REPORT on the Council position on Draft amending budget No 2/2012 of the European Union for the financial year 2012, Section III – European Commission
5.6.2012 - (09916/2012 – C7‑0123/2012 – 2012/2057(BUD))
Committee on Budgets
Rapporteur: Francesca Balzani
MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION
on the Council position on Draft amending budget No 2/2012 of the European Union for the financial year 2012, Section III – European Commission
(09916/2012 – C7‑0123/2012 – 2012/2057(BUD))
The European Parliament,
– having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and in particular Article 314 thereof and to the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community, and in particular Article 106a thereof,
– 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[1], and in particular Articles 37 and 38 thereof,
– having regard to the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2012, as definitively adopted on 1 December 2011[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 Draft amending budget No 2/2012 of the European Union for the financial year 2012, which the Commission presented on 16 March 2012 (COM(2012)0125),
– having regard to the position adopted by the Council on 15 May 2012 on Draft amending budget No 2/2012 (09916/2012 – C7‑0123/2012),
– having regard to Rules 75b and 75e of its Rules of Procedure,
– having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgets (A7-0181/2012),
A. whereas Draft amending budget No 2/2012 relates to the mobilisation of the EU Solidarity Fund (EUSF) for an amount of EUR 18 061 682 in commitment and payment appropriations to mitigate the effects of flooding in Italy (Liguria and Tuscany) in October 2011,
B. whereas the purpose of Draft amending budget No 2/2012 is to formally enter this budgetary adjustment into the 2012 budget,
C. whereas Draft amending budget No 2/2012, as presented by the Commission, proposed an increase in the level of payment appropriations, in the absence of any source of possible redeployment of the required payment appropriations at this early stage in the year,
D. whereas Council amended Commission's proposal following the identification by the latter of possible sources for redeployments for the required amount, as presented in its transfer request DEC 9/2012,
1. Takes note of Draft amending budget No 2/2012, as presented by the Commission, and of Council position thereon;
2. Considers of great importance the quick release of financial assistance through the EU Solidarity Fund (EUSF) for those affected by natural catastrophes, and therefore greatly deplores, for the specific case addressed by Draft amending Budget No 2/2012, that the other branch of the budgetary authority has awaited 8 weeks before taking its position, sticking to its interpretation of Protocol 1 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (deadline for national Parliaments' information);
3. Calls on all involved parties in the Member States, i.e. both at local and regional level, and national authorities to improve assessment of needs and the coordination for future potential applications to the EUSF in a view to accelerate, as much as possible, the mobilisation of the EUSF;
4. Approves, the Council position on Draft amending budget No 2/2012;
5. Instructs its President to declare that Amending budget No 2/2012 has been definitively adopted and to arrange for its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union;
6. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission and the national parliaments.
EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Draft Amending Budget (DAB) No 2 for the year 2012 covers the mobilisation of the EU Solidarity Fund for an amount of EUR 18 061 682 in commitment and payment appropriations relating to flooding in Italy (Liguria and Tuscany) in October 2011.
In accordance with IIA on budgetary discipline and sound financial management, the Commission, at the same time as it presents its proposal for a decision to deploy the fund (see in the dossier), initiates a trialogue procedure to secure agreement of the two arms of the budgetary authority on the need to use the Fund and on the amount required. The total annual budget available for the Solidarity Fund is EUR 1 000 million.
It is proposed to grant the following aid amounts:
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(EUR) |
Direct damage accepted |
Threshold |
Amount based on 2,5 %
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Amount based on 6 %
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Total amount ofaid proposed
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Flooding 2011 (IT) |
722,467 million |
3 536 million |
18 061 682 |
- |
18 061 682 |
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Total |
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18 061 682 |
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Despite Parliament's call during the budgetary Trilogue of 26 March 2011, the Council considered that no urgency justifies any derogation to Council's interpretation of Protocol 1 TFEU and therefore respected the deadline of 8 weeks for information of national Parliaments. This explains why Parliament cannot adopt its position, nor the Amending Budget adopted earlier than during June Plenary.
In its initial proposal, the Commission considered that there was no source of possible redeployment of the required payment appropriations at this stage of the year and on the basis of the implementation forecasts. On the contrary, all indicators pointed to a likely shortage of payment appropriations later in the year, as a result of which Commission proposed a corresponding increase in the level of payment appropriations to be allocated under heading 3b of the financial framework.
Such proposal for fresh money was well in line with the Joint Declaration on payment appropriations adopted in November 2011: 'The Council and the European Parliament will take position on any draft amending budget as quickly as possible in order to avoid any shortfall in payment appropriations.'
However, in its transfer request DEC 9/2012, the Commission suggested financing this DAB through the unexpected under-implementation of the European Economic recovery plan (EERP).
Council followed this line in its position on DAB 2/2012, which your Rapporteur proposes to follow, so as not to delay any further the release of the Funds.
Your Rapporteur would nevertheless like to underline that this was a one-off solution and that on the contrary, it is very likely that additional payments will be needed already in 2012 to honour previous commitments and upcoming payment claims and address the increasing pace of programmes' implementation. Redeployment later in the year may therefore not be an option, not to speak about the possible use of the negative reserve foreseen by Art 44 of the Financial regulation, which would just postpone the problem and be in contradiction with the Joint Declaration on payments referred to above.
RESULT OF FINAL VOTE IN COMMITTEE
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Date adopted |
31.5.2012 |
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Result of final vote |
+: –: 0: |
34 2 0 |
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Members present for the final vote |
Marta Andreasen, Richard Ashworth, Francesca Balzani, Zuzana Brzobohatá, Jean-Luc Dehaene, James Elles, Göran Färm, José Manuel Fernandes, Eider Gardiazábal Rubial, Salvador Garriga Polledo, Jens Geier, Ivars Godmanis, Lucas Hartong, Sidonia Elżbieta Jędrzejewska, Anne E. Jensen, Ivailo Kalfin, Sergej Kozlík, Jan Kozłowski, Alain Lamassoure, Giovanni La Via, Claudio Morganti, Juan Andrés Naranjo Escobar, Nadezhda Neynsky, Dominique Riquet, Alda Sousa, László Surján, Jacek Włosowicz |
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Substitute(s) present for the final vote |
François Alfonsi, Alexander Alvaro, Charles Goerens, Edit Herczog, Jürgen Klute, Jan Olbrycht, Paul Rübig, Peter Šťastný, Gianluca Susta |
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