European Parliament resolution on the estimates of revenue and expenditure of Parliament for the financial year 2002 (2001/2062(BUD))
Date: 2001-05-17
Institutions: Committee on Budgets, European Parliament
Subjects: European Parliament, budget estimate, general budget (EU)

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33.
Notes with concern, that there is an overall EU budgetary tendency within the COM in oil and fats
to lower the relative weight of olive oil support schemes; considers the importance of olive oil to overall
rural policy objectives to outweigh the importance of any oilseed production, and invites the Commission
to give due consideration to this fact;

34.
Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission and the European
Court of Auditors, as well as the governments, parliaments and Courts of Auditors of the Member States
concerned.

10. Estimates of European Parliament

A5-0166/2001

European Parliament resolution on the estimates of revenue and expenditure of Parliament for the
financial year 2002 (2001/2062(BUD))

The European Parliament,

(cid:129) having regard to Article 272 of the EC Treaty,

(cid:129) having regard to its resolution of 3 April 2001 on the guidelines for the 2002 budgetary procedure:
Section II (cid:129) Council; Section IV (cid:129) Court of Justice; Section V (cid:129) Court of Auditors; Section VI (cid:129)
Economic and Social Committee; Section VII (cid:129) Committee of the Regions, and Section VIII (cid:129)
Ombudsman and on the European Parliament(cid:146)s preliminary draft estimates (Section I) for 2002
(2000/2325(BUD)) (1),

(cid:129) having regard to the Secretary-General(cid:146)s report to the Bureau on the preliminary draft estimates of the

European Parliament for the 2002 financial year,

(cid:129) having regard to the preliminary draft estimates established by the Bureau on 2 April 2001 pursuant

to Rules 22(5) and (6) and 183 of its Rules of Procedure,

(cid:129) having regard to the provisions of the Financial Regulation, the declaration on the presentation of an
analytical budget, and the interinstitutional conclusions on the rationalisation of administrative expen-
diture (2),

(cid:129) having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgets (A5-0166/2001).

Economic and general framework

A. whereas economic forecasts project 2,5 % growth in the European Union(cid:146)s economy for 2002 and an
inflation rate of 2 %; whereas the European Parliament must continue a policy of budgetary rigour,

B. whereas the ceiling in heading 5 ((cid:145)Administrative expenditure(cid:146)) of the financial perspective is fixed at
€ 5 179 million (after technical adjustments) and whereas the margin under the financial perspective
will be increasingly under pressure as a result of additional needs in the European institutions,

C. whereas Parliament has decided to budget 20 % of heading 5 of the financial perspective in its esti-
mates, which corresponds to a total of € 1 035 million and to an increase of 4,8 % over the 2001
budget; whereas the decision to budgetise the full margin available to it in heading 5 enables Parlia-
ment to proceed with investments in buildings property that are financially sound and beneficial in
the short and long term,

D. whereas the 2002 estimates are based on the following parameters: 40 working weeks, 12 ordinary
part-sessions, 6 additional part-sessions, a duration of 4 days of part-sessions in Strasbourg, 6 % inter-

(1)
(cid:145)Texts Adopted(cid:146), Item 10.
(2) OJ C 308, 20.11.1995, p. 122.

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est rate, 2,7 % adjustment of salaries and 6,5 % standard abatement; whereas the Secretary-General is
called on to present updated estimates in time for Parliament(cid:146)s first reading if parameters change,

E. whereas Parliament, in the light of the Treaty of Amsterdam, its ever increasing political importance
and the coming enlargement, should single-mindedly press ahead with further modernising and
increasing the efficiency of its working methods and structures,

Enlargement

1.
Underlines the fact that preparations for the forthcoming enlargement will pose a challenge to all
institutions and will have a major impact on heading 5 ((cid:145)Administrative expenditure(cid:146)) of the financial
perspective; recalls that the Interinstitutional Agreement of 6 May 1999 on budgetary discipline and
improvement of the budgetary procedure provides that the European Parliament and the Council will
jointly adjust the financial perspective to take account of the expenditure requirement resulting from this
enlargement;

2.
Recognises that preparing Parliament and its Administration for enlargement by the next European
election in 2004 requires extremely careful examination of all additional needs that may arise; welcomes
the fact that, in this connection, the Bureau has tasked a Bureau working party with analysing the necess-
ary Parliament preparations for enlargement on the basis of a three-year plan which Parliament is endea-
vouring to have circulated before 30 June 2001, thus enabling the results, in so far as they affect the
financial year 2002, to be incorporated into current budget deliberations;

Takes note of the Bureau(cid:146)s working assumption that Parliament should be prepared to welcome new
3.
Members of 12 candidate countries by 2004; considers it imperative that Parliament(cid:146)s working methods
and the allocation of resources be optimised and the efficiency of the Administration further improved
with a view to enlargement;

4.
Insists that Parliament must define what its core activities and priorities are and carry out the necess-
ary reforms with a view to enlargement; takes the view that it is essential to inform in situ the citizens of
the candidate countries about enlargement and Parliament(cid:146)s activities before accession; awaits with interest
the results of the Bureau working party on the question of setting up permanent information offices and a
report from the Secretary-General on the full administrative and operational consequences thereof in good
time for its deliberations in autumn 2001; instructs its Secretary-General to explore, in the process, all
possibilities for cooperation with the Commission with a view to reducing duplication of effort;

5.
Instructs the Bureau to examine, within the framework of the three-year plan to prepare for enlarge-
ment, the possibilities for allowing Members of Parliament of the candidate countries with whom negoti-
ations have been opened to be involved in the work of its parliamentary committees;

6.
Takes the view that the 2002 budget must allow its Administration to initiate preparatory measures
for enlargement (inter alia further training on the spot), including the linguistic sector; insists that those
measures should be in line with the decisions taken by the budgetary authority; refuses to accept recruit-
ment of officials from individual candidate countries before accession treaties are concluded; calls on its
Bureau and its Secretary-General to cooperate closely with the Commission on the preparations for
enlargement; notes that Parliament will have to be prepared to cover at least minimum democratic require-
ments for each new Member State as far as translation is concerned; recognises also that there is room for
further improvements as far as the interpretation services are concerned;

7.
Is prepared, under the circumstances, to consider the budgetary implications of preparations for
enlargement, in so far as they affect the financial year 2002, as part of the budget deliberations in October
2001;

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Green housekeeping

8. Welcomes the Bureau(cid:146)s proposal to enter an amount of € 300 000 against Article 260 ((cid:145)Limited con-
sultations, studies and surveys, STOA programme(cid:146)) earmarked for an eco-audit, in accordance with Parlia-
ment(cid:146)s resolution on the guidelines for 2002; stresses that Parliament must commit itself to participate in
EMAS (Regulation on a Community Eco-Management and Audit Scheme) and take all the necessary steps
to comply with it;

Buildings policy

9. Welcomes the Bureau(cid:146)s proposal to enter a reserve for property investments in Article 209 ((cid:145)Pro-
visional appropriation to cover the institution(cid:146)s property investments(cid:146)) for the accelerated repayment of
buildings, as this will continue to produce major savings for the taxpayer; can agree, as a financially
sound measure, to accelerated funding of the Louise Weiss Building in Strasbourg before the full impact
of enlargement-related expenditure in Parliament(cid:146)s section of the budget takes effect, as advice from Par-
liament(cid:146)s Legal Service confirms that these arrangements will not pre-empt any future political decisions,
nor will it have any effect on the current legal situation;

10.
Reiterates that all options must be carefully examined in Brussels to prepare Parliament(cid:146)s building
stock for enlargement; insists that the relevant political decisions must be guided by the principles of
transparency, legality and cost-effectiveness and may only be taken after a call for expressions of interest
has been carried out;

11.
Notes the Bureau(cid:146)s proposal to increase appropriations against Article 204 ((cid:145)Fitting-out of premises(cid:146))
to finance inter alia renovation work in the Schuman Building in Luxembourg and the Winston Churchill
Building in Strasbourg; considers that the need for the requested appropriations has not been sufficiently
established; decides, therefore, to place an amount of € 700 000 against Article 204 in the reserve; points
out that the release of these appropriations can be considered at first reading, provided that the necessary
information is submitted in good time to the budgetary authority;

Statute for Members of Parliament

12.
Hopes that Parliament and Council will adopt a Statute for Members of the European Parliament as
soon as possible; recognises that the statute for Members may in all probability not come into effect in the
course of the financial year 2002; agrees therefore to enter a token entry in Chapter 102 ((cid:145)Reserve for the
Statute for Members(cid:146)) in order to provide a transparent budget;

13.

Hopes that it will adopt a Statute for Members(cid:146) Assistants;

Staff policy

14.
Regrets that the European institutions are still lagging behind in comparison with best practice in
some Member States as regards non-discrimination measures; takes the view that a modern civil service
ought to ensure that equal treatment within the meaning of Article 13 of the Treaty is well established in
its staff policy; instructs its Secretary-General to submit a report by 1 September 2001 on what measures
Parliament can take on its own initiative, in parallel to the measures that may be decided upon in the
context of the revision of the Staff Regulations;

15.
Authorises expenditure for additional staff amounting to € 909 746 and places an amount of
€ 59 902 in the reserve; considers that the following posts could be financed with this envelope: 2 A3, 7
A7, 9 B3, 7 B5 and 4 C5 (1 A7 and 1 B5 in the reserve); expects to be informed by the Bureau on its
decision as regards the establishment plan and the corresponding allocation of posts;

16.
Agrees to the provision of the necessary funding to create 12 temporary B5 posts in the political
group secretariats to meet the political groups(cid:146) requirements which have consistently grown as a result of
the entry into force of the Treaty of Amsterdam and the increase in the European Parliament(cid:146)s political
significance;

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17.
Has decided to consider all the conversion of posts during the budget deliberations in autumn
2001; instructs its Secretary-General to provide additional information to the proposed conversions before
1 July 2001;

18. Welcomes the latest measures proposed by the Secretary-General as regards Parliament(cid:146)s staff mobil-
ity policy, which aim at giving junior officials the opportunity to gather relevant experience in different
sections of Parliament with increased mobility, while allowing the institution to benefit more from senior
officials(cid:146) expertise with longer mobility thresholds; considers, nevertheless, that mobility policy should
continue to include all staff in order to develop a flexible and dynamic service;

19.
Reiterates also that the loss of human capital as a result of mobility still remains to be addressed
systematically; instructs its Secretary-General to present a comprehensive training policy for Parliament(cid:146)s
staff by 1 September 2001 which takes into account the results of the interim external report on the
working methods and staff structure of Parliament(cid:146)s Administration; considers that the training measures
taken so far are not sufficient to provide Members with the best possible assistance and know-how;

Miscellaneous

20.
Notes that the current contract with external transport companies are subject to annual renewal;
notes also that the cost of providing transport for Members by external companies in Strasbourg and
Brussels has increased considerably over the last years; recalls that the institutions have been invited in
its above-mentioned resolution on the 2002 guidelines to present mobility plans; instructs its Bureau in
this context, to examine also alternative options for transportation of Members, in order to adopt a more
cost-effective and environmentally sustainable transportation system; insists, in the meantime, that the
current rules governing the transportation of Members are strictly implemented;

Takes note of the Bureau(cid:146)s proposal to enter € 800 000 in Item 1840 ((cid:145)Current operating expendi-
21.
ture(cid:146)) in Article 184 ((cid:145)Restaurants and canteens(cid:146)); is of the opinion that an amount of € 450 000 shall
be earmarked to cover the cost of geographical dispersion of Parliament(cid:146)s activities and an amount of
€ 350 000 as a cash-buffer;

22.
Instructs its Bureau to revise the rules concerning access to the canteens and restaurants of Parlia-
ment as a measure to further improve the operational result of the sector; instructs its Administration to
submit annually before 30 April a report on the sector and on the measures to be taken to improve the
operational result;

23.
Instructs its Administration to achieve further progress towards a reduction of the overall cost of
missions of staff between the three working places of Parliament; decides, therefore, to enter an amount of
€ 1 million against Item 1301 ((cid:145)Mission expenses(cid:146)) in the reserve; recalls that an amount of € 4 546 000
was placed in the reserve in the 2001 budget, pending the submission of a report on measures aimed at a
further reduction in the cost of missions;

Has decided to increase the appropriation against Article 253 ((cid:145)Miscellaneous expenditure on the

24.
organisation of and participation in conferences, congresses and meetings(cid:146)) by € 300 000;

25.
Instructs the Conference of Presidents to take the budgetary consequences into account before
deciding on the annual work programme of interparliamentary delegations and delegations to Joint Parlia-
mentary Committees; insists that ad hoc delegations should only be authorised in very exceptional circum-
stances which could not have been foreseen in the annual work programme and provided that the costs
remain within the given budgetary envelope; instructs the Conference of Presidents, in view of the forth-
coming mid-term review of Parliament(cid:146)s committee structure, to examine in that context the mission
statement of interparliamentary delegations and delegations to Joint Parliamentary Committees;

Takes the view that there is room for further productivity increases and further specialisation in the
26.
translation services of all
including Parliament(cid:146)s; agrees that best practice in some sectors
should be taken as a performance target for all; considers also that the revision of Parliament(cid:146)s working

institutions,

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methods should lead to a reduction of the overall volume of pages to be translated; decides to place
€ 1 million against Item 1872 ((cid:145)Other services and work sent out for translation and typing(cid:146)) in the reserve;
points out that these appropriations may only be released if the need for them is duly demonstrated;

Reserves its position as regards the appropriations requested until Parliament(cid:146)s first reading; agrees
27.
nevertheless to a total amount of € 1 035 000 000 for the estimates under the 2002 budget, which repre-
sents 20 % of heading 5 ((cid:145)Administrative expenditure(cid:146)) of the financial perspective, as specified in the
Annex;

28.

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and the Commission.

*

*

*

11. Situation in Algeria

B5-0350, 0361, 0366, 0368, 0373 and 0384/2001

European Parliament resolution on the repression in Kabylia

The European Parliament,

(cid:129) recalling its previous resolutions on Algeria,

(cid:129) having regard to the Barcelona Declaration,

(cid:129) having regard to its previous resolutions based on the annual reports on human rights in the world,

A. deeply concerned at the large number of Algerians killed by the public security forces during the

demonstrations in the Kabyl region in Algeria,

B.

aware of the enormous economic and social problems underlying the peaceful demonstrations, includ-
ing the cultural and language demands of the Berber population of Kabylia,

C. whereas the Algerian President, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, has announced the setting-up of a committee of
inquiry and the National People(cid:146)s Assembly has also announced the constitution of a parliamentary
committee of inquiry,

D. underlining that despite efforts made by President Bouteflika, democratic political parties and large
sectors of civil society, Algeria has still not achieved national reconciliation and is still ravaged by
terrorists, repressive operations and human rights abuses,

E.

concerned at the worsening social and economic situation,

F. whereas the government has planned the adoption of new measures restricting the rights of the

media; concerned at the suspension of funding to large numbers of citizens(cid:146) associations;

G. pointing out that Algeria and the EU are negotiating a Euro-Mediterranean agreement,

Condemns the killing of peaceful demonstrators in Kabylia and expresses its solidarity with the

1.
families of the victims;

2. Welcomes the decisions of President Bouteflika and the National People(cid:146)s Assembly to set up com-
mittees of inquiry into the causes of the violent clashes;

Hopes that these committees of inquiry will be put in place as soon as possible and that they will

3.
have the necessary means to carry out their work;