By letter of 10 December 2003 the Commission submitted to Parliament, pursuant to Articles 251(2), 71(1), 80(2), 156, first indent and 175 of the EC Treaty, the proposal for amending the reference amounts - within the meaning of the Interinstitutional Agreement of 6 May 1999, Article 33 - of expenditure programmes adopted by the co-decision procedure, in order to take account of enlargement (COM(2003) 777 – 2003/0305(COD)).

At the sitting of 15 January 2004 the President of Parliament announced that he had referred the proposal to the Committee on Budgets as the committee responsible and the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Policy and the Committee on Regional Policy, Transport and Tourism for their opinions (C5‑0652/2003).

The Committee on Budgets appointed Reimer Böge and Joan Colom i Naval rapporteurs at its meeting of 21 January 2004.

The committee considered the Commission proposal and draft report at its meetings of 21 January 2004 and 17 February 2004.

At the last meeting it adopted the draft legislative resolution unanimously.

The following were present for the vote: Terence Wynn (chairman), Reimer Böge (vice-chairman and rapporteur), Anne Elisabet Jensen (vice-chairwoman), Franz Turchi (vice-chairman), Reimer Böge and Joan Colom i Naval Joan Colom i Naval (rapporteur), Den Dover, Göran Färm, Salvador Garriga Polledo, Neena Gill, Catherine Guy-Quint, Jutta D. Haug, John Joseph McCartin, Jan Mulder, Juan Andrés Naranjo Escobar, Esko Olavi Seppänen (for Chantal Cauquil), Per Stenmarck, Kyösti Tapio Virrankoski and Ralf Walter.

The Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Policy decided on 16 February 2004and the Committee on Regional Policy, Transport and Tourism decided on 21 January 2004not to deliver an opinion.

The report was tabled on 19 February 2004.

on the proposal for amending the reference amounts - within the meaning of the Interinstitutional Agreement of 6 May 1999, Article 33 - of expenditure programmes adopted by the co-decision procedure, in order to take account of enlargement

(COM(2003) 777 – C5‑0652/2003 – 2003/0305(COD))

(Codecision procedure: first reading)

The European Parliament,

–   having regard to the Commission proposal to the European Parliament and the Council (COM(2003) 777)(1),

–   having regard to Articles 251(2), 71(1), 80(2), 156, first indent and 175 of the EC Treaty, pursuant to which the Commission submitted the proposal to Parliament (C5-0652/2003),

–   having regard to Rule 67 of its Rules of Procedure,

–   having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgets(A5-0066/2004),

1.   Considers that the amounts referred to in the legislative proposals are compatible with the ceiling of heading 3 of the financial perspective as adjusted and revised in order to take account of enlargement;

2.   Calls for the budgetary authority to be more fully involved in the definition of the financial impact of the legislative programmes in accordance with the Interinstitutional Agreement on financial statements(2);

3.   Welcomes the Commission proposals in respect of the agreement on indicative figures reached at the conciliation of 24 November 2003;

4.   Calls on the Commission to refer the matter to Parliament again if it intends to amend its proposal substantially or replace it with another text;

5.   Instructs its President to forward its position to the Council and Commission.

(1) Not yet published in OJNROJDT(d.m.yyyy)@DATEMSG@. (2) OJ C172, 18.6.1999, p. 1-22.

In view of financing the needs of enlargement, Heading 3 of the financial perspective has been adjusted and revised for a total amount for the period 2004-2006. The budgetary authority had agreed to revise (by the end of the budgetary procedure for 2004) the reference amounts of the programmes adopted under co-decision within the limits of the ceiling resulting from the above mentioned adjustment and revision of the financial perspective.

The programmes concerned had been adopted under co-decision with reference amounts for EUR15. The additional amount represents the needs for EUR10 for the period 2004-2006.

Following internal consultations with the relevant committees, the Parliament adopted a list of indicative amounts in annex to the 1st reading resolution to the Budget 2004. This list served as a mandate for the negotiations with the Council.

At the conciliation meeting of 24 November 2003, the Parliament and the Council reached an agreement on the adjustment of the reference amounts for the 29 programmes concerned (see below) and invited the Commission to present without delay the appropriate legislative proposals.

The total additional amount represents an increase of 2.58 billion thus leaving a sufficient margin under the adjusted revised ceiling for non codecided programmes and other annual actions (agencies, pilot projects and preparatory actions etc) in 2005 and 2006.

Joint declaration of 24 November adopted in the context of the 2004 budgetary procedure:

"Referring to the joint declaration of 16 July 2003, Parliament and Council, having reached a political agreement on the indicative reference amounts to be included in the basic act of community programmes decided under the co-decision procedure following enlargement, invite the Commission to present without delay the appropriate legislative proposal(s) and confirm that they will make all the efforts to take in due consideration, in the co-decision procedure, the amounts attached to the present declaration, in time for their possible application as from the date of entry into force of the Accession Treaty.

The European Parliament and the Council remind to their respective bodies that the legislative procedures should in any circumstances respect the adjustment and revision of the Financial Perspective in view of enlargement as approved on 9 April 2003, and leave a sufficient margin for future programmes, including the ones not based on co-decision."