DRAFT AMENDING BUDGET N° 4 TO THE GENERAL BUDGET 2013 STATEMENT OF EXPENDITURE BY SECTION Section III – Commission Section IV – Court of Justice of the European Union
Date: 2013-04-29
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Court of Justice of the European Union, European GNSS Agency, amending budget, audiovisual industry, budgetary expenditure, culture, draft budget (EU), education, executive agency, servant (EU)

EUROPEAN 
COMMISSION 

Brussels, 29.4.2013 
COM(2013) 254 final 

DRAFT AMENDING BUDGET N° 4 
TO THE GENERAL BUDGET 2013 

STATEMENT OF EXPENDITURE BY SECTION 
Section III – Commission 
Section IV – Court of Justice of the European Union 

EN 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
  
 
 
DRAFT AMENDING BUDGET N° 4 
TO THE GENERAL BUDGET 2013 

STATEMENT OF EXPENDITURE BY SECTION 
Section III – Commission 
Section IV – Court of Justice of the European Union 

2 

 
 
  
 
 
Having regard to: 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 314 
thereof,  in  conjunction  with  the  Treaty  establishing  the  European  Atomic  Energy 
Community, and in particular Article 106a thereof, 

the  Regulation  (EU,  Euratom)  No  966/2012  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the 
Council  of  25  October  2012  on  the  Financial  Regulation  applicable  to  the  general 
budget of the Union1, and in particular Article 41 thereof, 

the  general  budget  of  the  European  Union  for  the  financial  year  2013  adopted  on 
12 December 20122, 

the draft amending budget No 1/20133, adopted on 18 March 2013, 

the draft amending budget No 2/20134, adopted on 27 March 2013, 

the draft amending budget No 3/20135, adopted on 15 April 2013, 

The  European  Commission  hereby  presents  to  the  budgetary  authority  the  Draft  Amending 
Budget No 4 to the 2013 budget. 

CHANGES  TO  THE  STATEMENT  OF  REVENUE  AND  EXPENDITURE  BY 
SECTION 

The  changes  to  the  statement  of  revenue  and  expenditure  by  section  are  available  on  EUR-
Lex (http://eur-lex.europa.eu/budget/www/index-en.htm). An English version of the changes 
to this statement is attached for information as a budgetary annex. 

1 
2 
3  
4  
5  

OJ L 298, 26.10.2012, p. 1. 
OJ L 66, 8.3.2013, p. 1. 
COM(2013) 156. 
COM(2013) 183. 
COM(2013) 224. 

3 

 
 
  
 
 
 
 
                                                 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 

1. 

2. 

3. 

INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................................... 5 

EUROPEAN GNSS AGENCY................................................................................................................................... 5 

EDUCATION, AUDIOVISUAL AND CULTURE EXECUTIVE AGENCY ....................................................... 6 

4.  COURT OF JUSTICE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION........................................................................................... 7 

5. 

SUMMARY TABLE BY HEADING OF THE FINANCIAL FRAMEWORK..................................................... 9 

4 

 
 
  
 
1. 

INTRODUCTION  

Draft Amending Budget (DAB) No 4 for the year 2013 covers the following: 

⎯  the modification of the establishment plan of the European GNSS Agency (GSA), reflecting a 
request for 20 additional establishment plan posts (all AD posts). The corresponding increase 
in the EU contribution to the GSA amounts to EUR 1 750 000, and is proposed to be financed 
by  internal  redeployment  of  resources  within  the  existing  budgetary  envelope  of  the  GNSS 
programme; 

⎯  the  modification  of  the  establishment  plan  of  the  Education,  Audiovisual  and  Culture 
Executive  Agency  (EACEA),  reflecting  a  request  for  2 additional  establishment  plan  posts 
(both AD posts), offset by 2 freed posts in the Commission’s establishment plan. This is part 
of an extension of the mandate of the agency, which also entails a transfer of contract agents 
(13 FTE) from the Commission to the EACEA. This translates into an overall increase in the 
EU  contribution  to  the  running  costs  of  the  agency,  amounting  to  EUR 1 516 000,  which  is 
proposed  to  be  financed  by  a  corresponding  reduction  of  appropriations  for  staff  and 
administrative support expenditure in the Commission; 

⎯  the  modification  of  the  establishment  plan  of  the  Court  of  Justice  of  the  European  Union, 
reflecting  the  creation  of  an  additional  Advocate  General  and  a  corresponding  request  for 
7 additional establishment plan posts (4 AD and 3 AST posts). This is proposed to be financed 
by the available appropriations within the Court’s section of the budget. 

These adjustments are budgetary neutral, since the proposed reinforcements of the EU contribution to 
the  two  agencies  are  fully  offset  by  corresponding  reductions  in  related  expenditure  in  the 
Commission’s  section  of  the  budget,  whereas  the  additional  staff  for  the  Court  of  Justice  is  to  be 
financed by the available appropriations within its own section. 

EUROPEAN GNSS AGENCY 

2. 
On  30  November  2011,  the  Commission  adopted  a  proposal  for  a  new  GNSS  Regulation6,  putting 
forward a new governance structure for EGNOS and Galileo and their financing for the period 2014-
2020. Under this structure, the European GNSS Agency (GSA) would be entrusted with programme 
management  tasks,  including  the  exploitation  of  both  systems  from  1  January  2014.  To  deliver 
effective results and avoid delays or disruption of services, already in 2013 the GSA will need to carry 
out preparatory tasks. In this regard, the Agency will ensure the coordination of all tasks relating to 
the  exploitation  of  the  systems,  such  as  maintenance,  operations  and  service  provision,  as  well  as 
providing  feedback  on  changing  operational  needs  and  users'  requirements  for  future  generations  of 
the systems. 

With  a  view  to  providing  the  European  Parliament  and  the  Council  with  a  full  picture  of  the 
conditions  under  which  the  GSA  will  carry  out  the  tasks  entrusted  to  it  under  the  new  governance 
model, on 6 February 2013 the Commission adopted a revised GSA Regulation amending Regulation 
(EU) No 912/20107. The financial statement accompanying the revised GSA Regulation foresees 20 
additional  temporary  agents  in  2013,  which  would  increase  the  total  number  of  establishment  posts 
from 57 to 77 posts. The detailed tasks and job descriptions of each temporary agent requested have 
been carefully analysed by the Commission services.  

6  
7  

COM(2011) 814. 
COM(2013) 40. 

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Immediately upon the adoption of the proposal for a revised GSA Regulation the GSA launched the 
necessary  preparations,  in  order  to  ensure  a  swift  start-up  of  preparatory  tasks.  Nonetheless,  formal 
recruitment  will  only  be  finalised  upon  adoption  of  this  Draft  Amending  Budget,  given  that  prior 
agreement  of  the  Budget  Authority  to  the  modifications  of  the  establishment  plan  of  the  GSA  is 
required before the agency can proceed with actual recruitment. 

The  total  additional  costs  for  the  2013  budget  of  the  agency  are  estimated  at  EUR 1 750 000, 
assuming recruitments as from mid-July 2013. This requires a corresponding reinforcement of the EU 
contribution  to  the  agency.  The  commitment  and  payment  appropriations  are  proposed  to  be  made 
available by redeployment through a Commission internal transfer within budget chapter 02 05 from 
the  Galileo  programme  to  the  agency,  more  specifically  from  budget  article  02 05 01  ‘European 
satellite navigation programmes (EGNOS and Galileo)’ to budget item 02 05 02 01 ‘European GNSS 
Agency ⎯ Contribution to Titles 1 and 2’. 

The amended establishment plan is included in the budgetary annex. It incorporates 20 additional AD 
posts, of which 3 AD 10, 3 AD 9, 6 AD 8, 7 AD 7 and 1 AD 6 posts. 

3. 

EDUCATION, AUDIOVISUAL AND CULTURE EXECUTIVE AGENCY 

In  2012,  the  Commission  adopted  an  extension  of  the  mandate  of  the  Education,  Audiovisual  and 
Culture  Executive  Agency  (EACEA),  to  enlarge  the  agency’s  tasks  in  the  implementation  of  the 
MEDIA  Mundus  programme,  as  well  as  expanding  its  school  education  and  youth  activities  under 
heading 4  of  the  multiannual  financial  framework,  and  extends  to  the  Youth  programme  those 
activities that it already implements within the Eurydice European Unit within the field of education. 
The delegation of additional tasks in the management of growing 2007-2013 spending programmes to 
EACEA  provides  clear  qualitative  and  quantitative  benefits  by  extending  the  agency’s  existing 
expertise in the relevant policy areas, which proves the most cost effective. 

In  qualitative  terms,  the  delegation  of  additional  tasks  to  EACEA  is  justified  by  its  track  record  in 
delivering high quality management of programmes.  In  quantitative  terms,  management  by  EACEA 
leads  to  cost  savings  in  2013  amounting  to  EUR  574  000,  as  compared  to  “in  house”  Commission 
management. These cost savings are mainly generated by efficiency gains at EACEA, which enabled 
the Commission  to  minimise  the additional  contribution to the running costs of the agency. In turn, 
this  translates  into  a  reinforcement  of  the  operational  appropriations  of  the  programmes  to  be 
managed, within the overall financial envelope of each of the programmes concerned.   

In October 2012, the extension of the agency’s mandate received a positive opinion of the Committee 
for Executive Agencies, and the European Parliament did not raise objections within the time period 
set by the ‘working arrangements’. After thus receiving approvalfrom both the European Parliament 
and  the  Council,  in  December  2012  the  Commission  adopted  the  decision  to  extend  the  agency’s 
mandate (C(2012) 9474 and 9475). 

This Draft Amending Budget contains the budgetary aspects of the extension of EACEA’s mandate 
for 2013, in terms of the increase of the EU contribution to the agency and its staffing levels, which is 
fully  offset  by  a  corresponding  reduction  of  staffing  levels  and  related  appropriations  for  staff  and 
administrative support expenditure in the Commission, as set out in more detail below. 

The additional tasks delegated to EACEA related to the extension will lead to an increase in the EU 
contribution  to  the  Executive  Agency,  amounting  to  EUR 1 516 000,  of  which  EUR 458 000  for 
programmes  managed  under  heading 3b  (budget  item  15 01 04 31  ‘Education,  Audiovisual  and 
Culture Executive Agency ⎯ Contribution from programmes under Heading 3b’) and EUR 1 058 000 
for  programmes  managed  under  heading 4  (budget  item  19 01  04 30  ‘Education,  Audiovisual  and 
Culture  Executive  Agency  ⎯ Contribution  from  external  relations  programmes’).  This  will  be 

6 

 
 
  
 
covered  by  the  existing  appropriations  under  items  XX 01 01 01  ‘Expenditure  related  to  staff’, 
15 01 02 01  ‘External  staff  in  the  education  and  culture  policy  area’,  15 01 04 68  ‘MEDIA 
Mundus ⎯ Expenditure  on  administrative  management’,  15 05 55  ‘Youth  in  Action’,  19 01 04 01 
instrument  for  development  cooperation  (DCI) ⎯ Expenditure  on  administrative 
‘Financing 
management’, 
Instrument 
(ENPI) ⎯ Expenditure on administrative management’. 

‘European  Neighbourhood 

and  19 01 04 02 

and  Partnership 

In terms of human resources, the following adjustment is required to staff and establishment plans of 
the agency: 15 additional full time equivalents (FTEs), of which 13 contract agents (calculated on the 
basis of the average costs at the agency) and 2 temporary  agents  (2 AD 8),  since  the  transfer  of  the 
‘Media Mundus’ programme and the agency’s activities for ‘Youth in Action’ require two temporary 
agents of this grade. The additional staff numbers necessary at the agency are strictly compensated by 
a  corresponding  staff  reduction  at  the  Commission.  Appropriations  corresponding  to  13 contract 
agents  and  2 posts  of  the  establishment  plan  (2 AST 7)  are  freed  and  herewith  removed  from  the 
Commission budget. 

Full details of the impact of the mandate extension on appropriations of an administrative nature and 
on staff of the Commission and the EACEA are given in the budgetary annex. 

4. 

COURT OF JUSTICE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION 

4.1 

Court of Justice request 

In accordance with Declaration No 38 annexed to the final act of the Intergouvernemental Conference 
which  adopted  the  Lisbon  Treaty,  in  January  2013  the  Court  of  Justice  requested  three  additional 
Advocate Generals, of which one Advocate General would take up positions on 1 July 2013, followed 
by two further Advocate Generals on 7 October 2015. To allow the first additional Advocate General 
to take up his / her position on  1 July 2013 (the other two are expected to take office in 2015), the 
Court requests a modification  of  its establishment plan  to  create additional  establishment plan posts 
for  the  staff  in  the  private  office  (‘Cabinet’)  of  the  Advocate  General,  existing  of  seven  persons 
(1 AD 14,  1 AD 12,  1 AD 11,  1 AD 10,  1 AST 5,  1 AST 3  and  1 AST 2  posts).  The  corresponding 
cost for the 2013 budget of the Court are estimated at EUR 910 000. 

In parallel, to better face its increasingly high workload, the Court requested 9 additional law clerks 
(‘référendaires’,  1 AD 14,  3 AD 12,  3 AD 11  and  2 AD 10  posts),  one  for  each  Chamber  of  the 
General  Court.  The  Court  estimates  the  corresponding  additional  costs  for  its  2013  budget  at 
EUR 930 000,  which  would  bring  the  total  additional  costs  for  the  2013  budget  of  the  Court  of  the 
additional Advocate General (plus Cabinet) and the additional law clerks to EUR 1 840 000. 

4.2 

Commission proposal 

As  part  of  Draft  Amending  Budget No 4/2013,  the  Commission  proposes  to  modify  the  Court’s 
establishment  plan  to  include  the  staff  in  the  private  office  of  the  additional  Advocate  General 
(1 AD 14,  1 AD 12,  1 AD 11,  1 AD 10,  1 AST 5,  1 AST 3  and  1 AST 2  posts)  but  not  to  include 
corresponding additional appropriations in the Court’s section of the 2013 budget. The Commission 
takes  note  of  the  Court’s  intention  to  use  existing  appropriations  under  budget  chapter  14  (external 
personnel)  of  the  Court’s  section  of  the  budget  to  finance  one  additional  contract  agent  (function 
group I), which is linked to the creation of the new Cabinet. 

However,  the  Commission  does  not  propose  to  include  in  Draft  Amending  Budget No 4/2013  the 
request  for  9 additional  law  clerks.  The  Commission  recalls,  in  this  regard,  the  letter  sent  by  the 

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Commissioner  for  Financial  Programming  and  Budget  to  the  other  Institutions8  on  the  key  political 
importance to follow the Commission’s approach to apply a 1 % staff reduction, as a follow-up to the 
Commission’s proposal to reduce the staffing levels of all EU Institutions and bodies by 5 % over five 
years. More in particular, the Commission points to the uncertainty surrounding the Court’s proposal 
dating from March 2011 to create twelve additional Judges for the General Court to face its growing 
workload, and it suggests to await the decisions to be taken by the legislative authority in this regard. 

As  regards  appropriations,  the  Commission  notes  that  Draft  Amending  Budget No 2/2013  does  not 
leave any margin under the payment ceiling for 2013, except for covering the payment needs related 
to  the  mobilisation  of  the  EU  Solidarity  Fund,  for  which  the  Commission  intends  to  present  Draft 
Amending Budget No 5/2013 shortly. Moreover, taking into account the lead time usually required to 
recruit the additional staff requested in Draft Amending Budget No 4/2013, the Commission is of the 
opinion  that  the  Court  will  be  in  a  position  to  fine-tune  its  recruitments  in  function  of  the 
appropriations currently available in the Court’s budget for this type of expenditure. That is why the 
Commission does not include additional appropriations linked to the request for the Advocate General 
and  the  corresponding  seven  additional  posts.  For  the  same  reason,  it  is  proposed  not  to  budget  the 
additional  revenue  contributions  to  be  made  by  the  additional  Cabinet  members  in  2013,  which  the 
Court estimates at EUR 121 000. 

The amended establishment plan is included in the budgetary annex. 

8  

Ref. Ares(2013) 14771, 7.1.2013. 

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5. 

SUMMARY TABLE BY HEADING OF THE FINANCIAL FRAMEWORK 

Revised 2013 Financial framework 

Budget 2013 (incl. DAB 1-3/2013) 

DAB 4/2013 

CA 

PA 

CA 

PA 

CA 

PA 

Financial framework 
Heading/subheading 

1. SUSTAINABLE GROWTH 
1a. Competitiveness for growth and employment 

1b. Cohesion for growth and employment 

Margin 

Margin 
Total 
Margin9 

2. PRESERVATION AND MANAGEMENT OF 
NATURAL RESOURCES 
Of which market related expenditure and direct 
payments 

3. CITIZENSHIP, FREEDOM, SECURITY AND 
JUSTICE 
3a. Freedom, Security and Justice 

Total 
Margin 

3b. Citizenship 

4. EU AS A GLOBAL PLAYER 

5. ADMINISTRATION 

6. COMPENSATION 

Margin 

Margin 
Total 
Margin10   

Margin11 

Margin12 

Margin 
TOTAL 
Margin 1314   

15 670 000 000

54 974 000 000

70 644 000 000

48 583 000 000

61 310 000 000

1 703 000 000

746 000 000

2 449 000 000

9 595 000 000

9 095 000 000

75 000 000

16 168 150 291
1 849 709
54 958 049 037
15 950 963
71 126 199 328

17 800 672   

12 886 628 095

56 349 544 736

69 236 172 831

Budget 2013 
(incl. DAB 1-4/2013) 
CA 

PA 

16 168 150 291
1 849 709
54 958 049 037
15 950 963
71 126 199 328

17 800 672   

12 886 628 095 

56 349 544 736 

69 236 172 831 

43 956 548 610

43 934 188 711

43 956 548 610

43 934 188 711 

60 159 241 416
1 150 758 584   

58 095 492 961

60 159 241 416
1 150 758 584   

58 095 492 961 

1 440 827 200
262 172 800
738 364 000
7 636 000
2 179 191 200

269 808 800   

9 583 118 711
275 996 289
8 430 690 740
750 309 260
75 000 000

1 046 033 652

654 249 615

316 000

316 000

1 700 283 267

316 000

316 000

6 898 914 260

8 430 365 740

-316 000

-316 000

75 000 000

1 440 827 200
262 172 800
738 680 000
7 320 000
2 179 507 200

269 492 800   

9 583 118 711
275 996 289
8 430 374 740
750 625 260
75 000 000

1 046 033 652 

654 565 615 

1 700 599 267 

6 898 914 260 

8 430 049 740 

75 000 000 

151 553 441 395
2 464 673 605

144 436 229 059 
14 770 941 

153 168 000 000

144 285 000 000

151 553 441 395
2 464 673 605

144 436 229 059
14 770 941

9 
10 
11 
12 

13  

14  

The European Globalisation adjustment Fund (EGF) is not included in the calculation of the margin under Heading 1a (EUR 500 million). 
The European Union Solidarity Fund (EUSF) amount is entered over and above the relevant headings as foreseen by the IIA of 17 May 2006 (OJ C 139 of 14.6.2006) 
The 2013 margin for heading 4 does not take into account the appropriations related to the Emergency Aid Reserve (EUR 264,1 million). 
For calculating the margin under the ceiling for heading 5, account is taken of the footnote (1) of the financial framework 2007-2013 for an amount of EUR 86 million for the staff 
contributions to the pension scheme. 
The global margin for commitments does not take into account the appropriations related to the EGF (EUR 500 million), the EAR (EUR 264,1 million), and the staff contributions to 
the pensions scheme (EUR 86 million). 
The  global  margin  for  payments  does  not  take  into  account  the  appropriations  related  to  the  EAR  (EUR  80  million),  and  to  the  staff  contributions  to  the  pensions  scheme 
(EUR 86 million).  

9