves created when the commitments
were drawn up. These reserves have steadily increased
from 530 million euro in 1996 to 640 million euro in
then from 1 057 million euro in 1998 to
1997,
1 230 million euro in 1999.

Legality and regularity of the underlying transactions

34. The detailed observations which were drawn up as
part of the audit of the underlying transactions and
which have no substantive effect on the Statement of
Assurance were brought to the Commission’s attention
as part of the reporting procedures which it approved.
These observations mainly concern calculation errors,
the constitution of guarantees, the submission of sup-
porting documentation and the use of cancelled mar-
gins on operations managed by the EIB.

In the case of macroeconomic aid (see Table 4)
35.
and, in particular, support for structural adjustment
programmes, the mobilisation of tranches of aid for
beneficiary countries is governed by financing agree-
ments which set out the conditions to be fulfilled before
the aid is released. The Commission uses these condi-
tions as a political instrument to encourage beneficiary
governments to carry out agreed reforms. Furthermore,
since support for structural adjustment is part of a con-
certed effort by donors, there can only be one pro-
gramme per country. In this way, the Commission has
sometimes granted derogations to some of the condi-
tions laid down by the financing agreements and has
released tranches of aid on the basis of an appraisal of
the overall situation in the beneficiary country. In this
context, carrying out a strict legality and regularity
check on the basis of a systematic review of each condi-
tion in the financing agreements is pointless. It is, in

CHAPTER III — FOLLOW-UP TO PREVIOUS
OBSERVATIONS

Introduction

36. On 28 July 1999, the Commission appointed the
principal authorising officer for the eighth EDF, which
came into force on 1 June 1998 (17). The appointment
was retroactive. Consequently, all measures taken in
1999 within the framework of the duties invested in the
principal authorising officer, or in any assignees, are
covered by a formal authorisation.

37. Article 74(5) of the Financial Regulation requires
the Commission to report on the measures it has taken
in the light of the observations contained in the deci-
sions to grant discharge. No report of this kind was pro-
duced for the two latest discharges granted (1996 and
1997). In their absence, it is difficult to establish what
effect the budgetary authority’s recommendations have
had. In recent years, it would have been particularly
useful to have had information on the Commission’s
policy for determining which delegations in the ACP
countries are necessary from an operational point of
view (1995 discharge), or on the measures envisaged to
offset the prejudicial effects of the fixed exchange-rate
clauses in certain EDF contracts (1996 discharge).

Mechanism to ensure that unused appropriations from
previous EDFs are not tied up unproductively

38.
In its Annual Report concerning the financial year
1997 (18), the Court stressed the need to create a mecha-
nism to ensure that appropriations transferred from
EDFs prior to the eighth EDF are used up (see para-
graph 7).

(17) Annual Report on the activities of the sixth and seventh
EDFs concerning the financial year 1998, paragraph 79.
(18) Annual Report on the activities of the sixth and seventh

EDFs, paragraph 6.

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In the context of the Financial Protocol to the new
39.
‘Partnership Agreement between the African, Caribbean
and Pacific States (ACP) and the European Community
and its Member States’, the Commission has proposed
that all balances remaining from previous EDFs, as well
as any amounts to be decommitted from ongoing
projects, should be transferred to the ninth EDF. To this
end, the Commission’s delegations should place special
emphasis on the decommitment of dormant operations
from the sixth and seventh EDFs (see paragraph 10).

Information on the viability of operations funded from
risk capital

In its Annual Report concerning the financial year
40.
1997 (19), the Court also recommended the introduc-
tion of a system to appraise not only the viability of
operations funded from risk capital managed by the EIB
but also the actual contribution of these operations to
the ACP States’ economic and social development.

41. Although the Commission undertook to act on the
Court’s recommendation, the evaluation system in ques-
tion has not yet been set up. The Commission argues
that it cannot give priority to the evaluation of risk
capital operations while the EIB maintains that this task
is the EIB’s responsibility and that it will start work in
due course.

works contracts which could be paid in foreign cur-
rency was seldom justified. The Commission now notes
that it has reminded the national and regional authoris-
ing officers to ensure that any request for payment in
foreign currency in connection with a contract is duly
substantiated. However, there is no evidence that any
reminder has been sent.

44. An examination of a sample of contracts shows
that, in practice, the situation is improving. However,
from now on the Commission should turn down bids
in which justification for payments in a European cur-
rency is not provided by the bidder for each of the items
of expenditure covered by the contract (e.g. salaries of
expatriate staff, imported materials, imported equip-
ment, financial expenditure and profit margin).

Application of tax and customs arrangements appli-
cable to works contracts in the context of the Lomé Con-
ventions

45. The Court advocated (22) improving information
on the ACP States’ tax and customs arrangements to
ensure that bids submitted by tenderers comply with
the legislation of the beneficiary country. The Commis-
sion was unable to demonstrate that this matter has
been pursued.

42. Ex post appraisals would have been particularly
useful given that the replacement of risk-capital and
interest-rate subsidy transactions by a new ‘investment
facility’ is being contemplated in the context of the new
‘Partnership Agreement’ mentioned in paragraph 39.

CHAPTER IV — OTHER OBSERVATIONS

The ACP States’ supreme audit institutions

Justification by national authorising officers of requests
for payment in a currency other than the local currency

43.
In its Annual Report concerning the financial year
1998 (20), the Court repeated an observation contained
in its Annual Report concerning the financial year
1996 (21), regarding the fact that the proportion of

46. Most of the ACP States have supreme audit institu-
tions responsible for examining State revenue and expen-
diture. The Lomé Conventions did not assign to them,
as it did to Government departments, a specific role as
regards the measures financed by the EDFs. During
recent on-the-spot audits, several of these institutions
expressed a wish to be given some of the responsibility
for checking the implementation of the EDFs.

(19) Annual report on the activities of the sixth and seventh

EDFs, paragraphs 35 and 36.

(20) Annual report on the activities of the sixth and seventh

EDFs, paragraphs 30 and 31.

(21) Paragraph 12.78.

47. As regards the sound management of public affairs,
the Commission should establish how and under what

(22) Annual Report of the Court of Auditors concerning the

financial year 1996, paragraph 12.79.

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circumstances these national audit institutions could
play a role, in particular where EDF funds are paid in
the form of direct budgetary aid to beneficiary coun-
tries (23). Associating these audit bodies with the imple-
mentation of the EDFs would also help to strengthen
the institutions of the countries concerned and would
contribute to the process of developing democratic
practices in public affairs, as recommended in the fourth
Lomé Convention (Article 5, revised). To enable the
national audit institutions to play such a role, there
could be provision in certain countries for providing
these institutions with technical support (24).

though the basis for some of these payments could not
be verified and the remainder conflicted with the spe-
cific articles and conditions governing the contract. In
Malawi, a public works contractor submitted a request
for an additional 7,7 million euro, or approximately
40 % of the initial value of the contract for the building
of a road. A technical appraisal is necessary in order to
confirm the validity of the request, several aspects of
which appear questionable.

Public works contracts

48. The regulatory framework applicable to EDF works
contracts includes a series of procedures calculated to
ensure that the principles of sound financial manage-
ment are applied. However, there is a considerable risk
of these principles being undermined when the Com-
mission takes responsibility for requests for compensa-
tion submitted by contractors and settled on an ami-
cable basis with the approval of the authorities in the
beneficiary country.

49. Although in principle this compensation is subject
to certification by the firms of engineers responsible for
supervising work, its validity must also be examined
with care by the Commission. However, the checks car-
ried out by the Court in respect of the transactions for
1999 mentioned in paragraph 50 showed that the infor-
mation on which additional invoicing is based is diffi-
cult to verify and rests on a delicate interpretation of the
terms of the contracts. Thus, the sums in question are
often disbursed on a flat-rate basis following negotia-
tions between the contractor, the contracting authority,
the engineer and the Commission.

50. Thus, in Madagascar, additional payments totalling
730 000 euro were made for work without any attempt
being made to require the various parties to meet their
contractual responsibilities. In Chad, the Commission
accepted a memorandum of understanding concerning
totalling 422 000 euro, even
additional payments

(23) See also the Annual Report of the Court of Auditors con-
cerning the financial year 1995, paragraph 11.69.
(24) Support of this kind has already been provided in some

cases, e.g. in Ghana and Tanzania.

51. The Commission’s Delegations explain that they
are often obliged to accept this kind of situation, as fail-
ure to do so would result in contractors cancelling their
contracts. The Court believes that such attitudes are
unacceptable and that the Commission must adopt a
code of conduct covering requests for additional pay-
ments by contractors. The code of conduct should clearly
indicate to Delegations the circumstances under which
they must not hesitate to initiate legal proceedings if
contractors are obviously in breach of their contracts.

Audits carried out by the Commission in 1999

52. The SCR, which was set up gradually from the end
of 1997 (25), established its own internal audit depart-
ment which became operational in the following finan-
cial year. The internal audit department carries out a
small number of direct inspections of the EDF pro-
grammes overall, using its own staff. It is also respon-
sible for organising and monitoring audits which it
entrusts to private audit firms. In 1999, 1,17 million
euro withdrawn from the EDF’s financial interest were
devoted to the implementation of 25 audits: nine finan-
cial audits, ten operational audits and six public-finance
audits concerning direct budgetary-aid programmes.

53. Many of these audits revealed the existence of
ineligible expenditure, mainly due to shortcomings in
the tendering process or the absence of supporting
documentation. Steps should be taken to recover any
funds received unduly or, even, to report to OLAF any
cases where fraud is suspected.

54. The SCR’s internal audit department considers that
it should not take over the role of the EDF principal
authorising officer by acting on the findings of these

(25) Commission Decision of 15 October 1997.

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audits. However, although the audit work is still recent,
it is clear that, excluding the structural adjustment pro-
grammes, the management departments (Development
DG) are finding it difficult to act upon audits because
the reports are not always as explicit as they might be.
In order to make best use of the audit findings and to
ensure that corrective measures are properly under-
taken whenever necessary, the principal authorising
officer should introduce the mechanisms needed to
transform the audit report’s recommendations into tan-
gible measures. Similarly, the SCR’s internal audit depart-
ment should aim to ensure that the authorising officers
have indeed taken action and should, in particular, pay
greater heed to the drafting of recovery orders when-
ever expenditure has been considered ineligible.

55. Apart from support for structural adjustment,
many audits are also provided for in project financing
agreements. These audits are then often undertaken on
the initiative of the Commission Delegations. The on-the-
spot audits carried out in 1999 revealed on several

occasions that the national authorising officers had not
carried out the audits envisaged in the financing agree-
ments (Eritrea, Malawi, Central African Republic and
Cameroon). It also emerged that the Delegations found
it difficult to draw up audit instructions which were
genuinely useful for monitoring EDF projects. In the
absence of specific instructions, the auditors poorly
addressed issues such as the regularity of the proce-
dures followed, the eligibility of expenditure or the
analysis of cost-benefit ratios. Lastly, when confronted
with cases of fraud or the squandering of assets, the
Delegations did not always receive the support they
needed from the Commission in Brussels in order to
remedy the infringements detected (Uganda, Cameroon,
Chad, etc). Here again, the SCR’s internal audit depart-
ment should play a pivotal role by ensuring, firstly, that
the audits planned are carried out on time, then, that
the auditors’ instructions are specific enough for their
reports to be of use to the Commission and, lastly, that
the authorising officers actually act on the recommen-
dations made in the reports.

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THE COMMISSION’S REPLIES

CHAPTER I — IMPLEMENTATION OF THE
SIXTH, SEVENTH AND EIGHTH EDFs AS AT
31 DECEMBER 1999

drive to bring about a real devolution of responsibilities from
headquarters to delegations.

Situation at the end of the financial year 1999

4. When it prepared for the negotiations on the ninth Euro-
pean Development Fund at the end of 1999 the Commission
wondered whether it was worth keeping the sixth EDF active,
given its advanced level of commitment. But since the new
ACP-EC Partnership Agreement signed at Cotonou in June
2000 provided for the consolidation within the ninth EDF of
all the remaining balances of previous Funds, it decided that
it was preferable not to proceed with the merger until the
Agreement was properly ratified (early/mid-June 2002).

5-6. The Commission has acknowledged on several occa-
sions that the poor EDF implementation rate is not wholly
attributable to conflicts in some ACP countries but is also a
result of the institutional weakness of many of these countries
and of factors within the Commission such as excessively com-
plex internal procedures, unclear and divided responsibilities,
and chronic understaffing.

Using various development aid instruments, the Commission
is stepping up institutional capacity building to overcome this
problem but it will take time to get results. Note also that this
type of aid does not entail large disbursements.

The Commission departments concerned are striving in the
framework of the Quality Support Group to improve the
design of the projects and programmes proposed, especially
when it comes to implementation procedures (and thus dis-
bursement) to take account of institutional problems.

Some measures have been taken in the last two years to
improve the annual commitment rate. In cooperation with the
Commission delegations, the Directorate-General for Devel-
opment (DG DEV) has established a system of regular and
detailed monitoring plus reviews of annual commitment objec-
tives on a monthly, country-by-country basis. This pro-
gramme has built-in overprogramming to allow for adjust-
ment away from countries experiencing difficulties
in
implementing aid for whatever reason to countries not expe-
riencing such difficulties, as well as for adjustments from pro-
grammable to non-programmable aid. This system has been
a major factor in producing record commitments of EUR
2,7 billion in 1999 and the forecast commitments for 2000
which should reach approximately EUR 4 billion (EUR 3 bil-
lion if the EUR 1 billion earmarked for the HIPC initiative is
deducted). This system will in future be extended to ensure
similar improvements in payments.

7. A solution to the issue of a deadline for use of resources
under national and regional indicative programmes has been
found — in accordance with what was called for in the Euro-
pean Parliament’s resolution accompanying the 1995 dis-
charge — in the form of the rolling programming provision
in the Cotonou Agreement. Under this provision:

— following the completion of mid-term and end-of-term
reviews, the Community may revise the country or region
resource allocations (see Annex IV, Articles 7 and 11),

— resource allocation will be based on needs and perfor-

mance (Annex IV, Article 3(1)(b)),

On the subject of the Commission’s deficiencies, the reorgani-
sation set out in the reform of external relations adopted in
May 2000, coupled with the overall policy statement issued
in April 2000, will tackle them by focusing resources on key
areas and ensuring more efficient organisation. This will
include setting up a single body responsible for the external
aid project cycle from the identification phase on, and a special

— together with the uncommitted balance of resources allo-
cated to the country under previous Funds, the ninth EDF
allocations will be the basis for the preparation of the
indicative programme for the country or region concerned
(Annex IV, Article 3(3)).

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8. A financial analysis of the eighth EDF was carried out
and presented to the ACP-EC Committee on the financing of
development cooperation as part of the joint ACP-EC report
adopted in June of this year.

Partnership Agreement (Decision No 1/2000 of the ACP-EC
Council of Ministers of 27 July 2000), the ACP-EC Com-
mittee of Ambassadors decided on 26 September 2000 to
transfer remaining Stabex funds to the special EDF account.
The sum thus transferred will be used to finance development
operations.

However, due to the reorganisation of the Commission services
dealing with the EDF, the analysis was not forwarded with the
accounts. With the forthcoming reunification of the Commis-
sion departments dealing with these matters, this oversight
should not be repeated in the future.

9. The balance sheets and related Annexes for the different
Funds give the information provided for in the Financial
Regulation (Article 66 of the eighth EDF Financial Regula-
tion).

The Commission is trying to improve the presentation of the
EDF accounts. A study will be undertaken shortly with the
aim of improving the accounting information on the EDF; the
entering of assets will be one of the aspects covered.

Noteworthy aspects of the implementation of appropria-
tions during the financial year

Movements of appropriations during the financial year

10. The Financial Protocol of the Cotonou Agreement lays
down that, as soon as it enters into force, the remaining bal-
ances of previous Funds should be transferred automatically
to the ninth EDF.

As noted in paragraph 4, the Commission agrees with the
Court and has proposed ninth EDF provisions that will
achieve this objective.

Eighth EDF Stabex

14. The surplus of EUR 162,7 million is made up of a
remaining cash balance from the seventh EDF of EUR 86,7
million and Stabex payments made under the eighth EDF but
financed with seventh EDF Stabex funds to the tune of EUR
76 million.

15. Under
the transitional measures applicable from
2 August 2000 until the entry into force of the ACP-EC

Delays in implementing programmable aid

16.
It is true that a minority of partner countries have expe-
rienced major delays in the implementation of the program-
mable aid allocated to them. As the report indicates, for most
of the countries listed in Table 3 this has been due to internal
conflict, endemic weakness or corruption in the partner coun-
try’s public administration system. In the case of Trinidad, one
of the countries mentioned in Table 3, the problem arose
largely as a result of a technical fault in the execution of a
major infrastructure project which was supposed to use the
funds in question. As far as Barbados is concerned, delays
were due largely to difficulties in agreeing sectoral priorities
with the Government (excessive dispersion of very limited
funds available), which retarded the design and finalisation of
the ensuing projects.

17. The Commission is aware of the problem of delays in
implementation of programmable aid, as outlined by the
Court. It has gradually been able to develop means of adapt-
ing or revising resource allocations to ensure that there is less
chance of funds being sterilised as a result of such negative
developments. Thus, as the report mentions, the provisions of
the eighth EDF allow for country resource allocation in two
instalments, with the second instalment (30 % of the total
initial allocation) being released only following a satisfactory
outcome to a quite stringent mid-term review process. In the
case of Trinidad, referred to above, this review resulted in a
decision not to allocate any of the second instalment, precisely
because large amounts of previously allocated funds were still
outstanding. A similar approach has been adopted with all
other ACP country programmes and, although the eighth
EDF mid-term review process has not yet been completed,
considerable volumes of non-utilised funds have already been
liberated for reallocation to better-performing countries.
Although, as indicated, some of the mid-term review deci-
sions are still suspended pending the outcome of political
developments or a further review by the EDF Committee, up
to now EUR 209 million has been transferred to the general
reserve for reallocation as a result of the exercise. If the Com-
mission’s proposals for the five countries still under consider-
ation are adopted as they stand, a further EUR 128 million
will be available for reallocation.

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Under the provisions of the ninth EDF, which has recently
been signed and whose management provisions will shortly
enter into force on a provisional basis, the process of flexible
resource allocation has been pushed much further. Henceforth,
the initial allocation notified to partner countries will be sub-
ject to systematic rolling programming, with needs and per-
formance being formally reviewed every year and with a major
review at mid-term and end of the five-year period covered.
The initial funds will either be confirmed, increased or reduced
as a result of the rigorous analysis which is planned during
these reviews. Furthermore, provision exists in the new agree-
ment for holding ad hoc country reviews if there is a special
need for considering resource allocation changes outside the
regular review pattern outlined above.

Implementation of macroeconomic aid

25-26. As a key multilateral donor of budgetary aid, in a
context where bilateral donors are increasingly concentrating
their programmed aid on selected countries, the Commission
has successfully used several of its instruments to respond to
identified external financing needs of adjusting ACP coun-
tries. The rationale for the EC budgetary support is to con-
tribute to external financing needs of adjusting countries in
order to sustain macroeconomic frameworks supported by the
Bretton Woods institutions. Thus far experience has shown
that the timely availability of adequate levels of aid has been
critical for carrying out economic reforms.

Both the Commission and the ACP partners believe that these
fundamental changes in the way the use of funds is monitored
will provide the necessary flexibility to ensure that scarce
resources are not in future frozen because of unforeseen devel-
opments in certain countries or regions.

CHAPTER II — STATEMENT OF ASSURANCE
CONCERNING THE EUROPEAN
DEVELOPMENT FUNDS

Information in support of the Statement of Assurance

Introduction

In future the programming of country allocations under the
ninth EDF will allow for more flexibility in determining the
level of budgetary support for adjusting countries in the light
of identified external financing needs, determined and annu-
ally revised by the IMF in the context of poverty reduction
strategy papers (PRSP).

With reference to the reporting on various forms of budgetary
aid, the Commission has made sustained efforts to provide
detailed but consolidated information. The annual publica-
tion on ACP-EC cooperation prepared by the Commission
shows the whole range of instruments used, both by country
and overall. In particular, structural adjustment support opera-
tions are presented in a consolidated format, irrespective of
their source of financing. So Stabex and EC-budget financed
operations are shown in a consolidated formatr. The same
holds true for annual reports prepared by the Commission del-
egations in the ACP countries.

Limitation of audit work concerning the underlying transac-
tions

26.
From 2001 it is planned to publish a single report giv-
ing an overall view of EDF operations and financial situa-
tion, with detailed information by instrument (see reply to
paragraph 8).

22. There is provision for derogations in the legal frame-
work of the EDFs.

27. Concerning delays in Stabex payments to certain coun-
tries:

Reliability of the accounts

Revenue

Tanzania

24. The Commission admits that there were mistakes in
calculating interest on Stabex funds, as the Court points out.
The necessary corrections have been made.

Some EUR 18 million remains from Stabex transfers made
after 1990. Of this amount, EUR 7,8 million has been allo-
cated for specific activities. Total expenditure (that is, dis-
bursements) for these activities currently amount to between
EUR 1,5 and EUR 2 million.

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The generally slow implementation of Stabex funds is the
result of intervention in the sector by the authorities in recent
years whereby private-sector representatives on the various
major cash crop boards (notably the Coffee Board) were
replaced by civil servants. The Delegation protested about this
in mid-1999 and decided not to enter into any new project
activity until the situation was sorted out. The authorities
have since taken steps to do something about the composi-
tion of the boards, and normal project implementation and
expenditure should therefore resume shortly.

Cameroon

The situation in Cameroon is as follows:

— all Stabex transfers until 1993 gave rise to frameworks
of mutual obligations (FMOs) and they are being imple-
mented;

— the 1994 FMO (EUR 12 million) and the 1998 FMO
(EUR 11,8 million disbursed in March 2000) are being
negotiated. The liberalisation of the coffee and cocoa sec-
tors is still being discussed, and this has held up finalisa-
tion and signing of the FMOs since 1999.

Uganda

Each Stabex transfer has been used in accordance with the
FMO concluded between the Commission and Uganda. The
undisbursed balances and the slowdown referred to are mainly
attributable to the longer time needed for the appraisal and
tendering of projects in two areas:

— support to rural economic infrastructure: rehabilitation
and upgrade of the Ntungamo-Rukungiri-Ishasha road

— export diversification and development: rehabilitation of

sections of the Kampala-Malaba railway

The two projects account for almost two thirds of these bal-
ances.

The remaining third will follow the approved FMO timetable
and no further delays are expected.

Situation of commitments

28. The events determining the dates on which financing
agreements start running do not always correspond to finan-
cial or accounting events and this makes it difficult to track
start-up dates in an accounts management system. The sys-
tem does, however, give rise to control lists that are studied by
the Commission and, where necessary, by the authorities of
the ACP countries concerned, to ensure that the projects and
programmes have indeed started before the time limits laid
down.

29. The fourth Lomé Convention requires the Commission
to draw up financing agreements within 60 days of a financ-
ing decision. In the vast majority of cases, this is done within
the time limit. However, there are cases, such as that of the
Kenya Northern Corridor road rehabilitation project, where
there are conditions to be fulfilled prior to the signing of the
financing agreement. If these conditions are not fulfilled the
financing agreement may not be signed within the 60 days.

However, it does not necessarily mean that such projects have
been adopted prematurely. Often, a financing proposal can be
used as a political instrument to encourage a government to
adopt reforms, as was the case with the Kenya road project
already mentioned, and is also the case with several structural
adjustment projects. In these cases, signing of the financing
agreement after 60 days is, in the view of the Commission,
justifiable.

Furthermore, the start dates introduced in the eighth EDF
Financial Regulation mean that a new decision has to be
taken on a project if it has not started by the date indicated
in the decision. Therefore, in cases such as that cited by the
Court of Auditors, a new decision would usually have to be
taken. This would provide an opportunity to reassess the cir-
cumstances and consider whether the decision was still appro-
priate.

The financing proposals referred to by the Court relate to the
rehabilitation of the Sultan Hamud-Mtito Andei section of
the Northern Corridor, the most important road in Kenya,
which is also the principal access to the sea for Uganda. Kenya
has a history of poor management and neglect of its road
infrastructure, as a result of which donor policy has been not
to fund further major road programmes until the Kenyan
authorities had introduced reforms into the sector. The Com-
mission has been taking the lead in pressing for reforms and
has made it clear to the Government that this financing pro-
posal would not be presented to the EDF Committee (and that
the Member States would not give a favourable opinion) if
measures aimed at dealing with the problems had not been
taken.

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As a result of donor pressure and because of the ever-worsening
state of the road system, in the course of 1998 the Kenyan
authorities began to take reform measures and, in particular,
to carry out checks on axle loads since overloaded goods
vehicles were destroying the road infrastructure. In order to
encourage sectoral reform and to mitigate the appalling state
of the roads — made worse by the El Niño rains — the
financing proposal to rehabilitate this part of the Northern
Corridor was put to the EDF Committee of December 1998.

ments entered into before the end of 1994 and not yet closed.
The aim is to reduce the weight of the past by closing as many
commitments as possible. The Commission is currently select-
ing criteria to reduce the amount outstanding (RAL) in terms
of both commitments and volume. A monitoring system will
be set up to check progress. Unfortunately, the operation will
have to be staggered over a number of years because of the
shortage of resources.

Member States insisted on the inclusion of four preconditions
relating to the ongoing reforms which had to be fulfilled prior
to signing of the financing agreement. Preconditions 1 and 3
were met at the beginning of 1999 and precondition 4 in
November 1999. In conformity with precondition 2, a call for
tenders was published in the Official Journal in 1999 but no
bids were received.

This means that, through no fault of their own, the Kenyans
cannot endorse the contract for the weigh-in-motion equip-
ment and thereby meet all the preconditions. Following dis-
cussions with the Delegation and the authorities, the Com-
mission proposes to take out this precondition and insert it,
in an amended form, as an accompanying measure in the
financing agreement. This will have to be approved by the
Commissioner and sent to the Member States for informa-
tion. Only then can the financing agreement be signed.

The financing decision of 21 December 1999 suffers from the
same problem since it concerns an additional component of
the Kenya Northern Corridor road rehabilitation project.

30-31. The survey of sleeping commitments conducted by
the Commission, the results of which are set out in Annex 3.1.1
to the financial statements, was done in the in the interests of
presenting transparent accounts. The Commission is ready to
discuss any way of improving the information it provides next
time the financial statements are drawn up.

The Commission also notes that during the 1999 financial
year it continually monitored commitments and assigned
funds with a view to their closure and possible decommitment.
Between year-end 1998 and year-end 1999 the amount of
sleeping commitments under the sixth and seventh EDFs was
cut by 13 %, falling from EUR 457 million to EUR 399 mil-
lion. At the same time assigned funds fell by 18 %, from
EUR 9165 million to EUR 7529 million.

The Commission has also embarked on an exercise to clear
past commitments. At this stage it is looking at all commit

32. The Stabex transfers for Sudan and the suspension of
operations by the Commission were examined in connection
with the transitional measures to be adopted by the ACP-EC
Council on the expiry of the revised fourth Lomé Convention.

The rights acquired by Sudan under Lomé IV are not affected
by the termination of the Stabex instrument. In this respect,
reference should be made to Article 70(1) of the Vienna Con-
vention on the law of treaties, which reflects common law.
According to this provision, unless a treaty provides otherwise
or the parties agree otherwise, the expiry of a treaty ‘does not
affect any right, obligation or legal situation of the parties cre-
ated through the execution of the treaty prior to its termina-
tion.’

Accordingly, the commitments mentioned by the Court should
remain open.

33. The amount of a contingency reserve is calculated on
the basis of the initial overall commitment. In percentage
terms the amount varies according to the nature of the project
(works, agricultural development, institutional support, etc.)
and the average is around 10 % of the original overall com-
mitment.

The steep increase in outstanding EDF commitments is the
automatic consequence of the increase in the amounts com-
mitted annually following the entry into force of the eighth
EDF. As a result, the EDF committed on annual average
twice as much in 1998 and 1999 as in 1995 to 1997.

If implementation of development projects entails the expen-
diture of contingency funds, it generally takes place towards
the end of the financial year. It is therefore not abnormal that
the percentage of contingencies calculated in relation to the
RAL (and not in relation to the amount of the initial com-
mitment) should have reached the figure referred to by the
Court.

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The amount in Annex III.1.2 remains nevertheless an esti-
mate based on statistical calculations.

CHAPTER III — FOLLOW-UP TO PREVIOUS
OBSERVATIONS

Introduction

37. The Commission submitted a follow-up report for the
overall 1997 discharge, given the specific circumstances of this
financial year. Since then, for both for the general budget and
the EDF, the Commission has submitted to the budgetary
authority an action plan covering the measures taken in
response to the recommendations of the budgetary authority
at the time of the 1998 discharge.

44. The improvement in contracts results from the system-
atic checks carried out by the Commission. These checks and
controls on the grounds cited for payments in foreign exchange
are done when the tender dossier is approved and when evalu-
ation reports on the bids are examined.

Application of tax and customs arrangements appli-
cable to public works contracts in the context of the
Lomé Conventions

45. The issue of improving such information is a particu-
larly delicate one in view of the number of countries involved,
the sensitivity of the regulations and changes to them.

Mechanism to ensure that unused appropriations from
previous EDFs are not tied up unproductively

The Commission asked its delegations in the EDF countries
in August 2000 to check the application of Articles 308,
309 and 310 of Lomé IV, which govern the tax and customs
arrangements for EDF tenders.

39. Between year-end 1998 and year-end 1999 the amount
of sleeping commitments under the sixth and seventh EDFs
was cut by 13 %, falling from EUR 457 million to EUR
399 million. At the same time assigned funds fell by 18 %,
from EUR 9165 million to EUR 7529 million. In any event,
the closing of a project and the release of the funds committed
for this project can be carried out only when the Commission’s
legal obligations in respect of third parties are at an end.
Lastly, as already noted in paragraph 31, an exercise to reab-
sorb past commitments is currently under way.

Information on the viability of operations financed from
risk capital

40.
In response to the Court’s recommendation, and follow-
ing the preparation of draft terms of reference by the Com-
mission’s evaluation service, the EIB pointed to the provisions
of the Internal Agreements of the EDF, which, it argues, lay
down that responsibility for evaluating such operations lies
with the EIB. Consequently the EIB has launched an evalua-
tion, the results of which are expected at the end of the year.

In any case, the Commission systematically checks that all
requests for payment in non-local currencies are fully justi-
fied. Given the limited resources available to the Commission,
it is not able to control, check and follow in detail all the
variations to the fiscal and customs regimes of 71 ACP coun-
tries (and 20 overseas territories).

CHAPTER IV — OTHER OBSERVATIONS

The ACP States’ supreme audit institutions

Justification by authorising officers of requests for pay-
ment in foreign currency

43. The Commission reminded national and regional
national authorising officers of the need for substantiation in
August 2000, via its delegations in the ACP countries.

46-47. The internal audit department meets the audit insti-
tutions of the ACP States which it visits whenever possible
and tries to involve them fully in its work. However, note that
at present these institutions are understaffed and do not always
have the skills required to carried out the work required of
them. The Commission will nevertheless endeavour to increase
their involvement in future.

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227

Moreover, in the context of the audits of structural adjustment
aid, the internal audit department has systematically proposed
to the Courts of Auditors or Auditors-General concerned that
one or more of their auditors should take part, none of the
countries answered favourably (1), except for Côte d’Ivoire
which, through the Inspectorate-General of Finance, took
direct part in the work of the mission.

These provisions require the prior agreement of the EDF to
any assumption of responsibility for procedural expenses or for
the financial consequences of arbitration relating to contracts
it has financed. Since the EDF is not automatically obliged to
bear the financial consequences, any decision made by the
Commission as a manager of the EDF takes into account the
degree of cooperation and prior consultation it has received
from the ACP authorities at all stages of the arbitration pro-
cedure, from the setting up of the court to the judgment.

Similarly, on the basis of the finding of the audits on struc-
tural adjustment support, the Commission negotiated correc-
tive measures and institutional aid (2), with the ACP States;
these measures focused on internal and external audit func-
tions.

49.
In the case of EDF projects the Commission usually
finances the works contract and the supervision contract con-
cluded with an independent consultant.

Public works contracts

48. As the Court rightly points out, the regulatory frame-
work applicable to EDF works contracts sets out procedures
designed to ensure that the principles of sound financial man-
agement are applied. These principles are applicable in dis-
contracting
putes which may
authority/project supervisor and the contractor during imple-
mentation of a contract; the Commission is not itself a con-
tracting party to EDF-financed contracts, which are national
contracts, nor is it party to disputes.

between

occur

the

Provisions on disputes rely on the general principle of an ami-
cable settlement of disputes between the parties to EDF-
financed contracts.

As stipulated in Article 68(1) of the General Conditions
(Decision No 3/90 of the ACP-EC Council of Ministers of
29 March 1990, OJ L 382 of 31 December, page 31), it is
up to the contracting authority and the contractor to do every-
thing possible to settle amicably any dispute arising between
them or between the supervisor and the contractor.

The circumstances in which a financial contribution may be
made from the EDF are set out clearly in Article X of the
general
financing conditions for the seventh EDF and
Article 8 of the general financing conditions for the eighth
EDF.

Since those supervising know the situation of the works best,
it is normal for the project supervisor to ask them to assess the
grounds of a complaint. If in doubt and/or the amount in
question is large, the Commission orders another counter-
examination by a consulting engineer/specialist firm to ensure
that the request is well founded

It is often quite difficult to assess such claims and wherever
possible verifiable indicators are used. On the other hand, an
amicable settlement between the company and the contract-
ing authority often involves some compromises, by which the
contracting parties renounce certain contractual provisions
and so lose any possibility of recourse in disputed matters. A
good amicable settlement can avoid lengthy, cumbersome and
expensive procedures.

If the Commission believes that an amicable settlement is not
possible, it advises the contracting authority to set in motion
the disputes procedure.

50. The Commission has the following comments to make
on the projects cited :

(a) Project 7 ACP MAG 033 — Madagascar

This was an amicable settlement of a complaint by the con-
tractor about abandonment of a stone quarry.

(1) Guinea Conakry, Chad, Ghana, Madagascar, Cameroon

and Cape Verde.

(2) See measures of Côte d’Ivoire and Cameroon, and pro-

posals for Madagascar.

1. The sum quoted by the Court is made up of EUR
418 000 in compensation and a sum to cover the search
for substitute quarries.

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In reply to an initial request for EUR 943 668, the
administration established the amount of compensation
on the basis of a detailed analysis of the complaint by
works supervisors, taking into account the opinion of the
Commission.

3. the maintenance work went ahead as planned;

4. the expert based his calculations on the detailed break-
down of prices and both the contracting parties and the
Commission accepted this compromise.

The compensation covers the overheads generated by the
additional four months of work needed following the
abandonment of the quarry.

c) Project 7 ACP MAI 041 — Malawi

2. An independent expert’s report carried out by the national
roads laboratory (Paris — M. P. Autret) confirmed the
soundness of the decision not to use the quarry to obtain
the bedrock.

The third project mentioned by the Court concerns a recent
complaint on which there is not yet any decision by either the
local authorities or the Commission.

3. Since the findings of the preliminary research are only
tentative and the quarry had been in use since the initial
study, it was not the responsibility of the consultancy
firm that designed the project.

In view of the amount claimed and at the request of the
national authorities, in February this year the Commission
ordered an independent expert’s report and the findings are
expected in October.

4. The Commission believes that the amount of compensa-
tion was established with due rigour. (It covered only the
expenses incurred as a result of the extended implementa-
tion timetable.) The amicable settlement was based on a
compromise evaluation of the responsibilities of the two
contracting parties and so avoided use of the disputes
procedure.

(b)Project 7 ACP CD 012 — Chad

Concerning the project in Chad, the Court recognised in its
detailed report the extremely difficult circumstances in which
this contract was implemented as a result of the lack of secu-
rity and a generalised shortage of fuel. The contractor based
its complaint on the fact that the standard conditions for
implementation of contracts (Article 21 of the General Condi-
tions) were not in place and threatened to abandon work.

The Commission agreed to finance an independent expert to
assist the Ministry of Public Works in negotiating an ami-
cable settlement.

As an upshot of these negotiations:

1. the amount demanded was reduced from EUR 1 357 mil-

lion to EUR 0,422 million;

51. The Commission notes the Court’s suggestion concern-
ing a code of conduct covering requests for additional pay-
ments and promises to look into it. The Commission points
out, however, that there are provisions on the subject, though
they leave room for improvement, namely Decision No 3/90
(already mentioned) adopting the general regulations, general
conditions and procedural rules on conciliation and arbitra-
tion for works, supply and service contracts financed by the
European Development Fund, the user’s guide to invitations
to tender and contracts financed by the European Develop-
ment Fund (VIII/151/94), and the manual of instructions for
delegates, 1988.

Audits carried out by the Commission in 1999

52. The audits to which the Court of Auditors refers con-
cern only those financed with EDF financial interest under
three framework contracts.

The Court does not mention the 11 other projects which were
audited by the SCR or under its supervision (with NIP resources
or counterpart funds). These eleven projects account for EUR
256 895 million in terms of financing agreements; the cost
of these non-listed audits was EUR 676 447.

2. the company renounced any further claims as part of the

settlement;

The Commission intends to develop its audits in future, as
long as additional human resources can be allocated to them.

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229

53. Project expenditure considered ineligible at the comple-
tion of an adversarial procedure with the recipient country will
be recovered.

which supported this request, to use interest earned by the
EDF [Article 9.2 of the Internal Agreement]. However, this
facility cannot take the place of all the supervisory obligations
laid down in the financing agreements.

54.
If the internal audit department has to assume respon-
sibility for the follow-up to its audits, it will have to be
expanded within the framework of the administrative reor-
ganisation of the SCR, without this leading to the operational
departments being relieved of their own responsibilities.

Recovery orders are issued by the financial department of the
relevant authorising officer (national administration, delega-
tion or head office).

Departments in charge of external relations will have to
implement Part III (financial management) of the reform,
which proposes the creation of a new audit unit to help the
authorising officer in developing internal systems.

55.
It is precisely because national authorising officers are
often reluctant to embark on the audits provided for in financ-
ing agreements that the Commission asked the Member States,

With regard to the quality of the terms of reference prepared
by the delegations, the audit unit has standard terms of refer-
ence which were made available to the delegations. Further-
more, several attempts have been made to set up local frame-
work contracts. Guinea and Chad are set to be the first
countries to try out this formula but Senegal has refused.

Lastly, both head office and DG DEV have fully supported
the delegations in the cases of fraud and embezzlement; the
dossiers of the three cases quoted were transmitted, on the ini-
tiative of head office, to OLAF. In the case of Chad and Cam-
eroon, the cases were settled by head office with the support of
the delegations.

REPORT ON THE ACTIVITIES OF THE SIXTH,
SEVENTH AND EIGHTH EUROPEAN
DEVELOPMENT FUNDS (EDFs)

Diagram

Diagram for the sixth, seventh and eighth EDFs, consolidated:
allocation, distribution and utilisation of aid

ANNEXES

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III

ANNEX I

Financial information on the general budget of the European Union

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PRELIMINARY NOTES

Sources of financial data

Monetary unit

Nomenclature

Abbreviations and symbols

BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON THE GENERAL BUDGET

1. Origin of the general budget

2. Legal basis

3. Main budgetary principles laid down in the Treaties and the Financial Regulation

4. Content and structure of the general budget

5. Monetary unit of the general budget

6. Financing of the general budget (budgetary revenue)

7. Types of budget appropriations

8. Implementation of the general budget

9. Presentation of the accounts

10. External audit

11. Discharge and follow-up

DIAGRAMS

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PRELIMINARY NOTES

SOURCES OF FINANCIAL DATA

The financial data contained in this Annex have been drawn from the revenue and expenditure accounts and the bal-
ance sheets of assets and liabilities of the European Communities (1) and from other financial records provided by the
Commission. The geographical distribution is in accordance with the indices of the country codes in the Sincom
system. As the Commission has pointed out, allocating expenditure by Member States is merely an accounting exer-
cise which gives a very limited view of the benefits that each Member State derives from the Union.

MONETARY UNIT

All the financial data are presented in millions of euro (Mio EUR), rounded to one decimal place. They always rep-
resent the rounding-off of each exact value and not the sum of the rounded-off figures.

NOMENCLATURE

For each financial year the Court uses the financial perspectives corresponding to that financial year for the presenta-
tion of the historical data.

ABBREVIATIONS AND SYMBOLS

European Community/Communities
European Coal and Steel Community
European Economic Community

EC
ECSC
EEC
EAEC or Euratom European Atomic Energy Community
EFTA
EU
GNP
VAT
ATS
BEF
DEM
DKK
ESP
FIM
FRF
GBP
GRD
IEP
ITL
LUF
NLG
PTE
SEK

European Free Trade Association
European Union
Gross national product
Value added tax
Austrian schilling
Belgian franc
German mark
Danish crown (krone)
Spanish peseta
Finnish markka
French franc
Pound sterling
Greek drachma
Irish pound (punt)
Italian lira
Luxembourg franc
Dutch guilder
Portuguese escudo
Swedish crown (krona)

(1)

In the case of the 1999 financial year: revenue and expenditure account and balance sheet relating to operations under the
1999 budget (Doc. SEC(2000) 537- 540).

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V

EUR
Mio EUR
DA
NDA
CA
PA
AFC
AFP
B
DK
D
EL
E
F
IRL
I
L
NL
A
P
FIN
S
UK
EU-15
FR
OJ
S
Ss
T
Ch
0,0
—
%
D

Euros
Million euro
Differentiated appropriations
Non-differentiated appropriations
Commitment appropriations
Payment appropriations
Appropriations for commitments
Appropriations for payments
Belgium
Denmark
Germany
Greece
Spain
France
Ireland
Italy
Luxembourg
Netherlands
Austria
Portugal
Finland
Sweden
United Kingdom
Total of the 15 Member States of the European Community
Financial Regulation of 21 December 1977 (see also the foreword on cover page II)
Official Journal of the European Communities
Budgetary section
Budgetary subsection
Budgetary title
Budgetary chapter
Data between zero and 0,05
Lack of data
Percentage
Diagram referred to within other diagrams (e.g. D III)

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BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON THE GENERAL BUDGET

1. ORIGIN OF THE GENERAL BUDGET

The general budget was created by the Merger Treaty (2) (Article 20). It replaced, on 1 January 1968, the three separate
EC budgets which existed before that date: the ECSC administrative budget, the EEC budget and the Euratom operat-
ing budget. The EA research and investment budget was incorporated into the general budget as from 1971 by the
Treaty of Luxembourg (3) (Article 10).

2. LEGAL BASIS

The general budget is governed by the financial provisions of the Treaties of Paris (4) (Article 78 ECSC) and Rome (5) (6)
(Articles 268 to 280 EC and Articles 171 to 183 Euratom) and by the Financial Regulations (7).

3. MAIN BUDGETARY PRINCIPLES LAID DOWN IN THE TREATIES AND THE FINANCIAL

REGULATION

All items of Community revenue and expenditure are to be included in a single budget (unity). Revenue is to be used
without distinction to finance all expenditure and, like the expenditure, is to be entered in full in the budget and
subsequently in the accounts without any adjustment of one item against another (universality). The appropriations
are specialised according to their nature or intended use (speciality). The budget is authorised for one financial year
only (annuality). Budgetary revenue and expenditure must balance (equilibrium). There are some exceptions to these
general principles.

4. CONTENT AND STRUCTURE OF THE GENERAL BUDGET

The budget consists of a ‘General statement of revenue’ and a ‘Statement of revenue and expenditure’, which itself is
subdivided into six sections: (I) Parliament; (II) Council (annexed until 1994: Economic and Social Committe); (III)
Commission (8); (IV) Court of Justice; (V) Court of Auditors; (VI) Economic and Social Committee and Committee of
the Regions.

Within each section (8), items of revenue and expenditure are classified under budget headings (titles, chapters, articles
and, where applicable, items) according to their type or the use to which they are to be applied.

(2) Merger Treaty (8 April 1965): Treaty establishing a single Council and single Commission of the European Communities.
(3) Treaty of Luxembourg (22 April 1970): Treaty amending certain budgetary provisions of the Treaties establishing the European

Communities and of the Merger Treaty.

(4) Treaty of Paris (18 April 1951): Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC).
(5) Treaty of Rome (25 March 1957): Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (EEC).
(6) Treaty of Rome (25 March 1957): Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom).
(7) Mainly the Financial Regulation of 21 December 1977 (OJ L 356, 31.12.1977). See in this respect the foreword on cover

page II.

(8) Section III (Commission) is subdivided into part A ‘Staff and administrative appropriations’ and part B ‘Operating appropria-
tions’ which is further subdivided into main sectors of activity. Section VI (Economic and Social Committee and Committee
of the Regions) is subdivided into part A ‘Economic and Social Committee’, part B ‘Committee of the Regions’ and part
C ‘Joint organisational structure’.

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5. MONETARY UNIT OF THE GENERAL BUDGET

The budget is established and implemented in euro. The euro has replaced the European currency unit from 1 Janu-
ary 1999, by application of the Council Regulation (EC) No 1103/97.

The irrevocable conversion rates were fixed between the euro and the participating national currencies as follows: 1
EUR = 13,7603 ATS = 40,3399 BEF = 1,95583 DEM = 166,386 ESP = 5,94573 FIM = 6,55957 FRF = 0,787564 IEP
= 1 936,27 ITL = 40,3399 LUF = 2,20371 NLG = 200,482 PTE.

6. FINANCING OF THE GENERAL BUDGET (BUDGETARY REVENUE)

The general budget is mainly financed from the Communities’ own resources: agricultural duties; sugar and isoglucose
levies; customs duties; own resources accruing from VAT and GNP-based own resources; for more detailed informa-
tion see the legislation in force (9).

Besides own resources, there are other, marginal, items of revenue (see diagram I).

7. TYPES OF BUDGET APPROPRIATIONS

To cover estimated expenditure, the following types of budget appropriations are distinguished in the general budget:

(a) differentiated appropriations (DA) are used to finance multiannual activities in certain sectors. They comprise com-

mitment appropriations and payment appropriations:

— commitment appropriations (CA) make it possible to enter into legal obligations during the financial year for

activities whose implementation extends over several financial years,

— payment appropriations (PA) make it possible to cover expenditure arising from commitments entered into

during the financial year and/or preceding financial years;

(b) non-differentiated appropriations (NDA) make it possible to ensure, during the financial year, the commitment

and payment of expenditure relating to annual activities.

It is thus important to establish the following two totals for the same financial year:

(a) the total of appropriations for commitments (AFC) (10) = non-differentiated appropriations (NDA) + commitment

appropriations (CA) (10);

(b) the total of appropriations for payments (AFP) (10) = non-differentiated appropriations (NDA) + payment appro-

priations (PA) (10).

Revenue raised in the budget is intended to cover the total appropriations for payments. Commitment appropria-
tions do not need to be covered by revenue.

(9) Principal legal acts relating to own resources: sixth Council Directive 77/388/EEC of 17 May 1977, common system of VAT:
uniform assessment basis (OJ L 145, 13.6.1977); Council Decision 94/728/EC, of 31 October 1994 (OJ L 293, 12.11.1994);
Council Regulation (EEC, Euratom) No 1552/89 of 29 May 1989 (OJ L 155, 7.6.1989); Council Regulation (EEC, Euratom)
No 1553/89 of 29 May 1989 (OJ L 155, 7.6.1989);Council Directive 89/130/EEC, Euratom of 13 February 1989 on the har-
monisation of the compilation of GNP (OJ L 49, 21.2.1989).

(10) It is important to note the differences between ‘appropriations for commitments’ and ‘commitment appropriations’ and
between ‘appropriations for payments’ and ‘payment appropriations’. The two terms ‘commitment appropriations’ and ‘pay-
ment appropriations’ are used exclusively in the context of differentiated appropriations.

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The following simplified presentation (with illustrative amounts) shows the impact of these types of appropriations
in each budget year.

Appropriations for commitments: Amounts allocated in 
the  budgets  of  years  1,  2,  3  for  commitments  in  those 
years.

Financial schedule: This shows in which year each part of the AFC allocated for years 
1, 2, 3 is to be financed: NDA are financed in the year to which they are allocated; 
CA are financed over several years.

&

Commitment 
appropriations (CA)

Non-differentiated 
appropriations (NDA)

Commitment 
appropriations (CA)&
of prior years&
&

Amounts financed in:

year 1

year 2

year 3

later

Key :

Appro-
priations&
for 
commitment 
(AFC)&

Year 1  :  AFC : 150

Year 1  :  AFC : 180

Year 1  :  AFC : 215

CA: 50

NDA: 100

CA: 60

NDA: 120

CA: 65

NDA: 150

Summary of all types of appropriations:

f
o
e
p
y
T

&

n
o
i
t
a
i
r
p
o
r
p
p
a

Differentiated 
appropriations (DA)

&
s
n
o
i
t
a
i
r
p
o
r
p
p
a
t
n
e
m
y
a
P

)

A
P
(

(3)

27

38

75

&
s
n
o
i
t
a
i
r
p
o
r
p
p
a

t
n
e
m

t
i

m
m
o
C

(2)

&
)

A
C

(

50

60

65

&
)

A
D
N

(

s
n
o
i
t
a
i
r
p
o
r
p
p
a

d
e
t
a
i
t
n
e
r
e
f
f
i
d
-
n
o
N

(1)

100

120

150

&
t
e
g
d
u
B

&

Year 1

Year 2

Year 3

&
)

C
F
A

(

t
i

s
t
n
e
m

&
s
n
o
i
t
a
i
r
p
o
r
p
p
A
(1) + (2)

m
m
o
c
r
o
f

&
)
P
F
A

(

&
s
n
o
i
t
a
i
r
p
o
r
p
p
A
(1) + (3)

s
t
n
e
m
y
a
p
r
o
f

150

127

180

158

215

225

17

11

9

100

10

15

20

7

5

120

12

30

18

150

16

49

The  vertical  totals  of  this  schedule  indicate  for  each  year  the  appropriations  for 
payments (AFP) which are necessary to finance the legal obligations resulting for this 
year  from  the  AFC  allocated.  For  each  year  there  are:  AFP  =  NDA  +  payment 
appropriations (PA), the PA of the year being the total of all CA to be financed in that 
year.&
&

Appropriations for payment:

year 1

year 2

year 3

7
2
1

:

P
F
A

PA : 
27&

:

A
D
N

&

0
0
1

8
5
1

:

P
F
A

PA : 
38&

:

A
D
N

&

0
2
1

5
2
2

:

P
F
A

PA : 75&
&

:

A
D
N

&

0
5
1

Key: 
Appro-
priations&
for&
payments 
(AFP)&

Payment appropriations 
(PA)

Non-differentiated 
appropriations (NDA)

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1.12.2000

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Official Journal of the European Communities

IX

8. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE GENERAL BUDGET

8.1. Responsibility for implementation

The Commission implements the budget on its own responsibility in accordance with the Financial Regulation and
within the limits of the appropriations allotted; it also confers upon the other institutions the requisite powers for
the implementation of the sections of the budget relating to them (11). The Financial Regulation lays down the imple-
mentation procedures and, in particular, the responsibilities of the authorising officers, accounting officers, admin-
istrators of imprest accounts and financial controllers of the institutions (12). In certain specific areas (mainly the
EAGGF-Guarantee and the Structural Funds) the management of Community funds is shared with the Member States.

8.2. Implementation of revenue

The estimated revenue is entered in the budget subject to change by amending and supplementary budgets.

The budgetary implementation of revenue consists of establishing the entitlements and recovering the revenue due
to the Communities (own resources and other revenue); it is governed by certain special provisions (13). The actual
revenue of a financial year is defined as the total of sums collected against entitlements established during the current
financial year and sums collected against entitlements still to be recovered from previous financial years.

It should be noted that the Member States, acting on behalf of the Communities, are responsible for the collection of
amounts due in respect of customs duties, agricultural duties and sugar and isoglucose levies. The Member States keep
10 % of the corresponding amounts payable to cover their collection costs.

8.3. Implementation of expenditure

The estimated expenditure is entered in the budget.

The budgetary implementation of expenditure, i.e. the evolution and utilisation of appropriations, may be sum-
marised as follows:

(a) appropriations for commitments:

(i) evolution of appropriations: the total appropriations for commitments available in a financial year are made up
as follows: initial budget (NDA and CA) + amending and supplementary budgets + supplementary receipts (14)
+ transfers (11) + commitment appropriations carried over from the preceding financial year (15) + non-
automatic carry-overs (16) from the preceding financial year not yet committed (NDA) + released commitment
appropriations from preceding financial years which have been made available again (17) + repayments of
advances giving rise to reutilisation (18);

(11) Articles 78d ECSC, 274 EC, 179 Euratom and 22(2) of the Financial Regulation.
(12) Articles 21 to 55 and 73 to 77 of the Financial Regulation.
(13) Articles 28 to 35 of the Financial Regulation and Council Regulation (EEC, Euratom) No 1552/89 of 29 May 1989 (OJ L 155,

7.6.1989).

(14) Article 96(2) of the Financial Regulation.
(15) Article 7(2)(a) of the Financial Regulation.
(16) Article 7(1)(a) and 7(3) of the Financial Regulation.
(17) Article 7(6) of the Financial Regulation.
(18) Article 7(7) of the Financial Regulation.

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(ii) utilisation of appropriations: the final appropriations for commitments are available in the financial year for use
in the form of commitments entered into (appropriations for commitments utilised = amount of commit-
ments entered into);

(iii)carry-overs of appropriations from one financial year to the next financial year: non-differentiated appropriations
belonging to the financial year which have not been committed may be carried over non-automatically to the
next financial year after approval by the budgetary authority (16). Non-utilised commitment appropriations of
the financial year may be carried over by the Commission to the following financial year (15). In the case of
expenditure on behalf of third parties, carry-overs may be repeated;

(iv) cancellation of appropriations: the balance is cancelled.

(b) appropriations for payment:

(i) evolution of appropriations: the total appropriations for payments available in a financial year are made up as
follows: initial budget (NDA and PA) + amending and supplementary budgets + supplementary receipts (14) +
transfers (11) + appropriations carried over from the previous financial year in the form of automatic carry-
overs (19)or non-automatic carry-overs (20) + repayments of advances giving rise to reutilisation (18);

(ii) utilisation of appropriations: the appropriations for payment are available in the financial year for use as pay-
ments (utilised appropriations for payments = amount of payments made from the appropriations of the finan-
cial year);

(iii)carry-overs of appropriations from one financial year to the next financial year: non-utilised appropriations of the
financial year may be carried over to the next financial year in the form of automatic (19) or non-automatic (20)
carry-overs. In the case of expenditure on behalf of third parties, carry-overs may be repeated;

(iv) cancellation of appropriations: the balance is cancelled;

(v) total payments during the financial year: payments against appropriations for payments of the financial year plus

payments against appropriations for payments carried over from the preceding financial year;

(vi) actual expenditure charged to a financial year: expenditure charged to the consolidated revenue and expenditure
account (see paragraph 8.4) = payments against appropriations for payments of the financial year plus appro-
priations for payments of the financial year carried over to the following financial year.

8.4. The consolidated revenue and expenditure account and the balance of the financial year

After the closure of each financial year the consolidated revenue and expenditure account is drawn up. The balance
of the year, which is to be entered in the budget of the next financial year on the occasion of an amending budget, is
determined therein (21).

9. PRESENTATION OF THE ACCOUNTS

The accounts for a given financial year are forwarded not later than 1 May of the following financial year to Parlia-
ment, the Council and the Court of Auditors; these accounts comprise a revenue and expenditure account and a bal-
ance sheet, together with an analysis of the financial management (22).

(19) Article 7(1)(b) of the Financial Regulation.
(20) Articles 7(1)(a) and 7(2)(b) of the Financial Regulation.
(21) Article 32 of the Financial Regulation and Articles 15 and 16 of Council Regulation (EEC, Euratom) No 1552/89 (OJ L 155,

7.6.1989).

(22) Articles 78 to 82 of the Financial Regulation.

1.12.2000

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XI

10. EXTERNAL AUDIT

Since 1977 the external audit of the general budget has been carried out by the Court of Auditors of the European
Communities (23). The Court of Auditors examines the accounts of all revenue and expenditure of the general budget.
It must provide the European Parliament and the Council with a statement of assurance as to the reliability of the
accounts and the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions. It also considers whether revenue has been
received and expenditure incurred in a lawful and regular manner, and whether the financial management has been
sound. The audits may be carried out before the closure of the financial year in question and are performed on the
basis of records and, where necessary, on the spot in the institutions of the Communities and in the Member States.
The Court of Auditors draws up an annual report for each financial year and may also, at any time, submit its observa-
tions on specific questions and deliver opinions at the request of one of the institutions of the Communities.

11. DISCHARGE AND FOLLOW-UP

As from 1977 the following provisions are applicable (24): Parliament, on the recommendation of the Council, gives,
before 30 April of the second year following the financial year in question, discharge to the Commission on the
implementation of the budget. To this end the Council and Parliament in turn examine the accounts presented by the
Commission and the annual report of the Court of Auditors. The institutions must take appropriate action on the
comments appearing in the decisions giving discharge and report on the measures taken (25).

DIAGRAMS

GENERAL BUDGET FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR 1999 AND BUDGETARY IMPLEMENTATION
DURING THE FINANCIAL YEAR 1999

— General budget 1999 — Estimated revenue and final appropriations for payments

D I
D II — General budget 1999 — Appropriations for commitments
D III — Appropriations for commitments available in 1999 and utilisation thereof, by financial perspective head-

ing

D IV — Appropriations for payments available in 1999 and utilisation thereof, by financial perspective heading
D V — Payments made in 1999, by financial perspective heading
D VI — Payments made in 1999, in each Member State

HISTORICAL DATA IN RESPECT OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE GENERAL BUDGET (1995 TO
1999)

D VII — Evolution and utilisation of appropriations for payments for the period 1995 to 1999, by

financial perspective heading

(23) Articles 45a, 45b and 45c ECSC, 246, 247 and 248 EC, 160a, 160b and 160c Euratom and Articles 83 to 90 of the Financial

Regulation.

(24) Articles 78g ECSC, 276 EC and 180b Euratom.
(25) Article 89 of the Financial Regulation.

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Diagram I
General budget 1999 — Estimated revenue and final appropriations for payments
(for revenue criteria, see ‘Background information on the general budget’, point 8.2 and for more detailed information, see Chapter 1, Table 1.1
and for expenditure criteria, see ‘Background information on the general budget’, point 8.3 and for more detailed information, see Diagram IV, column (a))

(1) Appropriations after supplementary and amending budget.
(2) Revenue from participation by outside bodies.
(3) Transfer between headings, assigned revenue and appropriations made avail-

able again.

(4) EFTA expenditure.

1.12.2000

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Diagram II
General budget 1999 — appropriations for commitments
(after supplementary and amending budgets:
for more detailed information, see Diagram III, column (b))

Note:

The total appropriations for commitments are not balanced by the
budgetary revenue of 1999 as the commitment appropriations also
include amounts to be financed by budgetary revenue from subse-
quent years.

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Diagram III
Appropriations for commitments available in 1999 and utilisation thereof, by financial
perspective heading

Financial perspective headings and sectors (the sections (S),
subsections (Ss), titles (T), and chapters (Ch) corresponding
to the 1999 budgetary nomenclature are shown in brackets)

1.

Common agricultural policy
markets

1.1 Arable crops (Ch. B1-1 0)
1.2 Sugar (Ch. B1-1 1)
1.3 Oils and fats and protein plants (Ch. B1-1 2 and 1 3)
1.4 Fruits and vegetables (Ch. B1-1 5)
1.5 Wine (Ch. B1-1 6)
1.6 Tobacco (Ch. B1-1 7)
1.7 Milk products (Ch. B1-2 0)
1.8 Meat, eggs, poultry (Ch. B1-2 1 to 2 4)
1.9 Various markets (Ch. B1-1 4 and B1-1 8)
1.10 Other operations (Ch. B1-2 5 to 3 0)

1.11 Accompanying measures (T. B1-4 et 5)
2.

Structural operations
Structural Funds

2.1 EAGGF - Guidance (Ch. B2-1 0)
2.2 FIFG (Ch. B2-1 1)
2.3 ERDF (Ch. B2-1 2)
2.4 ESF (Ch. B2-1 3)
2.5 Community initiatives (B2-1 4)
2.6 Fraud combat, monitoring, transitional measures (Ch.

B2-1 5, 1 6 and 1 8)

Internal policies

2.7 Cohesion Fund (T. B2-3)
2.8 EEA financial mechanism (T. B2-4)
3.
3.1 Research and technological development (Ss. B6)
3.2 Other structural operations (Ch. B2-5 to 9)
3.3 Training, youth and social operations (Ss. B3)
3.4 Energy, Euratom and environment (Ss. B4)
3.5 Consumers, internal market, industry and networks (Ss.

B5)
4.
External action
4.1 Food aid (T. B7-2)
4.2 Cooperation (T. B7-3 to B7-5)
4.3 Other cooperation measures (T. B7-6)
4.4 Initiatives for democracy and human rights (T. B7-7)
4.5 External aspects of community policies (B7-8)
4.6 Support expenditure for external policies (Ch. B7-9 5)
4.7 Common foreign and security policy (Ss. B8)
5.
5.1 Parliament (S. I)
5.2 Council (S. II)
5.3 Commission (S. III)
5.4 Court of Justice (S. IV)
5.5 Court of Auditors (S. V)
5.6 Economic and Social Committee/Committee of

Administrative expenditure

the

Regions (S. VI)
Reserves

6.
6.1 Monetary reserve (T. B1-6)
6.2 Guarantee reserve (Ch. B0-2 3 et 2 4)
6.3 Emergency aid reserve (Ch. B7-9 1)
7.
7.1 Compensation to new Member States (T. B0-5)

Compensation

(Mio EUR)

Final appropriations

Utilisation of appropriations

Financial
perspec-
tive

Amount (1) (2)

Rate (%)

Commit-
ments
made in
1999

Utilisa-
tion
rate (%)

Carry-
overs to
2000 (3)

Cancella-
tions

Rate
(%)

(a)

(b)

(b)/(a)

(c)

(c)/(b)

(d)

(e) =
(b) - (c) - (d)

(e)/(b)

45 205

39 025

6 386

6 870

4 723

1 192

40 438,0
37 841,0
17 869,7
2 117,0
2 529,7
1 551,0
661,0
918,0
2 581,0
6 975,7
1 333,0
1 304,9

2 597,0
39 172,6
36 038,2
5 233,3
694,9
15 868,1
9 520,2
4 480,4

241,3

3 129,4
5,0
6 144,5 (4)
3 632,9

243,6 (4)
885,1 (4)
242,5

1 140,3 (4)
6 544,0 (4)
1 231,9
4 413,2 (4)
370,4
98,1
390,6 (4)

—
39,8
4 687,1
1 077,1
336,7
2 955,8
123,4
66,0

128,0
846,0
500,0
346,0
—

—

97 832,1
87 380,8

89,5

100,4

(1)

96,2
(1)

95,3

99,2

71,0

39 876,3
37 288,1
17 865,9
2 112,8
2 468,3
1 454,1
614,6
911,1
2 510,1
6 905,8
1 312,4
1 133,0

2 588,2
36 821,0
33 692,0
5 110,3
693,8
15 429,0
8 546,4
3 692,9

98,6
98,5
100,0
99,8
97,6
93,8
93,0
99,2
97,3
99,0
98,5
86,8

99,7
94,0
93,5
97,6
99,8
97,2
89,8
82,4

33,1
33,1
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
33,1

—
2 203,2
2 203,2
88,1
0,4
439,1
882,3
786,4

528,6
519,8
3,8
4,2
61,4
96,9
46,4
6,9
70,9
69,9
20,6
138,8

8,8
148,3
143,0
34,9
0,7
0,0
91,5
1,1

219,5

91,0

7,0

14,8

3 129,1
—
5 891,0
3 465,9
232,8
849,3
238,8

1 104,1
6 156,1
1 231,5
4 088,4
354,1
94,2
359,0
—
28,9
4 576,2
1 067,5
333,4
2 892,6
123,1
63,9

95,6
300,1
—
300,1
—

—

100,0
—
95,9
95,4
95,6
95,9
98,5

96,8
94,1
100,0
92,6
95,6
96,0
91,9
—
72,6
97,6
99,1
99,0
97,9
99,8
96,9

74,6
35,5
—
86,7
—

—
95,7
91,9

—
—
182,7
154,3
—
20,1
0,5

7,9
207,0
0,0
189,7
6,4
—
—
—
10,9
29,1
—
—
2,7
—
—

26,4
—
—
—
—

0,3
5,0
70,8 (4)
12,7
10,8 (4)
15,7 (4)
3,2

28,3 (4)
180,8 (4)
0,4
135,1 (4)
9,9
3,9
31,6 (4)
—
—
81,7
9,5
3,3
60,5
0,3
2,1

6,1
545,9
500,0
45,9
—

—
2 655,2
5 019,2

—
1 556,2
2 052,1

1,3
1,4
0,0
0,2
2,4
6,2
7,0
0,8
2,7
1,0
1,5
10,6

0,3
0,4
0,4
0,7
0,1
0,0
1,0
0,0

6,1

0,0
100,0
1,2
0,4
4,4
1,8
1,3

2,5
2,8
0,0
3,1
2,7
4,0
8,1
—
—
1,7
0,9
1,0
2,0
0,2
3,1

4,7
64,5
100,0
13,3
—

—
1,6
2,3

Grand total appropriations for commitments
Grand total appropriations for payments

103 401
96 680

94,6
90,4

93 620,8
80 309,5

(1) Budget appropriations amended after taking account of CAs carried over from 1998 or made available again in 1999, appropriations corresponding to receipts
for services performed on behalf of outside bodies, non-automatic carry-overs from 1998, transfers between budget headings and EFTA appropriations. As a
consequence the ceiling foreseen for some financial perspective headings is exceeded by the available appropriations.

(2) Excluding the reuse of revenue for the current financial year and revenue carried over from the previous financial year, amounting to EUR 251,3 million.
(3) Including appropriations still available relating to services performed on behalf of outside bodies.
(4) After distribution of provisional appropriations (Ch. B0-4 0): Ss. B2 (EUR 2 million), B3 (EUR 0,7 million), B5 (EUR 4,1million) and B7 (EUR 14 million).

1.12.2000

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Official Journal of the European Communities

XV

Diagram IV
Appropriations for payment available in 1999 and utilisation thereof, by financial
perspective heading

Financial perspective headings and sectors (the sections (S), subsec-
tions (Ss), titles (T), and chapters (Ch) corresponding to the 1999
budgetary nomenclature are shown in brackets)

1.

Common agricultural policy
markets

1.1 Arable crops (Ch. B1-1 0)
1.2 Sugar (Ch. B1-1 1)
1.3 Oils and fats and protein plants (Ch. B1-1 2 and 1 3)
1.4 Fruits and vegetables (Ch. B1-1 5)
1.5 Wine (Ch. B1-1 6)
1.6 Tobacco (Ch. B1-1 7)
1.7 Milk products (Ch. B1-2 0)
1.8 Meat, eggs, poultry (Ch. B1-2 1 to 2 4)
1.9 Various markets (Ch. B1-1 4 and B1-1 8)
1.10 Other operations (Ch. B1-2 5 to 3 0)

1.11 Accompanying measures (T. B1-4 and 5)
2.

Structural operations
Structural Funds

2.1 EAGGF - Guidance (Ch. B2-1 0)
2.2 FIFG (Ch. B2-1 1)
2.3 ERDF (Ch. B2-1 2)
2.4 ESF (Ch. B2-1 3)
2.5 Community initiatives (B2-1 4)
2.6 Fraud combat, monitoring, transitional measures (Ch. B2-1 5,

1 6 and 1 8)

Internal policies

2.7 Cohesion Fund (T. B2-3)
2.8 EEA financial mechanism (T. B2-4)
3.
3.1 Research and technological development (Ss. B6)
3.2 Other structural operations (Ch. B2-2 4 to 2 9)
3.3 Training, youth and social operations (Ss. B3)
3.4 Energy, Euratom and environment (Ss. B4)
3.5 Consumers, internal market, industry and networks (Ss. B5)
4.
External action
4.1 Food aid (T. B7-2)
4.2 Cooperation (T. B7-3 to B7-5)
4.3 Other cooperation measures (T. B7-6)
4.4 Initiatives for democracy and human rights (T. B7-7)
4.5 External aspects of Community policies (B7-8)
4.6 Support expenditure for external policies (Ch. B7-9 5)
4.7 Common foreign and security policy (Ss. B8)
5.
5.1 Parliament (S. I)
5.2 Council (S. II)
5.3 Commission (S. III)
5.4 Court of Justice (S. IV)
5.5 Court of Auditors (S. V)
5.6 Economic and Social Committee/Committee of the Regions

Administrative expenditure

(S. VI)
Reserves

6.
6.1 Monetary reserve (T. B1-6)
6.2 Guarantee reserve (Ch. B0-2 3 et 2 4)
6.3 Emergency aid reserve (Ch. B7-91)
7.
7.1 Compensation to new Member States (T. B0-5)

Compensation

(Mio EUR)

Utilisation of appropriations

Final appropria-
tions (1) (2)

Payments
made in
1999

Utilisation
rate (%)

Carry-overs
to 2000

Cancella-
tions

Rate (%)

(a)

(b)

(b)/(a)

(c)

(d) =
(a) - (b) - (c)

(d)/(a)

40 451,7
37 854,7
17 869,7
2 117,0
2 530,5
1 551,0
661,0
920,3
2 581,0
6 975,7
1 333,0
1 315,5

2 597,0
30 657,7
28 780,7
3 774,0
572,0
14 012,3
7 246,3
2 912,3

263,7

1 877,0
—
5 242,7 (3)
3 119,7
215,4
802,7 (3)
189,1
915,9 (3)
5 091,8 (3)
1 086,9
3 179,5
349,2
76,8
361,4 (3)

—
38,0
5 090,9
1 194,2
384,6
3 177,0
129,2
68,3

137,6
846,0
500,0
346,0
—

—

39 780,3
37 192,1
17 865,9
2 112,8
2 469,1
1 454,1
614,6
908,5
2 510,1
6 905,8
1 312,4
1 038,8

2 588,2
26 663,6
24 947,6
3 774,0
571,9
11 127,3
7 245,8
2 059,5

169,0

1 716,0
—
4 473,1
2 574,9
200,2
687,4
162,5
848,1
4 585,8
954,6
2 921,5
314,7
47,0
320,0
—
28,0
4 506,7
1 071,5
327,1
2 835,6
121,4
58,3

92,9
300,1
—
300,1
—

—

98,3
98,2
100,0
99,8
97,6
93,8
93,0
98,7
97,3
99,0
98,5
79,0

99,7
87,0
86,7
100,0
100,0
79,4
100,0
70,7

64,1

91,4
—
85,3
82,5
92,9
85,6
85,9
92,6
90,1
87,8
91,9
90,1
61,1
88,5
—
73,6
88,5
89,7
85,1
89,3
94,0
85,3

67,5
35,5
—
86,7
—

—
91,9

138,4
138,4
—
—
—
—
—
2,9
—
—
—
135,5

—
3 748,4
3 590,7
—
—
2 853,5
—
733,5

3,6

157,7
—
413,8
345,2
—
35,9
10,5
22,2
273,6
121,0
106,8
20,4
15,4
—
—
9,9
445,0
103,8
50,6
240,3
7,1
7,8

533,0
524,2
3,8
4,2
61,5
96,9
46,4
8,9
70,9
69,9
20,6
141,2

8,8
245,8
242,4
0,0
0,1
31,5
0,5
119,3

91,1

3,3
—

356,1 (3)
199,6
15,2
79,3 (3)
16,0
45,6 (3)
232,4 (3)
11,3
151,1
14,0
14,4
41,4 (3)
—
0,2
139,3
18,9
6,9
101,2
0,7
2,3

35,5
—
—
—
—
—
—
5 019,2

9,2
545,9
500,0
45,9
—
—
—
2 052,1

1,3
1,4
0,0
0,2
2,4
6,2
7,0
1,0
2,7
1,0
1,5
10,7

0,3
0,8
0,8
0,0
0,0
0,2
0,0
4,1

34,5

0,2
—
6,8
6,4
7,1
9,9
8,5
5,0
4,6
1,0
4,8
4,0
18,7
11,5
—
0,5
2,7
1,6
1,8
3,2
0,6
3,4

6,7
64,5
100,0
13,3
—
—
—
2,3

Grand Total

87 380,8

80 309,5

(1) Budget appropriations amended after taking account of transfers between budget headings, revenue in respect of services performed on behalf of outside
bodies, appropriations made available again following the refunding of payments on account and appropriations carried forward from previous year. The
latter explains the difference of EUR 1 411,1 million between the final appropriations in this Diagram and the total in Diagram I.

(2) Excluding the reuse of revenue for the current financial year and revenue carried over from the previous financial year, amounting to EUR 251,3 million.
(3) After distribution of provisional appropriations (Ch. B0-4 0): Ss. B3 (EUR 0,7 million), B5 (EUR 0,9 million), B7 (EUR 3,7 million).

XVI

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

1.12.2000

Diagram V
Payments made in 1999, by financial perspective heading
Note: Payments made in 1999 = payments against 1999 appropriations plus payments against carry-overs from 1998.

(Mio EUR and %)

Total: EUR 80 309,5 million

Key

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

Common agricultural policy

Structural operations

Internal policies

External action

Administrative expenditure

Reserves

Compensation

39 780,3

(49,5 %)

26 663,6

(33,2 %)

4 473,1

(5,6 %)

4 585,8

(5,7 %)

4 506,7

(5,6 %)

300,1

(0,4 %)

–

( 0  %)

Diagram VI
Payments made in 1999, in each Member State (1)
Note: Payments made in 1999 = payments against 1999 appropriations plus payments against carry-overs from 1998.

.

.

1
1
2
2
0
0
0

E
N

O

f
f
i
c
i
a
l

J
o
u
r
n
a
l

o
f

t
h
e

E
u
r
o
p
e
a
n
C
o
m
m
u
n
i
t
i
e
s

X
V

I
I

(1) This presentation does not imply any opinion on the presentation given by the Commission in its report of 17 July 2000 on the breakdown of operating expenditure by country. There is a technical difference in that the geographical breakdown

in the Commission presentation is based on payments made to the beneficiaries’ Member States whilst this diagram is based on the SINCOM2 data reflecting the countries where the expenditure effectively was realised.

(2) Including an amount of EUR 65,8 million paid to the European Investment Fund, the Publications Office and the Commission’s services.
(3) Including an amount of EUR 300,1 million paid by the Commission to the Guarantee Fund.

XVIII

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

1.12.2000

Diagram VII
Evolution and utilisation of appropriations for payments for the period 1995 to 1999, by
financial perspective heading

Financial perspective headings/financial year (for the definition
of headings, see Diagram IV)

Utilisation of appropriations

Final
appropri-
ations (1)

Payments

Carry-over to
next year

Cancellations

(Mio EUR)

Share of payments in the
total (payments and cancel-
lations) (2)

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d) =
(a) - (b) - (c)

(e) = (b)/((b) + (d))

1. Common agricultural policy

2. Structural operations

3. Internal policies

4. External action

5. Administrative expenditure

6. Reserves

7. Compensation

General budget - Total

1995
1996
1997
1998
1999

1995
1996
1997
1998
1999

1995
1996
1997
1998
1999

1995
1996
1997
1998
1999

1995
1996
1997
1998
1999

1995
1996
1997
1998
1999

1995
1996
1997
1998
1999

1995
1996
1997
1998
1999

36 913,9
40 816,7
41 187,9
39 941,4
40 451,7

24 121,3
25 758,6
26 426,1
28 643,4
30 657,7

4 703,2
5 335,3
5 371,3
5 246,8
5 242,7

4 257,4
4 642,7
4 678,3
4 515,6
5 091,8

4 358,6
4 540,8
4 739,9
4 941,0
5 090,9

996,0
997,0
1 202,0
1 154,0
846,0

1 547,0
764,0
212,0
99,0
—

76 897,4
82 855,1
83 817,5
84 541,2
87 380,8

34 497,7
39 080,9
40 623,2
38 810,0
39 780,3

19 292,0
24 426,8
26 059,2
28 366,0
26 663,6

4 004,5
4 544,4
4 934,7
4 878,5
4 473,1

3 449,4
3 804,8
3 992,0
4 067,7
4 585,8

3 873,9
3 962,5
4 129,2
4 219,4
4 506,7

250,8
235,4
286,1
272,4
300,1

1 547,0
701,0
212,0
99,0
—

66 915,2
76 755,7
80 236,4
80 713,0
80 309,5

51,7
426,9
82,4
415,5
138,4

4,3
36,4
—
204,9
3 748,4

173,6
160,2
182,3
163,5
413,8

146,2
225,8
49,8
198,4
273,6

355,3
453,6
432,4
580,7
445,0

—
—
—
—
—

—
—
—
—
—

2 364,5
1 308,8
482,3
715,9
533,0

4 825,0
1 295,5
366,9
72,5
245,8

525,1
630,7
254,2
204,7
355,8

661,9
612,1
636,5
249,6
232,4

129,4
124,7
178,3
140,9
139,3

745,3
761,6
915,9
881,6
545,9

—
63,0
—
—
—

731,1
1 302,9
746,9
1 563,0
5 019,2

9 251,2
4 796,5
2 834,2
2 265,2
2 052,1

(*)

(***)
(*)

(**)
(**)

(*)

(**)
(**)
(**)
(*)

(***)
(***)
(***)
(***)
(***)

(*)

(**)
(*)

93,6
96,8
98,8
98,2
98,7

80,0
95,0
98,6
99,7
99,1

88,4
87,8
95,1
96,0
92,6

83,9
86,1
86,2
94,2
95,2

96,8
96,9
95,9
96,8
97,0

25,2
23,6
23,8
23,6
35,5

100,0
91,8
100,0
100,0

87,9
94,1
96,6
97,3
97,5

(1) After supplementary receipts and transfers between budget headings.
(2) The indicator (e) expresses the evolution of the share of appropriations finally paid during the financial years. The difference in relation to 100 % expresses

the share of appropriations finally cancelled. Indicators (e) less than 95 % are marked (*), those less than 90 % (**), and those less than 80 % (***).

1.12.2000

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

XIX

ANNEX II

Reports and opinions adopted by the Court of Auditors during the last five years

The Court of Auditors is required by the terms of the
Treaties to produce an annual report. It is also required,
by the Treaties and other regulations, to produce annual
reports on certain Community bodies and activities.
The Treaties further give the Court the power to submit

observations on specific questions and to deliver opin-
ions at the request of one of the institutions. The reports
and opinions adopted by the Court during the last five
years are listed below.

Title

Publication

Reports and opinions adopted during 2000

Annual reports and statements of assurance

Twenty-third annual report concerning the financial year 1999:
— Report and statement of assurance on activities financed from the general budget
— Report and statement of assurance on the activities of the sixth, seventh and eighth EDFs

Published in this OJ

Special reports

Own resources

— Special Report No 17/2000 on the Commission’s control of

the reliability and

comparability of the Member States’ GNP data

In the process of being
published

Common agricultural policy

— Special Report No 1/2000 on classical swine fever

OJ C 85, 23.3.2000

— Special Report No 8/2000 on the Community measures for the disposal of butterfat

OJ C 132, 12.5.2000

— Special Report No 11/2000 on the support scheme for olive oil

— Special Report No 14/2000 on ‘greening the CAP’

OJ C 215, 27.7.2000

In the process of being
published

Structural measures

— Special Report No 3/2000 on the European Social Fund and the European Agricultural
Guidance and Guarantee Fund (Guidance Section) — Measures to assist the employment
of young persons

OJ C 100, 7.4.2000

— Special Report No 7/2000 on the International Fund for Ireland and the Special Support
Programme for Peace and Reconciliation in Northern Ireland and the border counties of
Ireland (1995 to 1999)

— Special Report No 15/2000 on the Cohesion Fund

OJ C 146, 25.5.2000

OJ C 279, 2.10.2000

Internal policies

— Special Report No 10/2000 on the public contracts awarded by the Joint Research Centre

OJ C 172, 21.6.2000

— Special Report No 9/2000 on trans-European networks (TEN) — telecommunications

OJ C 166, 15.6.2000

External aid

— Special Report No 2/2000 on aid given by the European Union to Bosnia-Herzegovina

with a view to restoring peace and the rule of law

— Special Report No 4/2000 on rehabilitation actions for ACP countries as an instrument to

prepare for normal development aid

OJ C 85, 23.3.2000

OJ C 113, 19.4.2000

http: //www.eca.eu.int

XX

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Official Journal of the European Communities

1.12.2000

Title

Publication

— Special Report No 12/2000 on the management by the Commission of European Union

support for the development of human rights and democracy in third countries

OJ C 230, 10.8.2000

— Special Report No 16/2000 on tendering procedures for service contracts under the Phare

and Tacis programmes

— Special Report No 18/2000 concerning the programme to supply agricultural products to

the Russian Federation

— Special Report No 19/2000 on the management by the Commission of the programme

of assistance to Palestinian society

In the process of being
published

In the process of being
published

In the process of being
published

Administrative expenditure

— Special Report No 5/2000 on the Court of Justice’s expenditure on buildings (Annexe

buildings ‘Erasmus’, ‘Thomas More’ and ‘Annexe C’)

— Special Report No 13/2000 on the expenditure of the European Parliament’s political

groups

Financial instruments and banking activities

OJ C 109, 14.4.2000

OJ C 181, 28.6.2000

— Special Report No 6/2000 concerning the granting by the Community of interest subsidies
on loans by the European Investment Bank to small and medium-sized enterprises,
through its temporary lending facility

OJ C 152, 31.5.2000

Special annual reports

Report on the operational efficiency of the management of the European Monetary Institute
and the European Central Bank for the financial year 1998

Report on the financial statements of the ECSC at 31 December 1999

Report on the financial statements of the Euratom Supply Agency

Report on the 1999 JET accounts

OJ C 133, 12.5.2000

In the process of being
published

Not published in OJ

Not published in OJ

Special Annual Report on the financial statements relating to the management by the
Secretary-General/High Representative of the Council of contracts concluded by him on
behalf of certain Member States and concerning the installation and the functioning of the
Help Desk Server of the Management Unit and of the Sirene Network Phase II (‘Schengen
contracts’) for the period 3 May to 31 December 1999

Not published in OJ

Report on the financial statements of the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal
Products (EAEMP — London) for the financial year ended 31 December 1999

Available on the Internet

Report on the financial statements of the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market
(OHIM, Alicante) for the financial year ended 31 December 1999

In the process of being
published

Report on the financial statements of the European Environment Agency (EEA, Copenhagen)
for the financial year ended 31 December 1999

In the process of being
published

Report on the financial statements of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work
(EASH, Bilbao) for the financial year ended 31 December 1999

In the process of being
published

Report on the financial statements of the European Training Foundation (ETF, Turin) for the
financial year ended 31 December 1999

In the process of being
published

Report on the financial statements of the Community Plant Variety Office (CPVO, Angers) for
the financial year ended 31 December 1999

In the process of being
published

Report on the financial statements of the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living
and Working Conditions (Dublin Foundation) for the financial year ended 31 December 1999

In the process of being
published

Report on the financial statements of the Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European
Union (TCBEU, Luxembourg) for the financial year ended 31 December 1999

In the process of being
published

Annual report on the ECSC for the financial year 1999

In the process of being
published

http: //www.eca.eu.int

1.12.2000

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

XXI

Title

Publication

Opinions

Opinion No 1/2000 on a proposal for a Council Regulation amending the Financial Regula-
tion of 21 December 1977 and separating the internal audit function from the ex ante finan-
cial control function (fifth paragraph of Article 24 of the Financial Regulation)

In the process of being
published

Opinion No 1/2000 on a proposal to amend the Financial Regulation of the Community Plant
Variety Office (CPVO, Angers)

Not published in OJ

Reports and opinions adopted during 1999

Annual reports and statements of assurance

Twenty-second annual report concerning the financial year 1998:
— Report and statement of assurance on the activities financed from the general budget
— Report and statement of assurance on the activities of the sixth, seventh and eighth EDFs

OJ C 349, 3.12.1999

Special reports

Own resources

— Special Report No 8/99 on securities and guarantees provided for in the Community

Customs Code to protect the collection of traditional own resources

OJ C 70, 10.3.2000

Common agricultural policy

— Special Report No 1/99 concerning the aid for the use of skimmed milk and skimmed-milk

powder as animal feed

— Special Report No 2/99 on the effects of the CAP reform in the cereals sector

OJ C 147, 27.5.1999

OJ C 192, 8.7.1999

Structural measures

— Special Report No 6/99 concerning the principle of additionality

— Special Report No 7/99 concerning the development of industrial sites

OJ C 68, 9.3.2000

OJ C 68, 9.3.2000

Internal policies

— Special Report No 9/99 concerning research activities in the field of agriculture and

fisheries — FAIR programme (‘Fisheries, agriculture and agro-industrial research’)

OJ C 92, 30.3.2000

External aid

— Special Report No 4/99 concerning financial aid to the overseas countries and territories

under the sixth and seventh EDFs

OJ C 276, 29.9.1999

— Special Report No 5/99 concerning Phare cross-border cooperation (1994 to 1998)

OJ C 48, 21.2.2000

Financial instruments and banking activities

— Special Report No 3/99 on the management and control of interest-rate subsidies by the

Commission

OJ C 217, 29.7.1999

Special annual reports

Report on the financial statements of the ECSC at 31 December 1998

Annual report on the ECSC for the financial year 1998

Report on the 1998 accounts of the Euratom Supply Agency

Report on the 1998 JET financial statements

OJ C 240, 25.8.1999

OJ C 338, 25.11.1999

Not published in OJ

Not published in OJ

Report on the financial statements of the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living
and Working Conditions (Dublin Foundation) for the financial year ended 31 December 1998

OJ C 372, 22.12.1999

http: //www.eca.eu.int

XXII

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

1.12.2000

Title

Publication

Report on the financial statements of the European Centre for the Development of Vocational
Training (Cedefop, Thessalonica) for the financial year ended 31 December 1998

OJ C 372, 22.12.1999

Report on the accounts of the European Schools for the financial year 1998

Not published in OJ

Report on the operational efficiency of the management of the European Monetary Institute
for the financial year 1997

OJ C 164, 10.6.1999

Report on the financial statements of the Community Plant Variety Office (CPVO, Angers) for
the financial year ended 31 December 1998

OJ C 372, 22.12.1999

Report on the financial statements of the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market
(OHIM, Alicante) for the financial year ended 31 December 1998

OJ C 372, 22.12.1999

Report on the financial statements of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work
(EASH, Bilbao) for the financial year ended 31 December 1998

OJ C 372, 22.12.1999

Report on the financial statements of the European Environment Agency (EEA, Copenhagen)
for the financial year ended 31 December 1998

OJ C 372, 22.12.1999

Report on the financial statements of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug
Addiction (EMCDDA, Lisbon) for the financial year ended 31 December 1998

OJ C 372, 22.12.1999

Report on the financial statements of the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal
Products (EAEMP, London) for the financial year ended 31 December 1998

OJ C 372, 22.12.1999

Report on the financial statements of the Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European
Union (TCBEU, Luxembourg) for the financial year ended 31 December 1998

OJ C 372, 22.12.1999

Report on the financial statements of the European Training Foundation (ETF, Turin) for the
financial year ended 31 December 1998

OJ C 372, 22.12.1999

Report on the financial statements of the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and
Xenophobia (Vienna) (period 1 May to 31 December 1998)

OJ C 372, 22.12.1999

Opinions

Opinion No 1/99 on a proposal for an amendment of the Financial Regulation of the
European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (OEDT, Lisbon)

Not published in OJ

Opinion No 2/99 on the amended proposal for a Council Regulation (EC, Euratom)
concerning investigations conducted by the Fraud Office

OJ C 154, 1.6.1999

Opinion No 3/99 on an amended proposal for a Council Regulation (EC, ECSC, Euratom)
amending the Financial Regulation of 21 December 1977applicable to the general budget of
the European Communities (proposal presented by the Commission in document
COM(1998) 676 final 98/0130 (CNS) of 20 November 1998)

OJC 154, 1.6.1999

Opinion No 4/99 on a proposal for an amendment to the Financial Regulation of the
European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EASH, Bilbao)

Not published in OJ

Opinion No 5/99 on the additional voluntary pension scheme and fund for Members of the
European Parliament

Not published in OJ

Opinion No 6/99 concerning the draft amendment of the Obnova Regulation with a view to
the creation of an agency for the reconstruction of Kosovo

Not published in OJ

Opinion No 7/99 concerning a proposal to amend the Financial Regulation of the Translation
Centre for the Bodies of the European Union (TCBEU, Luxembourg)

Not published in OJ

Opinion No 8/99 on a Council proposal for a decision concerning the European Union’s
system of own resources [document COM(1999) 333 final99/0139 (CNS)]

OJ C 310, 28.10.1999

Opinion No 9/99 on a proposal for a Council Regulation (EC) on budgetary discipline
[document COM(1999) 364 final 99/0151 (CNS)]

OJ C 334, 23.11.1999

http: //www.eca.eu.int

1.12.2000

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

XXIII

Title

Publication

Reports and opinions adopted during 1998

Annual reports and statements of assurance

Twenty-first annual report concerning the financial year 1997:
— Report and statement of assurance on the activities financed from the general budget
— Report and statement of assurance on the activities of the sixth and seventh EDFs

OJ C 349, 17.11.1998

Special Reports

Own resources

— Special Report No 6/98 concerning the assessment of the systems of resources based on

VAT and GNP

OJ C 241, 31.7.1998

— Special Report No 9/98 concerning the protection of the financial

interests of the

European Union in the field of VAT on intra-Community trade

OJ C 356, 20.11.1998

— Special Report No 13/98 concerning the use of risk-analysis techniques in customs control

and the clearance of goods

Common agricultural policy

OJ C 375, 3.12.1998

— Special Report No 2/98 on the Commission’s Decisions of 23 April 1997 and 30 July 1997
on the clearance of accounts for 1993 of guarantee expenditure for agriculture of the
European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF)

— Special Report No 4/98 on importation at reduced rate of levy into the Community and

disposal of New Zealand milk products and Swiss cheese

— Special Report No 19/98 concerning the Community financing of certain measures taken

as a result of the BSE crisis

— Special Report No 20/98 on the audit of physical checks of agricultural products receiving

export refunds

OJ C 121, 20.4.1998

OJ C 127, 24.4.1998 and
OJ C 191, 18.6.1998

OJ C 383, 9.12.1998

OJ C 375, 3.12.1998

— Special Report No 21/98 concerning the accreditation and certification procedure as

applied to the 1996 clearance of accounts for EAGGF-Guarantee expenditure

OJ C 389, 14.12.1998

Structural measures

— Special Report No 3/98 concerning the implementation by the Commission of EU policy

and action as regards water pollution

— Special Report No 12/98 on the implementation of the operational programmes relating

to the promotion of rural development in the Objective 5b areas

— Special Report No 14/98 on the closure of the forms of ERDF assistance

— Special Report No 15/98 on the assessment of Structural Fund interventions for the

periods 1989 to 1993 and 1994 to 1999

— Special Report No 16/98 on the implementation of appropriations for structural

operations for the programming period 1994 to 1999

— Special Report No 18/98 concerning the Community measures to encourage the creation

of joint enterprises in the fisheries sector

OJ C 191, 18.6.1998

OJ C 356, 20.11.1998

OJ C 368, 27.11.1998

OJ C 347, 16.11.1998

OJ C 347, 16.11.1998

OJ C 393, 16.12.1998

— Special Report No 22/98 concerning the management by the Commission of the

implementation of measures to promote equal opportunities for women and men

OJ C 393, 16.12.1998

Internal policies

— Special Report No 17/98 on support for renewable energy sources in the shared-cost
actions of the JOULE-Thermie programme and the pilot actions of the Altener programme

OJ C 356, 20.11.1998

— Special Report No 23/98 concerning the information and communication measures

managed by the Commission

OJ C 393, 16.12.1998

http: //www.eca.eu.int

XXIV

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

1.12.2000

Title

Publication

External aid
— Special Report No 1/98 in respect of bilateral financial and technical cooperation with

non-member Mediterranean countries

OJ C 98, 31.3.1998

— Special Report No 5/98 on reconstruction in former Yugoslavia (1996 to 1997)

OJ C 241, 31.7.1998

— Special Report No 7/98 in respect of the European Community development aid

programme regarding South Africa (1986 to 1996)

OJ C 241, 31.7.1998

— Special Report No 11/98 concerning the development of the Phare and Tacis private sector
for the 1991 to 1996 period (programmes in support of SMEs, regional development and
the reorganisation of businesses)

— Special Report No 24/98 concerning risk capital operations financed from the resources

of the European Development Funds

OJ C 335, 3.11.1998

OJ C 389, 14.12.1998

— Special Report No 25/98 concerning operations undertaken by the European Union in the
field of nuclear safety in central and eastern Europe (CEEC) and in the new independent
States (NIS) (period 1990 to 1997)

OJ C 35, 9.2.1999

Administrative expenditure
— Special Report No 8/98 concerning the Commission departments specifically involved in
the fight against fraud, notably the Unit for the Coordination of Fraud Prevention (UCLAF)

— Special Report No 10/98 concerning the expenses and allowances of the Members of the

European Parliament

OJ C 230, 22.7.1998

OJ C 243, 3.8.1998

Special annual reports

Report on the financial statements of
31 December 1997

the European Coal and Steel Community at

Annual report on the ECSC for the financial year 1997

Report on the 1997 accounts of the Euratom Supply Agency

Report on the 1997 JET financial statements

Report on the financial statements and management of the European Foundation for the
Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Dublin Foundation) for the financial year
ended 31 December 1997)

Report on the financial statements and management of the European Centre for the
Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop, Thessalonica) for the financial year ended
31 December 1997

Report on the accounts of the European Schools for the financial year 1997

OJ C 255, 13.8.1998

OJ C 352, 18.11.1998

Not published in OJ

Not published in OJ

OJ C 406, 28.12.1998

OJ C 406, 28.12.1998

Not published in OJ

Report on the financial statements of the Community Plant Variety Office (CPVO, Angers) for
the financial year ended 31 December 1997

OJ C 406, 28.12.1998

Report on the financial statements of the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market
(OHIM, Alicante) for the financial year ended 31 December 1997

OJ C 406, 28.12.1998

Report on the financial statements of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work
(EASH, Bilbao) for the financial year ended 31 December 1997

OJ C 406, 28.12.1998

Report on the financial statements of the European Environment Agency (EEA, Copenhagen)
for the financial year ended 31 December 1997

OJ C 406, 28.12.1998

Report on the financial statements of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug
Addiction (EMCDDA, Lisbon) for the financial year ended 31 December 1997

OJ C 406, 28.12.1998

Report on the financial statements of the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal
Products (EAEMP, London) for the financial year ended 31 December 1997

OJ C 406, 28.12.1998

Report on the financial statements of the Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European
Union (TCBEU, Luxembourg) for the financial year ended 31 December 1997

OJ C 406, 28.12.1998

Report on the financial statements of the European Training Foundation (ETF, Turin) for the
financial year ended 31 December 1997

OJ C 406, 28.12.1998

http: //www.eca.eu.int

1.12.2000

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

XXV

Title

Publication

Opinions

Opinion No 1/98 concerning a proposal for a Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) implement-
ing Decision 94/728/EC, Euratom on the system of the European Communities’ own resources

OJ C 145, 9.5.1998

Opinion No 2/98 on a proposal for a Council Regulation (Euratom, ECSC, EC) amending
Regulation (Euratom, ECSC, EEC) No 549/69 determining the categories of officials and other
servants of the European Communities to whom the provisions of Article 12, the second
paragraph of Article 13 and Article 14 of the Protocol on the Privileges and Immunities of
the Communities apply

OJ C 191, 18.6.1998

Opinion No 3/98 on the draft Financial Regulation applicable to the European Monitoring
Centre for Racism and Xenophobia

Not published in OJ

Opinion No 4/98 on a proposal for a Council Regulation (EC) amending Regulation (EEC,
Euratom, ECSC) No 259/68 laying down the Staff Regulations of officials and the Conditions
of employment of other servants of the European Communities, and the other regulations
applicable to them with regard to the establishment of remuneration, pensions and other
financial entitlement in euro

Opinion No 5/98 on a proposal for a Council Regulation (EC) amending Regulation (EEC,
Euratom, ECSC) No 259/68 laying down the Staff Regulations applicable to officials and the
Conditions of employment of other servants of the European Communities (subject:
weighting)

Opinion No 6/98 on a proposal for a Council Regulation (EC) amending Regulation (EEC,
Euratom, ECSC) No 259/68 laying down the Staff Regulations applicable to officials and the
Conditions of employment of other servants of the European Communities (subject:
parliamentary assistants)

Opinion No 7/98 on the effectiveness of the methods of recovery applied by the ESC and on
the new system introduced by the ESC for the administration and reimbursement of travel
expenses

Opinion No 8/98 on a proposal for a Council Regulation (EC) establishing an agrimonetary
system denominated in euro (reference 98/0214) and a proposal for a Council Regulation (EC)
relating to transitional measures concerning the introduction of the use of the euro under the
common agricultural policy (reference 98/0215)

Opinion No 9/98 on the proposal for a Council Regulation (EC, ECSC, Euratom) amending
the Financial Regulation of 21 December 1977 applicable to the general budget of the
European Communities (proposal submitted by the Commission in document COM (1998)
206 final of 3 April 1998)

Not published in OJ

Not published in OJ

Not published in OJ

Not published in OJ

OJ C 368, 27.11.1998

OJ C 7, 11.1.1999

Opinion No 10/98 on certain proposals for regulations within the Agenda 2000 framework

OJ C 401, 22.12.1998

Opinion No 11/98 on a proposal for an amendment of Regulation No CB-1-95 of
27 February 1996 of the Budget Committee of the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal
Market (Alicante) (Financial Regulation)

Not published in OJ

Reports and opinions adopted during 1997

Annual report and statements of assurance

Twentieth annual report and statements of assurance (general budget and EDF) concerning the
financial year 1996

OJ C 348, 18.11.1997

Special reports

Common Agricultural Policy

— Special Report No 1/97 on the Commission Decisions of 10 April 1996 and 20 November
1996 on the clearance of the accounts for the financial year 1992 and certain expenditure
for the financial year 1993

OJ C 52, 21.2.1997

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Official Journal of the European Communities

1.12.2000

Title

Publication

— Special Report No 4/97 on the audit of certain aspects of German reunification measures

involving EAGGF compensation payments and export refunds

OJ C 144, 13.5.1997

— Special Report No 5/97 on management of the Community cereals trade involving export

refunds, special import arrangements and regional aid schemes

OJ C 159, 26.5.1997

External aid

— Special Report No 2/97 concerning humanitarian aid from the European Union between

1992 and 1995

— Special Report No 3/97 concerning the decentralised system for the implementation of the

Phare programme

OJ C 143, 12.5.1997

OJ C 175, 9.6.1997

— Special Report No 6/97 concerning Tacis subsidies allocated to the Ukraine

OJ C 171, 5.6.1997

Administrative expenditure

— Special Report No 7/97 on the audit of the European Association for Cooperation (EAC)

Not published in OJ

Report on the financial statements of
31 December 1996

the European Coal and Steel Community at

Special annual reports

Annual Report on the ECSC for the financial year 1996

Report on the 1996 accounts of the Euratom Supply Agency

Report on the 1996 JET financial statements

OJ C 242, 8.8.1997

OJ C 380, 15.12.1997

Not published in OJ

Not published in OJ

Report on the financial statements and management for the financial year 1996 of the
European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Dublin)

OJ C 393, 29.12.1997

Report on the financial statements and the management for the financial year 1996 of the
European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop, Thessalonica)

OJ C 393, 29.12.1997

Report on the accounts of the European Schools for the financial year 1996

Not published in OJ

Report on the operational efficiency of the management of the European Monetary Institute
for the financial year 1996

OJ C 42, 9.2.1998

Report on the financial statements of the Community Plant Variety Office (Angers) for the
financial years 1995 and 1996

OJ C 393, 29.12.1997

Report on the financial statements of the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market
(Alicante) for the financial year 1996

OJ C 393, 29.12.1997

Report on the financial statements of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work
(Bilbao) for the financial year 1996

OJ C 393, 29.12.1997

Report on the financial statements of the European Environment Agency (Copenhagen) for
the financial year 1996

OJ C 393, 29.12.1997

Report on the financial statements of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug
Addiction (Lisbon) for the financial year 1996

OJ C 393, 29.12.1997

Report on the financial statements of the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal
Products (London) for the financial year 1996

OJ C 393, 29.12.1997

Report on the financial statements of the Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European
Union (Luxembourg) for the financial years 1995 and 1996

OJ C 393, 29.12.1997

Report on the financial statements of the European Training Foundation (Turin) for the
financial year 1996

OJ C 393, 29.12.1997

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Official Journal of the European Communities

XXVII

Title

Publication

Opinions

Opinion No 1/97 on the conditions governing the implementation of expenditure under the
common foreign and security policy (CFSP)

Not published in OJ

Opinion No 2/97 concerning a proposal for a Council Regulation (Euratom, ECSC, EC)
determining the powers and obligations of agents authorised by the Commission pursuant to
Article 18(2) and (3) of Regulation (EEC, Euratom) No 1552/89

Opinion No 3/97 on the draft Financial Regulation applicable to development finance
cooperation under the fourth ACP-EC Convention amended by the Agreement of
4 November 1995

Opinion No 4/97 on a proposal for a Council Regulation (Euratom, ECSC, EC) amending the
Financial Regulation of 21 December 1977 applicable to the general budget of the European
Communities (document COM(96) 351 final)

Opinion No 5/97 on a proposal for a Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) amending Council
regulation (EEC, Euratom) No 1552/89 implementing Council Decision 94/728/EC, Euratom
on the system of the European Communities’ own resources

OJ C 175, 9.6.1997

OJ C 223, 22.7.1997

OJ C 57, 23.2.1998

OJ C 15, 19.1.1998

Opinion No 6/97 on the draft Financial Regulation of the Community Plant Variety Office
(Angers)

Not published in OJ

Reports and opinions adopted during 1996

Annual report and statements of assurance

Nineteenth annual report concerning the financial year 1995
Statements of assurance (general budget and EDF) concerning the financial year 1995

OJ C 340, 12.11.1996
OJ C 395, 31.12.1996

Special reports

Structural measures

— Special Report No 3/96 on tourist policy and the promotion of tourism

OJ C 17, 16.1.1997

External aid

— Special Report No 1/96 on the MED programmes

— Special Report No 2/96 concerning the administrator’s accounts and administration of

Mostar by the European Union (EUAM)

OJ C 240, 19.8.1996

OJ C 287, 30.9.1996

— Special Report No 4/96 on the accounts of the European electoral unit set up by the joint
foreign and security policy action concerning the observation of the Palestinian elections

OJ C 57, 24.2.1997

— Reports on operations financed from contributions from non-member States which are

members of the European Economic Area for the financial years 1994 and 1995

Not published in OJ

Special annual reports

Report on the financial statements of
31 December 1995

the European Coal and Steel Community at

Annual report on the ECSC for the financial year 1995

Report on the 1995 accounts of the Euratom Supply Agency

Report on the 1995 JET financial statements

OJ C 251, 29.8.1996

OJ C 377, 13.12.1996

Not published in OJ

Not published in OJ

Report on the 1995 accounts of the European Foundation for the improvement of Living and
Working Conditions (Dublin)

OJ C 81, 13.3.1997

Report on the 1995 accounts of the European Centre for the Development of Vocational
Training (Thessalonica)

Report on the accounts of the European Schools for the financial year 1995

OJ C 81, 13.3.1997

Not published in OJ

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Official Journal of the European Communities

1.12.2000

Title

Publication

Report on the operational efficiency of the management of the European Monetary Institute
for the financial year 1994

OJ C 394, 31.12.1996

Report on the operational efficiency of the management of the European Monetary Institute
for the financial year 1995

OJ C 394, 31.12.1996

Report on the financial statements of the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market for
the period 1 September 1994 to 31 December 1995

OJ C 81, 13.3.1997

Report on the financial statements of the European Environment Agency for the period
1 September 1994 to 31 December 1995

OJ C 81, 13.3.1997

Report on the financial statements of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug
Addiction for the period 1 November 1994 to 31 December 1995

OJ C 81, 13.3.1997

Report on the financial statements of the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal
Products for the period 1 September 1994 to 31 December 1995

OJ C 81, 13.3.1997

Report on the financial statements of the European Training Foundation for the period
1 November 1994 to 31 December 1995

OJ C 81, 13.3.1997

Opinions

Opinion No 1/96 concerning the proposal for a financial regulation applicable to the
Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union

Not published in OJ

Technical opinion on the financial commitments for the Court of Justice’s buildings

Not published in OJ

Opinion No 2/96 concerning the proposal for a financial regulation applicable to the
European Agency for Safety and Health at Work

Not published in OJ

Opinion No 3/96 concerning the proposal for a Council Decision setting up a European
guarantee fund to promote cinema and television production

O JC 338, 11.11.1996

Opinion No 4/96 concerning the management of data-processing resources in the European
Parliament

Not published in OJ

Opinion No 5/96 concerning a draft amendment to the Financial Regulation of the European
Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products

Not published in OJ

Opinion No 6/96 concerning a draft amendment to the Financial Regulation of the European
Environment Agency

Not published in OJ

Reports and opinions adopted during 1995

Annual Report and Statements of Assurance

Eighteenth annual report concerning the financial year 1994
Statements of Assurance (general budget and EDF) concerning the financial year 1994

OJ C 303, 14.11.1995
OJ C 352, 30.12.1995

Special reports

Common Agricultural Policy

— Special Report No 3/95 on the implementation of the intervention measures provided for
by the common organisation of the market in the sheep meat and goat meat sector

OJ C 285, 28.10.1995

Structural measures

— Special Report No 1/95 on the Cohesion Financial Instrument

OJ C 59, 8.3.1995

— Special Report No 4/95 on the management of EAGGF-Guidance expenditure in Portugal

from 1988 to 1993

External aid

OJ C 345, 22.12.1995

— Special Report No 2/95 concerning the Stabex fund in the context of the first financial

Protocol of the fourth Lomé Convention

OJ C 167, 3.7.1995

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Official Journal of the European Communities

XXIX

Title

Publication

Administrative expenditure
— Special Report No 5/95 concerning the signing without prior approval of the contract for

the building of the European Parliament’s new chamber in Strasbourg

OJ C 27, 31.1.1996

Special annual reports

the European Coal and Steel Community at

Report on the financial statements of
31 December 1994
Annual report on the ECSC for the financial year 1994
Report on the 1994 accounts of the Euratom Supply Agency
Report on the 1994 JET financial statements
Report on the 1994 accounts of the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and
Working Conditions (Dublin)
Report on the 1994 accounts of the European Centre for the Development of Vocational
Training (Thessalonica)
Report on the accounts of the European Schools for the financial year 1994

OJ C 244, 21.9.1995
OJ C 329, 7.12.1995
Not published in OJ
Not published in OJ

OJ C 354, 30.12.1995

OJ C 354, 30.12.1995
Not published in OJ

Opinions

Opinion No 1/95 on the draft Financial Regulation applicable to the European Training
Foundation
Opinion No 2/95 on the draft Financial Regulation in respect of the European Monitoring
Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction
Opinion No 3/95 on the draft Financial Regulation in respect of the Office for Harmonisation
in the Internal Market
Opinion No 4/95 on the draft Financial Regulation in respect of the European Environment
Agency
Opinion No 5/95 on a proposal to amend Article 24 of the statute governing teaching staff
of the European Schools
Opinion No 6/95 on the Commission’s clearance decision for the financial year 1991
Opinion No 7/95 on the draft Financial Regulation for the European Agency for the
Evaluation of Medicinal Products

Not published in OJ

Not published in OJ

Not published in OJ

Not published in OJ

Not published in OJ
OJ C 10, 15.1.1996

Not published in OJ

Observations on the proposal for a Regulation (EC, Euratom) on the protection of the
Communities’ financial interests and on the proposal for an act establishing a convention for
the protection of the Communities’ financial interests (COM(94) 214 final, of 15 June 1994)

Not published in OJ

http: //www.eca.eu.int