(Ordinary legislative procedure: third reading)

The European Parliament,

–  having regard to the joint text approved by the Conciliation Committee and the relevant Parliament and Council statement (PE-CONS 00058/2011 – C7-0378/2011),

–  having regard to its position at first reading(1) on the Commission proposal to Parliament and the Council (COM(2009)0194),

–  having regard to its position at second reading(2) on the Council position at first reading(3),

–  having regard to the Commission's opinion on Parliament's amendments to the Council position at first reading (COM(2011)0170),

–  having regard to the Council position at second reading,

–  having regard to Article 294(13) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

–  having regard to Rule 69 of its Rules of Procedure,

–  having regard to the report of its delegation to the Conciliation Committee (A7-0404/2011),

1.  Approves the joint text;

2.  Confirms the joint statement by Parliament and the Council annexed to this resolution;

3.  Instructs its President to sign the act with the President of the Council, in accordance with Article 297(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union;

4.  Instructs its Secretary-General to sign the act, once it has been verified that all the procedures have been duly completed, and, in agreement with the Secretary-General of the Council, to arrange for its publication, together with the statement by the Parliament and Council thereon, in the Official Journal of the European Union;

5.  Instructs its President to forward this legislative resolution to the Council, the Commission and the national parliaments.

(1) Texts adopted, 21.10.2010, P7_TA(2010)0380. (2) Texts adopted, 3.2.2011, P7_TA(2011)0031. (3) OJ C 7 E, 12.1.2011, p. 14.

Statement by the European Parliament and the Council on the use of Delegated Acts in the future Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2014-2020

The European Parliament and the Council take note of the Commission Communication ‘A Budget for Europe 2020’ (COM(2011)0500(1)), in particular in relation to the proposed use of delegated acts in the future external financing instruments and await legislative proposals, which will be duly considered.

(1) The Commission in its Communication: ‘A budget for Europe 2020’ (COM(2011)0500), states that: ‘Furthermore, the future legal bases for the different instruments will propose the extensive use of delegated acts to allow for more flexibility in the management of the policies during the financing period, while respecting the prerogatives of the two branches of legislator.’ and ‘It is considered that democratic scrutiny of external aid must be improved. This could be achieved by the use of delegated acts in accordance with Article 290 of the Treaty for certain aspects of programmes, not only placing the co-legislators on an equal footing but also ensuring more flexibility in programming. For the EDF, it is proposed to bring scrutiny into line with the DCI, whilst taking into account the specificities of this instrument’.