Motion for a resolution - B5-0343/2001Motion for a resolution
B5-0343/2001

PROPOSAL FOR REJECTION OF DRAFT SUPPLEMENTARY AND AMENDING BUDGET 2/2001

10 May 2001

pursuant to Article 272(8) of the EC Treaty
by Heidi Hautala, Nuala Ahearn, Danielle Auroi, Alima Boumediene-Thiery, Theo Bouwman, Kathalijne Buitenweg, Daniel Cohn-Bendit, Alexander De Roo, Mercedes Echerer, Jillian Evans, Hélène Flautre, Monica Frassoni, Per Gahrton, Friedrich Wilhelm Graefe zu Baringdorf, Marie-Anne Isler Béguin, Pierre Jonckheer, Gorka Knörr Borràs, Joost Lagendijk, Jean Lambert, Alain Lipietz, Caroline Lucas, Nelly Maes, Patricia McKenna, Carlos Nogueira Román, Gérard Onesta, Yves Piétrasanta, Didier Rod, Heide Rühle, Inger Schörling, Elisabeth Schroedter, Bart Staes, Claude Turmes, Johannes Voggenhuber and Matti Wuori
on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group
B5‑0343/2001
PROPOSAL FOR REJECTION

Rejection of draft supplementary and amending budget 2/2001

The European Parliament,

–  having regard to Article 272 of the EC Treaty, Article 78 of the ECSC Treaty and Article 177 of the EAEC Treaty,

–  having regard to the Financial Regulation of 21 December 1977 applicable to the general budget of the European Communities, as last amended by Regulation (EC, ECSC, Euratom) No 762/2001[1] of 9 April 2001,

–  having regard to Supplementary and Amending Budget 2/1999 adopted on 23 July 1999,

–  having regard to Supplementary and Amending Budget 2/2000 adopted on 6 July 2000,

–  having regard to the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2001, finally adopted on 14 December 2000[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 Preliminary Draft Supplementary and Amending Budget 2/2001 of the European Union for the financial year 2001, submitted by the Commission on 15 March 2001 (SEC(2001) 378),

–  having regard to Draft Supplementary and Amending Budget 2/2001 established by the Council on 9 April 2001 (7460/2001 - C5-0153/2001),

–  having regard to Rule 92 of and Annex IV to its Rules of Procedure,

–  having regard to the explanatory note concerning Draft Supplementary and Amending Budget 2/2001 - Section II - Council, submitted by the Council on 10 April 2001,

–  having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgets and the opinion of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Human Rights, Common Security and Defence Policy (A5‑0138/2001),

A.  whereas Draft Supplementary and Amending Budget 2/2001 deals with the further development of the common European security and defence policy and with the creation of three directorates within the Council's General Secretariat to set up the structure for crisis management in particular,

B.   whereas Draft Supplementary and Amending Budget 2/2001 concerns the recruitment of 51 staff, daily allowances for seconded national military experts and the purchase of telecommunications and data protection equipment, for which a total amount of € 9 846 000 is needed; whereas through redeployment, local recruitment and secondment of national experts another 90 staff approximately will work in the directorates referred to,

C.  whereas the Council submitted an explanatory note to the chairman of the Committee on Budgets on 10 April 2001 in which more detailed information on this draft supplementary and amending budget is given,

D.  whereas Article 21 of the Treaty on European Union only provides that the 'Presidency shall consult Parliament on the main aspects and the basic choices of the common foreign and security policy and shall ensure that the views of the European Parliament are duly taken into consideration',

E.  whereas the limits to public access to CFSP/ESDP documents further hinder the exercise of democratic scrutiny by the European Parliament,

F.  whereas it is Parliament's duty to use all powers at its disposal to guarantee that democratic scrutiny is exercised over all policy areas, including defence and security issues,

G.  whereas the remaining margin in heading 5 of the financial perspective ('Administrative expenditure') is € 34.7 million, and whereas paragraph 12, second subparagraph, of the Interinstitutional Agreement of 6 May 1999[4] stipulates that '... the institutions will ensure ... that sufficient margins are left available beneath the ceilings for the various headings',

H.  whereas the commitment given by the Council during the trialogue of 29 March 2001 to study jointly with Parliament and Commission the long-term effects of new initiatives under heading 5 of the financial perspective needs formal confirmation,

1.  Notes the Council’s decision to launch, by means of this SAB, a new European defence policy; regrets that this policy is not more integrated in the first pillar and fears a possible overlapping of responsibilities and initiatives;

2.  Recalls that using its budget powers to scrutinise the CFSP/ESDP is, in the present situation, the only way of ensuring democratic control over this policy;

3.  Is of the opinion that the Council has not provided, in its DSAB 2/2001, the transparency that Parliament considers necessary to judge properly the need for the appropriations requested, but welcomes the Council decision to create in the budget for 2002 a special title with different chapters for expenditure related to CFSP/ESDP; notes that all expenditure related to this sector of the Council's budget will be entered in this title;

4.  Considers that the Council has provided more transparency in the above-mentioned explanatory note;

5.  Regrets that this explanatory note does not contain a separate establishment plan for the common European security and defence policy; requests that such an establishment plan be presented together with the 2002 Council estimates;

6.  Is not convinced that no overlapping structures in the Council and the Commission will be created, especially concerning first-pillar tasks such as crisis prevention and civilian crisis management;

7.  Wishes therefore to examine the request for extra appropriations as presented in the DSAB 2/2001 during the conciliation procedure referred to in paragraph 39 of the Interinstitutional Agreement;

8.  Is of the opinion that discussing all CFSP/ESDP expenditure during that conciliation procedure would benefit both arms of the budgetary authority because, if an agreement were reached in the ad hoc procedure, Parliament would refrain from tabling amendments to the Council budget;

9.  Is of the opinion that the further development of the common European security and defence policy risks elbowing out and jeopardising normal administrative expenditure in heading 5 of the financial perspective;

10.  Notes that the 'gentlemen's agreement' between the Council and Parliament has up to now concerned 'traditional' administrative expenditure; considers that the so-called administrative expenditure that is used to set up and maintain the second (and third) pillar(s) of Community policy has a different status and that the ‘gentlemen's agreement’ does not therefore apply to this expenditure;

11.  Insists that the Council should properly implement paragraphs 39 and 40 of the Interinstitutional Agreement of 6 May 1999 on budgetary discipline, in particular as regards the Council's obligation to send the European Parliament the financial statement whenever it decides on an CFSP/ESDP action or operation;

12.  Rejects Draft Supplementary and Amending Budget 2/2001;

13.  Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission and the other institutions concerned.