Preliminary draft amending budget n° 2 to the general budget 2009 - Statement of expenditure by section : section III - Commission
Date: 2009-02-02
Institutions: Directorate-General for Budget, European Commission
Subjects: EAEC, EU aid, European Commission, European Union Agency for Railways, amending budget, budgetary expenditure, preliminary draft EC budget

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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 2.2.2009 
COM(2009) 32 final 

PRELIMINARY DRAFT AMENDING BUDGET N° 2 
TO THE GENERAL BUDGET 2009 

STATEMENT OF EXPENDITURE BY SECTION 
Section III - Commission 

(presented by the Commission) 

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PRELIMINARY DRAFT AMENDING BUDGET N° 2 
TO THE GENERAL BUDGET 2009 

STATEMENT OF EXPENDITURE BY SECTION 
Section III - Commission 

Having regard to: 

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– 

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the  Treaty  establishing  the  European  Community,  and  in  particular  Article 272 
thereof, 

the  Treaty  establishing  the  European  Atomic  Energy  Community,  and  in  particular 
Article 177 thereof, 

the  Council  Regulation  (EC,  Euratom)  No  1605/2002  of  25  June  2002  on  the 
Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities1, 
as  last  amended  by  Council  Regulation  (EC,  Euratom)  No  1525/20072,  and  in 
particular Article 37 thereof, 

The European Commission hereby presents to the budgetary authority the Preliminary Draft 
Amending Budget No 2 to the 2009 budget. 

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OJ L 248, 16.9.2002, p. 1. 
OJ L 343, 27.12.2007, p. 9. 

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TABLE OF CONTENTS 

1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

5. 

5.1. 

5.2. 

Introduction .................................................................................................................. 4 

SESAR ......................................................................................................................... 4 

European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) ................................... 5 

European Railway Agency (ERA) ............................................................................... 6 

Modification of Budgetary Remarks............................................................................ 6 

GMES operational services.......................................................................................... 6 

Food Facility ................................................................................................................ 7 

CHANGES TO THE STATEMENT OF EXPENDITURE BY SECTION 

The changes to the statement of expenditure by section are forwarded separately via the SEI-
BUD system. An English version of the changes to the statement of expenditure by section is 
attached for information as a budgetary annex. 

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1. 

INTRODUCTION 

Preliminary  Draft  Amending  Budget  (PDAB)  No 2  for  the  year  2009  covers  the  following 
elements: 

–  The  inclusion  in  the  Community  budget  of  the  establishment  plan  of  the  SESAR  Joint 

Undertaking, in line with the modification of Regulation (EC) 219/20073. 

–  Modifications to the establishment plan of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and 

Control (ECDC), coherent with the 2009 budget. 

–  Modifications to the establishment plan of the European Railway Agency (ERA). 

–  Modifications to the budget remarks. 

PDAB 2/2009 has no financial consequences. 

2. 

SESAR 

The SESAR Joint Undertaking (SJU) for the development of a new generation European air 
traffic  management  system  was  established  on  27  February  2007  (Council  Regulation  (EC) 
219/2007) under Article 171 of the Treaty. However, the absence of a clear definition of the 
legal  status  of  Joint  Undertakings  (JUs)  has  created  many  difficulties  in  setting  up  its  legal 
and  administrative  structure.  In  fact,  at  present,  although  the  SJU  and  its  staff  fall  under 
Belgian law, the JU has been created and it is governed by a Council Regulation. 

With the launching of the 7th RTD Framework Programme the EU Institutions have adopted 
a  new  approach  for  the  setup  of  JUs.  The  main  aspect  of  this  approach  is  that  JUs  are 
recognised  as  "Community  bodies"  benefiting  of  the  privileges  and  immunities  of  the 
European  Community.  As  a  result,  the  staff  of  these  bodies  is  covered  by  the  EC  Staff 
Regulations  and  the  Protocol  on  Privileges  and  Immunities  applies  to  the  bodies  and  their 
staff. This approach has been applied for the first time for the establishment of five new JUs 
(the CLEAN SKY, ENIAC, IMI, ARTEMIS and FCH Joint Technology Initiatives) in 2008. 

The SJU had been established a year earlier on the same legal basis as the new JUs. In order 
to ensure consistency in the Community's approach for setting up these bodies, the SJU legal 
status shall be amended and aligned to that of the other JUs.  

For this reason the Commission has proposed to amend Regulation (EC) 219/2007. One of the 
consequences  of  this  amendment  is  that  the  SJU  staff  will  be  covered  by  the  EC  Staff 
Regulations  as  temporary  or  contractual  agents.  Consequently,  the  SJU  establishment  plan 
will  have  to  be  included  in  the  Community  budget.  Council  Regulation  (EC)  1361/2008 
amending  Regulation  (EC)  219/2007  was  adopted  on  16  December  20084,  and  entered  into 
force on 1 January 2009. 

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OJ L 64, 2.3.2007, p.1. 
OJ L 352, 31.12.2008, p.12. 

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The SJU is already operational and has already recruited some initial staff. In order to ensure 
continuity of the SJU operations, a seamless transition of the existing staff to  an  EC statute 
and  the  completion  of  its  recruitment  process  within  2009,  is  essential.  It  is  therefore 
necessary  to  include  the  SJU's  establishment  plan  in  the  Community  budget  as  from  the 
beginning of the 2009 exercise. 

The establishment plan is included in the budgetary annex. 

3. 

EUROPEAN CENTRE FOR DISEASE PREVENTION AND CONTROL (ECDC) 

The  European  Centre  for  Disease  Prevention  and  Control  (ECDC)  is  a  decentralised  "1st 
pillar" agency based in Stockholm and tasked with monitoring, assessing and communicating 
threats to human health from communicable diseases. The present preliminary draft amending 
budget is justified by the need to amend its establishment plan in coherence with the decisions 
taken by the Budget Authority in the 2009 budget.  

The  ECDC's  basic  organisational  structure  and  capacities  are  currently  in  place  in  defined 
functional areas; an epidemiological surveillance system is established, capacities are set up 
for preparedness and response, there is the ability to respond to requests for scientific advice 
and  risk  assessments  as  well  as  the  capacity  to  provide  epidemiological  training  and  to 
conduct proper health communication. Nonetheless, the Centre is still at an early stage of its 
development.  The  core  services  it  provides  are  useful,  but  do  not  meet  all  the  needs  and 
expectations of its stakeholders. 

An external evaluation has recently confirmed that ECDC has succeeded in establishing itself 
as a centre of scientific excellence and that it brings added value in the prevention and control 
of  communicable  diseases  but  recommended  a  consolidation  and  deepening  of  activities  on 
communicable diseases.  

The Commission shares the conclusions of the external evaluation report. Further investment 
is  needed  if  ECDC  is  to  fully  discharge  its  current  mandate  of  strengthening  Europe’s 
defences  against  infectious  diseases.  Coherently  with  this  approach,  on  13  November  2008 
the  Commission  adopted  a  Communication  to  the  European  Parliament  and  the  Council  on 
the  ECDC's  planned  future  activities  and  resources  needs  (COM/2008/741).  The 
Communication updated the initial financial statement adopted in 2003 (when the Centre was 
set  up)  taking  into  account  the  achievements  of  the  ECDC  over  its  first  three  years  of 
operation  and  the  results  of  the  external  evaluation.  It  should  be  noted  that  the  financial 
resources foreseen in the multi-annual financial  framework  2007-2013  are  a  sufficient  basis 
for ECDC to implement its planned future activities. 

During  the  final  stages  of  the  2009  budget  procedure,  the  European  Parliament  voted  an 
amendment by which it lifted the reserve on the ECDC's budget which was proposed by the 
Commission  in  the  PDB  2009,  pending  the  adoption  of  the  above  referred  Communication. 
However, the voted amendment did not deal with the updating of the ECDC's establishment 
plan  necessary  to  adapt  it  to  the  new  planned  structure  of  the  Centre,  as  described  in  the 
Commission Communication of 13 November and integrated in the credits authorised in the 
2009 budget.  

It  is  therefore  necessary  for  the  Commission  to  present  an  amending  budget  integrating  the 
changes to the ECDC's establishment plan necessary to be in coherence with the Commission 

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Communication  to  the  European  Parliament  and  the  Council  of  13  November  and  the 
authorised 2009 budget allocations.  

The proposed establishment plan implies the allocation of the 40 additional temporary agent 
posts. The full establishment plan is included in the budgetary annex. The details per target 
area are as follows: 

Target 
1 
2 
3 
4 
5 
6 
7 
Internal 
Internal 
Total 

Title 
Disease specific 
Surveillance 
Scientific advice 
Preparedness and response 
Training 
Health communication 
Partnerships 
Governance, management 
Administrative services 

New posts 2009  
9 
6 
6 
5 
1 
6 
1 
1 
5 
40 

Total TA posts by end 2009 
27 
28 
23 
19 
7 
21 
5 
9 
31 
170 

4. 

EUROPEAN RAILWAY AGENCY (ERA) 

The establishment plan 2009 as authorised under the Community budget does not fully reflect 
the  needs  of  the  Agency  as  far  as  its  extended  competences  under  Regulation  (EC)  No 
1335/2008  of  16  December  20085  and  its  staff  policy  including  career  development  are 
concerned  (as  laid  down  in  the  multi-annual  staff  policy  plan  2009  –  2011  of  the  Agency). 
Therefore, the establishment plan needs to be amended: 

–  Previous establishment plans included an AD15 post for the Executive Director. This post 
was erroneously deleted from the establishment plan in the 2009 budget, and should now 
be reintroduced. 

–  The  number  of  AST  posts  is  increased  by  three,  with  a  corresponding  reduction  of  three 
AD  posts,  to  allow  an  appropriate  level  of  administrative  support  for  the  operational 
activities of the Agency. 

The  full  establishment  plan,  showing  all  the  technical  adjustments,  is  included  in  the 
budgetary annex. There is no change to the total number of posts authorised for the agency, 
and the adjustments do not lead to any additional budget request.  

5. 

MODIFICATION OF BUDGETARY REMARKS 

5.1. 

GMES operational services 

In 2008, the implementation of the Preparatory action - “GMES operational services” (Global 
Monitoring  for  Environment  and  Security,  budget  article  02 02 11)  was  successfully 
concluded with the completion of the tender in the field of emergency response services and 
the subsequent commitment of the budget appropriations. The next step of the action in 2009 
is  the  implementation  of  a  reference  data  service  element  in  partnership  with  existing  data 

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OJ L 354, 31.12.2008, p.51. 

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providers  such  as  National  Mapping  Agencies.  However,  the  budgetary  remark  should  be 
modified accordingly (see revised remark in the budgetary annex). 

5.2. 

Food Facility 

Following the agreement on the facility for a rapid response to soaring prices in developing 
countries  reached  between  the  European  Commission,  the  European  Council  and  the 
European  Parliament,  eligibility  for  funding  should  be  extended  to  entities  such  as  non-
governmental  organisations  (NGOs)  and  non-state  actors.  As  a  consequence  the  methods  of 
implementation, originally relying exclusively on partnerships with international and regional 
organisations,  will  have  to  be  adapted  accordingly.  The  extension  to  NGOs  and  non-state 
actors  will,  in  particular,  require  a  closer  and  more  labour-intensive  follow-up  by  the 
Commission  on  the  ground.  In  order  to  enable  the  recruitment  of  the  external  personnel  in 
Delegations  financed  on  budgetary  line  21 01 04 05  Facility  for  rapid  response  to  soaring 
food  prices  in  developing  countries  —  Expenditure  on  administrative  management,  the 
Commission  proposes  to  amend  the  budget  remark  accordingly,  without  modifying  the 
amounts already approved by the budget authority for administrative management. 

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