CELEX: 51976PC0248
Language: en
Date: 1976-06-02
Title: Proposal for a COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC, EURATOM, ECSC), amending Regulation No 2/71 implementing the Decision of 21 April 1970 on the replacement of financial contributions from Members States by the Communities' own resources (submitted to the Council by the Commission)

ARCHIVES HISTORIQUES
DE LA COMMISSION
COLLECTION RELIEE DES
DOCUMENTS "COM"
COM (76) 248
Vol. 1976/0081
 ---pagebreak--- Disclaimer
Conformément au règlement (CEE, Euratom) n° 354/83 du Conseil du 1er février 1983
concernant l'ouverture au public des archives historiques de la Communauté économique
européenne et de la Communauté européenne de l'énergie atomique (JO L 43 du 15.2.1983,
p. 1), tel que modifié par le règlement (CE, Euratom) n° 1700/2003 du 22 septembre 2003
(JO L 243 du 27.9.2003, p. 1), ce dossier est ouvert au public. Le cas échéant, les documents
classifiés présents dans ce dossier ont été déclassifiés conformément à l'article 5 dudit
règlement.
In accordance with Council Regulation (EEC, Euratom) No 354/83 of 1 February 1983
concerning the opening to the public of the historical archives of the European Economic
Community and the European Atomic Energy Community (OJ L 43, 15.2.1983, p. 1), as
amended by Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1700/2003 of 22 September 2003 (OJ L 243,
27.9.2003, p. 1), this file is open to the public. Where necessary, classified documents in this
file have been declassified in conformity with Article 5 of the aforementioned regulation.
In Übereinstimmung mit der Verordnung (EWG, Euratom) Nr. 354/83 des Rates vom 1.
Februar 1983 über die Freigabe der historischen Archive der Europäischen
Wirtschaftsgemeinschaft und der Europäischen Atomgemeinschaft (ABI. L 43 vom 15.2.1983,
S. 1), geändert durch die Verordnung (EG, Euratom) Nr. 1700/2003 vom 22. September 2003
(ABI. L 243 vom 27.9.2003, S. 1), ist diese Datei der Öffentlichkeit zugänglich. Soweit
erforderlich, wurden die Verschlusssachen in dieser Datei in Übereinstimmung mit Artikel 5
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 ---pagebreak--- COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
                                                    COM(76) 248 final .
                                                                              \
                                                    Brussels , 2nd June 1976.
                                                                       /
                                Proposal for a ;
                    COUNCIL REGULATION ( EEC , EURATOM, ECSC ) ,
       \
      amending Regulation Ko 2/71 Implementing; the Decision of 21 April ■
    1970 on the replacement of financial contributions from Members States
                      by the Communities' own resources
                 ( submitted to the Council by the Commission)
/
             1
     V
  1
                                      \
    C0r:(76 ) 24S final .
               ι             .
 ---pagebreak--- EXPLANATORY MEMORANDPM
1 . Council Regulation (EEC , Euratom , ECSC ) No 2/71 implementing the Decision
of 21 April 1970 on "the replacement of financial contributions from the
Member States by the Communities' own resources was adopted on 2 January 1971 «
The financial year 1978 marks the entry into full operation of the own
resources system as provided for in the Decision of 21 April 1970 *     Mainly
for this reason , Regulation Ho 2/7I must now be modified or amended.
2 . The principle of the financial autonomy of the Communities is one of the
fundamental elements of the own resources system . This system , which was
incorporated in the budget by the Decision of 21 April 1970^ t will be in full
incorporated in the budget by the Decision of 21 April 1970 • will be in full
operation as from 1978 *
Prom that year , the principle of financial autonomy will come into full
operation , as was repeatedly stated during the negotiations on the
replacement of contributions from the Member States by the Communities * own
resources , and referred to in debates of the European Parliament .
The full application of the principle means that Regulation No 2/7I and the
Financial Regulation itself must be amended .
1
  Counoil decision of- 21 April 1970 on the replacement of financial contributions
  from the Member States by the Communities * own resources ( 70/243/ECSC/EEC/Euratom)
  O.J. EC L 94 , 28 april 1970 , p. 19
 ---pagebreak---                                 - 2 -
The Community will have full disposal of its own resources , which will be
assigned to it on the basis of the normal rate of establishment of amounts ,
 in accordance with current regulations whereby the own resources belong to
the Community as soon as they have been established .
Moreover , it is expressly stated in Article 4(5 ) of the Decision of
21 April I97O :  "any surplus of the Communities' own resources over and above
the actual expenditure during a financial year shall be carried over to the
following^ financial year".
The Commission 's proposal simply gives practical effect to this Article by
explicitly stating that any surplus remains available to the Community . Such
surplus will be used to honour commitments entered into during the financial year
during which that surplus has arisen and for which payment will not fall due
until later . That part of the surplus which exceeds the amount required to meet
these obligations will make for a greater flexibility in the event of
unforeseen contingencies , and would make it easier for the budgetary authority
to adopt – if this were necessary – a supplementary budget which , Tinder these
conditions , could then be financed out of existing resources .
This autonomy is of course limited : first of all by the maximum rate of 1%
of the uniform basis of assessment of VAT , the amount corresponding to which
may be made available to the Communities by the budgetary authority ; secondly
because such autonomy would apply only within the framework of the Community
Budget , which incorporates all revenue and all expenditure ; and thirdly
because it is subject to compliance with the Treaties and with the requirements
of sound financial management and because all actions cure subject to the
internal and external financial controls stipulated .
The application of the principle of financial autonomy makes it necessary to
introduce into the Financial Regulation a new budget concept for revenue , in
that all revenue collected                               in one financial year
is to be credited under that year , irrespective of the date of establishment .
This new budget concept in respect of revenue will permit continuous
monitoring of the volume of revenue compared with total expenditure .
 ---pagebreak---  3 . Furthermore , Title II of Regulation No 2/71 – Provisions for making
 available and paying over the Communities * own resources - has "been
 supplemented by provisions setting out the procedures for paying over the
 GUP contributions referred to in Article 4(2 ) and ( 3 ) of the Decision of
 21 April 1970 »   In "the very unlikely event of certain Member States not yet
 applying the Sixth Directive on VAT in 1978 , it is proposed to class
GUP payments with own resources .     The Parliament and several Member States
 so consider them in practice , pending assignment to the budget of the revenue
from VAT .
4 . The foregoing points together with the application of the European unit
of account to the budget make it necessary to amend Title V of the Regulation ,
– Procedure for application of Article 4(2 ), ( 3 ) and (4 ) of the Decision of
21 April 1970 - as regards the calculation of the GUP .      These amendments are
intended to bring up to date the calculation , which will be based on the data
for the year preceding that during which the preliminary draft budget is
drawn up , and the value of the GUP in EUA will be calculated by applying an
average rate for the EUA of the year taken into consideration for calculating
the GUP .
5 . For the original Member States the transitional period ends on
31 December 1977 *    From that date the "relative shares" system will no
longer be in force .     This advance into the definitive system means that
Title IV of Regulation No 2/7I - Procedure for application of Article 3(3 )
and Article 4(l ) of the Decision of 21 April 1970 - must be deleted .
However , Article 131 of the Act of Accession provides that for the
new Member States , the transitional period will run for two more years#      For
this reason it has been necessary to introduce into Regulation Kb 2/7I a
particular provision for applying this Article in respect of the new
Member States .
 ---pagebreak---                                  - 4 -
 6.  Title III – Provisions concerning measures of control - has "been modified
 to take account of the provisions of the Treaty of 22 July 1975 » which changed
 the distribution of budgetary powers among the Institutions ~
        and   established a European Court of Auditors .  Inter alia the Treaty
provides that the Court takes the place of the Audit Board .   All the
provisions relating to the powers and jurisdiction of the Audit Board which
are not inconsistent with the Treaty of 22 July 1975 will henceforth apply to
the Court of Auditors , pending the formulation of a more detailed and specific
set of rules after consulting the Court once it has been set up .    All those
amendments relating to the Court of Auditors which derive from the Treaty of
22 July 1975 will apply only when that Treaty has come into force and , as
regards the defining of the powers of the Court of Auditors , when subsequent
amendment has been made to the Financial Regulation .
7 . The Commission proposes to put forward in due course the provisions
which will become necessary when the uniform basis of assessment for VAT
provided for in the Sixth Directive comes into force .
 ---pagebreak---        COUHCIL REGOLATI ON ( ESC . Euratom. ECSCV
 Amending Regulation No 2 /71 implementing the Decision of
  21 April 1970 on the replacement of financial contributions from Member States
 by the Communities* own resources ;
                 THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
 Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community,       ,
 and in particular Article 78f thereof;
 Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, and
 in particular Article 209 thereof;
 Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community,
 and in particular Article 1 83 thereof; . ...            .                        '
 Having regard to the Treaty establishing a Single Council and a Single Commission
_of the European Communities , and in particular Article 20 thereof s
Having regard to the Council Decision of 21 April 1970 on "the replacement of financial
contributions from Member States by the Communities' own resources^" and in
particular Article 6 (2 ) thereof ;
 Having regard to the proposal from the Commission;
 Having regard to the Opinion of the European Parliament (••••••••••)•
 Whereas the principle of the financial autonomy of the Communities is
 the fundamental element of the ystem of own resources, and Whereas this system
 will be fully applied as from 1978;
 Ylhereas the full application of this principle necessitates amendment to Council
 Regulation No 2/71 ^ and at the same time amendment to the Financial Regulation
  of 25 April 1973 application to the general budget of the European Communities^;
   OJ No L 94# 28 April 1970, p. 19-
   Council Regulation ( ESC, Euratom, ECSC) No 2/71 of 2 January 1971 ?
   OJ No L 3 . 5 January 1971 *
   Financial Regulation of 25 Aprii 1973 (EEC, Euratom, ECSC);
   OJ No L 116, 1 May 1973 .
 ---pagebreak---  Whereas the Commxin.it ie3 are to have full disposal of their resources as
referred to in Article 4 of the Decision of 21 April 1970f the entering as
revenue of which is to follow the natural rate of establishment of amounts or
 of requirements ;
Whereas, in application of the principles laid down above, Regulation Bo 2/71
requires amendment in respeot . of that seotion vdiich implements Article 4(5 )
of the Decision of 1 April 1970;
Whereas the introduction of the new unit of account , called the European unit
of account , makes it necessary inter alia to amend the provisions adopted to
implement Article 4(2), ( 3 ) and ( 4) of the Decision of 21 April 1970 and to
bring up to date the calculation of the gross national product of the
Member States ;
Whereas from 1 January 1978 Title IV of Regulation Ho 2/71 will no longer be
applicable ;  and whereas particular provisions should be prepared for the
application of Article 131 of the Act of Accesion in respect of the new
Member States and for the period of time laid down in that Article*
Whereas the Council Regulation of 2 April 1973 amending the Council Regulation
No 2/71 will no longer be applicable ; its provisions being incorporated in the
amended regulation .
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION ,
 ---pagebreak---                                  -3-
                            Article 1
   Council Regulation (EEC , EURATOM , ECSC ) No 2/71 of 2 January
   1971    is amended as follows :
   l.The following Articles shall read as follows :
//    Article 3
      Member States shall take all requisite measures to ensure
      that the supporting documents concerning established
      entitlements and the making available of own resources are
      kept for five years .
    . Article 6
      1 . Accounts for own resources shall be kept by the Treasury
      of each Member State and broken down into types of resources .
      2 . The established entitlements shall be enteree in those
      accounts at the latest on the fifteenth day of the second
      month following the month during which the entitlements were
      established .
      Each Member State shall forward to the Commission , within
      the same period , a monthly statement of those accounts
      showing the position as regards the entitlements esta­
      blished for the month concerned .
      3 . The established entitlements shall be entered in the
      accounts of the Communities as revenue to be collected
      insofar as the amounts in question have not been paid
      over .
      4 . The amounts actually paid over shall be entered as
      revenue in the budget of the Communities .
      Article 8
      1 . The own resources to be paid over by each Member State ,
      together with the contribution referred to in Article *f(2 )
      and ( 3 ) of the Decision of 21 April 1970 , where applicable ,
      shall be the subject of a provisional estimate entered in
      the budget .
                                                                      //
 ---pagebreak---  2 . Payment shall be made of the amount actually established
 by the Member State for the kind of own resources in question ;
 the contributions referred to in Article 4(2 ) and ( 3 ) of the
 Decision of 21 April 1970 shall be due up to the amounts
 entered in the budget ; they shall be paid over on the basis
 of the requirements determined every month by the Commission ,
 and they shall be divided among the Member States in the
 proportion provided for in the budget .
 3 . Adjustment shall be made for amounts which a Member State
 may have overpaid or which might still be owing .
 Article 9
 1 . The Commission shall notify each Member State of the
amount of the contributions which it is required to pay .
The corresponding payments shall be made at the latest by
 the fifteenth day of the month following the month in which
notification was made by the Commission , by crediting them
to the account referred to in Article 7(l ).
2 . The entry of own resources established referred to in
Article 7(l ) shall be made at the latest by the fifteenth
day of the second month following the month during which
the entitlement was established .
3 . Any delay in making the entry shall give rise to the
payment of interest by the Member State concerned at a rate
equal to the highest rate of discount ruling in the Member
States on the due date .     That rate shall be increased by
0.25# for each month of delay .     The increased rate shall
be applied to the entire period of delay .
Article 11
1 . The Commission shall have at its disposal the amounts
credited to its account .     The orders and instructions
which it forwards to the Treasury or to the appropriate
department of each Member State shall be carried out as
soon as possible .
2 . In cases of actual liquidity difficulty and where all
possibility of drawing upon the contributions referred to
in Article 4(2 ) and ( 3 ) of the Decision of 21 April 1970
is exhausted , the Member States shall , at the Commission 's
request , bring forward the entry of future resources to an
amount not exceeding one and a half month 's estimated
revenue .    Appropriate adjustment shall be made subsequently .
 ---pagebreak--- 2 . Article 12 shall be deleted
3 . The following Articles shall read as follows J
    Article l*f
    1 . Member States shall carry out the verifications and in­
    quiries concerning established entitlements and the making
    available of own resources .        The Commission shall make use
    of its powers in accordance with this Article .
    2 . Accordingly , Member States shall :
    - carry out any additional measures of control the
        Commission may ask for in a reasoned request ;
   - associate the Commission , at its request , with the
        measures of control which they are carrying out .
    Member States shall take all steps required to facilitate
   these measures of control .        Where the Commission is
   associated with these measures , Member States shall place
   at its disposal the supporting documents referred to in
   Article 3 «        In order to restrict as far as possible
   additional measures of control the Commission may , in
   special cases , require that certain documents be put at
    its disposal .
   3 . The measures of control referred to in paragraphs 1 and
   2 shall not prejudice the following measures :
   a)the measures of control undertaken by Member States in
        accordance with their own provisions laid down by law ,
        regulation or administrative action ;
   b)the measures provided for in Articles 206 , 206a and
        206b of the Treaty establishing the European Economic
        Community and Articles 180 , l80a and l80b of the Treaty
        establishing the European Atomic Energy Community ;
   c)the inspection arrangements made pursuant to Article
        209 ( c ) of the Treaty establishing the European Economic
        Community and Article 183 ( c ) of the Treaty establishing
        the European Atomic Energy Community .
   ^. The Commission shall from time to time report to the
   European Parliament and to the Council on the functioning
   of the system .
   5 . The Council acting on a proposal from the Commission shall
   determine :
   a)the conditions which officials appointed by the Commission
       must satisfy when they carry out the verifications pro­
       vided for in this Article , in particular with regard to
       professional secrecy and the procedure whereby they
        exercise their powers of investigation ;
 ---pagebreak---                              -6-
    b)where required , other provisions for applying this Article .
Jf.TitleTlV "procedure for application of Article 3(3 ) and Article
    4(l ) of the Decision of 21 April 1970 " ( Articles 16-22 ) shall
    be deleted .
5 . Title V becomes Title IV
    Article 23 becomes Article 22 and shall read as follows :
    Article 22
    1.    This Article shall be applicable where it may be necessary
    to take provisional measures in derogation under Article 4(2 )
    and ( 3 ) of the Decision of 21 April 1970 .
    2 . The gross national product at market prices shall be cal­
    culated on the basis of statistics established by the Statis­
    tical Office of the European Communities and on that of the
    data for the financial year preceding the year in which the
   preliminary draft budget is drawn up .
    3 * The gross national product is to be calculated in     the
   European Unit of Account defined in Article 10 of the     Financial
    Regulation on the average of the rates for the EUA of    the
    financial year taken as the basis for the calculation    referred
    to in paragraph ( 2 ) above .
   4.    As long as the derogation provided for in Article 4(2 ) of
    the Decision of 21 April 1970 is applied to one or more Member
    States , the Commission shall fix , in its preliminary draft
   budget , the estimated percentage of the budget to be covered
   by the financial contributions of the Member State or States
   concerned on the basis of the proportion of their gross
   national product to the sum total of the gross national pro­
   ducts of the Member States , and shall establish the rate of
   the value added tax corresponding to the remainder of the
   budget to be covered by the other Member States .      The amounts
   shall be approved in accordance with budgetary procedure .
   5»    For the purpose of this Regulation !
   a)the gross national product at market prices is equal to
       the gross domestic product at market prices plus income
       from employment , property and business received from the
       rest of the world less the corresponding flow towards the
       rest of the world ;
   b)the gross domestic product at market prices ; which re­
       presents the final outcome of production by resident
       productive units , corresponds to the total production
       of goods and services by the economy , less total inter­
       mediate consumption , plus import charges .
 ---pagebreak---                              -7-
    Article 23
    The calculations provided for in Article 13l(l)(a ) and (b )
    of the Act of Accession shall be made by the Commission
    during the budgetary procedure .      These calculations shall
    be considered final at the time when the budget is adopted
    and shall not be subject to revision when the accounts are
    closed .
6 . Title VI "procedure for application of Article         (5 ) of the
    Decision of 21 April 1970 " shall become Title V.
    Article 2k shall read as follows :
    Article 2k
    For the purposes of the application of Article k(5 ) of the
    Decision of 21 April 1970 , the balance of a financial year
    shall consist of the difference between :
    - all the revenue collected in respect of the financial year
        in question , and
    - the total amount of payments made in respect of the same
        financial year together with the appropriations carried
        over pursuant to Article 6 of the Financial Regulation
        (proposal ) .
    If there is a surplus of revenue over      the total amount referred
    to above , to the difference are added     the sums cancelled at
    the end of the financial year against      appropriations origina­
    ting in previous financial years .
    If there is a deficit , these sums are     subtracted from that
    difference .
7 . Title VII "provisions relating to the Advisory Committee on
    the Communities' Own Resources , and final provisions " shall
    become Title VI .
    Article 27 shall read as follows :
    Article 27
    1.The provisions amending Articles 8 , 9 , H , 23(2 ) and ( 3 )
        and the new Articles 2k and 27 shall not apply until 1
        January 1978
    2 . The provisions of Articles 8 , 9 , 11 , 12 , 16 to 22 , 23
        and 2k of Regulation ( EEC t Euratom , ECSC ) No 2/71 of
        2 January 1971 implementing the Decision of 21 April
        1970 on the replacement of financial contributions from
        the Member States by the Communities' own resources shall
        remain in force until 31 December 1977 *
 ---pagebreak---                           -8-
3 . Sub-paragraph b of paragraph 3 of Article    of this
    Regulation shall come into force on the day on which the
    Treaty of the 22nd of July 1975 comes into force , which
    Treaty amends certain financial provisions of the Treaties
    establishing the European Communities and of the Treaty
    establishing a Single Council and a Single Commission of
    the European Communities .
                      ARTICLE 2
   The Council Regulation of 2 April 1973 amending Regulation
   No 2/71 is hereby' repealed.
                      ARTICLE 3
   This Regulation shall enter into force on 1st January 1978J
   This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and
   directly applicable in all Member States .
   Done at Brussels .