European Parliament resolution on Draft amending budget No 4/2005 of the European Union for the financial year 2005 - Section III - Commission (11220/2005 - C6-0239/2005 - 2005/2079(BUD))
Date: 2005-09-07
Institutions: Committee on Budgets, European Parliament
Subjects: European Commission, aid policy, amending budget, draft budget (EU), economic reconstruction, financial year, natural disaster

C 193 E/194

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

17.8.2006

Wednesday 7 September 2005

P6_TA(2005)0326

Draft amending budget No 4/2005

European Parliament resolution on Draft amending budget No 4/2005 of the European Union for
the financial year 2005 — Section III — Commission (11220/2005 — C6-0239/2005 — 2005/2079
(BUD))

The European Parliament,

— having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 272(4),

penultimate subparagraph, thereof,

— having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community, and in particular

Article 177 thereof,

— having regard to Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002 on the Financial
Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities (1), and in particular Arti-
cles 37 and 38 thereof,

— having regard to the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2005, as finally

adopted on 16 December 2004 (2),

— having regard to the Interinstitutional Agreement of 6 May 1999 between the European Parliament, the
Council and the Commission on budgetary discipline and improvement of the budgetary procedure (3),

— having regard to the decision of the European Parliament and of the Council of 7 September 2005 on
the mobilisation of the flexibility instrument in favour of the rehabilitation and reconstruction assist-
ance to Tsunami affected countries according to point 24 of the Interinstitutional Agreement of 6 May
1999,

— having regard to Preliminary draft amending budget No 3/2005 for the financial year 2005, which the

Commission presented on 27 April 2005 (SEC(2005)0548),

— having regard to Draft amending budget No 4/2005, which the Council established on 15 July 2005

(11220/2005 — C6-0239/2005),

— having regard to Rule 69 of and Annex IV to its Rules of Procedure,

— having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgets (A6-0255/2005),

A. whereas the European Union should fulfil its pledge of EUR 350 million for rehabilitation and recon-
struction measures following the tsunami disaster, out of which EUR 170 million should be budgeted in
2005,

B. whereas on 7 January 2005, the Council committed to ensuring that any resources released in this

context are additional to commitments already made,

C. whereas the Parliament, in addition to the abovementioned pledge, already entered EUR 123 million as
emergency aid into the 2005 budget for the countries affected by the tsunami without reducing the
existing policies,

D. whereas a supplementary contribution of EUR 70 million will be provided by the mobilisation of the

emergency reserve and the corresponding proposal for a transfer,

E. whereas the purpose of the Draft amending budget No 4/2005 is to enter into the budget the EUR 15
million mobilised through the decision of the European Parliament and the Council on the mobilisation
of the flexibility instrument,

F. whereas, in addition, supplementary resources to an amount of EUR 60 million will be made available

through a limited redeployment which shall not prejudice the existing Asia programmes,

(1) OJ L 248, 16.9.2002, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 60, 8.3.2005, p. 1.
(3) OJ C 172, 18.6.1999, p. 1. Agreement amended by Decision 2003/429/EC of the European Parliament and of the

Council (OJ L 147, 14.6.2003, p. 25).

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Official Journal of the European Union

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Wednesday 7 September 2005

G. whereas an amount of EUR 12 million will be financed through the rapid reaction mechanism,

H. whereas Draft amending budget No 4/2005 also covers a modification of the remarks against budget
line 19 10 04 by adding a reference to Council Regulation (EEC) No 443/92 of 25 February 1992 on
financial and technical assistance to, and economic cooperation with, the developing countries in Asia
and Latin America (1)
(the ALA regulation) to allow the implementation of the proposed amount
through Trust Funds and budget support,

I. whereas Draft amending budget No 4/2005 covers as well a modification of budget line 05 08 03, to
make possible the disbursement of a subsidy to the OECD for the analysis and collection of data of
several third countries and New Member States,

Reaffirms its commitment urgently to respond to rehabilitation and reconstruction needs following the

1.
devastating tsunami of 26 December 2004;

Is willing to provide the European Union with the appropriate means to face new challenges while

2.
safeguarding ongoing development programmes and without jeopardising its traditional priorities;

Stresses that an initial mobilisation of the flexibility instrument in accordance with point 24 of the
3.
Interinstitutional Agreement of 6 May 1999 was decided on in December 2004 for the year 2005 for the
financing of reconstruction and rehabilitation of Iraq (2), as the needs of facing international crises since
2000 could not be financed within the initial ceilings of heading 4 of the Financial Perspective;

Agrees on a further mobilisation of the flexibility instrument for the year 2005 for an amount of
4.
EUR 15 million for the financing of the reconstruction and rehabilitation measures in the countries affected
by the tsunami;

Nevertheless criticises the Council's unwillingness to mobilise the flexibility instrument in the amount

5.
of EUR 98 million, as proposed by the Commission, which delayed adoption of the amending budget;

6.
Recalls that according to point 24 of the Interinstitutional Agreement the portion of the annual
amount which is not used may be carried over up to the year n+2 and that if the instrument is mobilised,
any carryovers will be drawn on in order of age; takes the view, therefore, that the mobilised amount of
EUR 15 million comes from the amount carried over from the year 2004; notes also that after this mobili-
sation the amount remaining available for 2005 under the flexibility instrument will be EUR 293 million;

7.
Recalls that the re-deployments agreed for 2005 must be re-programmed by means of an equivalent
additional amount (that is, EUR 60 million) in the 2007 budget, so as to respect the commitment that
resources released are additional to commitments already made;

8.

9.

Approves Draft amending budget No 4/2005 unamended;

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

(1) OJ L 52, 27.2.1992, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 54, 23.2.2004, p. 1.