REPORT on the draft general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2007

13.10.2006 - (C6‑0300/2006 – 2006/2018B (BUD))

Section I                       –  European Parliament
Section II                      –  Council
Section IV                     –  Court of Justice
Section V                      –  Court of Auditors
Section VI                     –  European Economic and Social Committee
Section VII                   –  Committee of the Regions
Section VIII (A)            –  European Ombudsman
Section VIII (B)            –  European Data Protection Supervisor
Part 1: Motion for a resolution
Committee on Budgets
Rapporteur: Louis Grech


Procedure : 2006/2018B(BUD)
Document stages in plenary
Document selected :  
A6-0356/2006

MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION

on the draft general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2007 - Section I - European Parliament, Section II - Council, Section IV - Court of Justice, Section V - Court of Auditors, Section VI - European Economic and Social Committee, Section VII - Committee of the Regions, Section VIII(A) - European Ombudsman, Section VIII(B) - European Data Protection Supervisor

(C6-0300/2006 - 2006/2018B (BUD))

The European Parliament,

- having regard to Article 272 of the EC Treaty,

- having regard to Council Decision 2000/597/EC, Euratom of 29 September 2000 on the system of the European Communities' own resources[1],

- 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[2],

- having regard to the Interinstitutional Agreement of 17 May 2006 between the European Parliament the Council and the Commission on budgetary discipline and sound financial management[3],

- 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[4], and in particular point 26 thereof,

- having regard to its resolution of 15 March 2006 on the guidelines for the 2007 budget procedure - Sections II, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII (A) and VIII (B) and on the European Parliament's preliminary draft estimates (Section I) for the 2007 budget procedure[5],

- having regard to its resolution of 1 June 2006 on the estimates of revenue and expenditure of the European Parliament for the financial year 2007[6],

- having regard to the preliminary draft general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2007, which the Commission presented on 3 May 2006 (SEC(2006)0531),

- having regard to the draft general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2007, which the Council established on 14 July 2006 (C6-0300/2006),

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

- having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgets and the opinions of the Committee on International Trade, the Committee on Development, the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs and the Committee on Petitions (A6-0356/2006),

A.  whereas 2007 is the first year of the new financial framework (2007-2013), for which the ceiling of heading 5 (Administrative expenditure) has been set at EUR 7 115 000 000 at current prices;

B.  whereas the Preliminary Draft Budget (PDB) of all the institutions left a margin of EUR 160 750 000 below the ceiling of heading 5 of the financial perspective for the financial year 2007;

C.  whereas after Council's decision the draft budget (DB) has a margin of EUR 285 190 000 below the ceiling of heading 5 for 2007;

General Framework

1. Agrees with the Council that budgetary discipline and productivity gain should constitute key principles for all institutions; does not align itself with Council on across-the-board reduction; considers that budgetary requests should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis which would result in a clear and more precise picture of the real needs and priorities of each institution;

2. Reiterates the fact that, while respecting annuality and the administrative nature of the budget, a more operational, activity-based, multiannual approach should be adopted by the institutions; believes that this approach reflects more realistically and effectively the short and medium term development and requirements of the institutions;

3. Expects the institutions to ensure that policies and activities financed by the taxpayers provide real added-value for citizens and that budget appropriations are used in accordance with the principles of sound financial management and cost-effectiveness; has therefore decided to limit the budget increase of 2007 to XX%, excluding enlargement costs;

4. Points out that, over the years, a number of institutions have ensured that substantially high margins were becoming a permanent feature in their estimates, giving rise to a high degree of mopping up transfer and, at times, cancellation of appropriations; acknowledges that it is prudent to have some adequate margins, but considers it inappropriate to have unrealistic inflated margins, under normal circumstances and especially when the process of purchasing and acquiring buildings starts to slow down;

5. Decides to leave a margin under the ceiling of heading 5; recommends restoring EUR YYYY out of the EUR 47 812 781 reduction made by Council on the budget of the other institutions (excluding the Commission);

6.  Is of the opinion that, under normal circumstances, the policy of purchasing offices and buildings should be continued especially since, over the years, this policy has served the European Parliament's interests well, generating savings and thus making it possible to fund other projects; is of the opinion, however, that some institutions may be adopting this policy solely for the sake of acquiring property; requests that this policy take into account supporting evidence such as area/volume of office space per employee and give due attention to the considerable costs, such as security and maintenance, especially as building costs account for over 16% of heading 5; insists also that institutions should present for each future acquisition proposal an indication of the additional related costs that would result in the medium term; recommends the implementation of a policy of multiannual property investment planning instead of an annual plan;

7.  Welcomes the adoption by the institutions of the new nomenclature which renders the presentation of budgetary documents more understandable and transparent to the citizens but considers it could be further improved;

8.  Has noted that the institutions at times find it difficult to adequately tap the labour market for particular professional skills, such as accountants and Information Technology personnel; notes the ever-increasing trend in the hiring of temporary staff and in the outsourcing of certain services; considers it advisable to address the policy to be followed by institutions regarding outsourcing and recruitment of temporary contract workers;

9.  Invites the institutions to restructure the translation services and especially the number and length of texts to be translated; requests the institutions to present a report on the cost efficiency of their translation services;

10. Is of the opinion that the institutions should provide more information on the performance of their core tasks in order to justify the consumption of their financial resources; stresses the need to monitor whether additional funds are rendering institutions more or less effective and efficient; considers that in addition to budgetary implementation reports, institutions should provide more informative activity related reporting which should be submitted to the budgetary authority by the first week of September each year. These reports could be used to explain better any additional requests for funds while enabling the budgetary authorities to make a more rational decision on the allocation of such funds;

11. Is disappointed that not all institutions are committed to making re-deployment a viable exercise; welcomes efforts being made by some institutions - notably Parliament's administration, albeit to a very limited degree - to successfully implement a re-deployment policy over a number of years; recommends that in the coming years institutions should ensure that a re-deployment policy is an integral part of the planning procedure when preparing the annual estimates, thus ensuring that human resources requested are in line with operational requirements;

12. Notes that the majority of requests for additional staff emanate from the enlargement process which remains a top priority; agrees with Council's policy to accept all new posts related to enlargement; considers, however, that more information has to be given on how additional staff will effectively be deployed, especially to ensure that the new incumbents are really being employed to carry out enlargement related duties;

13. Contends that appropriations should, as much as possible, relate to specific activities thus avoiding the cancellation of appropriations and the mopping-up transfer at the end of the year;

14. Does not agree with Council's decision to increase the "standard abatement" to a relatively high level and base it on the current rate of vacant posts as this could potentially create some unnecessary problems, especially if successful candidates could not be employed due to lack of appropriations;

15. Recommends forms of cooperation between institutions which are bound to create synergy and contribute towards financial savings and greater efficiency, whilst helping the citizens to better understand the role of the EU in their everyday activity;

16. Urges institutions to have a more harmonised and standard approach when drafting their estimates, including clear and precise justifications, as this would facilitate their analysis;

Section I - European Parliament

Level of budgeting

17. Calls on the Bureau to re-address the self-imposed ceiling of 20% of heading 5 in the coming years, taking into account the development and consequential requirements of Parliament for 2009 and beyond;

18. Regrets that the budgetary authority has had no feedback from the administration on its request relating to the minimisation of costs in areas experiencing unnecessary expenditure as a result of having three places of work; recalls that the costs of this geographical dispersion represent approximately 16% of the total expenditure of Parliament; requests the administration to submit a report on the number of officials who are required in Strasbourg during the Plenary Session;

19. Takes note of the Bureau's amending letter of 6 September 2006 proposing to set the budget at the maximum level of 20% of heading 5, which translates into an increase of 7,72% over the 2006 budget; points out that the amount of mopping up transfer in 2005 was EUR 123 800 000 and the surplus in 2006 is expected to be around EUR 100 000 000; draws the attention of Members to its abovementioned resolution of 1 June 2006 (paragraphs 1 and 2) stating that the budget should be based on realistic requests;

20. Has decided, after careful examination of Parliament’s budgetary requirements, that the final level of Parliament's budget be set at EUR ZZZ corresponding to a AA% increase over the 2006 budget and registering a reduction of Parliament's budget by EUR BBB below the 20% of heading 5; underlines that the above does not constitute any limitation of Parliament's right to use fully the self-imposed ceiling for 2007 and subsequent years; is confident that this level of budgeting would not in any way limit the institution's ability to continue operating and functioning at an efficient level;

Information and Communication policy

21. Re-affirms its policy that the European Parliament should continue its efforts to develop an effective and user-friendly information strategy with the main objective of improving the relationship between the institution and European citizens;

22. Decides to modify the nomenclature and create two new budget lines for the Visitors' Centre and the Web-TV in order to enhance financial transparency and accountability;

23.      Notes the Bureau's proposals to release EUR 6 700 000 from the reserve for information and communication policy earmarked for Web TV; has decided to maintain the EUR 6 700 000 allocated by the Bureau for Web TV in Chapter 104 ("Reserve for Information and communication"), as well as the 5 posts relating to the project, until the prototype, the content and the cost of the project including the structures and level of participation of political groups in the definition of the contents of the programmes are presented to the budgetary authority for its final decision;

24. Regrets that in the past years unnecessary delays were evident in the implementation of the overall improvement of the visitors’ programme; points out that issues relating to this service are highly relevant to improving the relationship between Members and their constituencies; considers that this direct contact with European citizens has a beneficial multiplier effect in the perception that European citizens have of their Parliament;

25. Reiterates the call it made in paragraph 37 of its resolution of 1 June 2006 for immediate action to resolve the sensitive issue regarding the underspending of EUR 5 000 000 relating to the visitors’ programme; welcomes the Bureau's decision to adopt the Quaestors' proposal for the revision of rules on visitors’ groups in order to increase the amount available to cover costs and to increase the number of visitors per Member to 100; appreciates also the early handover of the D4 building where the Visitors' Centre is located; requests the Secretary General to inform the budgetary authority on the impact of the implementation of the new rules and the efficiency of the system by the end of March 2007;

26. Acknowledges the efforts being made by the Administration to rectify the shortcomings in the visitors’ service; however, calls on the Administration to address the complaints concerning the non-availability of slots to receive visitors;

27. Has decided to agree with the following Bureau proposals regarding various appropriations:

· to allocate an extra amount of EUR 2 700 000 for the visitors’ programme,

· to allocate EUR 6 800 000 for the fitting out of the Visitors' Centre premises; from this amount, EUR 2 600 000 is transferred from Chapter 104 ("Reserve for Information and communication");

· to maintain in chapter 104 ("Reserve for information and communication policy") an amount of EUR 15 700 000 for the audiovisual equipment of the D5 building.

28. Has decided to confirm the decision taken by the Bureau on the initiative "Citizens Agora" for a trial period; asks the Bureau to be informed on the estimated cost and the content of this initiative before implementing the project;

Enlargement

29.    Confirms the decision to enter an allocation of EUR 48 000 000 for enlargement related expenditure (Romania and Bulgaria) in respect of the following:

1.  new Member-related personnel expenses (35 Romanians and 18 Bulgarians);

2.  additional staff (the remaining 113 out of the 226 permanents posts and 22 temporary posts for political groups);

3.  interpretation and conference technicians;

4.  equipment and furniture;

5.  operating expenditure;

6.  information and statutory financing of political groups and parties;

30. Calls on the administration to ensure that enlargement related recruitment processes do not experience the same delays as witnessed in the enlargement to the EU 10; asks the administration to update and periodically present the report on recruitment regarding enlargement to the budget authority;

Establishment Plan

31. Points out that consolidation of the establishment plan together with the redeployment exercise remain the key objectives in the strategic planning of the recruitment of staff in the 2007 establishment plan; maintains that a leaner organisational structure has to be created, principally by streamlining new posts, prioritising objectives and the discontinuation of activities which are not core activities and do not give any added value; re-affirms that the filling of posts falling vacant as a result of retirement will not be accepted as being an automatic process;

32. Notes that, following the amending letter by the Bureau, the level of new posts requested, before the redeployment measure, amounted to EUR 3 063 347 corresponding to 106 posts; considers, after evaluating more precisely the justification for these posts, that the total amount is well above Parliament's essential requirements for 2007 and has therefore approved the following new posts:

· Irish language: 3 AD5 (lawyer linguist), 3 AD5 (translator) and 3 AST3;

· Internalisation (former session auxiliaries): 4 AST1 (audiovisual);

· Comitology: 5 AD5 and 2 AST3;

· Better law-making: 1 AD5;

· Budgetary control: 1 AD 5 and directorate D: 1 AST3;

· Extension of the KAD building: 1 AD5 and 2 AST3, of which one is in reserve;

· Web TV: 1 AD9, 2 AD5 and 2 AST3 in reserve;

· EMAS: 1 AST3;

33. Has decided to release from the reserve:

· Internalisation (former session auxiliaries): 8 AST1 (audiovisual), 4 AD5 and 4 AST1, of which 2 AD5 and 2 AST1 remain in reserve (minutes and CRE), and 4 temporary AD5 (teachers);

· Maintenance of buildings: 3 AST3, of which one remains in reserve;

· Visitors' Centre: 1 AD5 and 1 AST3;

· Others: 1 AST3 (audiovisual sector) and 1 AST3 (medical service)

· Deletion of the 47 remaining posts in reserve;

34. Has also decided to make the necessary appropriations available for the creation of two AD5 posts for basic internal communication; has agreed also to the transformation of three fixed-term temporary AD5 and one fixed-term temporary AST3 posts into open-ended temporary posts in the Legal Service, in view of the importance the Institution attaches to improving the quality of legislation;

35. Is aware that upgrading is essential for the motivation of staff, but points out that this should always be in line with the Staff Regulations; takes note of the upgrades requested by the administration and has decided to confirm the upgradings requested by the Bureau for permanent and temporary staff: 2 AST 2 to AST 3, 168 AST 3 to AST 4, 15 AST 4 to AST 5, 205 AST 5 to AST 6, 225 AST 6 to AST 7, 30 AST 7 to AST 8, 25 AST 8 to AST 9, 10 AST 10 to AST 11, 57 AD 5 to AD 6, 19 AD 7 to AD 8, 25 AD 12 to AD 13, 2 AD 13 to AD 14 and 1 AD 10 to AD 11, 1 AD 8 to AD 9, 2 AST 7 to AST 8, 1 AST 5 to AST 6, 1 AD 8 to AD 10, 1 AD 6 to AD 10, plus 1 AD8 to AD9;

36. Has likewise decided to confirm the upgradings requested by the political groups: 8 AD12 to AD13, 9 AD11 to AD12, 6 AD10 to AD11, 1 AD9 to AD10, 4 AD6 to AD7, 9AD5 to AD6, 10 AST10 to AST11, 1 AST9 to AST10, 5 AST8 to AST9, 5AST7 to AST8, 14 AST6 to AST7, 14 AST5 to AST6, 1 AST4 to AST5, 9 AST3 to AST4, 7 AST2 to AST3, 2AST1 to AST2;

37. Has decided to confirm the following conversions and to release the corresponding appropriation for:

· four AST3 to AD5,

· 2AST and 2 AD5 fixed-term temporary posts into open-ended temporary posts;

38. Acknowledges the efforts made by the Secretary General at least to initiate the implementation of the redeployment process for the next three years; believes that with the necessary co-operation and commitment from all concerned this exercise could be developed to a larger extent; has decided, subsequent to the conciliation meeting of 5 October 2006 with the Bureau, to delete 15 posts by 1 January 2007 from the European Parliament's establishment plan; invites the Administration, in accordance with the adopted redeployment scheme, to make sure that all posts that become vacant are not automatically filled before an evaluation of needs has been made; considers that the redeployment of further 10 posts can be achieved by no later than the first reading of the 2008 budget: of these 10 posts, six are intended to create a limited number of posts to strengthen financial management, one is to be assigned specifically to the management of Members' allowances and one of the remaining is for the Human Rights Unit;

39. Points out that appropriation levels for the establishment plan as modified have therefore been reduced from EUR 2 760 616 to EUR 1 608 096, representing savings amounting to EUR 1 991 051;

40. Welcomes the fact that in the past years the training and induction courses, including those that address mobility and redeployment, being given to staff by the European Administration School have developed successfully;

41. Regrets however that induction training designed for Members' assistants has not yet been well formulated; urges the Secretary General to develop, in co-operation with the European Administration School, specific training programmes for Members' assistants;

42. Welcomes the fact that the traineeship programme in favour of persons with disability, as mentioned in the 2007 guidelines, has been formulated and is developing reasonably well;

Buildings Policy

43. Notes that the Bureau in its Amending Letter of 7 September 2006 has proposed to enter an additional EUR 19 000 000 in the reserve for buildings over and above the EUR 50 000 000 requested in Parliament's estimates; considers, after evaluating the property investment plan for 2007, that the amount of EUR 19 000 000 is not at this stage a realistic requirement; has decided to maintain the EUR 50 000 000 in the reserve for provisional appropriations for buildings to cover the institution's property investment (Chapter 105 "Provisional appropriation for buildings");

44. Calls on the administration, especially after the "Strasbourg experience", to apply more stringent, water-tight and transparent procedures when purchasing buildings;

45. Notes that the appropriations which have to be allocated to the newly created line in the 2006 budget for Information Offices (Article 325) have not been activated due to the restrictions of nomenclature; calls on the Administration to present, every year, a detailed breakdown of the expenses related to the Information Offices, annexed to the draft estimates;

46. Is of the opinion that the agreement with the Commission on the management of acquisition of buildings including improvements, alterations and maintenance work, especially Information Houses in Member States, should be re-examined and reviewed; expects a report on this issue to be submitted to the budgetary authority not later than March 2007;

47. Makes it very clear that it would fully endorse the take-up of any unutilised funds within the 20% of heading 5 - through amending budgets - in the event that Parliament is in need of additional capital outlay for unforeseen expenditure, especially relating to the purchase and acquisition of essential new buildings;

48.    Reminds the Administration of the request made in paragraph 20 of its resolution of 26 September 2006 on the 2004 discharge: Section I - European Parliament[7] to draw up a report examining whether it might be feasible to establish a European Building Authority charged with responsibility for the construction and maintenance of the buildings of the EU Institutions and bodies, and calls for this report to be presented to the Committee on Budgets;

49. Takes note of the Bureau's request to allocate the specific amount to the purchase of the following buildings and has decided to approve:

· an additional EUR 4 000 000 for the extension of the KAD building in Luxembourg;

· EUR 7 832 000 for the fitting out and refurbishment of the D4 building due to the early handover;

· EUR 350 000 for the alterations to the Chamber in Brussels due to the accession of Romania and Bulgaria;

50. Considers that Parliament should take the initiative to put into practice the standards on the Management of Environmental Issues in offices and other Parliamentary buildings;

Security

51.    Welcomes the efforts made by the Belgian authorities regarding the security around Parliament; is of the opinion that the cost of security inside the Parliament is becoming excessive and has decided to enter 10% of the appropriation in chapter 100 ("Provisional appropriation"); is willing to release the appropriation when provided with a report which assesses the efficiency and the quality of the service provided against the cost and the associated risks in the three places of work and the Houses of Europe;

Multilingualism

52. Acknowledges the importance and relevance of multilingualism for the institutions; considers that the service is essential for the work of Members and for citizens;

53. Recognises the difficulties involved in controlling this huge expenditure, which represents approximately 33% of the total expenditure of Parliament; takes the view that more discipline and control are necessary to administer this service effectively; welcomes the initiative taken by the Bureau to set up a guide of good practice; recommends, however, that the code of conduct on multilingualism should incorporate sanctions and penalties for the irresponsible use or misuse of these services by whatever offender; has taken the decision to put in reserve EUR 3 000 000; requests that the administration make a feasibility study regarding a "help desk" for official interpretations for Members;

54. Has decided that, in respect of the Irish language, the following appropriations will be approved:

· EUR 100 000 against line 1420 Outside services;

· EUR 150 000 against line 3240 Official Journal;

· EUR 112 000 against line 2100 Purchase, servicing and maintenance of equipment and software;

· EUR 50 000 against line 3222 Expenditure on archive resources;

Assistance and services to Members

55. Takes note of the report presented by the Secretary General on the final assessment of the "Raising the game" exercise, including the results of the quality survey conducted to gauge the level of service being given to Members; agrees that the necessary structural changes have taken place and that the main objectives of improving the support provided to Parliament's bodies and Members have, on the whole, been achieved; is concerned that the results of the survey highlighted the fact that Members are often not fully aware of the available support services; invites the Secretary General to embark on an information strategy to address this issue not later than 15 December 2006;

56. Is still of the opinion that better use could be made both of Parliament's resources and of in-house specialised staff, especially where major parliamentary reports are involved;

57. Urges the administration to look into the need to provide Members with a substantial basis of information on all topics and issues with which they are confronted in the performance of their duties; this information, to be provided by Parliament's research facilities, would enable Members to take a clear stand on complex issues;

58.      Notes the improvement in monitoring of the implementation of the EU budget in its budgetary vote; asks the relevant committees to set up a structure and a procedure to carry out this monitoring exercise with the specialised committees; asks the Secretary General to facilitate the logistics (rooms and interpretation) to organise regular monitoring meetings according to the priorities that will be defined by the committees concerned;

59. Has noted the conclusions of the evaluation report on the acquisition of expertise (item 320); notes that an enhancement in the overall service has taken place; contends however that the service could be more efficient, especially as regards the fact that the relevant expertise has not always been submitted in time; has decided to release EUR 1 500 000 and to maintain EUR 500 000 in the reserve;

60. Encourages the Secretary General to make periodical audits on the service provided to Members, especially in respect of computers, the travel agency, telephones, car services and the legal service;

61. Considers that Information Technology is an essential and fundamental element for the proper work of Members and their staff; notes that there has been an improvement in the service being provided but is of the opinion that Members are still not getting full value for money; decides to put in reserve EUR 2 000 000 from item 2102 ("Outside assistance") in connection with the operation, development and maintenance of software systems;

62. Notes the agreement regarding the Comitology provisions which entered into force on 23 July 2006; acknowledges the importance which this new regulatory procedure will have for Parliament in the decision-making process in the future; considers that it is necessary to analyse properly the future workload that this agreement will entail;

63. Reiterates, as previously mentioned in its resolution of 1 June 2006, its full support for the adoption of a real and meaningful statute for Members’ assistants; calls on the Council to take a final decision so that the necessary appropriations can be allocated;

Section IV - Court of Justice

64. Notes the recurring requests from the Court of Justice to obtain a third proof reader; has decided to authorise, at this stage, the recruitment of contract workers for each of the pivot languages; has decided to reduce accordingly the appropriation entered in item 1406 ("Other supplementary services (translation service/interpretation)"), which usually covers the extra needs in proof reading;

65. Agrees with the Council to authorise 111 upgradings including 10 requested to modify the Court's administrative structure by creating a new Directorate; takes note that this will not have any other financial implication in the future;

66. Has decided the following establishment plan measures:

· creation of 5 new permanent posts (3 AD5 and 2 AST3), in addition to the 10 new posts already agreed to by the Council in its draft budget; these five posts will conclude a process initiated in 2004 to reinforce Information Technology (IT) support in the IT division and in the financial and ex-ante control services;

· creation of 115 permanent posts for Romania and Bulgaria;

67. Is of the opinion that the setting up of a new Civil Service Tribunal should have helped reduce the congestion in other tribunals; calls on the Court of Justice to present a report on the impact of the creation of the new Civil Service Tribunal in terms of cost for buildings, staff and other expenses before March 2007;

68. Has decided to limit the increased draft budget of the Court of Justice in several areas such as the IT sector and to freeze the expenditure in the envelope of the 2007 budget; has however increased the appropriations made available by the Council in the draft budget by EUR 4 633 400 which represents a 3,45% increase, excluding the costs related to enlargement;

Section V - Court of Auditors

69. Has decided the creation of two posts for the human resources unit to ease the modernisation of management staff and to commit itself to create a further two posts needed in the 2008 financial year;

70. Has decided on the creation of one post for the professional training unit to provide an adequate training programme for the junior auditors;

71. Has therefore decided the following establishment plan measures:

· creation of 3 new permanent posts (1 AST3 and 2 AST1), in addition to the 3 new posts already agreed to by the Council in its draft budget;

· creation of 41 permanent posts for Romania and Bulgaria;

72. Is of the opinion that the Court of Auditors is lagging behind in IT and that it needs to update its system in order to perform its duties properly; has decided to restore EUR 518 000 that the Council has decided to cut;

73. Has increased the appropriations made available by the Council in the draft budget by EUR 3 579 729 which represents a 3,12% increase, excluding costs related to enlargement;

European Economic and Social Committee and Committee of the Regions

74. Is of the opinion that the creation of the joint administrative service has been beneficial for both committees and has created important economies to the budget of the European Communities; expects the two committees to renew their partnership agreement before the end of the year and /or to explore other forms of cooperation;

75. Is of the opinion that the two Committees could increase efficiency and could concentrate more on their political missions if certain tasks, notably those of drivers, ushers and the staff of the print shop, could be outsourced and the staff redeployed; insists that existing human resources should be redeployed in order to cater for future needs in the areas of enlargement or reinforcement of the Committees' political role;

76. Takes note that the Committee of the Regions commissioned two independent external assessments of the Joint Services, by Mr. Joan COLOM i NAVAL and Mr. Robert REYNDERS, and invites the Committee of the Regions Secretary General to forward these reports to the European Parliament's Committee on Budgets;

Section VI - European Economic and Social Committee

77. Requests the European Economic and Social Committee to produce an annual report, before 1 September each year, on the impact of the advisory work that this institution performs for the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission;

78. Has decided to endorse the EUR 1 995 120 frontload from the 2006 budget to cover part of its needs for 2007 and decrease its request for 2007 accordingly;  

79. Is of the opinion that to cope with its increasing workload, the European Economic and Social Committee should limit the length of the texts of its opinions and other publications, as is done by the other institutions;

80. Has decided the following establishment plan measures:

· creation of 5 new permanent posts (1 AD5 and 4 AST3), in addition to the 13 new posts already agreed to by the Council in its draft budget;

· creation of 6 permanent posts for Romania and Bulgaria;

81. Has increased the appropriations made available by the Council in the draft budget by EUR 1 529 115 which represents a 1,12 % increase, excluding the costs related to enlargement;

Section VII - Committee of the Regions

82. Agrees with the Council on the request for upgrades related to the new Staff Regulations and also on the request to upgrade one Committee of the Regions Head of Unit to a Director's post for the joint service on the condition that this will not lead to the need for additional staff and that no proposal to split up the service will result from this upgrading before an in-depth and careful analysis and assessment of the service has been carried out; considers that it will guarantee a more equitable governance of the joint service between the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions;

83. Takes note of the non-request for new posts related to the enlargement to Bulgaria and Romania;

84. Has decided the following establishment plan measures:

· creation of 3 new permanent posts (2 AD5 and 1 AST3) and one temporary post (AD5), in addition to the 3 new posts already agreed to by the Council in its draft budget;

85. Has increased the appropriations made available by the Council in the draft budget by EUR 581 684 which represents a 2,53 % increase, excluding the costs related to enlargement;

Section VIII (A) - Ombudsman

86. Notes that only 10 upgradings have been requested by the Ombudsman and that these upgradings have been agreed to by the Council;

87. Has decided to limit the appropriation allocated to the organisation of the National Ombudsman Biennial Seminar for which the Ombudsman is responsible this year to EUR 45 000;

88. Has increased the appropriations made available by the Council in the draft budget by EUR 150 000 to top up the appropriation for translation;

Section VIII (B) - European Data Protection Supervisor

89. Considers that the Estimates should be more precise, particularly in terms of staff and new requirements; requests its administration and the Commission, in the context of the interinstitutional agreement, to provide adequate support for the drawing up of the estimates for the next financial year;

90. Has decided the following establishment plan measures:

· creation of 2 new permanent posts (1 AD9 and 1 AST5) in addition to the 3 new posts (1AD9, 1 AD8 and 1 AD7) already agreed to by Council in its draft budget;

91. Has increased the appropriations made available by Council in the draft budget by EUR 158 846 to maintain its level of development which represents an increase of 38,28% without taking into account the amending budget;

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92. Instructs its President to forward this resolution together with the amendments to Sections I, II, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII (A) and VIII (B) of the draft general budget to the Council, the Commission and the other institutions and bodies concerned.

  • [1]  OJ L 253, 7.10.2000, p. 42.
  • [2]  OJ L 248, 16.9.2002, p. 1.
  • [3]  OJ C 139, 14.6.2006, p.1.
  • [4]  OJ C 172, 18.6.1999, p. 1. Agreement as last amended by Decision 2005/708/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 269, 14.10.2005, p. 24).
  • [5]  Texts adopted of that date, P6_TA(2006)0090.
  • [6]  Texts adopted of that date, P6_TA(2006)0241.
  • [7]  Texts Adopted (P6_TA(2006)0363).

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

Overview of Heading 5 (Administrative expenditure) other sections

European Union Budget for Year 2007

2007 is the first year of the next Multiannual Framework which covers the 2007-2013 period 2007 will also be the first year of a harmonised nomenclature for all institutions. This will render the EU budget reports more reader friendly and easier to follow. There are cases were certain different definitions have to be maintained due to the specificity of each institution.

Budget appropriation under heading V, for year 2007, amounts to EUR 7 039 000 000. This means an excess of EUR 37 compared to initial predictions in the preliminary draft budget. Moreover, if the staff pension contributions amounting to EUR 76 million are taken into account, the overall margin would amount to EUR 113 million.

Excluding the Commission's administrative requirements, the consolidated budget of all the other institutions is estimated at EUR 2 594 000 000. This represents an increase of 5,49% over the previous period. A breakdown of this amount by institution is given in Table 1 below. The budgeted figures exclude contributions to pension funds.

Table 1: 2007 Estimates of other institutions (in EUR):

Institutions

Budget 2006

Increase 2005/2006

Budget 2007

Increase 2006/2007

 

 

 

 

 

Parliament (EP)

1 321 600 000

4,24%

1 377 700 000

4,20%

Council (CONS)

591 800 000

3,60%

613 100 000

3,60%

Court of Justice (CoJ)

250 338 602

12,92%

282 694 000

12,90%

Court of Auditors (CoA)

113 196 491

8,18%

122 451 000

8,40%

European Economic and Social Committee (EESC)

107 984 805

7,39%

115 961121

7,38%

Committee of Regions (CoR)

63 362 670

9,55%

69 416 197

9,55%

Ombudsman (Ombud)

7 682 538

7,42%

8 252 800

7,42%

European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS)

3 583 833(a)

41,77%

5 080 699

41,76%(b)

Total

2 459 548 939

11,88%

2 594 655 817

5,49%

(a)For 2006 EDPS have requested an amendment to their budget of amounting to EUR 563 545. If accepted the budgeted amount for 2006 would read EUR 4 147 378.

(b) If the amendment to budget is accepted the resulting increase in 2007 would be of 23%.

The additional funds required can be mainly attributed to requests for additional staff and office space to meet new requirements following the expected enlargement to Bulgaria and Romania.

The estimates incorporate the annual adjustment to a remuneration of 2,4% for the period from January to June and 2,1% for the period from July to December. A standard abatement[1] of between 2,5% and 3% under Chapter 11 ("salaries for officials and members of the temporary staff"), with the exception of the Council which has a rate of 7%, has been applied. This abatement was applied to all institutions except for the Ombudsman and the EDPS. With the exception of EDPS, the increase in requirements range from 3,6% for Council to 12,9% for the Court of Justice. The budgeted estimates of the EP stands at 19,57% of heading V which is well within the self imposed ceiling of 20%. In the event that the Romanian and Bulgarian accession is postponed then the overall percentage will be reduced even further i.e. from 19,57% to 18,89% of heading V. The Council increase in appropriations for 2007 of EUR 21,3 million consists of EUR 20 million to meet enlargement requirements and only an additional EUR 1,3 million for general administration. Increases registered by CoA, EESC, CoR, Ombudsman and EDPS are above the average registered rate of 5,49% for heading V. Percentage increases in additional funds for 2007 are similar to those of 2006.

1 Establishment Plan (Human Resources/Staff Complement)

1.1 New Posts (staff vacancies)

All institutions, with exception of the Ombudsman, requested additional staff for 2007. These requests have to be seen in the context of the number of additional posts already agreed upon during the 2006 budgetary procedure. Collectively in 2007, the institutions have requested an additional complement of 498 staff. This new requirement is broken down into 453 permanent and 45 temporary staff. It is being argued that 63% of the additional complement of staff is needed to meet new responsibilities arising from enlargement. To a large degree, the remaining 37% is required to fill newly created vacancies and to cover new projects.

Relatively speaking, the CoJ, followed by the CoA are requesting the highest number of additional posts. The justifications given by the CoJ and, to a slightly lesser degree, the CoA - for the additional posts - are related to the enlargement needs. It is relevant to point out that at the end of 2005 the CoJ set up the Civil Service Tribunal, which required the employment of additional staff. The creation of this new Tribunal should have reduced the workload in that particular area.

Table 2 gives a breakdown of staff in place during 2006 and additional staff required in 2007.

Table 2: Staff complement and changes for 2007

Institutions

Staff in 2006

Posts requested in 2007

Difference

(2)/(1)

 

Enlargement EUR2

 

 

Permanent

Temporary

Total(1)

Permanent

Temporary

Total(2)

Parliament (EP)

4 883

918(a)

5 801

175

12

187

3,74%

113

Council (CONS)

3 393

47

3 440

94

2

96

2,80%

37

Court of Justice (CoJ)

1757 

60

60

92

23

115(b)

8.93%

115

Court of Auditors (CoA)

657

134

791

42

6

48(c)

7,31%

41(c)

Committee of Regions (CoR)

425

34

459

13

1

14

3,05%

European Economic and Social Committee (EESC)

674

30

704

32

1

33

4,92%

6

Ombudsman (Ombud)

13

44

57

0

0

0

-

0

European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS)

24

0

24

5

0

5

20,83%

0

Total

10 069

1 267

11 336

453

45

498

4,39% 

312

(a) EP: 802 Temporary staff is working for the Political Groups.

(b) The CoJ has requested 2 lawyer-linguist posts for the introduction of the Irish language

(c) The CoA has informed that 5 posts (2AD6 and 3AST3) are needed in 2007 even if the enlargement is postponed.

1.2 Enlargement Posts.

In 2006, 330 vacancies were created to cater for the enlargement to Romania and Bulgaria. These consisted of an additional 22 for the political groups within the EP, 135 for EP administration, 97 for the Council, 16 for the CoJ, 6 for the CoA, 24 for the CoR, 27 for the EESC and 3 for the Ombudsman. These posts are currently being occupied by contract agents. This will continue until these contract agents are replaced by candidates recruited through the competition process.

An additional 312 posts are being requested for 2007 to cover enlargement requirements. The estimates for these new additions need to be qualified, especially since it would normally take 3 to 6 months to fill a new vacancy. Therefore, in quite a number of cases, funding for new posts should be calculated on a basis of 6 to 9 months. All institutions should reflect this practice when preparing their budgeting requirements.

1.3 Multilinguism

A substantial cost for the Institutions covers translation and interpretation. Some institutions like the Parliament have their permanent staff supplying linguistic services. The costs covering remunerations of the permanent staff in linguistics is entered under item 1200 ("salary"). However, most institutions outsource an important part of this type of service. Table 4 below shows the costs for services which are outsourced.

Table 3: Estimates for Outsourced Translation and Interpretation (EUR)

 Institution

2006 Budget

2007Budget

Difference

%

Parliament (EP)

52 921 825

62 562 250(a)

18,21%

Council (CONS)

72 312 000

85 510 000

18,30%

Court of Justice (CoJ)

12 750 500

13 263 900

4,03%

Court of Auditors (CoA)

746 500

751 000

0,60%

European Economic and Social Committee (EESC)

9 212 000

10 270 500

11,49%

Committee of Regions (CoR)

4 226 000

4 000 197

-5,34%

Ombudsman (Ombud)

450 000

650 000

44,44%

European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS)

112 491

775 350

589,26%

(a) EUR 2 million has been put in the reserve while awaiting a more detailed explanation for this expenditure.

With the exception of the CoR, all other institutions have increased the amounts allocated to external translation and interpretation. The increase in the outsourcing costs of translation and interpretation services is partly due to the increase in the standard rate paid (for the Parliament this is assessed at EUR 907.50 to EUR 937 for interpretation). The additional provision of services in the Romanian and Bulgarian languages also contributes to this important increase.

Appropriations to cover specific requests for new posts in linguistic services include: EESC: 2AD and 4AST; CoR: 3AD and 1AST; CoA: 6AD and 2AST. The CoJ has two specific demands for new posts in linguistics which are bound to have a substantial impact on its operational costs. First, for the last two years the CoJ has expressed the need for a third proof-reader in each language instead of the two currently employed. This means a request for an additional 19 posts for current languages plus another 6 posts for the two new languages i.e. a total of 25 new posts (AST).

Following the Bureau's decision of the 22nd of June 2005, the EP should start using the Irish language as an established, official and working language in 2007. A working group to assess the financial impact of this decision should soon report on its findings. In addition two additional lawyer-linguists have been requested by the CoJ to cater for the introduction of the Irish language. On the other hand the Council has decided they will cover their needs for interpretation for the Irish language by the redeployment of 8 posts.

1.4 Upgradings

The new staff regulation (Article 6 of the revised Staff Regulations and Articles 6, 9 and 10 of Annex XIII) calls for a statutory upgrading of a certain percentage of staff per annum. A high number of upgradings are being requested in view of the fact that most of the institutions do not have the full range of grades.

The upgrades for 2007 as compared to those carried in 2006 are given in Table 3 below:

Table 4: Comparative data for upgrades of staff in 2006 and 2007.

Institution

 

 

Staff in 2006

Upgrades requested

2006

2007

AD

AST

Total

AD

AST

Total

Parliament (EP)

5801

318

620

938

107

683

790

Council (CONS)

3393

-

-

-

0

0

0

Court of Justice (CoJ)

1757

26

25

51

78

33(a)

111

Court of Auditors (CoA)

791

23

29

52

33

29

62

European Economic and Social Committee (EESC)

671

0

2

2

0

2

2

Committee of Regions (CoR)

459

14

33

47

29(b)

32

61

 

Ombudsman (Ombud)

13

0

0

0(c)

5

5

10

European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS)

24

0

0

0(c)

0

0

0

 

(a) 2 request are made to upgrade from AST3 and AST1 to AD7

(b) 5 request for upgrading are for Political Groups

(c) The Ombudsman and EDPS are relatively new institutions such that in 2006 they didn't request upgrades

According to the above table, two institutions (Council and EDPS) have not made any specific request for upgradings. On the other hand, some Institutions have forwarded specific demands for upgradings which do not comply with Article 6 of the new staff Regulation.

The CoJ has requested 10 upgrades (6AD14 to AD15 and 4AD15 to AD16) specifically for its “senior officials”. The reason given for this request is that because of the size of the Institution and the increase of workload they want to upgrade certain units into Directorates. As a matter of fact they want to create two additional Directorates, one reporting to the Directorate General of Personnel and Finance and the other to the Directorate General for Infrastructure. Moreover, it is being proposed that the head of the Court’s Protocol be upgraded to the rank of Director.

The CoA requested 5 different upgrading in the assistant grade. The reason for this request is that the institution has encountered a career bottleneck especially since a number of staff who are approaching retirement age have been in their present grade for a number of years without having the possibility of being upgraded.

The CoR and EESC, housed in the same building carry a staff complement of around 700. The Director whose is in charge of the joint service is employed by the EESC. The CoR has made a request to upgrade one of their senior staff from AD14 to AD15. The main responsibility of the new director would be to work in parallel and share the workload with the current Director in charge of the joint service.

2. Building policy

The policy regarding additional building and office space is emerging as a costly issue for each institution. Increase in this line item is both due to the enlargement and to the increase in the cost of office space. The expenditure related to rent and lease of office space between 2006 and 2007 is summarised in Table 5 below.

Table 5: Estimates covering buildings and office space

 Institutions

2006 Budget(a)

2007 Budget(a)

Difference

Parliament (EP)

80 714 663

65 087 800

-22,74%

Council (CONS)

60 118 000

52 876 000

-12,00%

Court of Justice (CoJ)

20 243 000

22 175 000

9,54%

Court of Auditors (CoA)

3 603 000

5 055 000

40,30%

European Economic and Social Committee (EESC)

10 322 473

13 464 625

30,40%

Committee of Regions (CoR)

6 840 000

8 262 510

20,80%

Ombudsman (Ombud)

385 000

420 000

9,09%

European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS)

332 489

408 115

22,75%

Total

182 558 625

167 749 050

 

(a) The amount taken into account is that allocated to Article 200 ("Rent and annual lease payments")

All institutions complain about the problem of restricted office space and most of them are in the process of acquiring additional space either through developing existing property or through the acquisition of new buildings. This increase in office space is bound to have a multiplying effect on costs such as refurbishing, maintenance, energy consumption, insurance, security and other related items. Nevertheless the estimates for 2007 show a lower requirement than that for 2006.

In the case of the EP, the decrease in Article 200 is due to the fact that the annual rent of EUR 10 000 000 for the WIC and SDM buildings will no longer feature if and when the purchase of these buildings goes ahead.

At the end of 2006 the General Secretariat of the Council is expected to move to its new "LEX-building". This building will require refurbishing estimated at EUR 15 200 000. However, the Council has estimated a total saving of 12% on its rent and lease expenditure due to this particular acquisition. The Council is actually negotiating the new building project called "Residence Palace", with the Belgian State.

For the CoJ the global increase of 9,54% is due to the increase of two budget lines: Item 2000 ("Rent") by 3,68% as the consequence of the various rises of the annual indexes provided by the contract as well as the 17,65% increase in Item 2001 ("Lease-purchase payments") to cover the advance payments on the Court's new main building called "New Palais".

The CoA intends to rent a further building "K7" during 2007 for a maximum annual rent of EUR 1 280 000 whilst awaiting the completion of its second extension "K3" (planned for 2012). This additional office space to meet enlargement requirements will incur an additional cost of EUR 240 000 to cover initial set up costs.

The CoR and EESC plan to occupy two new buildings: the Remorqueur which will be used from the end of this year and the Van Maerlant which will be rented to the Commission and eventually occupied by CoR/EESC by mid 2007. The need for the additional space has been attributed to the enlargement process. CoR and EESC will carry 40% and 60% respectively of this additional rental cost on the basis of the apportionment calculated on the number of employees in their respective complement. Consequently, while EESC requested an appropriation of EUR 1 600 000 to cover its share of the rent for the Van Maerland building, the CoR appropriated EUR 1 110 760 for the same purpose. An additional apportionment of EUR 2 000 000 is needed to refurbish the building which will be funded by the EESC.

The Ombudsman signed an agreement with Parliament in 2006 to rent an additional 140m2 of office space in Brussels. This explains the increase of 9,09% under Item 200 for this institution, whilst the EDPS signed an agreement with Parliament to rent an additional floor (7th floor) in the Montoyer 63 building.

3. Specific Projects

3.1 European Parliament

3.1.1 Information Projects

The Parliament's other main expenditures relate to three Information and Communication projects namely: the WebTV, audiovisual equipment for D4/D5 and the new visitors centre. EUR 25 000 000 have been allocated under Chapter 104 ("Reserve for Information and communication policy") in order to cover these projects. In the report on the estimates of revenue and expenditure of the European Parliament for the financial year 2007, the rapporteur requested more information consisting of a more detailed schedule of expenditure and delivery time frame for the three projects. To that end DG Info made a presentation of the projects to COBU Members on 14 June 2006.

3.1.2 Enlargement

The additional cost related to the enlargement to include Romania and Bulgaria are estimated at EUR 48 000 000. This will cover costs related to new Member-related expenses (35 Romanians and 18 Bulgarians), total additional staff (226 permanents posts and 22 temporary posts for political groups), interpretation and conference technicians, equipment and furniture, operating expenditure, information and statutory financing of political groups and parties.

3.2 Council

As in previous years, the Council has not submitted its estimates to the Commission. After examination of the administration’s proposals the appropriations are voted by the Council’s first reading of the Budget.

3.2.1 IT and Telecommunication

The Council is planning to increase its IT budget by 9%, from EUR 27 900 000 in 2006 to 30 400 000 EUR in 2007. This increase will cover the recruitment of permanent IT specialists and to update and modernise its IT organisation.

3.2.2 Other expenses

Title 3 shows a decrease of 17%, more specifically a reduction in appropriations (from EUR 59 400 000 to EUR 49 200 000) due to the progress in the SESAME project (Secured European System for Automatic Messaging).

3.3 Court of Justice

3.3.1 IT and Telecommunication

In the 2007 budget, the CoJ figures demonstrate a sharp increase in appropriations under Items related to IT and Telecommunications. The major increases feature under Item 2100 (“Purchase, servicing and maintenance of equipment and software”). Under this provision, an additional EUR 1 742 000 (+57,64% on 2006) is required. This is broken down into EUR 1 482 000 for the purchase of hardware and equipment for the new main building and EUR 260 000 to cover requirements for the Romanian and Bulgarian enlargement. Under Item 2102 (“Outside assistance in connection with the operation, development and maintenance of software and systems”) an additional EUR 1 044 000 (+16,83%) was appropriated. An additional EUR 104 000 (+10,14%) is also required under Item 2103 (“Telecommunications"). Moreover, the CoJ wants to carry out new studies and implement new projects related to the replacement of the accounting system which will cost EUR 1 071 000.

3.4 Court of Auditors

3.4.1 IT and Telecommunication

Over the last past years, the CoA has fallen back in IT implementation. The proper development of IT and telecommunication is one of the main priorities for 2007. An additional EUR 1 647 000 (i.e. +29,72% over 2006) will be allocated under item 21 ("Purchase, servicing and maintenance of equipment and software”), marking the peak of the investment and updating process for hardware. There are five priority projects earmarked to update and modernise the IT service and equipment at the Court. These are the consolidation of the process started in 2003, the improvement of information storage and retrieval (intranet and storage hardware), the enhancement of security (disaster recovery centre, full-time IT security officer), a better audit support (in particular to allow auditors to access the intranet when they are on missions), and an administrative computing system. From 2008 onwards, the focus will turn towards software upgradings, such as remote access for auditors on mission to audit tools and files.

3.4.2 Training

The CoA is finding it hard to recruit auditors with high professional experience due to competition from the private sector which offers better conditions. Moreover, the geographical location of the Court in Luxembourg is rendering the Court’s offer less attractive. To bypass these constraints the CoA has developed a training program to upgrade the standards of junior auditors which can be more readily employed. In order to cover this training program, the CoA has increased its appropriation under Item 1612 ("Further training") by an additional EUR 100 000 (+14,28%).

3.5 Ombudsman

The Ombudsman has only one major and exceptional cost related to new projects. This is the organisation of the National Ombudsmen biennial seminar for which an allocation of EUR 150 000 under Item 303 has been requested. The allocation under this item has been increased by +172,73% over that of 2006. This event is organised every two years on a rotating basis amongst member states. This year it is the EU Ombudsman's turn to host this event. The last time the EU Ombudsman hosted this event was in 1996.

4. Observations and Conclusions

4.1 Observations

1. Lack of information on the efficiency and effectiveness of institutions: While input required by institutions to carry out their operations is clear through appropriations, more should be known on how successfully these funds are applied. An institution needs to justify the consumption of resources by providing information about its planned targets, quantitatively if possible, and the extent to which they are implemented efficiently. There are very few indications to monitor whether additional funds are rendering institutions more or less efficient and effective.

2. Recruitment and staff advancement: Request for additional staff was mainly supported by claims of enlargement to include Bulgaria and Romania. In some cases, not enough data has been supplied on how these additions will meet supplementary loads. Shortcomings were also noticed in recruitment where job specifications were not always matched with the required job descriptions. In particular cases, CoR and the EDPS have asked for staff of a higher grade than that recommended by the staff regulations. This approach could distort - albeit at times with some justification - equity between staff within, and between, institutions. Such a practice could undermine standards currently applied to recruitment. Eventually, such practices may attract requests for adjustment by other staff in similar and other grades which, as a result, could lead to malpractice.

The rapporteur feels that the institutions should harmonise their recruitment policy and provide adequate information on posts required in order to allow the budgetary authority to take appropriate decisions based on satisfactory information.

The institutions have to ensure that human resources required are in line with operational requirements and with the financial situation of the institution. Institutions should effectively and seriously examine the possibility of redeploying existing staff instead of relying on contract agents.

The institutions seem to be failing to adequately tap the labour market for particular professional skills, notably accountants and ITC personnel. The upward trend in the hiring of temporary staff (temporary agents or contract workers) and outsourcing of certain services might weaken the operations of the institutions through lack of continuity and stability in output. Having said that however, the rapporteur does recognise the fact that this practice of hiring temporary staff could prove to be economically and logistically beneficial, under certain circumstances. Temporary staff is generally hired to carry out the non-core tasks.

The Ombudsman makes the most use of temporary staff, 44 out of a total complement of 57. It has to be reminded that when the Ombudsman was created it was decided that, except for its administrative staff, all other staff should be engaged on a temporary basis. This is because of the need of the Ombudsman to adapt the profile of its staff according to the nature of its work and priorities.

It is advisable to address the policy to be followed by institutions regarding outsourcing tasks or recruitment of temporary or contract workers. One should evaluate alternatives in recruitment (permanent versus temporary) considering the labour market availability based on the skills required and how this could be tapped more successfully.

The reasons put forward for additions and changes in grades, and non-conformity in one case, give the impression that the actual requirements of the institutions hardly feature in this type of staff-grade adjustment. It is true that institutions have to satisfy the policy regarding the statutory advancement of their staff to the next step every two years. However, one could question whether this practice is negatively affecting the efficiency of the institutions.

3. Acquisition of property: The rapporteur contends that the policy on the purchases of buildings has - over the years - yielded highly positive results, providing the institutions with a strong asset base as well as generating savings which can be redirected to other projects. Unfortunately, the case could arise however where some institutions could adopt a policy of acquiring for the sake of acquiring and not to answer a real need in the immediate or medium term. The fact that the building policy by itself utilises 1/6 of the heading 5 budget (almost 1 billion euros if taking into account the Commission) is a clear sign that this policy and the way it is carried out needs to be revisited taking into account supporting evidence such as area/volume of office space per employee. An acid test regarding this issue is to ask institutions on how area-volume value per employee in each institution has changed over time more specifically before and after enlargement.

The budgetary authority needs to consider the financial constraints and the rising costs of maintaining and refurbishing the buildings in the coming years. At the same time a policy of multiannual property investment planning needs to be implemented instead of an annual plan. Furthermore, the policy of accelerated payments should be continued and the purchasing system should be standardised with the aim of having a transparent, detailed and accountable procedure for each purchase.

4.2 Recommendations

In order to address the observations mentioned above one should look into:

a) The submission of more informative annual reports on their performance. These should include performance indicators for their core tasks and the degree of success in realising such indicators. These reports should preferably also include efficiency indexes to assess cost of their output. The success or failure on reaching the targets should be clearly explained. Eventually these reports could be used to justify additional funding while enabling the Parliament to come to a more rational decision on allocation of funds.

b) The staff-related policies, specifically regarding outsourcing, upgrading and recruitment which may need to be revisited. The acceptable level of temporary staff (temporary agents or contract workers) has to be established while addressing the failure in attracting an adequate number of professional skills from the labour market. One has to find ways to ascertain that the number of staff employed in each grade reflects the real needs of the institution, while at the same time keeping the staff motivated.

c) The cooperation between institutions in certain areas is bound to create synergy and contribute towards improved finances. Cooperation may also help the citizen to better understand his or her EU credentials.

d) The standard policies and procedures for the acquisition of property, covering the whole process from request for new acquisition to tendering and adjudicating. Requests for new office space should be accompanied by reports indicating, inter-alia, area/volume per employee before and after the acquisition.

The rapporteur has mentioned in his previous reports that 2007 should be a year of spending consolidation. The budget of the Institutions should reflect actual budgetary needs by applying activity-based budgeting; this would result in more rational and analytical estimates. The need for clear and precise estimates is essential especially in the context of continued enlargement which requires more investment and increasing financial constraints. Each institution must be in line with the principle of budgetary rigor and the responsible use of the citizen's money.

The rapporteur re-iterates the fact that the institutions need to adopt a more operational approach to the budget which would enable them to examine and evaluate, in a critical and objective manner, what needs to be done in the coming years. Better management of projects, implementation of targeted measures and the need for a multiannual approach to budgeting would be pivotal to achieving real productivity gains. The institutions must ensure that the policies financed by the taxpayers provide real added-value for their daily lives.

Presentation of the 2007 Draft Budget for the "Other Sections"

At the Council's first reading of the 2007 Preliminary Draft Budget, cuts were made in all the Institutions' Budgets, including the Council's own budget, with the exception of Parliament's budget in line with the gentlemen's agreement. These cuts were mainly:

a.  targeted reduction for certain terms of expenditure, such as IT, by 2%;

b.  reductions of between 1.5 and 2.0% for productivity gains and 1.7% to 2.5% for interinstitutional co-operation;

c.  the use of the current rate of vacant posts to calculate the standard flat rate abatement ranging from 1.8% to 7%.

Council accepted all requests for new posts for the enlargement with Romania and Bulgaria and for the use of Irish as an official language, as well as all the upgrading requests as a result of the new staff regulations.

The final results, following Council's first reading, are summarized in Table 1 "Administrative expenditure" which highlights that the available margin has increased from EUR 160.8 million in the rectified PDB to EUR 285.2 million in the DB - an increase of nearly EUR 125 million.

TABLE 1 - SUMMARY TABLE ON ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENDITURE (in EUR)

 

2006 budget

Rectified
2007 PDB

%
2007/2006

2007 DB

%
2007/2006

Section I - Parliament

1 321 600 000

1 377 700 000

4.24

1 377 700 000

4.24

Section II - Council

591 752 953

613 057 000

3.60

593 528 212

+0.30

Section III - CE

 

Commission

2 846 441 769

2 998 938 000

5.36

2 926 328 201

2.81

OPOCE

80 855 000

80 025 000

-1.03

80 025 000

-1.03

OLAF

50 161 000

52 042 000

3.75

50 830 393

1.33

EPSO

25 154 000

25 345 000

0.76

24 917 382

-0.94

PMO

30 929 000

32 692 000

5.70

32 137 069

3.91

OIB

55 464 000

57 624 000

3.89

56 347 053

1.59

OIL

23 075 000

23 671 000

2.58

23 128 639

0.23

European Schools

127 124 156

129 666 156

2.00

129 666 156

2.00

Pensions

904 818 000

959 630 000

6.06

959 630 000

6.06

Total Section III

4 144 021 925

4 359 633 156

5.20

4 283 009 893

3.35

Section IV - Court of Justice

250 338 602

282 694 000

12.92

267 585 990

6.89

Section V - Court of Auditors

113 196 491

122 451 000

8.18

117 500 271

3.80

Section VI - European Economic and Social Committee

107 984 805

115 961 121

7.39

111 165 227

2.95

Section VII - Committee of the Regions

63 362 670

69 416 197

9.55

66 520 009

4.98

Section VIII-A - European Ombudsman

7 682 538

8 252 800

7.42

8 003 447

4.18

Section VIII-B - EDPS1

3 583 833

5 080 699

41.77

4 796 880

33.85

Total other institutions

2 459 501 892

2 594 612 817

 

2 546 800 036

 

Total Heading 5

6 603 523 817

6 954 245 973

5.31

6 829 809 929

3.43

Financial Framework

 

7 115 000 000

 

 

 

Available margin

 

160 754 027

 

285 190 071

 

1        Taking into account PDAB No. 3/2006, DB increase over 2006 is 15.91%.

1. Not taking into account the cuts made in the Commission’s budget, which will be discussed by Mr. James Elles in his Working Document n° 11 on Section III (Commission), the Draft Budget of the Council (DB) reduces the expenditure for the “Other Sections” from EUR 2 594 billion in the Preliminary Draft Budget (PDB) to EUR 2 546 billion, a decrease of 2%.

2. In line with the Gentlemen's agreement between Council and Parliament, the Council did not propose any changes to the Parliament’s Estimate of EUR 1 377 billion which is 4.24% over the 2006 Budget

3. The Council accepted all posts in relation to enlargement and to the introduction of the Irish language. On the other hand, only a limited number of posts in relation to new projects have been agreed to. In fact, of the 352 new posts requested, a total of 251 new posts for all other institutions, excluding the Commission and Parliament, were accepted by Council.

4. The Council, at the conciliation meeting of the 14 of July, proposed to reach an agreement with Parliament on the question of productivity gains and on recruitment to vacant posts. However no agreement was reached since Parliament's delegation considered it too early to agree on a total package and decided that at this stage it would refrain from agreeing to a joint declaration as proposed by the Council.

The Council (Section II)

 

PDB 2007

DB 2007

1. Total Budget

613.1 Mio

593.5 Mio

Total increase in percent

3.60%

0.3%

 

 

 

Total new posts requested

96

57

Abatement rate

7%

7%

Interinstitutional co-operation rate

 

1.7%

 

 

 

2. Non-enlargement staff

 

 

Requested posts

59 in total

20 accepted

39 rejected

Conversion of posts

13 in total

 

13 accepted

 

Upgradings

 

none requested

 

3. Enlargement needs

 

 

New posts

37 in total

 

37 accepted

 

5. In the DB, the Council has limited its budget to EUR 593.5 million which represents an increase of only 0.3%. This is the lowest increase of all the other institutions for 2007. In the event that the accession of Bulgaria and Romania is postponed, the Council’s Budget would be effectively reduced to a lower level than the 2006 Budget.

6. The Council's PDB for 2007 stipulated 59 new non enlargement staff. The Council decided to reject 39 requested new posts and accept 20 new posts (3AD12, 3AD7, 4AD5 and 10AST3) related to specific projects. The abatement rate, which is the highest among all the other institutions, was not changed and remained at 7% as in the PDB.

The Court of Justice (Section IV)

 

PDB 2007

DB 2007

1. Total Budget

€ 282.7 Mio

€ 267.6 Mio

Total increase in percent

12.92%

6.89%

 

 

 

Total new posts requested

154

125

Abatement rate

3%

4.5%

Interinstitutional co-operation rate

 

2.2%

 

 

 

2. Non-enlargement staff

 

 

Requested posts

39 in total

8 accepted

2 accepted in relation to Irish language 2AD7

29 posts rejected

Conversion of posts

 

 

Removal of posts

removal of 5 posts

approval of removal of 5 posts 5D*2(T)

Upgradings

111 upgrading

41 downgrading

111 upgrading accepted

41 downgrading accepted

3. Enlargement needs

 

 

New posts

115 in total

 

115 accepted

7. The PDB of the Court of Justice reflected a sharp increase of 12.9%. The Council decided to reduce EUR 15.11 million from the PDB leaving an amount of EUR 267.6 million in the DB which corresponds to 6.89% over the 2006 figures. Having said that the 6.89% rate of increase in the Court of Justice remains the second highest of all the institutions, after that of the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS).

8. In the PDB the Court of Justice had proposed 41 downgradings and 111 upgradings, including 12 upgradings related to the re-organization exercise within the institution, the reason given for this latter request is that the Court wants to upgrade certain Units into Directorates. This particular request merits further examination. The Council endorsed all the proposals in this regard. On enlargement needs all 115 new posts requested were accepted by the Council. The Court of Justice put in a request for 39 additional new posts not related to enlargement. Only 10 were agreed to by the Council.

9. The appropriation requested under article 210 (“Equipment, Operating costs and services relating to data processing and telecommunication”) was reduced by EUR 4.31 million. Moreover, an additional amount of EUR 4.36 million was reduced from article 120 ("remunerations and other rights").

10. Appropriations entered against items related to building, water, gas, electricity, heating and furniture were reduced by EUR 2.82 million. Other cuts were made by the Council on staff related items and in particular a reduction of EUR 279 000 in item 1204 (“Entitlement on entering and leaving the service and on transfer”), EUR 121 000 in item 1612 (“Further training for staff”) and also EUR 1.23 million in item 1406 (“other supplementary services (translation or interpretations”).

11. The Council has also decided to reduce the expenditure for publishing and information Chapter 27 i.e. item 2730 ("Documentation and library expenditure"), item 2740 ("Official Journal") and item 2741 ("Publication of a general nature") by EUR 450 000.

The Court of Auditors (Section V)

 

PDB 2007

DB 2007

1. Total Budget

€ 122.5 Mio

€ 117.5 Mio

Increase in percent

8.18%

3.80%

 

 

 

Total request new posts

50

44

Abatement rate

2.5%

4.5%

Interinstitutional co-operation rate

 

2.5%

 

 

 

2. Non-enlargement staff

 

 

Requested posts

9 in total

3 accepted

6 posts rejected

Upgradings

62 in total

62 upgrading accepted

Removal of posts

2 in total

accepted the removal of 2 posts

3. Enlargement needs

 

 

New posts

41 in total

41 accepted

12.  The Council’s first reading endorsed an increase of EUR 4.3 million (3.8%) for a total envelope of EUR 117.5 million This is EUR 4.95 million less than the amount requested by the Court of Auditors in the PDB.

13. It is to be noted that 9 new posts were requested by the Court of Auditors in the PDB for non enlargement related activities. The Council accepted 3 posts (3AD6) and rejected 6 new posts.

14. The main reduction made by the Council to the Court of Auditors’ Budget was in Item 1200 (“Salaries and other Entitlements”) by EUR 4.08 million. A reduction amounting to EUR 792 000 was also made by Council on item 2100 (“Purchasing, servicing and maintenance of Equipment and Software”). This item was requested by the Court of Auditors as a priority item for the updating and modernization of its IT service and equipment.

15. Further reductions totaling EUR 172 729 were made on item 1204 ("Allowance and expenses on entering and leaving the service and on transfer"), item 129 ("Provisional appropriation") and item 2542 ("Meetings, congresses and conference").

The Economic and Social Committee (Section VI)

 

PDB 2007

DB 2007

1. Total Budget

€ 115.9 Mio

 

€ 111.2 Mio

 

Total increase in percent

7.39%

2.95%

 

 

 

Total new posts requested

33

19

Abatement rate

3.1%

4%

Interinstitutional co-operation rate

 

2.3%

 

 

 

2. Non-enlargement staff

 

 

Requested posts

27 in total

13 accepted

14 posts rejected

Conversion of posts

2 in total

rejected 2 posts from temporary to permanent

Upgradings

2 in total

2 upgrading accepted

3. Enlargement needs

 

 

New posts

6 in total

6 accepted

18.  The Economic and Social Committee requested an envelope of EUR 115.96 million which represented an increase of 7.39% over the 2006 Budget of EUR 108 million. The Council agreed on an appropriation of EUR 111.16 million, scaling down the increase to 2.95% over the 2006 Budget and reducing the PDB by 4.12% (EUR 4.8 million).

19.  In the case of staff requirements, more than 50% of the non enlargement new posts were rejected, resulting in a total reduction of EUR 1 350 676 in the following items i.e. item 1200 (“Salaries and other Entitlements”), item 1400 ("Other Staff”), item 1202 (“Paid Overtime”), article 162 (“Mission expenses, travel expenses and incidental expenditure”) and item 1630 (“Social Welfare”).

20.  Reductions totalling EUR 2.4 million were also effected in respect of buildings and other related items, in particular, article 200 (“Buildings”), article 202 (“Water, Gas, Electricity, Heating”), article 212 (“Furniture”) and article 214 (“Technical installations and Installations).

21.  Further reductions were carried out in respect of IT and Communication / Information. The appropriation on article 210 (“Equipment, Operating costs and Services relating to data processing and telecommunications”) was reduced by EUR 542 250. A further cut of EUR 150 000 was also made on article 260 (“Communication and publications”). In addition the appropriations for item 2548 (“Interpretation”), article 230 (“Stationery, Office Supplies and Other consumable”), and article 238 (“Other administrative operating expenditure”) were reduced by EUR 300 000, EUR 30 000 and EUR 8 698 respectively.

22.  In respect of staff the creation of 6 new posts were approved in view of the enlargement of Romania and Bulgaria as well 11 new posts related to the 2004 enlargement.

The Committee of the Regions (Section VII)

 

PDB 2007

DB 2007

1. Total Budget

€ 69.4 Mio

€ 66.5 Mio

Total increase in percent

9.55%

4.98%

 

 

 

Total new posts requested

14

3

Abatement rate

3%

5%

Interinstitutional co-operation rate

 

2.5%

 

 

 

2. Non-enlargement staff

 

 

Requested posts

14 in total

3 accepted

11 rejected

Upgradings

61 in total

61 upgrading accepted

3. Enlargement needs

 

 

New posts

none requested

none

23.  The PDB of the Committee of the Regions was scaled down by EUR 2.9 million (from EUR 69.4 million to EUR 66.5 million). Notwithstanding this reduction the DB of the Committee of the Regions still represents an increase of 4.98% compared to the 2006 Budget. This is the third highest increase registered in the DB of the Other Sections.

24.  In respect of staff and related items Council made reductions amounting to EUR 1.1 million in item 1200 (“Salaries and other entitlements”) EUR 861 239, item 1204 (“Allowance and expenses on entering and leaving the service and on transfer”) EUR 173 177 and item 1610 (“Miscellaneous expenditure and recruitment”) EUR 50 000.

25.  The Council reduced the appropriations under item 260 (“General publication”) by EUR 180 000, item 1420 ("Supplementary services for the translation service") by EUR 250 000 and item 1402 ("Conference of Interpreters") by EUR 80 000. Furthermore, it was decided to reduce article 202 ("Water, Gas, Electricity, Heating") by EUR 440 000, item 1638 (“Early Childhood Centre and other day care centers”) by EUR 122 000, article 214 ("Technical installations and installations”) by EUR 200 000 and article 210 (“Equipment, Operating Costs and services relating to data processing and telecommunications”) by EUR 172 594

The European Ombudsman (Section VIII-A)

 

PDB 2007

DB 2007

1. Total Budget

€ 8.3 Mio

€ 8.0 Mio

Total increase in percent

7.42%

4.18%

 

 

 

Total new posts requested

none requested

 

Abatement rate

0%

0%

Interinstitutional co-operation rate

 

2.5%

 

 

 

2. Non-enlargement staff

 

 

 

 

 

Upgradings

 

10 in total

10 accepted

26.  The Ombudsman Budget was reduced by the Council by EUR 249 353 from EUR 8.3 million to EUR 8 million which is equivalent to a reduction of 3%. The 2007 DB represents a 4.18% increase over the 2006 Budget.

27.  The Ombudsman has submitted only one major expenditure related to new projects - EUR 150 000 for the organization of the National Ombudsman Biennal Seminar for which the Ombudsman is responsible every 10 years. The Council decided to reduce this appropriation by EUR 50 000. The other reduction effected by Council is in respect of item 231 (" Translation and interpretation") by EUR 199 353.

The European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) (Section VIII-B)

 

PDB 2007

DB 2007

1. Total Budget

€ 5.08 mio

€ 4.8 mio

Total increase in percent

41.77%

33.85%

 

 

 

Total new posts requested

5

3

Abatement rate

0%

1.8%

Interinstitutional co-operation rate

 

2.5%

 

 

 

2. Non-enlargement staff

 

 

 

 

 

Requested posts

5 in total

3 accepted

2 rejected

28.  The Council has endorsed an increase in the EDPS Budget of 33.85% over the 2006 Budget from EUR 3.58 million to EUR 4.8 million. This is the largest increase of all the “Other Sections”. It is however, 5.58% (EUR 283 819) less than the amount requested by the EDPS in the PDB (EUR 5.08 million).

29.  The EDPS, which has 24 posts in service requested 5 new posts of which 3 were accepted. This resulted in a decrease in expenditure of EUR 202 819. Furthermore, the appropriation allocated to auxiliary staff under item 1110 ("Auxiliary staff, local staff and special advisers") was reduced by around 50%, resulting in a further reduction of EUR 30 000.

30.  The other reductions made by the Council to the EDPS Budget were EUR 30 000 in respect of article 104 (“Mission expenses, travel expenses and other ancillary expenditure”), and EUR 21 000 in respect of article 130 (“Mission expenses, travel expenses and incidental expenditure”).

Concluding Remarks

31.  The Council's increase in the available margin of heading V is understandable in a year of spending consolidation with no major new projects. Having said this however, reductions in the budgets of the institutions should not be an end in itself and the well-functioning of all institutions in 2007 and the years thereafter has to be guaranteed.

32.  The rapporteur reiterates that undoubtedly inter-institutional co-operation can bring about benefits to the institutions. Having said that however, the use of an ad hoc flat rate is not very practical and could be counter productive, especially if the different nature and the different needs of the various institutions are taken into account. In this respect the rapporteur will examine the report of Parliament's Secretary-General on inter-institutional cooperation of 25 July 2006, which was requested in paragraph 61 (3c) of Parliament's resolution of 15 March 2006. On the basis of this report, action may need to be taken to increase the level of tangible co-operation having due regard to the institutions' independence.

33.  The Council's decision to increase the abatement rate to a relatively high level and to base it on current rate of vacant posts could potentially create some unnecessary problems especially in the event that successful candidates would not be employed due to lack of appropriation. The rapporteur will present amendments to address this situation.

34.  Over the years, the Parliament has repeatedly stated its position that budgetary requests have to reflect the real justified needs in line with the principle of budgetary rigor and sound financial management. On the other hand it is expected that the institutions do not compromise on standards and that they keep on operating and functioning at an appropriate efficient level. In this regard, at the Conciliation meeting of the 14 July, Parliament's delegation stressed the need that all requests should be evaluated on their specific merits and that standard across the board reductions would not be supported.

35.  Requests for additional staff can be mainly attributed to specific needs arising from enlargement. Coping successfully with this process does remain a top priority. In principle the rapporteur agrees with the Council's decision to accept all new posts related to enlargement. However in some cases not enough data has been given on how additional staff would be effectively deployed. In this regard the rapporteur would re-iterate the concerns expressed by previous rapporteurs that new incumbents are not always utilized solely for enlargement related duties.

36.  The rapporteur has observed that the institutions do not use a harmonized approach when drafting their Estimates. The texts of the motivations are, at times, kept vague and not enough information is given for the proper analysis of the requests. A more standarised approach , clear justifications, including clear justifications would facilitate the effective evaluation of submissions made in the estimates.

  • [1]  The standard abatement corresponds to the number of posts which are will be vacant during the year and for which no funds will be requested.

OPINION of the Committee on Development (3.10.2006)

for the Committee on Budgets

on the draft general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2007
(C6-0300/2006 - 2006/2018B(BUD))Section I - European Parliament

Draftsman: Jürgen Schröder

SUGGESTIONS

The Committee on Development calls on the Committee on Budgets, as the committee responsible, to incorporate the following suggestions in its motion for a resolution:

1.  Underlines the increasing need to strengthen cooperation between the European Parliament and democratic parliaments of third or developing countries and regions, such as Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Euro-Latin American parliamentary assembly and the Pan-African Parliament, on the basis of requests from the parliaments concerned.

PROCEDURE

Title

Draft general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2007: Section 1 - European Parliament

Procedure number

2006/2018B(BUD)

Committee responsible

BUDG

Opinion by
  Date announced in plenary

DEVE
26.9.2006

Enhanced cooperation – date announced in plenary

 

Drafts(wo)man
  Date appointed

Jürgen Schröder
25.1.2006

Previous drafts(wo)man

 

Discussed in committee

28.8.2006

 

 

 

 

Date adopted

3.10.2006

Result of final vote

+:

–:

0:

27

0

0

Members present for the final vote

Margrete Auken, Alessandro Battilocchio, Margrietus van den Berg, Danutė Budreikaitė, Marie-Arlette Carlotti, Thierry Cornillet, Nirj Deva, Alexandra Dobolyi, Michael Gahler, Filip Andrzej Kaczmarek, Glenys Kinnock, Maria Martens, Miguel Angel Martínez Martínez, Gay Mitchell, Luisa Morgantini, José Javier Pomés Ruiz, Horst Posdorf, Frithjof Schmidt, Jürgen Schröder, Anna Záborská, Mauro Zani

Substitute(s) present for the final vote

Milan Gaľa, Manolis Mavrommatis, Anne Van Lancker, Ralf Walter, Anders Wijkman, Gabriele Zimmer

Substitute(s) under Rule 178(2) present for the final vote

 

Comments (available in one language only)

...

OPINION of the Committee on International Trade (13.9.2006)

for the Committee on Budgets

on the draft general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2007
(C6-0300/2006 – 2006/2018B(BUD))Section I - ParliamentDraftsman: Peter Šťastný

SUGGESTIONS

The Committee on International Trade calls on the Committee on Budgets, as the committee responsible, to incorporate the following suggestions in its motion for a resolution:

1.  Stresses that the European Parliament is jointly promoting, organising and co-financing the "Parliamentary Conference on the World Trade Organization" (WTO) together with the Inter-Parliamentary Union, a Geneva-based international organisation;

2.  Notes that the "Parliamentary Conference on the World Trade Organization" is a forum in which members from parliaments around the world exchange opinions, information and experience on international trade issues and provide a parliamentary dimension to the WTO by:

(i) overseeing WTO activities and promoting their effectiveness and fairness;

(ii) promoting the transparency of WTO procedures and improving dialogue between governments, parliaments and civil society, and;

(iii) building capacity in parliaments in matters of international trade and exerting influence on the direction of discussions within the WTO;

3.  Reiterates its declared aim to accompany the WTO negotiations with a parliamentary process and the organisation of Parliamentary Conferences and, therefore, stresses that it will always be necessary to finance this crucial activity; notes, in this regard, that in 2007 there will be at least one session of the Parliamentary Conference on the WTO to be held in either Brussels or a WTO member country depending on the results of the Doha Round, and two meetings of its Steering Committee in Geneva;

4.  Requests that the title and remarks of the line 3 0 4 4 be amended so that it is clear that this line covers explicitly the expenditure connected with the organisation of meetings of the Parliamentary Conference on the WTO and its Steering Committee;

PROCEDURE

Title

Draft general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2007 - Section I - Parliament

Procedure number

2006/2018B(BUD)

Committee responsible

BUDG

Opinion by
  Date announced in plenary

INTA
26.9.2006

Enhanced cooperation – date announced in plenary

 

Draftsperson
  Date appointed

Peter Šťastný
25.1.2006

Previous drafts(wo)man

 

Discussed in committee

11.7.2006

 

 

 

 

Date adopted

12.9.2006

Result of final vote

+:

–:

0:

19

0

0

Members present for the final vote

Jean-Pierre Audy, Daniel Caspary, Giulietto Chiesa, Christofer Fjellner, Béla Glattfelder, Jacky Henin, Filip Andrzej Kaczmarek, Alain Lipietz, Erika Mann, Helmuth Markov, Georgios Papastamkos, Peter Šťastný, Johan Van Hecke, Daniel Varela Suanzes-Carpegna, Zbigniew Zaleski

Substitute(s) present for the final vote

Margrietus van den Berg, Robert Goebbels, Antolín Sánchez Presedo, Mauro Zani

Substitute(s) under Rule 178(2) present for the final vote

 

Comments (available in one language only)

...

OPINION of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (5.9.2006)

for the Committee on Budgets

on the draft general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2007
(C6-0300/2006 - 2006/2018B(BUD))Section I - European Parliament

Draftsman: Gérard Deprez

SUGGESTIONS

The Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs calls on the Committee on Budgets, as the committee responsible, to incorporate the following suggestions in its motion for a resolution:

1.  Calls on Parliament's responsible bodies to take into account the actual workload of the services in question in order to determine the number of posts to be allocated; takes note of the fact that the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs has been responsible for 17% of all legislative reports in plenary since 2004 and continues to carry the same workload, since 17% of all new Commission proposals fall within its competence; also takes note of the complex and technical nature of most of the proposals; notes that in 2005 the committee had the highest number of files under codecision of all of Parliament's committees; is of the opinion that these figures reflect a fundamental change that requires urgent and serious measures to ensure the credibility of Parliament's actions in the area of freedom, security and justice;

2.  Requests therefore to increase - by redeployment - the staff of the secretariat of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs by at least three AD and four AST (one assistant and three secretaries) posts; expects the publication of all posts; also requests measures to ensure the availability of specialised expertise in this field in the secretariat and in the legal service;

3.  Requests, furthermore, appropriate means to support the committee's special relationship with national parliaments and its efforts to increase transparency in this policy area, which continues to be heavily influenced by Member States' administrative culture of secrecy.

PROCEDURE

Title

Draft general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2007 - Section I - Parliament

Procedure number

2006/2018B(BUD)]

Committee responsible

BUDG

Opinion by
  Date announced in plenary

LIBE
26.9.2006

Enhanced cooperation – date announced in plenary

 

Draftsman
  Date appointed

Gérard Deprez
22.2.2006

Previous draftsman

 

Discussed in committee

20.6.2006

12.7.2006

 

 

 

Date adopted

4.9.2006

Result of final vote

+: 39

–: 0

0: 0

 

 

 

Members present for the final vote

Alexander Alvaro, Roberta Angelilli, Alfredo Antoniozzi, Edit Bauer, Johannes Blokland, Mihael Brejc, Giusto Catania, Carlos Coelho, Agustín Díaz de Mera García Consuegra, Kinga Gál, Elly de Groen-Kouwenhoven, Adeline Hazan, Timothy Kirkhope, Ewa Klamt, Wolfgang Kreissl-Dörfler, Barbara Kudrycka, Stavros Lambrinidis, Henrik Lax, Sarah Ludford, Antonio Masip Hidalgo, Claude Moraes, Martine Roure, Inger Segelström, Antonio Tajani, Ioannis Varvitsiotis, Manfred Weber, Stefano Zappalà, Tatjana Ždanoka

Substitute(s) present for the final vote

Marco Cappato, Panayiotis Demetriou, Gérard Deprez, Ignasi Guardans Cambó, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, Sophia in 't Veld, Jean Lambert, Siiri Oviir, Hubert Pirker, Marie-Line Reynaud, Kyriacos Triantaphyllides

Substitute(s) under Rule 178(2) present for the final vote

 

Comments (available in one language only)

 

OPINION of the Committee on Petitions (13.9.2006)

for the Committee on Budgets

on the draft general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2007
(C6-0300/2006 - 2006/2018B(BUD))Section VIII(A) - European Ombudsman

Draftswoman: Alexandra Dobolyi

SHORT JUSTIFICATION

The Committee on Petitions has taken note of the European Ombudsman's estimates of the budgetary requirements for the year 2007, which he submitted to the budgetary authority in accordance with Article 31 of the Financial Regulation[1].

According to the estimates document the Ombudsman considers his two core activities as being:

-       handling complaints and making enquiries, either based on complaints or on his own initiative. In doing so, he co-operates and liaises with a network of national ombudsmen and similar bodies in the EU; and

-       communicating with and reaching out to citizens; as well as informing them about their rights under community law. This implies significant activity in the field of communication, publication and information.

In order to be able to perform these activities efficiently and effectively the Ombudsman's staff also has to perform a number of horizontal administrative and management activities. These include budgetary, financial and staff management, IT-management, archiving, non-complaint related correspondence with citizens, liaising with other institutions, etc.

Main features of the budget

The total budget requested amounts to € 8,252,800. This represents an increase of 7.4% (+ € 570,262) in relation with the 2006 budget. In real terms the estimates show a relatively limited growth of 5.4%.

Savings and redeployment in operational expenditure

The estimates show an increase in 8 out of 36 budgetary lines. As a result 24 lines show a decrease and 4 lines remain unchanged. A total of € 420,000 has been redeployed, representing 5.09% of the total budget (against 4.5% in 2006). This result has been achieved by systematic and close scrutiny of all budgetary lines with a view to generating savings in a budget with only a limited number of budgetary items allowing for potential savings.

Workload

In 2005 the Ombudsman received 3920 complaints. This represents a 5.2% increase compared to 2004. The 2005 figure confirms the upward trend and the figures for 2006 suggest a stabilisation at the high level of 2005. It should be noted however that some 70% of all complaints submitted did not fall within the Ombudsman's mandate, and that the number of complaints leading to an inquiry was 726 (of which 389 led to one joint inquiry).

Consolidation of the establishment plan

Over the years the Ombudsman's workload has increased steadily, as has the establishment plan of his office. From 2003 to 2006 the Ombudsman's staff has almost doubled, from 31 posts in 2003 to 57 posts in 2006. This compares with an establishment plan in the secretariat of the Committee on Petitions which has grown only very marginally and still numbers only 18 posts. For 2007 the Ombudsman does not request any new posts. There is a request, however, for the upgrading of 10 existing posts (5 AD and 5 AST).

Recasting translation policy

During the last two budgetary exercises, the rise in translation needs was not completely compensated by an increase of appropriations in the budget. In order to fulfil the Ombudsman's legal obligations and to reduce the cost of translation, a new translation policy has been adopted, and will be implemented, which involves a cooperation agreement with the Translation Centre for the Bodies of the EU, reducing the size of the Annual Report, abandoning less important translations, and putting an increased number of summaries of the main decisions on the internet. This policy is expected to have a positive effect on the appropriations required, both in the short and the long term.

Rationalisation of working relations with the European Parliament

On 15 March 2006 the new cooperation agreement with the European Parliament was signed. It entered into force in mid-April. The new agreement allows, among other things, for greater transparency of the pricing policy with services being paid on the basis of individual costs, except for auditing and accounting for which a lump sum applies. Also, negotiations with the Parliament will start on a possible extension of office space. However, this should not be at the expense of Parliament's own requirements.

Implementation of mid-term operational strategies

The Ombudsman's estimates for 2007 are based on the identification of the projects to be implemented in 2007 and the ensuing years (2008 and 2009). This allows for a multi-annual view and a more balanced approach in the allocation of projects over the years as well as spreading out the need for appropriations in order to generate redeployments. In line with this strategy the Ombudsman has decided to focus in 2007 only on the organisation of the National Ombudsmen biennial seminar, which was organised by the European Ombudsman for the last time in 1996. Despite the costs of such a meeting this approach results in only a slight increase of 1.5% (+ 12,000 €) in Title 3 expenditure.

SUGGESTIONS

The Committee on Petitions calls on the Committee on Budgets, as the committee responsible, to incorporate the following suggestions in its motion for a resolution:

1.      Takes the view that the total amount of budgetary resources requested by the Ombudsman will enable him to meet the obligations under his Statute, the implementing provisions and the new cooperation agreement, and will allow him to perform his duties effectively;

2.      Notes that the 5.4% increase (in real terms) in the budget is relatively small, given the increase in the total amount of complaints received, inflation and the increased cost of living as anticipated by the Commission;

3.      Is pleased that the Ombudsman has been able to generate savings on a number of budget lines and has increased the redeployment rate in his budget from 4.5% in the 2006 budget to 5.09% in the 2007 budget;

4.      Supports the consolidation of the Ombudsman's establishment plan and his request for the upgrading of 10 existing posts (5 AST and 5 AD);

5.      Supports the recasting of the Ombudsman's translation policy and encourages him to keep looking for efficient solutions to bring down translation costs, whilst guaranteeing a high level of public service and enhancing the relations and the trust between the citizens of the European Union and the European institutions;

6.      Commends the Ombudsman for the implementation of mid-term strategies, which allow for a multi-annual view and a balanced allocation of projects over the years and for the spreading out of appropriations and the generating of redeployments;

7.      Takes note of the new cooperation agreement signed by the Ombudsman and the President of the European Parliament on 15 March 2006; considers that the agreement reaffirms the relations between the two institutions with regard to concrete cooperation in a number of areas, based on the principles of mutual respect of the parties' independence, their respective powers and their respective mandates and roles;

8.      Hopes that the new agreement will lead to improvements in the exchange of information between the relevant services and will encourage and strengthen procedures for mutual consultation and, in general, create structures for closer cooperation with a view to allowing each party to perform its tasks more effectively.

PROCEDURE

Title

The draft general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2007 - Section VIII(A) - European Ombudsman

Procedure number

2006/2018B(INI)

Committee responsible

BUDG

Opinion by
  Date announced in plenary

PETI
26.9.2006

Enhanced cooperation – date announced in plenary

 

Drafts(wo)man
  Date appointed

Alexandra Dobolyi
21.3.2006

Previous drafts(wo)man

 

Discussed in committee

13.9.2006

0.0.0000

0.0.0000

 

 

Date adopted

13.9.2006

Result of final vote

+:

–:

0:

9

0

0

Members present for the final vote

Marcin Libicki,Maria Matsouka,Robert Atkins,Carlos José Iturgaiz Angulo,Manolis Mavrommatis,Proinsias De Rossa,Alexandra Dobolyi,David Hammerstein Mintz,Margrete Auken,Willy Meyer Pleite,

Substitute(s) present for the final vote

 

Substitute(s) under Rule 178(2) present for the final vote

 

Comments (available in one language only)

...

  • [1]  Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities (OJ L 248 of 16.09.2002, p. 1).

PROCEDURE

Title

Draft general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2007, Section I – European Parliament, Section II – Council, Section IV – Court of Justice, Section V – Court of Auditors, Section VI – European Economic and Social Committee, Section VII – Committee of the Regions, Section VIII(A) – European Ombudsman, Section VIII(B) – European Data Protection Supervisor

References

C6‑0300/2006 – 2006/2018B

Legal basis

Article 272 EC

Basis in Rules of Procedure

Rule 69 and Annex IV

Committee responsible

        Date of referral

BUDG

26.9.2006

Committee(s) asked for opinion(s)

        Date of referral

All

26.9.2006

Rapporteur
  Date appointed

Louis Grech
11.01.2006

Previous rapporteur

 

Preliminary draft general budget

        Date presented by Commission

SEC(2006)0531

4.9.2006

Date draft general budget established by the Council

 

Date draft general budget forwarded by the Council

 

Letter(s) of amendment

 

 

 

 

 

Discussed in committee

12.9.2006

12.10.2006

 

 

 

Date adopted

13.10.2006

Result of final vote

for: 29

against: 0

abstentions: 3

Members present for the final vote

Richard James Ashworth, Reimer Böge, Simon Busuttil, Paulo Casaca, Gérard Deprez, Brigitte Douay, Bárbara Dührkop Dührkop, James Elles, Szabolcs Fazakas, Salvador Garriga Polledo, Neena Gill, Dariusz Maciej Grabowski, Ingeborg Gräßle, Louis Grech, Catherine Guy-Quint, Ville Itälä, Anne E. Jensen, Alain Lamassoure, Janusz Lewandowski, Mario Mauro, Gérard Onesta, Giovanni Pittella, Wojciech Roszkowski, Antonis Samaras, Esko Seppänen, László Surján, Helga Trüpel, Ralf Walter

Substitutes present for the final vote

Lidia Joanna Geringer de Oedenberg, Paul Rübig, Peter Šťastný, Tomáš Zatloukal

Substitutes under Rule 178(2) present for the final vote

 

Date tabled 

13.10.2006

 

Comments (available in one language only)

...