The European Parliament,

–   having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 272(4), penultimate subparagraph, thereof,

–   having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community, and in particular Article 177 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 Article 15(3) and Articles 37 and 38 thereof,

–   having regard to the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2007, as finally adopted on 14 December 2006(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 Preliminary draft amending budget No 4/2007 of the European Union for the financial year 2007, which the Commission presented on 13 April 2007 (SEC(2007)0483),

–   having regard to Draft amending budget No 3/2007, which the Council established on 14 May 2007 (9256/2007 - C6-0133/2007),

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

–   having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgets (A6-0196/2007),

A.   whereas Draft amending budget No 3/2007 aims to enter in the 2007 budget the surplus of the 2006 financial year, amounting to EUR 1 847 631 711,

B.   whereas the three main elements of this surplus are an over-registering in revenue of EUR 914 569 139.79, an under-spending in expenditure of EUR 949 899 477,07 and a negative balance of monetary exchange (- EUR 16 836 905,86),

C.   whereas the under-spending of payment appropriations, compared to the years before, has decreased to EUR 949 899 477,07 (about 0,9 %) of the total EU 2006 budget of EUR 107 378 469 621,

D.   whereas for agriculture, the under-spending of payment appropriations in 2006 amounted to EUR 426 million, or 0,85%, of EUR 50 210 million, for structural operations the figure was EUR 54 million (0,17%) of a total EUR 32 495 million, for external action under-spending amounted to EUR 154 million (2,85%) of the total allowance of EUR 5 407 million, for administration the figure was EUR 51 million (0,77%) of a total EUR 6 654 million and for pre-accession strategy it amounted to EUR 127 million (5,33%) of a total of EUR 2 383 million,

E.   whereas, compared with 2005, there have been considerable general improvements in the uptake of allocations in the fields of pre-accession strategy, where, in 2005, EUR 463 million or 13,5% of the total budget of EUR 3 428 million were not spent,

F.   whereas there is still some room for improvement, especially in the field of agriculture, where the amount unused, compared with 2005, has gone up to EUR 426 million representing 0,85% of the total allowance (0,3 % in 2005),

1.  Welcomes the positive development in budget implementation over the last few years;

2.  Calls on the Commission to continue its efforts to fully implement the budget, which is even more important in view of the limited resources that will be available under the new financial framework 2007 - 2013;

3.  Has decided to accept Council's Draft amending budget No 3/2007 unamended;

4.  Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and Commission.

(1) OJ L 248, 16.9.2002, p. 1. Regulation as amended by Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1995/2006 (OJ L 390, 30.12.2006, p. 1). (2) OJ L 77, 16.3.2007. (3) OJ C 139, 14.6.2006, p. 1.