(Consultation)

The European Parliament,

–  having regard to the Commission proposal to the Council (COM(2014)0704),

–  having regard to Article 322(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and Article 106a of the Euratom Treaty, pursuant to which the Council consulted Parliament (C8-0250/2014),

–  having regard to the letter from the Committee on Budgetary Control,

—  having regard to Rule 59 of its Rules of Procedure,

—  having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgets (A8-0066/2014),

A.  Whereas in the light of latest statistical revisions agreed by the Member States, it appeared that a number of Member States underpaid their due contributions to the Union budget over a number of years, while others overpaid theirs; whereas these deviations were driven by the major statistical changes notified by Member States;

B.  Whereas the rules currently in force, as unanimously agreed within the Council, would have resulted in the prompt correction of those under- and over-payments;

C.  Whereas, as a general rule, Member States have paid in the past without significant delay the full amounts of their GNI and VAT based contributions to the Union budget, even in times of crisis and severe fiscal strain;

D.  Whereas certain Member States which had benefited from past underestimation of their GNI expressed their reluctance to pay by the legal deadline the additional amounts due;

E.  Whereas the Council called on the Commission to present a proposal to accommodate that situation by changing the concerned rules and allowing the deferral and payment by instalments of amounts due;

F.  Whereas, in accordance with the on-going legislative revision, seven Member States decided not to enter in the EU account their respective GNI and VAT balances on the first working day of December 2014; whereas the Commission revised subsequently the amounts entered initially in the DAB No 6/2014, taking into account the amounts effectively made available on this date;

G.  Whereas this takes place just after the institutions have completed a legislative process, which started in 2011, for the revision of the Own Resources legislation, and even before that new legislative package has entered into force;

H.  Whereas this proposal is part of the wider negotiation package concerning the 2014 amending budgets and the 2015 Budget;

I.  Whereas, for the sake of transparency, a report on the calculations and underlying data for VAT and GNI balance adjustments should be presented to the Parliament every year in the context of the budgetary procedure, allowing sufficient time for its consideration, and the Member States' decision as to the dates and level of instalments should be notified to the Parliament;

J.  Whereas Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1150/2000 should therefore be amended accordingly;

1.  Underlines that this proposal to amend Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1150/2000 finds its origin in the one-off consequences of the application of that Regulation for certain Member States;

2.  Deplores that the issue of the deferral of national contributions adjustments took precedence, within the Council, over finding a negotiating position on the 2014 and 2015 budgetary negotiations, which was only established on the final day of the 21-day conciliation period provided for in Article 314 TFEU and contributed to the failure of the Conciliation Committee to reach an agreement;

3.  Stresses that flexibility and urgency, which the Council unanimously calls for when it comes to the timing of Member States' contributions to the Union budget, are rejected by a number of its delegations when it comes to the smooth implementation of the MFF 2014-2020 and, in particular, the timely delivery of payments to beneficiaries of the Union budget;

4.  Is concerned by the proposed larger discretion left to Member States as to the timing of their additional contributions resulting from GNI adjustments to the Union budget; stresses that this creates a precedent that could have an impact on the Commission's treasury, the timing of payments to the beneficiaries of the Union budget and, ultimately, the credibility of the Union's budget;

5.  Underlines the fact that this proposal makes the Own Resources system even more complex and is aimed at amending legislation that will soon be replaced, retroactively, by already agreed pieces of legislation; stresses, against this background, the crucial role of the High Level Group on Own Resources in delivering proposals for overcoming the deficiencies of the current system;

6.  Acknowledges nevertheless the exceptionally high amounts of 2014 adjustments in the VAT- and GNI-based Own Resources, which may represent a high financial burden for certain Member States;

7.  Emphasizes that the Commission proposal is part of a wider negotiation package including the 2014 amending budgets and 2015 Budget and, therefore, refrains from rejecting it;

8.  Approves the Commission proposal as amended;

9.  Calls on the Commission to alter its proposal accordingly, in accordance with Article 293(2) of the TFEU and Article 106a of the Euratom Treaty;

10.  Calls on the Council to notify Parliament if it intends to depart from the text approved by Parliament;

11.  Asks the Council to consult Parliament again if it intends to substantially amend the Commission proposal;

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

Text proposed by the Commission   Amendment Amendment 1 Proposal for a regulation Article 1 – paragraph 2 Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1150/2000 Article 10 – paragraph 7 a –subparagraph 2 Member States may only apply the first subparagraph if they have informed the Commission before the first working day of December of their decision, and of the date or dates of entry of the amount of the adjustments in the account referred to in Article 9(1) of this Regulation. Member States may only apply the first subparagraph if they have informed the Commission before the first working day of December of their decision, and of the date or dates of entry of the amount of the adjustments in the account referred to in Article 9(1) of this Regulation. The Commission shall notify the European Parliament and the Council of any such decision, including the concerned Member States, the number of instalments, the amount of each instalment and the dates of entry in the accounts. Amendment 2 Proposal for a regulation Article 1 – paragraph 2 a (new) Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1150/2000 Article 10 – paragraph 8 Paragraph 8 is replaced by the following: '8. The operations referred to in paragraphs 4 to 7 constitute modifications to revenue in respect of the financial year in which they occur.' '8. The operations referred to in paragraphs 4 to 7 constitute modifications to revenue in respect of the financial year in which they occur. The Commission shall report to the European Parliament and the Council on the modifications of revenue under this Article.'