Next event: Final act published in Official Journal 2014/02/20 more...
- Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading 2013/11/20
- Final act signed 2013/11/20
- End of procedure in Parliament 2013/11/20
- Debate in Parliament 2013/11/19
- Draft budget approved by Council 2013/11/19
- Council Meeting 2013/11/19
- Budgetary conciliation report tabled for plenary 2013/11/14
- Budgetary joint text 2013/11/12
- Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading 2013/11/12
- Budgetary joint text published 2013/11/12
- HOHLMEIER Monika (PPE) appointed as rapporteur in BUDE 2013/11/12
- JENSEN Anne E. (ALDE) appointed as rapporteur in BUDE 2013/11/12
- Council Meeting 2013/11/11
- Results of vote in Parliament 2013/10/23
- Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading 2013/10/23
- Start of budgetary conciliation (Parliament and Council) 2013/10/23
- Debate in Parliament 2013/10/22
- Document attached to the procedure 2013/10/16
- Budgetary report tabled for plenary, 1st reading 2013/10/11
- Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading 2013/10/09
- Committee opinion 2013/10/03
- Committee draft report 2013/10/03
- Committee opinion 2013/10/01
- Committee opinion 2013/09/27
- Committee opinion 2013/09/26
Progress: Procedure completed
Role | Committee | Rapporteur | Shadows |
---|---|---|---|
Lead | BUDE | HOHLMEIER Monika ( PPE), JENSEN Anne E. ( ALDE) | |
Former Responsible Committee | BUDG | HOHLMEIER Monika ( PPE), JENSEN Anne E. ( ALDE) | |
Former Committee Opinion | ITRE | BÜTIKOFER Reinhard ( Verts/ALE) | Jens ROHDE ( ALDE), Paul RÜBIG ( PPE) |
Former Committee Opinion | JURI | ||
Former Committee Opinion | ECON | GIEGOLD Sven ( Verts/ALE) | |
Former Committee Opinion | CONT | GEIER Jens ( S&D) | Bart STAES ( Verts/ALE) |
Former Committee Opinion | LIBE | MULDER Jan ( ALDE) | |
Former Committee Opinion | INTA | ŠŤASTNÝ Peter ( PPE) | Syed KAMALL ( ECR) |
Former Committee Opinion | IMCO | GÁLL-PELCZ Ildikó ( PPE) | Matteo SALVINI ( ENF) |
Former Committee Opinion | TRAN | DURANT Isabelle ( Verts/ALE) | Gesine MEISSNER ( ALDE) |
Former Committee Opinion | REGI | STAVRAKAKIS Georgios ( S&D) | |
Former Committee Opinion | PETI | ||
Former Committee Opinion | FEMM | ||
Former Committee Opinion | AFCO | MESSERSCHMIDT Morten ( EFD) | Algirdas SAUDARGAS ( PPE) |
Former Committee Opinion | DEVE | CORTÉS LASTRA Ricardo ( S&D) | Bart STAES ( Verts/ALE) |
Former Committee Opinion | CULT | LØKKEGAARD Morten ( ALDE) | Ivo BELET ( PPE), Cătălin Sorin IVAN ( S&D), Marie-Christine VERGIAT ( GUE/NGL) |
Former Committee Opinion | AFET | SALAFRANCA SÁNCHEZ-NEYRA José Ignacio ( PPE) | |
Former Committee Opinion | PECH | RIVELLINI Crescenzio ( PPE) | |
Former Committee Opinion | AGRI | DĂNCILĂ Viorica ( S&D) | |
Former Committee Opinion | ENVI | HAUG Jutta ( S&D) | |
Former Committee Opinion | EMPL | ŐRY Csaba ( PPE) | Jean LAMBERT ( Verts/ALE) |
Lead committee dossier:
Subjects
Events
PURPOSE: Corrigendum to the definitive adoption of the European Union's general budget for the financial year 2014 (published previously in the Official Journal of the European Union L51 of 20 February 2014 ).
CONTENT: the corrigendum concerns the authorised establishment plans for certain institutions and bodies of the European Union (permanent and temporary posts).
The European Parliament adopted by 494 votes to 158, with 13 abstentions, a legislative resolution on the joint text on the draft general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2014 approved by the Conciliation Committee under the budgetary procedure.
Parliament approved the joint text agreed by the Conciliation Committee .
Plenary also confirmed the joint statements by Parliament, the Council and the Commission included in the joint conclusions agreed by the Conciliation Committee annexed to this resolution.
The main issues of the draft text may be summarised as follows:
For the 2014 budget : the two institutions agreed on:
EUR 135.50 billion for overall payment appropriations; EUR 142.64 billion for commitment appropriations .
This is a decrease of 6.5% for payments and of 6.2% for commitments compared to the EU budget for 2013.
The joint text also concerned the conclusion of Amending Budgets 8/2013 and 9/2013 .
Horizontal issues : the joint text sets out:
the number of posts and the contribution of the EU budget for the decentralised agencies (Frontex, Asylum Support Office and Europol) and a numer of joint initiatives; a comprehensive package of pilot projects and preparatory actions for an amount of EUR 79.4 million in commitment appropriations.
Expenditure headings of the financial framework : the joint text includes a series of budget lines that have been amended. These include, inter alia :
Heading 1a: the creation of budget lines to fund information, consultation and participation of representatives undertakings, industrial relations and social dialogue; funding for special events such as Special Olympics Summer Games to be held in Antwerp (BE ); Heading 1b: assigning EUR 134.9 million in commitments to the European Aid to the Most Deprived and mobilise EUR 89.3 million from the flexibility instrument to provide additional assistance to Cyprus. Heading 2: the EU participation at the World Exposition 2015 for which an additional amount of EUR 1 million in commitments is agreed. Heading 3: strengthening the "Europe for Citizens" programme, the MEDIA sub-programme and specific multimedia actions for a total amount of EUR 11 million in commitments. Heading 4: clarification of the budget nomenclature to better identify third countries eligible for EU financial assistance and strengthen the budget line supporting peace process and financial assistance to Palestine up to EUR 50 million. Heading 5: modification of appropriations and/or posts assigned to certain EU institutions. The establishment plans of the EU institutions and bodies have also been amended to take account of the creation, in the Staff Regulations, of a new functions group AST/SC.
Payment appropriations : a series of new amounts were provided in particular:
EUR 150 million for the EU Solidarity Fund; EUR 200 million to support the Middle East peace process.
There was also the creation of a series of new budget lines as well as the setting aside of EUR 2 million for the EMU communication.
Joint statements : striving to keep the level of next year's EU budget in line with Member States' financing capacities, the Conciliation Committee made the following joint statements :
- Payment appropriations : the European Parliament and the Council recalled the need to ensure an orderly progression of payments so as to avoid any abnormal shift of outstanding commitments (‘RAL’) onto the 2015 budget . In this respect, they will have recourse, when appropriate, to the various flexibility mechanisms included in the MFF Regulation.
As regards the payment appropriations, they asked the Commission to initiate any necessary action , on the basis of the provisions of the draft MFF Regulation and the Financial Regulation, to cover the responsibility assigned by the Treaty and with particular reference to any expected under-implementation of appropriations to request additional payment appropriations in an amending budget if the appropriations entered in the 2014 budget are insufficient to cover expenditure.
The European Parliament and the Council should take position on any draft amending budget as quickly as possible in order to avoid any shortfall in payment appropriations . In addition, the European Parliament and the Council should undertake to process swiftly any possible transfer of payment appropriations, including across financial framework headings, in order to make the best possible use of payment appropriations entered in the budget and align them to actual execution and needs.
The European Parliament, the Council and the Commission will, throughout the year, actively monitor the state of implementation of the 2014 budget, in particular under sub-heading 1b (Economic, social and territorial cohesion) and rural development under heading 2 (Sustainable Growth: Natural Resources). This will take the form of dedicated inter-institutional meetings to take stock of payment implementation and revised forecasts.
- Decentralised agencies : the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission recalled the importance to progressively reduce the staffing levels of all EU institutions , bodies and agencies by 5% over five years.
They also agreed on the need for a closer and more permanent scrutiny on the development of decentralised agencies to ensure a coherent approach. They agreed to establish a specific inter-institutional working group with the aim of defining a clear development path for agencies, based on objective criteria.
- Heading 5 and salary adjustments : they agreed that the appropriations related to the proposed salary adjustments of 1.7% for 2011 and 1.7% for 2012 will not be included at this stage in the 2014 budget.
- EU Special Representatives : the Parliament and the Council agreed to examine the transfer of appropriations for the European Union Special Representatives from the Commission's budget (Section III) to the budget of the European External Action Service (Section X) in the context of the 2015 budgetary procedure.
The Agreement also includes draft amending budget No. 9 for 2013 , which would mobilise the EU Solidarity Fund to provide financial assistance of EUR 400.5 million to repair damages caused in 2013 by floods in Germany (360.5 million), Austria (21.7 million) and the Czech Republic (15.9 million) and drought in Romania (2.5 million).
Members called on the Parliament to approve the joint text agreed by the Conciliation Committee and to confirm the joint statements by the Parliament, the Council and the Commission included in the joint conclusions agreed by the Conciliation Committee.
The European Parliament delegation to the Budgetary Conciliation Committee adopted the report drafted by Anne E. JENSEN (ALDE, DK) (section III – Commission) and Monika HOHLMEIER (EPP, DE) (other sections) on the joint text on the draft general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2014 approved by the Conciliation Committee under the budgetary procedure.
Discussions in the Conciliation Committee were aimed at finding a compromise bridging the gap between the Council's position and the European Parliament's amendments on the draft budget for 2014 proposed by the European Commission.
2014 is the first year under the EU's multiannual financial framework (MFF) for 2014-2020.
The Agreement reached on the EU budget for 2014 aims to overcome the budget deficit payment for the current fiscal year.
The two institutions agreed on:
EUR 135.5 billion for overall payment appropriations; EUR 142.64 billion for commitment appropriations for the EU budget for 2014.
This is a decrease of 6.5% for payments and of 6.2% for commitments compared to the EU budget for 2013.
In general, Members have guaranteed that victims of flood and drought disasters in 2013 should be compensated and that the priorities for 2014 in areas such as education, employment, research, innovation, border management, and humanitarian assistance should also be taken into account. In addition, the Flexibility Instrument should be mobilised to assist Cyprus.
The Agreement also included reinforcing the budget for:
FRONTEX, the European Asylum Support Office, Europol.
Additional support was agreed upon as regards the peace process and financial assistance to Palestine and to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).
Striving to keep the level of next year's EU budget in line with Member States' financing capacities, the Conciliation Committee made the following joint statements :
- Payment appropriations : the European Parliament and the Council recalled the need to ensure an orderly progression of payments so as to avoid any abnormal shift of outstanding commitments (‘RAL’) onto the 2015 budget . In this respect, they will have recourse, when appropriate, to the various flexibility mechanisms included in the MFF Regulation.
As regards the payment appropriations, they asked the Commission to initiate any necessary action , on the basis of the provisions of the draft MFF Regulation and the Financial Regulation, to cover the responsibility assigned by the Treaty and with particular reference to any expected under-implementation of appropriations to request additional payment appropriations in an amending budget if the appropriations entered in the 2014 budget are insufficient to cover expenditure.
The European Parliament and the Council should take position on any draft amending budget as quickly as possible in order to avoid any shortfall in payment appropriations . In addition, the European Parliament and the Council should undertake to process swiftly any possible transfer of payment appropriations, including across financial framework headings, in order to make the best possible use of payment appropriations entered in the budget and align them to actual execution and needs.
The European Parliament, the Council and the Commission will, throughout the year, actively monitor the state of implementation of the 2014 budget, in particular under sub-heading 1b (Economic, social and territorial cohesion) and rural development under heading 2 (Sustainable Growth: Natural Resources). This will take the form of dedicated inter-institutional meetings to take stock of payment implementation and revised forecasts.
- Decentralised agencies : the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission recalled the importance to progressively reduce the staffing levels of all EU institutions , bodies and agencies by 5% over five years.
They also agreed on the need for a closer and more permanent scrutiny on the development of decentralised agencies to ensure a coherent approach. They agreed to establish a specific inter-institutional working group with the aim of defining a clear development path for agencies, based on objective criteria.
- Heading 5 and salary adjustments : they agreed that the appropriations related to the proposed salary adjustments of 1.7% for 2011 and 1.7% for 2012 will not be included at this stage in the 2014 budget.
- EU Special Representatives : the Parliament and the Council agreed to examine the transfer of appropriations for the European Union Special Representatives from the Commission's budget (Section III) to the budget of the European External Action Service (Section X) in the context of the 2015 budgetary procedure.
The Agreement also includes draft amending budget No. 9 for 2013 , which would mobilise the EU Solidarity Fund to provide financial assistance of EUR 400.5 million to repair damages caused in 2013 by floods in Germany (360.5 million), Austria (21.7 million) and the Czech Republic (15.9 million) and drought in Romania (2.5 million).
Members called on the Parliament to approve the joint text agreed by the Conciliation Committee and to confirm the joint statements by the Parliament, the Council and the Commission included in the joint conclusions agreed by the Conciliation Committee.
The European Parliament adopted by 480 votes by 119, with 86 abstentions, a resolution on the Council position on the draft general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2014.
Section III – Commission : Parliament recalled that the priorities for the 2014 budget are economic and sustainable growth, competitiveness, the creation of employment and the fight against youth unemployment as well as the EU's role in the world. It insisted that the Commission and the Member States should make every effort to ensure that the EU budget is spent in an efficient way and that anything financed with it should have a clear European added value. Recalling its determination to ensure a sufficient and realistic level of commitment and payment appropriations to allow the programmes to kick-off with sufficient funds in the multiannual financial framework (MFF) for the period 2014 - 2020 and to avoid delays in their implementation, Parliament therefore deplored the Council's decision to proceed again this year with the usual approach of horizontal cuts to the draft budget , aimed at artificially reducing the level of the Union's resources for 2014 by an overall total of EUR 240 million (-0.2%) in commitment appropriations and EUR 1 061 million (-0.8%) in payment appropriations as compared to the draft budget, thus leading to a significant decrease compared to the 2013 budget (including amending budgets Nos 1 to 5) both in commitments (-6%) and in payments (-6.6%).
Parliament was surprised that in its position the Council has not only not taken into account the agreement on the MFF, regarding the frontloading of the Erasmus+ COSME and Horizon 2020 programmes but has further decreased the appropriations for some of those programmes.
Members deeply regretted that the Council has introduced cuts in both commitment appropriations and payment appropriations in all headings:
Heading 1a : -0.36% in commitment appropriations and -3.6% in payment appropriations; Heading 4: -0.21% in commitment appropriations and -2.5% in payment appropriations; and Heading 5: -1.78% in commitment appropriations and payment appropriations.
In Parliament’s opinion, those cuts are in direct contradiction with the political agreement on the MFF on frontloading and also disregard Parliament's priorities, as outlined in its resolution on the general guidelines for the preparation of the 2014 budget and the recommendations on the mandate for the trilogue on the 2014 budget .
Nor did it accept the Council's argument that the proposed cuts correspond to under-implemented or low-performing programmes, since its cuts in commitments affect mostly the implementation capacity of a new generation of programmes which have not yet started or do not take into account the multiannual nature of the Union’s policies.
Parliament also deplored the arbitrary to the administrative and support lines considering these cuts to be detrimental to the successful start of the new programmes. Members called on Parliament to restore therefore, the draft budget on all lines of administrative and support expenditure cut.
They also called for a reversal of the trend of the last years, where the outstanding payments at the end of the year have grown exponentially . They therefore called on the Council to agree to a joint political commitment to use all means available under the MFF Regulation for the period 2014-2020 including recourse to the contingency margin and/or revision of the payment ceiling.
Against the linear reduction of appropriations: Parliament indicated it could not accept Council's decision to reduce commitment and payment appropriations because commitments reflect Union political priorities and should be set with a long-term perspective, taking into account a time when the economic downturn might have ended. It took the view, therefore, that as a general principle, commitments should be restored at draft budget level . It suggested an increase in commitment appropriations slightly above the draft budget on a selected number of budget lines relating to the programmes of direct benefit for European citizens , and contributing to the delivery of the Europe 2020 priorities - which are crucial for the growth and competitiveness of the Union - as well as those projecting European values and solidarity abroad.
The 2014 budget in figures: Parliament s ets the overall level of appropriations for 2014 at:
EUR 142 625 million in commitments and EUR 136 077 million in payments.
Members called for the mobilisation of the Flexibility Instrument for an amount of EUR 274.2 million in commitment appropriations to reinforce the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived, pending the final agreement of the legislative authority on the legal basis. In Heading 4 the Flexibility Instrument should provide additional assistance to Cyprus and further support for humanitarian aid in the Middle East.
Revenue: they called for a more realistic budgeting of the expected revenue from fines imposed by the Commission on companies in breach of Union competition law and for further discussion on the budgeting of the surplus in the budget in order to avoid a complex procedure, incomprehensible to the outside world , which currently consists of returning it to Member States via a reduction of their respective GNI-contribution.
Payment appropriations: once again, Parliament deplored the cuts in payments brought by the Council, which result in a decrease of EUR 9.5 billion (9 500 million) (-6.6%) in payment appropriations as compared to the adopted budget for 2013 (including amending budgets Nos 1 to 5). It reiterated the absolute need to keep honouring past commitments , the Council kept blindly following its past strategy to artificially cut the level of payments. Particularly this year - the Council's position to leave an artificial margin of EUR 1 billion under the 2014 payments ceiling serves no purpose , especially given the magnitude of the expected carry-over of outstanding payments at the end of 2013.
The Council position does not take account of the dramatic shortage of payments, notably in the field of cohesion policy. Parliament therefore strongly rejected, therefore, the Council’s approach to payments and reinstated the draft budget as regards payments for the majority of the headings cut by the Council.
Parliament welcomed the adoption by the Commission of draft amending budget No 8/2013 (second tranche of draft amending budget No 2/2013), which provided for an additional EUR 3.9 billion for outstanding payments from 2013 and which is one of the conditions to put the MFF Regulation to the vote.
In regard to each of the budget headings, Parliament made the following remarks:
Heading 1: Parliament reaffirmed their support in favour of EU programmes in the field of research, competitiveness, entrepreneurship, innovation and social inclusion, which are at the heart of the Europe 2020 strategy and reinstated all lines cut by the Council in order not to further weaken this heading. In an amendment adopted in plenary, Parliament took the decision to frontload appropriations for a selected number of lines in certain priority areas, such as Horizon 2020, COSME and Erasmus+, which does not represent an increase as the overall amount for those programmes in the MFF for the period 2014-2020 is not modified, and to increase the digital agenda, transport policy, social dialogue, EURES, Progress Microfinance and Social entrepreneurship, special annual events and the quality of European statistics. It also took on board in its reading the political agreement on the MFF as regards the frontloading for 2014 of Horizon 2020 by EUR 212.2 million, COSME by EUR 31.7 million and Erasmus+ by EUR 137.5 million. However, they made certain targeted budget cuts such as the communication on Economic and Monetary Union. Heading 1b: in this heading too, the Council had further decreased the level of payments by -0.4 % compared to the draft budget. Members recalled that Heading 1b bears the biggest part of the current outstanding commitments and that the amount of outstanding bills at the end of 2013 will amount to approximately EUR 20 billion within cohesion policy, creating a large deficit. Parliament therefore rejected the cuts introduced by the Council on Heading 1b because they would lead to a much more serious shortage in payments than already expected. It restored the draft budget in commitments and payments for all budget lines cut by the Council under this heading and proposed additional amounts from the Structural Funds for Cyprus, for a total amount of EUR 100 million.
They also decided to reinforce the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived, by allocating a total commitment appropriation of EUR 500 million to the actions promoting social cohesion and alleviating the worst forms of poverty in the Union. Moreover, they approved the creation of new dedicated budget lines for technical assistance for the five Structural Funds.
Heading 2: noting that although Heading 2 was least affected by the Council's cuts, Members nevertheless restored the draft budget on all lines cut by the Council and increases commitment appropriations for the School Fruit Scheme by EUR 28 million. Heading 3: noting the cuts to this heading already proposed by the Commission and by the Council for this heading, Members adopted the general approach of restoring the draft budget on all lines to ensure the proper implementation of programmes and actions under this heading. They stressed that solidarity between Member States in the field of asylum and migration should be reinforced and that the EU budget should demonstrate a clear commitment in that direction. Heading 4: here again, Parliament deplored the Council's cuts to Heading 4 (-0.21 % in commitment appropriations and -2.5 % in payment appropriations), which was already one of the most heavily affected by the decrease in the draft budget (-12.5 % in commitment appropriations and – 8.2 % in payment appropriations) as compared to the 2013 levels. It considered the cuts by Council to Parliament's priority lines unacceptable and proposed to restore the draft budget on the lines decreased by the Council and to even exceed the Commission’s draft budget in commitment appropriations for some lines of strategic importance for the EU's external relations to a total of EUR 233 million (Humanitarian Aid, European Neighbourhood Instrument, Development Cooperation Instrument, Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance, Instrument for Stability and the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights). It disagreed with the Commission's proposal to split geographic and thematic lines into one for poverty reduction and sustainable development and one for governance issues as this new nomenclature does not distinguish objectives from means in development policy. Parliament called for the mobilisation of the Flexibility Instrument for EUR 50 million in order to finance the real needs for the Union's contribution to the Middle East peace process . It highlighted the importance of endowing UNRWA with the necessary means to enable them to provide the essential services to safeguard the safety and livelihood of refugees in the light of the instability in the region. It also called for an increase of the payment appropriations for the Emergency Aid Reserve (+ EUR 147 million) in order to avoid a repeat of the situation where the Commission is not in a position to react in a timely manner to emerging humanitarian crises. Heading 5: Parliament was surprised by the Council's cuts to Heading 5, amounting to a total of EUR -153.283 million in commitments and payments which, in their view, are unjustified. It restored, therefore, the draft budget on all lines of administrative and support expenditure and on all lines in Heading 5 cut by the Council, except for the line "Remuneration and allowances" in Section III, which is decreased by EUR -1,2 million to cover European Chemical Agency's contribution to the financing of Type II European Schools.
Agencies: Parliament rejected the Commission's approach to staff, according to which the agencies' establishment plans are not only to be reduced by 1 % on the basis of the political agreement on the MFF, which applies to all institutions and bodies, but are also to contribute another 1% to a "redeployment pool". It therefore modified the establishment plans of most agencies in such a way as to implement the agreed 1 % reduction but did not do so, however, for agencies which in their initial request already applied the 1+1 % reduction.
Parliament decided to increase the appropriations for the three financial supervisory agencies, as well as for, among others, FRONTEX and EUROPOL.
Other sections : generally speaking, Parliament believed that the budget of each Union institution, due to its specific mission and situation, should be treated individually , without one-size-fits-all solutions. It called for the budgets for Parliament and the Council to be maintained and are concerned by the Council's cuts, in the 2014 draft budget, of staff salary adjustments of 1.7 % for 2011 and 2012 in those institutions. It requested an amending budget to cover the backlog and the respective salary adjustments, should the Court of Justice rule in favour of the salary adaptation prescribed by the Staff Regulations.
As far as the European Parliament’s budget is concerned, Parliament, once again, called for a roadmap to a single seat .
It pointed out that the overall level of its 2014 budget is EUR 1 783 976 098, which represents a net reduction of EUR 29 168 108 compared to the preliminary draft estimates of 26 February 2013.
It approved the following adjustments to the estimates:
incorporation of the impact of the adoption of the new Staff Regulations and the related changes to the establishment plan; the taking into account the savings stemming from the replacement in Luxembourg of the PRES building by the GEOS building; reduction in the appropriations for the House of European History due to the contribution of the Commission.
Other technical amendments were approved for the other EU institutions.
PURPOSE: presentation of an Amending Letter No 2 (AL 2) to the Draft Budget for 2014.
CONTENT: the AL 2 to the Draft Budget for 2014 covers the following:
the revision of the forecast of Traditional Own Resources (TOR, i.e. customs duties and sugar sector levies) to be received in 2014, to take account of the trend observed in TOR received to date in 2013; the line by line updating of the estimated needs for agricultural expenditure. In addition to changing market factors, the AL 2/2014 also incorporates the impact of decisions in the agricultural sector since the DB 2014 was drawn up, revised estimates of needs for some direct payments, as well as any proposals, which are expected to have a significant effect during the coming budget year; an update of the situation for International Fisheries Agreements ; the consequences, in terms of human and financial resources, of the foreseen delegation of the management of operational programmes under the new multiannual financial framework (MFF) to executive agencies: the 2014 Draft Budget was based on a ‘steady state’ approach, whereby the staffing and subsidy levels of each executive agency was kept constant at the 2013 level, awaiting the results of the cost-benefit analysis and the subsequent review of the results of this analysis as part of the Commission’s proposals for the delegation of spending programmes. The adjustments made in this Amending Letter take account of the resources implications of the foreseen delegation of the 2014-2020 programmes, both on the side of the executive agencies and on the side of the Commission; the integration of the new function group AST/SC in the establishment plans of the EU institutions and bodies.
Budgetary impact of these changes : the net budgetary impact of these changes is a reduction of EUR 4.9 million compared to the Draft Budget 2014 (including AL 1/2014), in commitment and payment appropriations.
N.B. : by means of this Amending Letter the Commission draws the attention of the European Parliament and the Council to some necessary measures in case of a delay in the adoption of certain new legal bases under the 2014-2020 multiannual financial framework (MFF), and the proposed remedial action that might be required before the new legal bases enter into force.
The political agreement on the new MFF was reached in June 2013 and work concerning the legal bases of certain 2014-2020 programmes is still ongoing. In case some of these programmes would not be adopted before the end of 2013, this would create a legal vacuum , in particular for the ongoing programmes which expire at the end of 2013 and which will be consolidated in new programmes and instruments.
In order to ensure the continuity of implementation of the ongoing programmes (which are already approved), and given the underlying political agreement reached in the MFF negotiations on the new programmes and the related financial envelopes, the Commission intends to continue to make use of the appropriations for technical assistance and administrative support expenditure necessary for the proper implementation of programmes , also in the event of a transitional phase before the final adoption of the new legal bases.
The Committee on Budgets adopted the joint report by Anne E. JENSEN (ALDE, DK) (section III – Commission) and Monika HOHLMEIER (EPP, DE) (other sections) on the Council position on the draft general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2014 – all sections.
Section III – Commission : Members recalled that the priorities for the 2014 budget are economic and sustainable growth, competitiveness, the creation of employment and the fight against youth unemployment as well as the EU's role in the world. They insisted that the Commission and the Member States should make every effort to ensure that the EU budget is spent in an efficient way and that anything financed with it should have a clear European added value. Recalling their determination to ensure a sufficient and realistic level of commitment and payment appropriations to allow the programmes to kick-off with sufficient funds in the multiannual financial framework (MFF) for the period 2014 - 2020 and to avoid delays in their implementation, Members therefore deplored the Council's decision to proceed again this year with the usual approach of horizontal cuts to the draft budget , aimed at artificially reducing the level of the Union's resources for 2014 by an overall total of EUR 240 million (-0,2%) in commitment appropriations and EUR 1 061 million (-0,8%) in payment appropriations as compared to the draft budget, thus leading to a significant decrease compared to the 2013 budget (including amending budgets Nos 1 to 5) both in commitments (-6%) and in payments (-6,6%).
Members were surprised that in its position the Council has not only not taken into account the agreement on the MFF, regarding the frontloading of the Erasmus+ COSME and Horizon 2020 programmes but has further decreased the appropriations for some of those programmes.
Members deeply regretted that the Council has introduced cuts in both commitment appropriations and payment appropriations in all headings:
Heading 1a : -0.36% in commitment appropriations and -3.6% in payment appropriations; Heading 4: -0.21% in commitment appropriations and -2.5% in payment appropriations; and Heading 5: -1.78% in commitment appropriations and payment appropriations.
In Members’ opinion, those cuts are in direct contradiction with the political agreement on the MFF on frontloading and also disregard Parliament's priorities, as outlined in its resolution on the general guidelines for the preparation of the 2014 budget and the recommendations on the mandate for the trilogue on the 2014 budget .
Nor did they accept the Council's argument that the proposed cuts correspond to under-implemented or low-performing programmes, since its cuts in commitments affect mostly the implementation capacity of a new generation of programmes which have not yet started or do not take into account the multiannual nature of the Union’s policies.
They also deplored the arbitrary to the administrative and support lines considering these cuts to be detrimental to the successful start of the new programmes. They called on Parliament to restore therefore, the draft budget on all lines of administrative and support expenditure cut.
Members also called for a reversal of the trend of the last years, where the outstanding payments at the end of the year have grown exponentially . They therefore called on the Council to agree to a joint political commitment to use all means available under the MFF Regulation for the period 2014-2020 including recourse to the contingency margin and/or revision of the payment ceiling.
Against the linear reduction of appropriations: Members indicated they could not accept Council's decision to reduce commitment and payment appropriations because commitments reflect Union political priorities and should be set with a long-term perspective, taking into account a time when the economic downturn might have ended. They took the view, therefore, that as a general principle, commitments should be restored at draft budget level . They suggested an increase in commitment appropriations slightly above the draft budget on a selected number of budget lines relating to the programmes of direct benefit for European citizens , and contributing to the delivery of the Europe 2020 priorities - which are crucial for the growth and competitiveness of the Union - as well as those projecting European values and solidarity abroad.
The 2014 budget in figures: Members call on Parliament to set the overall level of appropriations for 2014 at:
EUR 142 625 million in commitments and EUR 136 077 million in payments.
They, therefore, called for the mobilisation of the Flexibility Instrument for an amount of EUR 274.2 million in commitment appropriations to reinforce the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived, pending the final agreement of the legislative authority on the legal basis. In Heading 4 the Flexibility Instrument should provide additional assistance to Cyprus and further support for humanitarian aid in the Middle East.
Revenue: Members called for a more realistic budgeting of the expected revenue from fines imposed by the Commission on companies in breach of Union competition law and for further discussion on the budgeting of the surplus in the budget in order to avoid a complex procedure, incomprehensible to the outside world , which currently consists of returning it to Member States via a reduction of their respective GNI-contribution.
Payment appropriations: once again, Members deplored the cuts in payments brought by the Council, which result in a decrease of EUR 9.5 billion (9 500 million) (-6.6%) in payment appropriations as compared to the adopted budget for 2013 (including amending budgets Nos 1 to 5). They reiterated that, despite the adoption of a lower MFF for the period 2014-2020 and the absolute need to keep honouring past commitments, the Council kept blindly following its past strategy to artificially cut the level of payments. Particularly this year - the Council's position to leave an artificial margin of EUR 1 billion under the 2014 payments ceiling serves no purpose , especially given the magnitude of the expected carry-over of outstanding payments at the end of 2013.
The Council position does not take account of the dramatic shortage of payments, notably in the field of cohesion policy. Members therefore strongly rejected, therefore, the Council’s approach to payments and reinstated the draft budget as regards payments for the majority of the headings cut by the Council.
Members welcomed the adoption by the Commission of draft amending budget No 8/2013 (second tranche of draft amending budget No 2/2013), which provided for an additional EUR 3.9 billion for outstanding payments from 2013 and which is one of the conditions to put the MFF Regulation to the vote.
In regard to each of the budget headings, Members had the following remarks:
Heading 1: Members reaffirmed their support in favour of EU programmes in the field of research, competitiveness, entrepreneurship, innovation and social inclusion, which are at the heart of the Europe 2020 strategy and reinstated all lines cut by the Council in order not to further weaken this heading. They also increased a selected number of lines in certain priority areas, such as Horizon 2020, Erasmus+, the digital agenda, transport policy, social dialogue, EURES and Progress Microfinance and Social entrepreneurship, special annual events and the quality of European statistics. They also took on board in its reading the political agreement on the MFF as regards the frontloading for 2014 of Horizon 2020 by EUR 212.2 million, COSME by EUR 31.7 million and Erasmus+ by EUR 137.5 million. However, they made certain targeted budget cuts such as the communication on Economic and Monetary Union. Heading 1b: in this heading too, the Council had further decreased the level of payments by -0.4 % compared to the draft budget. Members recalled that Heading 1b bears the biggest part of the current outstanding commitments and that the amount of outstanding bills at the end of 2013 will amount to approximately EUR 20 billion within cohesion policy, creating a large deficit. They therefore rejected the cuts introduced by the Council on Heading 1b because they would lead to a much more serious shortage in payments than already expected. They restored the draft budget in commitments and payments for all budget lines cut by the Council under this heading and proposed additional amounts from the Structural Funds for Cyprus, for a total amount of EUR 100 million.
They also decided to reinforce the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived, by allocating a total commitment appropriation of EUR 500 million to the actions promoting social cohesion and alleviating the worst forms of poverty in the Union. Moreover, they approved the creation of new dedicated budget lines for technical assistance for the five Structural Funds.
Heading 2: noting that although Heading 2 was least affected by the Council's cuts, Members nevertheless restored the draft budget on all lines cut by the Council and increases commitment appropriations for the School Fruit Scheme by EUR 28 million. Heading 3: noting the cuts to this heading already proposed by the Commission and by the Council for this heading, Members adopted the general approach of restoring the draft budget on all lines to ensure the proper implementation of programmes and actions under this heading. They stressed that solidarity between Member States in the field of asylum and migration should be reinforced and that the EU budget should demonstrate a clear commitment in that direction. Heading 4: here again, Members deplored the Council's cuts to Heading 4 (-0.21 % in commitment appropriations and -2.5 % in payment appropriations), which was already one of the most heavily affected by the decrease in the draft budget (-12.5 % in commitment appropriations and – 8.2 % in payment appropriations) as compared to the 2013 levels. They considered the cuts by Council to Parliament's priority lines unacceptable and proposed to restore the draft budget on the lines decreased by the Council and to even exceed the Commission’s draft budget in commitment appropriations for some lines of strategic importance for the EU's external relations to a total of EUR 233 million (Humanitarian Aid, European Neighbourhood Instrument, Development Cooperation Instrument, Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance, Instrument for Stability and the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights). They disagreed with the Commission's proposal to split geographic and thematic lines into one for poverty reduction and sustainable development and one for governance issues as this new nomenclature does not distinguish objectives from means in development policy.
Members called for the mobilisation of the Flexibility Instrument for EUR 50 million in order to finance the real needs for the Union's contribution to the Middle East peace process . They suggested putting the EUR 50 million of additional appropriations in reserve pending an assessment from the Commission of the sound management of the aid by the Palestinian authorities. They also called for an increase of the payment appropriations for the Emergency Aid Reserve (+ EUR 147 million) in order to avoid a repeat of the situation where the Commission is not in a position to react in a timely manner to emerging humanitarian crises.
Heading 5: Members were surprised by the Council's cuts to Heading 5, amounting to a total of EUR -153.283 million in commitments and payments which, in their view, are unjustified. Members restored, therefore, the draft budget on all lines of administrative and support expenditure and on all lines in Heading 5 cut by the Council, except for the line "Remuneration and allowances" in Section III, which is decreased by EUR -1,2 million to cover European Chemical Agency's contribution to the financing of Type II European Schools.
Agencies: Members reject the Commission's approach to staff, according to which the agencies' establishment plans are not only to be reduced by 1 % on the basis of the political agreement on the MFF, which applies to all institutions and bodies, but are also to contribute another 1% to a "redeployment pool". They therefore modified the establishment plans of most agencies in such a way as to implement the agreed 1 % reduction but did not do so, however, for agencies which in their initial request already applied the 1+1 % reduction.
Members decided to increase the appropriations for the three financial supervisory agencies, as well as for, among others, FRONTEX and EUROPOL.
Other sections : generally speaking, Members believed that the budget of each Union institution, due to its specific mission and situation, should be treated individually , without one-size-fits-all solutions. They called for the budgets for Parliament and the Council to be maintained and are concerned by the Council's cuts, in the 2014 draft budget, of staff salary adjustments of 1.7 % for 2011 and 2012 in those institutions. They requested an amending budget to cover the backlog and the respective salary adjustments, should the Court of Justice rule in favour of the salary adaptation prescribed by the Staff Regulations.
As far as the European Parliament’s budget is concerned, Members, once again, called for a roadmap to a single seat .
They welcomed the agreement reached during the conciliation meeting of 24 September 2013 between the Bureau and the Committee on Budgets and pointed out that the overall level of its 2014 budget is EUR 1 783 976 098, which represents a net reduction of EUR 29 168 108 compared to the preliminary draft estimates of 26 February 2013.
Members approved the following adjustments to the estimates:
incorporation of the impact of the adoption of the new Staff Regulations and the related changes to the establishment plan; the taking into account the savings stemming from the replacement in Luxembourg of the PRES building by the GEOS building; reduction in the appropriations for the House of European History due to the contribution of the Commission.
Other technical amendments were approved for the other EU institutions.
PURPOSE: presentation of Amending Letter No 1 to the draft General Budget 2014.
CONTENT: this amending letter to the 2014 general budget concerns:
t he frontloading of commitment appropriations for the ‘Framework Programme for Research and Innovation’ (Horizon 2020), ‘Education, Training, Youth and Sport’ (Erasmus), ‘Competitiveness of enterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises’ (COSME), over and above the frontloading of the ‘Youth Employment Initiative’ (YEI) already proposed in the DB 2014, as a result of the political agreement reached at the end of June 2013 on the 2014-2020 multiannual financial framework (MFF) ; the additional assistance to Cyprus under the Structural Funds, for which an amount of EUR 100 million is proposed to be financed from the margin of heading 1b (EUR 21.6 million) and by the mobilisation of the Flexibility Instrument (EUR 78.4 million); the consequences, in terms of human and financial resources, of the proposed new generation of Joint Technology Initiatives (JTIs) ; the creation of budget lines with a ‘p.m.’ in order to allow part of the technical assistance national envelope of the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESI) Funds to be managed by the Commission at the request of Member States under temporary budget difficulties.
The net budgetary impact of these changes is an increase in commitment appropriations of EUR 100 million compared to the Draft Budget 2014. The Amending Letter does not propose any change to payment appropriations .
Details of the budgetary amendments:
Frontloading of commitment appropriations: in line with the political agreement reached on the 2014-2020 MFF, up to EUR 2 543 million (in 2011 prices) may be frontloaded in 2014 and 2015, as part of the annual budgetary procedure, for specific policy objectives relating to youth employment, research, Erasmus, in particular for apprenticeships, and SMEs.
In particular, the agreement envisages:
EUR 2 143 million for Youth Employment, EUR 200 million for Horizon 2020, EUR 150 million for Erasmus and EUR 50 million for COSME)
EUR 2 143 million for Youth Employment, EUR 200 million for Horizon 2020, EUR 150 million for Erasmus and EUR 50 million for COSME)
are fully offset against appropriations within and/or between headings in order to leave unchanged the total annual ceilings of each heading and sub-heading over the period 2014-2020.
The Amending Letter No 1 to the 2014 Draft Budget takes account of the political agreement reached on the new MFF by adjusting the 2014 financial envelopes of the corresponding programmes under heading 1a (Competitiveness for growth and jobs) and heading 1b (Economic, social and territorial cohesion) accordingly. No changes are proposed as regards the frontloading for the ‘Youth Employment Initiative’ (YEI) which was already included in the DB 2014. However, the frontloading of programmes under heading 1a impacts on the amounts frontloaded under heading 1b.
Assistance to Cyprus: during its meeting held on 27-28 June 2013, the European Council concluded that additional assistance should be granted to Cyprus. The June European Council invited the European Parliament and the Council to examine the opportunities provided by the flexibilities in the MFF, including the Flexibility Instrument, to address the particularly difficult situation of Cyprus. The Commission proposes to grant an additional allocation from the Structural Funds to Cyprus over two years (spread in two equal tranches in 2014 and 2015) for a total amount of EUR 200 million in current prices. It proposes to reinforce commitment appropriations by EUR 100 million (in current prices) on top of the 2014 Draft Budget. As this additional amount exceeds the margin under the expenditure ceiling of heading 1b, the Commission proposes simultaneously to mobilise the Flexibility Instrument for 2014 for a total amount of EUR 78.4 million in heading 1b , after having used the remaining available margin under the ceiling. Impact on human and financial resources: as far as the JTIs are concerned, it is proposed to fund the operational and support expenditure for each of the JTIs and SESAR in 2014 (in commitment and payment appropriations) by redeployment from the major operational budget lines of the Horizon 2020 programmes concerned, which serve the same policy objectives. The total EU contribution to the running costs of each of the JTIs, amounting to EUR 3.5 million, will be taken from existing administrative support expenditure budget lines under Horizon 2020 programmes.
Creation of budget lines: this last point has no effect from a budgetary point of view.
The Council adopted its position on the draft budget for the financial year 2014.
Following Council’s deliberations, the main features of this position are as follows:
Commitment appropriations (c/a): EUR 142 226.93 million Payment appropriations (p/a) : EUR 135 004.61 million
Under the Council's position on the DB for 2014, commitment appropriations decrease by -6.15 % compared to the 2013 budget and payment appropriations increase by +1.35 %.
The total amount of payment appropriations provided for in the Council's position on the DB for 2014 corresponds to 1.00 % of the EU gross national income (GNI) .
A. General points: when adopting its position, the Council took into account a number of guidelines contained in its February 2013 conclusions and which may be summarised as follows:
to follow an approach leading to a budget complying with budgetary discipline and sound financial management, as well as taking duly into account the ongoing economic and budgetary constraints in Member States; to provide adequate funding for the European Union's various priorities, determining appropriations on the basis of past and current budget implementation and realistic absorption capacities ; to foresee the necessary appropriations enabling the fully-fledged start of the new programmes in the first year of the multiannual financial framework 2014-2020; to leave adequate margins under the ceilings of the headings and subheadings of the multiannual financial framework, with the exception of subheading 1b, in order to be able to cope with unforeseen situations; to keep payment appropriations firmly under control under all headings and sub-headings of the multiannual financial framework, adjusting the amounts on the basis of an analysis of past and current budget implementation and realistic absorption capacities; to limit the increase requested by the institutions for administrative expenditure in 2014 and to reduce their number of staff in line with the -5% target over the period 2013-2017 set in the European Council conclusions of 7/8 February 2013, while taking into account the salary adjustment of 2011 and 2012 (European Parliament excepted, in accordance with the "gentlemen's agreement").
Statement on payment appropriations: in addition to the guidelines described above, the Council also approved a statement on payment appropriations calling on the Commission to submit as early as possible the letter of amendment for agriculture (including information about the possible carry-over of assigned revenue),and a letter of amendment for sub-heading 1b in order to appropriately calibrate the level of resources in heading 2 in the 2014 budget.
Furthermore, the Council asked the Commission to submit a draft amending budget if the payment appropriations entered in the 2014 budget are insufficient to cover expenditure under:
sub-heading 1a (Competitiveness for growth and jobs), sub-heading 1b (Economic, social and territorial cohesion), heading 2 and heading 4 (Global Europe) of the multiannual financial framework.
It urged the Commission to present as early as possible updated figures concerning the state of affairs and estimates regarding payment appropriations under sub-heading 1b and, if necessary, to present a draft amending budget for this sole purpose. The Council would then take position on the draft amending budget as quickly as possible in order to avoid any shortfall in payment appropriations .
B. Expenditure by main budget headings: as to expenditure under the different headings and sub-headings of the multiannual financial framework, the Council's position is the following:
Heading 1: “Smart and inclusive growth » (EUR 63.762 billion in commitment appropriations):
1a: expenditure on competitiveness for growth and jobs : the amount for this heading was set at EUR 16.204 billion in commitment appropriations, an increase of 2.89% compared with the 2013 budget.
Characteristics in regard to subheading 1a include:
to establish the level of commitment appropriations , targeting a total reduction by -EUR 60 million in the appropriations requested in the draft budget for 2014 on a number of specific budget lines related, besides agencies, to administrative support expenditure under this sub-heading; to set the level of payment appropriations, reducing the appropriations requested in the draft budget for 2014 by a total amount of -EUR 426.5 million , of which -EUR 154 million in large infrastructure projects, -EUR 120.7 million in the Common Strategic Framework for Research and Innovation, -EUR 86.9 million in the Connecting Europe Facility, and -EUR 61.3 million in other programmes; these amounts also take into account reductions in contributions to decentralised agencies by a total amount of -EUR 3.3 million in commitment and payment appropriations under this sub-heading.
The margin available under sub-heading 1a would be EUR 185.8 million.
1b: economic, social and territorial cohesion expenditure: the Council has foreseen an amount of EUR 47.557 billion in commitment appropriations (a fall of 13.5% compared with the 2013 budget). The other main characteristics of this subheading are:
to establish the level of commitment appropriations , targeting a total reduction by -EUR 3.3 million in the appropriations requested in the draft budget for 2014 on a number of specific budget lines related to administrative support expenditure under this sub-heading; to set the level of payment appropriations, reducing the appropriations requested in the draft budget for 2014 by a total amount of -EUR 202.3 million, in particular in the field of Investment for growth and jobs (-EUR 114 million) and in European territorial cooperation (-EUR 85 million).
The margin available under sub-heading 1b would be EUR 25.7 million.
Heading 2: Sustainable growth: natural resources: the amount for this heading was fixed at EUR 59.246 billion in commitment appropriations, a total reduction of 1.07% compared with the 2013 budget.
Expenditure on the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) and market-related expenditure and direct payments are set at EUR 43.778 billion (in commitments) by the Council, an increase of 0.28% compared with 2013.
The characteristics of this budget heading are the following:
to establish the level of commitment appropriations , targeting a total reduction by -EUR 1.6 million in the appropriations requested in the draft budget for 2014 notably in administrative support expenditure for Maritime affairs and fisheries (-EUR 1 million); to set the level of payment appropriations, reducing the appropriations requested in the draft budget for 2014 by a total amount of -EUR 112.6 million , of which -EUR 54.3 million in the field of Rural development, -EUR 46 million in the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund, -EUR 1 million in Regional Fisheries Management Organisations and Sustainable Fisheries Agreements, and -EUR 10.7 million in Environment and climate action, on the basis of past, current or expected budget implementation. These amounts - estimated on the basis of information currently available - may be reviewed in the light of the letter of amendment expected in the autumn; these amounts also take into account reductions in contributions to decentralised agencies by a total amount of -EUR 0.59 million in commitment and payment appropriations under this heading.
The margin available under heading 2 would be EUR 56.9 million.
Heading 3: security and citizenship: the amount for this heading was set at EUR 2.134 billion in commitment appropriations and has been reduced by 9.63% compared with the 2013 budget. The characteristics of this budget heading are the following:
to establish the level of commitment appropriations, targeting a total reduction by -EUR 5.2 million in the appropriations requested in the draft budget for 2014 on a number of specific budget lines related, besides agencies, to administrative support expenditure under this heading; to set the level of payment appropriations, reducing the appropriations requested in the draft budget for 2014 by a total amount of -EUR 10 million on a number of budget lines on the basis of past and current budget implementation; these amounts also take into account reductions in contributions to decentralised agencies by a total amount of -EUR 4.5 million in commitment and payment appropriations under this heading.
The margin available under heading 3 would be EUR 44.8 million.
Heading 4: global Europe: the Council envisages an overall amount of EUR 8.159 billion in commitment appropriations, a reduction of 12.66% compared with 2013. It has thus decided to:
establish the level of commitment appropriations , targeting a total reduction by -EUR 17.3 million in the appropriations requested in the draft budget for 2014 on a number of specific budget lines related, besides agencies, to administrative support expenditure under this heading; set the level of payment appropriations, reducing the appropriations requested in the draft budget for 2014 by a total amount of -EUR 156.6 million on the basis of past, current or expected budget implementation as well as realistic absorption capacities; these amounts also take into account reductions in the contribution to a decentralised agency by an amount of -EUR 0.23 million in commitment and payment appropriations under this heading.
The margin available under heading 4 would be EUR 176.5 million.
Heading 5: administrative expenditure: administrative expenditure is set at EUR 8.441 billion in commitment appropriations (+28% compared with 2013), EUR 6.835 billion of which are administrative expenditures for the institutions. The budget of each institution is covered by the Council’s position with the budget variations from one year to the next. It should, moreover, be noted that the Council has maintained certain reductions relating to the administrative expenditure of the European schools
Decentralised agencies: as far as the decentralised agencies are concerned, the Council has applied an approach similar to that adopted for the institutions. Therefore, in proportion to the number of staff in the agencies' establishment plans (self-financed posts excepted), a reduction corresponding to the amounts relating to the salary adjustment of 2011 and 2012 was applied in the contribution to all agencies.
PURPOSE: the presentation of the Commission’s draft general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2014.
BACKGROUND: given the very particular circumstances relating to the negotiations on the multiannual financial framework (MFF) for the 2014-2020 period, a framework within which this 2014 budget falls , this draft general budget takes account of the very advanced stage of these negotiations. It meets the Treaty timetable for the presentation of the annual budget procedure and thus launches the annual budgetary procedure.
The European Parliament and the Council are expected to conclude in a timely manner the legislative decisions on the 2014-2020 MFF and the new legal bases for the accompanying spending programmes, so that the implementation of the new programmes can start without delay. At the same time, the current programmes need to be brought progressively to a successful closure, for which an adequate level of payment appropriations is necessary , notably to meet obligations vis-à-vis the beneficiaries of EU funding.
CONTENT: the 2014 is conceived as an investment tool to deliver on smart, sustainable and inclusive growth and for providing solidarity between Member States and regions.
This budget will seek to contribute to four major strategic objectives:
enhancing the actions for Youth and SMEs , putting in place the new programmes under the 2014-2020 MFF, fulfilling the EU’s obligations (in terms of funding), and limiting administrative expenditure .
The budget in a nutshell: overall, the proposed level of expenditure reflects the expenditure ceilings under the new multiannual financial framework set by the European Council in February 2013, while the amounts for the individual programmes reflect the breakdown of the 2014-2020 MFF according to the list of programmes adjusted technically following the European Council conclusions and transmitted to the Budgetary Authority on 27 March 2013.
In terms of commitment appropriations: the total expenditure of the draft budget (DB) 2014 is EUR 142 467.6 million , corresponding to 1.06% of GNI, that is EUR -9 100.4 million less than in 2013 (-6.0%). The resulting total margin under the MFF expenditure ceilings stands at EUR 528.6 million.
The payment appropriations amount to EUR 136 065.8 million , corresponding to 1.01 % of GNI. Practically no margin (EUR 200 000) is left under the payment ceiling of the MFF which, for 2014 is EUR -8 385 million lower than the level of payment appropriations in the 2013 budget as modified by draft amending budgets (-5.8%).
The Commission’s proposal reflects the payment needs, assuming that the full amount of the additional payment appropriations requested with the DAB No 2/2013 has been approved . Of the overall amount foreseen for 2014, EUR 54 670.2 million will be used to pay non-differentiated expenditure (whereby commitments are equal to payments) such as direct aids for agriculture and administration, EUR 70 710.7 million for payments on outstanding commitments of previous years (the so-called ‘ reste à liquider’ or ‘RAL’) and EUR 10 684.8 million to implement new programmes starting in 2014.
MAIN FEATURES BY BUDGET HEADING: the presentation that follows is structured according to the new budget headings resulting from the new multiannual financial framework 2014-2020:
Heading 1: Smart and inclusive growth: this new budget heading is itself split into two sub-headings:
1a Competitiveness for growth and jobs: commitment appropriations for this sub-heading amount to EUR 16 264.2 million. This is an increase of 3.3 % compared to the 2013 budget, which is mostly due to the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) and the large infrastructure projects (‘EGNOS and Galileo’, ‘ITER’ and ‘Copernicus’) under this heading. This leaves a margin of EUR 125.8 million. Payment appropriations decrease by -9.3 % to EUR 11 694.9 million for this sub-heading which is at the heart of the “Europe 2020” strategy. The considerable added value at European level of these programmes will be fully exploited through the rationalisation and mainstreaming of activities and the implementation of more consistent and innovative instruments. The ‘common strategic framework’ (CSF) implemented through the ‘Horizon 2020’ programme will absorb more than half of the total budget appropriations under heading 1a. This sub-heading will also include the single “Erasmus for All” programme in the field of education and training, as well as the COSME programme to support the development of European SMEs; 1.b Economic, social and territorial cohesion: commitment appropriations decrease by -13.5 % to EUR 47 560.6 million, leaving a margin of EUR 22.4 million. Payment appropriations decrease by -9.3 %, to EUR 51 093.7 million. Within this heading, commitment and payment appropriations are foreseen for the Youth Employment Initiative (YEI, specific top-up allocation), amounting to EUR 1.8 billion and EUR 450 million, respectively. Heading 1b of the financial framework covers the ‘European Regional Development Fund’ (ERDF), the ‘European Social Fund’ (ESF) – including the ‘Youth Employment Initiative (YEI) specific top-up allocation’, the ‘Cohesion Fund’ (CF) and the ‘Fund for European Aid to Most Deprived’ (FEAD). The principal objective of the Structural Funds (ERDF and ESF) and the Cohesion Fund is to strengthen economic, social and territorial cohesion between regions and Member States of the EU, by concentrating resources on less developed regions and Member States. The Commission has proposed a number of important changes to the way cohesion policy is designed and implemented, namely: concentration on the priorities of the ‘Europe 2020 strategy’; focusing on results by monitoring progress towards agreed objectives and rewarding performance by holding back 7% of the funds in a so-called ‘performance reserve’ , to be allocated after a performance review in 2019. Moreover, the Commission is proposing in 2014 to allocate an amount of EUR 3.6 billion in commitment appropriations to the Youth Employment Initiative , half of which shall be funded by the ESF.
Heading 2: Sustainable growth: natural resources: commitment appropriations of EUR 59 247.7 million are proposed for heading 2. This level of funding represents a decrease of -1.1 % compared to 2013 and leaves a margin of EUR 55.3 million under the ceiling. Payment appropriations amount to EUR 56 532.5 million, with a decrease of -2.3 % compared to 2013. Expenditure for market related expenditure and direct aids reaches EUR 43 778.1 million in commitment appropriations, and EUR 43 777 million in payment appropriations. No margin under the sub-ceiling for market measures and direct aids is left, as the Commission requested the activation of the financial discipline mechanism.
Measures under the ‘European Agricultural Guarantee Fund’ (EAGF) will be focused in particular on further improving the situation of primary producers in the food chain, bringing EU commodity prices closer to world prices and increasing the percentage of total direct payments which is decoupled from production to some 94 % as from budget year 2014.
Under the second pillar of the CAP, the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) will continue to be targeted at making a vital contribution to the economic, social and environmental well-being of rural areas, and the sustainability of the rural environment.
N.B. this heading also covers finance for the environment and climate action programme (LIFE+), with an amount of EUR 446.3 million proposed in commitment appropriations for 2014.
Heading 3: Security and citizenship: this heading sees a decrease in commitment appropriations of -9.4 % to EUR 2 139.5 million, leaving a margin of EUR 39.5 million. Payment appropriations decrease by -11.9 % to EUR 1 668 million.
Heading 3 groups various policies whose common objective is to strengthen the concept of ‘European citizenship’ by creating an area of freedom, justice, security and improving access to basic public goods and services. Under this heading may be found the new funds relating to asylum and migration, the “Justice”, “Rights and Citizenship”, “Europe for Citizens” and “Creative Europe” programmes, as well as other programmes relating to health and consumers. Priority will be given to a continued delivery on the basis of existing mechanisms, while, at the same time, integrating the necessary adjustments entailed by the new programmes.
Heading 4: Global Europe: this heading sees a decrease in commitment appropriations of -12.5 % to EUR 8 175.8 million, leaving an unallocated margin of EUR 159.2 million available under the ceiling. Payment appropriations decrease by -8.2 % to EUR 6 251.3 million.
Under this heading are the main geographic and thematic instruments, notably as regards the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA II), the European Neighbourhood Instrument (ENI), the Development Cooperation Instrument (DCI), the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR), the Instrument for Stability (IfS) and the Instrument for Nuclear Safety Cooperation (INSC).
In addition to the revised financial instruments, the Commission has proposed the creation of a new instrument – the Partnership Instrument (PI) – to complement the current array of instruments. The Partnership Instrument is the successor of the financial instrument for cooperation with industrialised and other high income countries (ICI/ICI+). Its overarching objective is to advance and promote EU and mutual interests.
Heading 4 also covers expenditures relating to humanitarian aid and the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP).
Heading 5: Administration (expenditure of the European institutions and staff): commitment and payment appropriations for administration for all institutions combined increase by 2.1 % (of which + 1.3 % for the administrative expenditure of the institutions), with commitments set at EUR 8 595.1 million and payments at EUR 8 596.7 million. This increase includes additional administrative expenditure related to Croatia’s accession , amounting to EUR 54 million for all institutions.
As regards heading 5, the new MFF introduces a sub-ceiling for administrative expenditure of the institutions (excluding pensions and European schools). The requested expenditure for the institutions leaves a margin of EUR 119.7 million under such a sub-ceiling. Taking into account the estimated expenditure for pensions, the global margin under the ceiling of heading 5 amounts to EUR 125.9 million.
The Commission’s document presents the budgetary amounts for all the Union’s institutions (including European Parliament, the Council, the European Council…).
Heading 6: Compensations: lastly, both commitments and payments for heading 6 are set at EUR 28.6 million, which is a decrease of -61.9 % compared to 2013, in accordance with the Treaty concerning the Accession of Croatia.
Documents
- Final act published in Official Journal: OJ L 051 20.02.2014, p. 0001
- Final act published in Official Journal: OJ L 111 15.04.2014, p. 0096
- Final act published in Official Journal: OJ L 124 25.04.2014, p. 0030
- Final act published in Official Journal: Corrigendum to final act 32014B0067R(03)
- Final act published in Official Journal: OJ L 322 07.11.2014, p. 0001
- Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading: T7-0472/2013
- Debate in Parliament: Debate in Parliament
- Budgetary conciliation report tabled for plenary: A7-0387/2013
- Budgetary joint text: 16106/2013
- Budgetary joint text published: 16106/2013
- Results of vote in Parliament: Results of vote in Parliament
- Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading: T7-0437/2013
- Debate in Parliament: Debate in Parliament
- Document attached to the procedure: EUR-Lex
- Document attached to the procedure: COM(2013)0719
- Budgetary report tabled for plenary, 1st reading: A7-0328/2013
- Committee opinion: PE516.695
- Committee draft report: PE519.566
- Committee opinion: PE519.506
- Committee opinion: PE519.558
- Committee opinion: PE514.867
- Document attached to the procedure: EUR-Lex
- Document attached to the procedure: COM(2013)0644
- Committee opinion: PE516.658
- Committee opinion: PE514.648
- Committee opinion: PE514.866
- Committee opinion: PE514.872
- Committee opinion: PE513.161
- Committee opinion: PE513.404
- Committee opinion: PE514.779
- Committee opinion: PE514.860
- Committee opinion: PE514.863
- Committee opinion: PE513.316
- Committee opinion: PE514.865
- Committee opinion: PE514.868
- Council position on draft budget published: 13176/2013
- Commission draft budget published: EUR-Lex
- Commission draft budget published: COM(2013)0450
- Committee opinion: PE514.868
- Committee opinion: PE513.316
- Committee opinion: PE514.865
- Committee opinion: PE513.161
- Committee opinion: PE513.404
- Committee opinion: PE514.779
- Committee opinion: PE514.860
- Committee opinion: PE514.863
- Committee opinion: PE514.866
- Committee opinion: PE514.872
- Committee opinion: PE514.648
- Document attached to the procedure: EUR-Lex COM(2013)0644
- Committee opinion: PE516.658
- Committee opinion: PE514.867
- Committee opinion: PE519.558
- Committee opinion: PE519.506
- Committee opinion: PE516.695
- Committee draft report: PE519.566
- Document attached to the procedure: EUR-Lex COM(2013)0719
- Budgetary joint text: 16106/2013
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- Anne E. JENSEN
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- Ivailo KALFIN
Plenary Speeches (0)
- Sajjad KARIM
Plenary Speeches (0)
- Jürgen KLUTE
Plenary Speeches (0)
- Alain LAMASSOURE
Plenary Speeches (0)
- Giovanni LA VIA
Plenary Speeches (0)
- George LYON
Plenary Speeches (0)
- Hans-Peter MARTIN
Plenary Speeches (0)
- Miguel Angel MARTÍNEZ MARTÍNEZ
Plenary Speeches (0)
- Zofija MAZEJ KUKOVIČ
Plenary Speeches (0)
- Morten MESSERSCHMIDT
Plenary Speeches (0)
- Andreas MÖLZER
Plenary Speeches (0)
- Claudio MORGANTI
Plenary Speeches (0)
- Jan MULDER
Plenary Speeches (0)
- Juan Andrés NARANJO ESCOBAR
Plenary Speeches (0)
- Csaba ŐRY
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- Rolandas PAKSAS
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- Andrej PLENKOVIĆ
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- Bernd POSSELT
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- José Ignacio SALAFRANCA SÁNCHEZ-NEYRA
Plenary Speeches (0)
- Nicole SINCLAIRE
Plenary Speeches (0)
- Alda SOUSA
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- Peter ŠŤASTNÝ
Plenary Speeches (0)
- Georgios STAVRAKAKIS
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- Theodor Dumitru STOLOJAN
Plenary Speeches (0)
- László SURJÁN
Plenary Speeches (0)
- Frank VANHECKE
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- Alejo VIDAL-QUADRAS
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- Angelika WERTHMANN
Plenary Speeches (0)
Amendments | Dossier |
193 |
2013/2145(BUD)
2013/07/17
AFET
34 amendments...
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 Amendment 10 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3.
Amendment 11 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3.
Amendment 12 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3. Notes with
Amendment 13 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3.
Amendment 14 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3. Notes with particular concern the especially severe reductions applied to the European Neighbourhood Instrument (ENI), which could considerably endanger relations with the Eastern and Southern Neighbourhood, one of the main priorities of the EU's external action; stresses that without adequate funding, the
Amendment 15 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 Amendment 16 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4. Emphasises that in the Southern
Amendment 17 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4. Emphasises that in the Southern Mediterranean, there is an urgent need for the EU to play an active role a
Amendment 18 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4. Emphasises that in the Southern Mediterranean, there is an urgent need for the EU to play an active role and that it is in the EU's interest to pursue closer cooperation and support further democratic developments in the Eastern Neighbourhood; expresses its concern that with deep cuts in the relevant instruments, there would be little room to react to sudden developments and maintain the level of support required to help countries in transition which could fundamentally undermine the EU's policy objectives in the area;
Amendment 19 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4. Emphasises that in the Southern Mediterranean, there is an urgent need for the EU to play an active role and that it is in the EU's interest to support further democratic developments
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1.
Amendment 20 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4. Emphasises that in the Southern Mediterranean, there is an urgent need for the EU to play an active role and that it is in the EU's interest to support further democratic developments in the Eastern Neighbourhood in particular with regards to the upcoming Eastern Partnership Summit in Vilnius; expresses its concern that with deep cuts in the relevant instruments, there would be little room to react to sudden developments and maintain the level of support required to help countries in transition which could fundamentally undermine the EU's policy objectives in the area;
Amendment 21 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4. Emphasises that in the Southern Mediterranean, there is an urgent need for the EU to play an active role and that it is in the EU's interest to support further democratic developments in the Eastern Neighbourhood in particular with regards to the Vilnius summit; expresses its concern that with deep cuts in the relevant instruments, there would be little room to react to sudden developments and maintain the level of support required to help countries
Amendment 22 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4. Emphasises that in the Southern Mediterranean, there is an urgent need for the EU to play an active role and that it is in the EU's interest to support further democratic developments in the Eastern Neighbourhood; expresses its concern that with deep cuts in the relevant instruments, there would be little room to react to sudden developments and maintain the level of support required to help countries in transition which could fundamentally undermine the EU's policy objectives in the area; expresses the need to further support the efforts of the Secretariat of the Union for the Mediterranean to develop concrete socioeconomic projects of regional scope;
Amendment 23 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4. Emphasises that in the Southern Mediterranean, there is an urgent need for
Amendment 24 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 a (new) 4a. Stresses that the search for peace and political stability in the Middle East plays a key role in the EU's foreign policy; reiterates therefore its call for long term programming and sufficient funding for assistance to UNRWA, Palestine and the Peace process;
Amendment 25 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 a (new) 4a. Is of the opinion that, for the sake of transparency and efficiency of aid, the policy of direct budget support should be evaluated critically and that the level of auditing should be improved; stresses that in cases of fraud and misuse, the EU should cancel financial aid;
Amendment 26 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 a (new) 4a. Stresses that the expectations and the objectives of the EaP Vilnius summit will need an effective follow-up and calls, therefore, for adequate financial support that enables the Union to deliver on its promises;
Amendment 27 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 b (new) 4b. Questions whether the level of payments for Emergency Aid Reserve will be sufficient to ensure the EU's capacity to respond rapidly to any urgent crisis;
Amendment 28 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 5.
Amendment 29 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 5.
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1.
Amendment 30 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 5. Notes that the distribution of the decreases in commitments among the different instruments remains largely unexplained
Amendment 31 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 6. Notes that the margin for Heading 4 has been
Amendment 32 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 6. Notes that the margin for Heading 4 has
Amendment 33 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 7 7. Welcomes the savings the European External Action Service (EEAS) has been able to make in its budget but notes with concern rising costs and suggests steps should be taken towards the purchase of delegation buildings where economically sensible; similarly welcomes attempts made to reduce the number of senior level posts but emphasises that the efforts made so far are still insufficient;
Amendment 34 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 7 7. Welcomes the savings the European
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1. Notes
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 a (new) 1a. Notes that the provisions of the 2014 Draft Budget do not match the initial ambitions of the proposal of the European Commission for the MFF 2014-2020 in order to make the EU a relevant global actor;
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 a (new) 1a. Considers, in this regard, of utmost importance to enhance cooperation, step up coordination and develop synergies with programmes and projects of EU Member States in third countries in order to improve the effectiveness of EU external action and cope with current budget restraints;
Amendment 7 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 2. Emphasises th
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 2. Emphasises thus the importance of
source: PE-516.603
2013/07/18
CULT
9 amendments...
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1. Notes that 2014 will be the first year for the launch and implementation of the new multiannual programmes in the fields of education, training, youth, sport, culture, media and citizenship; welcomes the fact that for the first time, the European dimension in sport is supported by an EU programme; highlights the importance of sufficient commitment and payment appropriations to ensure the full functioning of the programmes right from the beginning of the programming period;
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 a (new) 1a. Insists that sufficient payment appropriations are made available for the correct and full implementation of the 2014 policy engagements;
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 b (new) 1b. Believes that the Special Olympics should be supported under a separate budget line to secure EU funding for this European event in line with the 2009 Declaration of the European Parliament on support for Special Olympics in the European Union;
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 2. Emphasises that the new programme for education, training, youth and sport is crucial for the success of the Europe 2020 strategy; recalls that in the past, there has been particularly high demand for mobility under the Erasmus scheme; stresses the importance of this programme and the Youth Employment Initiative for the employability of young people; asks therefore to pay particular attention to the level of payments for mobility and to the accountability of the organisation related to the guarantee facility from the first year on;
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 2. Emphasises that the new programme for education, training, youth and sport is crucial for the success of the Europe 2020 strategy; recalls that in the past, there has been particularly high demand for mobility under the Erasmus scheme; stresses the importance of this programme and the Youth Employment Initiative for the employability of young people; stresses however that these programmes cannot replace structural efforts and reforms which must make the education systems and labour markets in Member States fit for the challenges of the future;
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 a (new) 2a. Insists that the budget appropriations for youth actions are established through a separate budget line, reflecting their specific objectives;
Amendment 7 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3. Underlines that the Creative Europe
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 a (new) 3a. Recalls the problems related to the insufficient levels of payments regarding the Lifelong learning programmes, in particular Erasmus in the amending budget 2012 and the budget 2013; calls on the Council to ensure a proper implementation of the programme taking into account the high execution rates;
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 a (new) 4a. Deplores the fact that the Draft Budget has not taken into account the first results of trilogues for Erasmus+ and Creative Europe, the result being a very vague attribution of commitments and payments, and remarks which do not suit the shape of the debated legal basis; states the need for some new lines and a new distribution of appropriations, especially to underline the separation of fields (youth, education and training, sports and guarantee facility for Erasmus+);
source: PE-516.705
2013/07/22
ECON
26 amendments...
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1. Notes the economic and financial crisis is continuing to grip Europe.
Amendment 10 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 2. Stresses that savings and efficiency gains in the EU budget should be concentrated on budget lines which contribute little to accomplishing the EU 2020 objectives, including future investments; the fight against poverty and sustainable development; therefore expresses its deepest concerns with respect to the Commission proposal for a 9,3 % decrease in payment appropriations for the heading 1a "Competitiveness for growth and jobs";
Amendment 11 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 2. Stresses that
Amendment 12 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 a (new) 2 a. Calls for the budget 2014 to reflect the European Parliament's position for an increased budgetary capacity specific to the EMU and based on specific own- resources (including an FTT) which should, in the framework of the Union budget, support growth and social cohesion addressing imbalances, structural divergences and financial emergencies which are directly connected to the monetary union, without undermining its traditional functions to finance common policies, as expressed in the European Parliament resolution of 20 November 2012 with recommendations to the Commission on the report of the Presidents of the European Council, the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the Eurogroup "Towards a genuine Economic and Monetary Union"1; _______________ 1 Texts adopted, P7_TA(2012)0430.
Amendment 13 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 Amendment 14 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 a (new) 3 a. Acknowledges that the European Parliament has been strongly in favour of the creation of the ESAs and believes that the Authorities are key actors in order to create more stable and safer financial markets. The European Union needs stronger and better coordinated supervision at the European level.
Amendment 15 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4. Stresses the additional tasks already delegated to the European Supervisory Authorities
Amendment 16 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4.
Amendment 17 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 a (new) 4 a. Considers that where the supervisory fees, which are levied by ESAs on the industry, are used to finance staff within the ESAs, these staff should not be considered as the overall head-count of that institution.
Amendment 18 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 a (new) 4a. Concludes that the current financing of ESAs, with a mixed-financing arrangement, is inflexible, creates administrative burden, and poses a threat to the agencies' independence.
Amendment 19 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 b (new) 4b. Calls for the Commission to explore options for a new long-term sustainable financing of the ESAs, which safeguards its independence in the next review of the Agencies' work and financing arrangements; the Commission shall present the review of the agencies by 2 January 2014.
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1. Notes that, whilst the economic and financial crisis is continuing to grip Europe
Amendment 20 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 Amendment 21 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 5. Welcomes evolving independent expertise and capacity building with regard to financial market regulation
Amendment 22 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 6. Given the need for more, better, and speedily delivered European statistics, supports
Amendment 23 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 7 7. For the fight against secrecy jurisdictions and cross border tax evasion to succeed, stresses the need to strengthen the budgetary provisions in the field of international governance and cooperation in the tax area
Amendment 24 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 8 Amendment 25 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 9 Amendment 26 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 9 9. Stresses that the Union programme to support specific activities in the field of financial reporting and auditing for the period of 2014-2020
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1. Notes with deep concern that the economic and financial crisis is continuing to grip Europe.
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1. Notes that the economic and financial crisis is continuing to grip Europe;
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1. Notes the economic and financial crisis is continuing to grip Europe. Given that simultaneous austerity measures across many Member States is leading to contraction, the
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1. Notes the economic and financial crisis is continuing to grip Europe. Given that simultaneous austerity measures across many Member States is leading to contraction, the
Amendment 7 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 a (new) 1a. Regrets that the Commission proposal for the draft budget 2014 foresees a 5.8% cut in both payments and commitment appropriations compared to the budget 2013.
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 2.
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 2. Stresses that
source: PE-516.698
2013/07/24
AFCO
1 amendments...
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion Recital A A. whereas many Member States face severe budgetary difficulties and the Union budget needs to reflect that; and whereas the Union budget represents, among other things, a prime instrument that can act as a catalyst for investment, which should be stepped up at a time of crisis;
source: PE-516.749
2013/07/25
TRAN
38 amendments...
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion Paragraph - 1 (new) - 1. Points out that investments in transport are vital in order to sustain long-term growth and help create jobs, and that this is particularly important in a context of economic crisis with such high unemployment;
Amendment 10 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 Amendment 11 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 2. Recalls the incoherence between the financial cuts proposed by the Council to the Connecting Europe Facility in the context of the MFF
Amendment 12 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 2.
Amendment 13 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 2. Recalls the incoherence between the financial cuts proposed by the Council in the context of the MFF, CEF and TEN-T negotiations and the long wish lists of large transport infrastructure projects also proposed by the Council; underlines that while co-financing infrastructure projects through TEN-T, cohesion and regional funds the Commission must strictly apply the criteria on the European added value, climate and economic-social impact analysis, environmental legislation, minimising external costs and must give priority to upgrading or revitalising missing cross-border rail connections;
Amendment 14 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 2. Recalls the
Amendment 15 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 2. Recalls the incoherence between the financial cuts proposed by the Council in the context of the MFF, CEF and TEN-T negotiations and the long
Amendment 16 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 2. Recalls the incoherence between the financial cuts proposed by the Council in the context of the MFF, CEF and TEN-T negotiations and the long wish lists of large transport infrastructure projects also proposed by the Council; recalls, furthermore, that during the negotiations the Council refused to give the necessary leverage to better use financial instruments, which in some cases may allow greater funding;
Amendment 17 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 a (new) 2a. Welcomes the CEF and TEN-T agreements, which will enable investments to be made in key projects with high European added value for the creation of a more sustainable and integrated European transport network; points out that the headings and agreed amounts in budget lines 06 02 01 for the CEF should be adjusted in line with the outcome of CEF negotiations, particularly as regards interoperability, which should be removed from line 06 02 01 03 and included in line 06 02 01 01;
Amendment 18 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3. Highlights that innovation and research, particularly in the areas of
Amendment 19 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3.
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 Amendment 20 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3. Highlights that innovation and research, particularly in the areas of
Amendment 21 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3. Highlights th
Amendment 22 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3. Highlights that innovation and research, particularly in the areas of behavioural change, modal shift, accessibility for all, integration (interconnectivity, intermodality, interoperability), eco- efficiency and sustainability (climate protection, reduction of gas and noise emissions), are of crucial importance for the transport and tourism
Amendment 23 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3. Highlights that innovation and research, particularly in the areas of behavioural change, modal shift, accessibility for all, integration (interconnectivity, intermodality, interoperability) and sustainability (climate protection, reduction of gas and noise emissions), are of crucial importance for the transport and tourism sectors, and R&D&I investment in transport should therefore be guaranteed as part of the Horizon 2020 instrument;
Amendment 24 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 a (new) 3a. Stresses the importance of the large- scale implementation of intelligent transport systems, as defined in Directive 2010/40/EU on the framework for the deployment of Intelligent Transport Systems in the field of road transport and for interfaces with other modes of transport, in order to make European transport eco-efficient;
Amendment 25 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4. Calls for
Amendment 26 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4. C
Amendment 27 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4. Calls for interoperability between all modes of transport
Amendment 28 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4. Calls for interoperability between all modes of transport and for the further development of intelligent transport systems, allowing for, in particular, the smart use of logistics and the development of the requisite infrastructure for electric
Amendment 29 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4. Calls for interoperability between all modes of transport and for the further development of intelligent transport systems, allowing for, in particular, the smart use of logistics and the development of the requisite infrastructure for electric mobility, including trains, tramways, trolleybuses, electric bikes and e-cars; believes that financial resources
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1. Stresses that
Amendment 30 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 a (new) 4a. Reiterates its support for the establishment, in all modes of transport, of passenger rights harmonised at EU level, which should lead to the drafting of a common charter with which everyone is familiar; regrets, therefore, the 38% reduction in commitment appropriations proposed by the Commission under the corresponding budget line (from EUR 26 150 000 to EUR 16 019 000), given that this is a particularly sensitive subject for European citizens;
Amendment 31 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 a (new) 4a. Points out that it is vital to build infrastructure for the development of an alternative fuel network that will foster sustainable development and greater energy independence in the Union, and calls for the use of innovative financing instruments at European level to be promoted in order to achieve these objectives;
Amendment 32 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 Amendment 33 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 Amendment 34 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 5.
Amendment 35 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 5. Calls on the Commission to int
Amendment 36 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 5. Calls on the Commission to introduce an
Amendment 37 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 5.
Amendment 38 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 a (new) 5a. Believes that better use should be made of innovative financial instruments, which could play a decisive role in the implementation of certain infrastructure projects; points out that such instruments can be used to mobilise private capital, thereby compensating for the scarcity of public money as a result of budgetary consolidation efforts at national and EU level;
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1. Stresses that the EU budget contribution to the transport-related agencies should be commensurate with the additional responsibilities allocated to them by the EU co-legislators; underlines, in this regard, that the EU decisions on surveying marine pollution and offshore oil and gas installations, in the framework of the competences of the European Maritime Safety Agency, should be matched with adequate budgetary funding; in view of the entry into force of the Fourth Railway Package, stresses the need to establish the conditions for the European Railway Agency to prepare for the new tasks which will be entrusted to it; deplores, therefore, the proposal to reduce its budget by 5% compared to 2013 (from EUR 24 871 400 to EUR 23 573 064);
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1. Stresses that the EU budget contribution to the transport-related agencies should be commensurate with the additional responsibilities allocated to them by the EU co-legislators; underlines, in this regard, that the EU decisions on surveying marine pollution and offshore oil and gas installations, in the framework of the competences of the European Maritime Safety Agency, should be matched with adequate budgetary funding; recalls that, following the agreement on TEN-T and CEF, particular attention should also be paid to the budget of the TEN-T Executive Agency;
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1. Stresses that the EU budget contribution to the transport-related agencies should be commensurate with the additional responsibilities allocated to them by the EU co-legislators; underlines, in this regard, that the EU decisions on surveying
Amendment 7 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 (new) Furthermore, recalls that there are EU Agencies such as the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) to which the legislator has assigned tasks that are fundamental for the functioning of the European Union and its industry; up to 80% of EASA´s budget and staff is financed by fees and charges paid by the aviation industry; requests, in this regard, that the Budgetary Authority take this into account and limit the budgetary and staff reductions to the part of the budget financed by the EU, thus allowing EU Agencies such as the EASA to recruit the necessary human resources to be able to carry out the tasks requested and paid for by the industry;
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 a (new) 1a. Stresses the need for the EU transport budget to focus on infrastructure projects that will deliver growth and greater competitiveness in the European economy; particularly at a time of economic difficulty, it is essential that EU money give taxpayers value for money and focus on deliverable key infrastructure projects which improve the lives of EU citizens;
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 a (new) 1a. Points out to the agencies that the budget appropriations allocated must be used effectively; calls on the European Railway Agency to immediately designate a single location both for conferences and meetings and for the secretariat, in order to avoid unnecessary travel expenses;
source: PE-516.767
2013/08/02
INTA
20 amendments...
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1. Welcomes, in a context of scarcity of resources, the proposal to increase, in terms of both payments and commitments, several key budget lines within the Commission's trade policy title;
Amendment 10 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4. Notes the substantial increase in funding for the Partnership Instrument (former ICI/ICI+), which reflects the widened scope of this instrument; supports the significant financing for activities in support of EU businesses on third markets
Amendment 11 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 a (new) 4a. Notes with interest that the Partnership Instrument will fund the expansion of the EU business centres in Asia, after thorough reviews of the existing structures in China and India, and the creation of a Business Centre in Latin America; believes that this renewed funding implies that the Commission will take into account all the lessons drawn from the first experiences of business centres, in terms of outreach to SMEs, complementarities with existing public and private structures of the EU and of Members States and sustainability of these projects;
Amendment 12 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 Amendment 13 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 5. Believes that the drop in the annual ceiling for possible use of the European Globalisation Fund for 2014-2020
Amendment 14 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 6. Supports the extension for a third year, into 2014, of the Preparatory Action
Amendment 15 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 a (new) 6a. Considers it necessary to provide specific funds as part of international aspects of customs in order to implement the fight against counterfeiting and pirating, a growing problem that poses a threat to legitimate trade, consumer health and business investment.
Amendment 16 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 b (new) 6b. Considers it necessary to increase the amount allocated to the ILO to promote better labour standards, as called for in trade agreements with third countries, which is a key element in ensuring that trade brings people prosperity.
Amendment 17 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 c (new) 6c. Expresses concern at the ability of Parliament and of civil society adequately to monitor the growing complexity and proliferation of bilateral EU trade negotiations, and therefore stresses the need to set up a pilot project to create an umbrella organisation (Trade Watch) which would systematically gather together all the independent analytical knowledge that parliamentarians require in order to exercise Parliament's prerogative of granting rapid and informed approval for EU trade agreements; considers that this is now particularly crucial so that Parliament can monitor EU-US negotiations on what will be one of the most significant trade agreements in the world, which will have numerous consequences for all sectors and which therefore requires public monitoring.
Amendment 18 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 d (new) 6d. Warns that the EU's objectives of enhancing trade inclusiveness and international economic cooperation and stability must be reflected in the budgetary allocations for the Aid for Trade, the Partnership Instrument and the Instrument for Macro-Financial Assistance; opposes therefore decreasing the allocation of the European Globalization Fund; supports, in this regard, the allocation of specific funds to compensate losses suffered by developing countries in specific economic sectors as a result of signing a free trade agreement with the EU.
Amendment 19 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 e (new) 6e. Warns of the imbalance that exists among regions with regard to the funds they receive from the DCI, and calls on the Commission to make provision for redistribution or compensation in order to prevent these imbalances.
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1. Welcomes, in a context of scarcity of resources, the proposal to increase, in terms of both payments and commitments, several key budget lines within the Commission's trade policy title; is concerned, however, that these slight increases may not be sufficient to ensure that the Commission has the capacity to
Amendment 20 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 f (new) 6f. Regrets that the funds previously available in the 'Preparatory action: Opportunities for internationalisation of small and medium-sized enterprises' have been divided up into different lines, and this at a time of economic crisis when international trade is the only way out for many SMEs.
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 a (new) 1a. Stresses that this slight increase of the budgetary line devoted to the trade policy of the EU should be complemented by adequate resources and staff reallocation within the Commission; is satisfied with the proposal of a significant increase in staff working in the Union delegations on trade-related matters, which should support the Union´s trade and economic influence in third countries;
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 a (new) 1a. Recommends that the increase in resources within the Commission's trade policy title should partly be used to help build up Parliament's and civil society's capacity to adequately monitor the growing complexity and proliferation of bilateral EU trade negotiations;
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 a (new) 1a. Insists, however, in the light of the continuing problematic fiscal and economic situation in the Member States, that any desired increase in appropriations should be offset with commensurate reductions, redeployments or reallocations elsewhere in the budget, allowing for the principle of budget neutrality to be respected;
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 2. Regrets the sharp decrease in commitments for the Instrument for Macro-Financial Assistance and the European Neighbourhood Instrument (ENI), which
Amendment 7 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 2.
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3. Deplores also the fall in real terms in funding for Aid for Trade,
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4. Notes the substantial increase in funding for the Partnership Instrument (former ICI/ICI+), which reflects the widened scope of this instrument; supports the significant financing for activities in support of EU businesses on third markets, but
source: PE-516.777
2013/08/06
PECH
11 amendments...
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3. Calls for the budget appropriations for 2014 to be sufficient to meet the challenges of the recently reformed Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), and above all for account to be taken of coastal and artisanal fishing as a source of job creation;
Amendment 10 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 e (new) 5e. Deplores the proposal of the Council to make cuts in appropriations in the 2014 budget, as this will have a damaging effect on this first year of the new programme which has been designed to support the policy reforms and initiatives in line with Europe 2020 priorities;
Amendment 11 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 f (new) 5f. Demands that the draft 2014 budget of the Commission be restored accordingly;
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3. Calls for the budget appropriations for 2014 to be sufficient to meet the stiff challenges of the
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3. Calls for the budget appropriations for 2014 to be sufficient to meet the challenges of the recently reformed Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) and the development of the Integrated Maritime Policy (IMP);
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4. Urges the Member States, therefore, to achieve the necessary synergies between the various EU funds, including the European Fund for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, in order to address the stiff challenges
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 – subparagraph 1 (new) Stresses the need to foster vocational training and access to jobs for young people in the fisheries and aquaculture sector, providing particular support for coastal areas worst hit by unemployment as a consequence of the crisis or of CFP reform; also highlights the role of women in fisheries and calls for gender equality policies to be promoted as part of the common fisheries policy;
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 a (new) 5a. Notes the shift in management mode from direct management to shared management of the support to Member States' expenditure in the field of control and data collection; considers that this shift should facilitate the implementation by the Member States of their obligations in these fields, which are an essential element for the proper functioning of the CFP;
Amendment 7 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 b (new) 5b. Notes that significant amounts related to Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreements have been put in reserve; urges the Commission to pursue negotiations with third countries with a view to a timely conclusion of sustainable and mutually advantageous fisheries agreements, leading to the consumption of the appropriations requested in the budget and allowing the EU fleet to gain the maximum benefit from the 2014 fishing season;
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 c (new) 5c. Observes that the majority of the payment appropriations entered in the draft budget 2014 will serve to cover the needs of the 2007-2013 programmes; acknowledges that these payment appropriations are necessary to honour the commitments of the past;
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 d (new) 5d. Deplores the proposal of the Council to make cuts in necessary payment appropriations in the 2014 budget, as this will have a specific impact on projects and programmes undertaken under the previous programming period; particularly impacted will be the completion of the European Fisheries Fund/Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance (shared management), where the payment appropriations in the draft budget for 2014 are already below the level of the 2013 budget;
source: PE-516.704
2013/08/21
EMPL
12 amendments...
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1. Stresses that the draft Budget 2014, with 142.01 billion Euros in commitments and 135.9 billion Euros in payments, is 6% lower than Budget 2013;
Amendment 10 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 9 9. Stresses the need for increased financial support for the Microfinance
Amendment 11 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 10 10.
Amendment 12 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 10 10.
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 a (new) 1a. Stresses the need of an adequate MFF which allows reaching social and employment goals in line with the Europe2020 strategy;
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 a (new) 2a. Calls on the Commission to clarify how the allocations dedicated to the fight against youth unemployment will be used, which amounts will be directly dedicated to the youth guarantee and which method will be used to the annual margins for this purpose as agreed in MFF;
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3. Welcomes the fact that EGF budget line includes payment appropriations
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3. Welcomes the fact that EGF budget line includes payment appropriations even if those should be higher; is, however, disappointed with the annual
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 Amendment 7 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 7 a (new) 7a. Stresses the need for increased funding for the Progress axis of EaSI, especially in order to combat social exclusion, to fight poverty and to tackle youth unemployment;
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 8 8. Demands enhanced support for the EURES axis of
source: PE-516.819
2013/08/28
ENVI
8 amendments...
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1. Notes the political agreement on the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2014-2020 of 27 June 2013 which will allow the continuation of policy financing focussing on new priorities to aim at achieving the goals of the 2020 strategy; notes that the MFF includes an important deal on flexibility which will allow making a maximum use of funds the level of which has been substantially reduced by the Member States as compared to the original Commission´s proposal; is convinced that a high level of environmental protection in the European Union, health as a precondition for economic prosperity, food and feed safety and mechanisms to help protect against natural and man-made disasters are of core value to all European citizens;
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 a (new) 1a. Stresses that the MFF is a spending plan that translates Union priorities into financial terms. It is not a seven-year budget, but the basis for the annual budgetary exercise. It sets the maximum annual amounts which the Union may spend in different political fields. It therefore provides a political as well as budgetary framework for the benefit of 500 million Europeans.
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 b (new) 1b. Underlines that it is necessary to help Europe recover from the crisis. The spending plan seeks to increase growth and jobs in Europe, encourage greener agriculture and establish a more environment-conscious and internationally prominent Europe. The proposals foresee funding increases for research and innovation, education and training and external relations. Climate spending is expected to represent at least 20% of Union spending in the period 2014-2020.
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 a (new) 3a. Takes note of the Council's position on the Draft Budget 2014 proposing EUR 142 226,9 million in commitment appropriations and EUR 135 004,6 in payment appropriations decreasing even more Commission's initial proposal;
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 a (new) 4a. Notes that a vast majority of programmes run out on 31 December 2013 (civil protection as an example) and urges the adoption of new legal bases under the ordinary legislative procedure before beginning of 2014 in order to ensure the funding for millions of Union beneficiaries; stresses that the legal bases have to be finalised before that date.
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 a (new) 5a. Is alarmed by Council's proposal to cut payments related to environmental and climate action activities by EUR 10,7 million against the past, current or expected budget implementation; will not accept these payment cuts as implementation in this policy area has always been very satisfactory; considers therefore Council’s argument as flimsy and the approach as a pure arithmetic exercise by Council to bring down payment appropriations in total;
Amendment 7 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 6. Is supportive to spotlight regions in Europe which have an integrated climate- friendly approach on transport, environment, energy and waste; suggests the awarding of a prize by the Commission every five years to those regions fulfilling the objectives which will honour their efforts; invites the Commission to present the first outline for the prize by the end of 2013;
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 12 a (new) 12a. Will reverse the Council's position to cut the budgets of the agencies under the responsibility of this committee by EUR 2 051 898; considers Council's justification that the reduction would correspond to the salary adjustment amounts from 2011 and 2012 as smokescreen because agencies are seen by Council as administrative burden;
source: PE-516.848
2013/08/30
LIBE
10 amendments...
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1. Regrets the decrease of 9.4% in commitments and 11.9% in payments in Heading 3 on Security and Citizenship compared to the 2013 budget, which strengthens the concept of European citizenship by creating an area of freedom, justice, security and access to basic public goods and services; this concept needs re-enforcement during these times of economic crisis and in view of the forthcoming European elections;
Amendment 10 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 a (new) 5a. Welcomes the creation of a budget line for the "Smart Borders Package", creating a single Entry Exit System and a Registered Traveller Programme for the EU; recalls the estimated costs for the development of both systems and their European added value; urges the Commission and Member States to ensure a swift implementation and to avoid any ex post increase of the costs;
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 a (new) 1a. Calls on the Council and the Member States, as a matter of urgency, to remedy the shortfall in payment appropriations in respect of the 2013 budget, particularly in relation to those actions funded under Heading 3.
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3. Insists that the Commission and the Member States should make every effort to ensure that the EU budget is spent in an efficient way
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4. Stresses that
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 a (new) 4a. Is concerned to note that the proposed level of commitment appropriations in the area of asylum and migration represents a reduction in the order of 18.6% compared with 2013, and that the proposed level of payment appropriations in this area represents a reduction of over 50%; fails to understand how such reductions can be justified given the ambitious aims and broad scope of the Union's common asylum and immigration policies;
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 5. Insists that the Agencies should have adequate resources to implement the systems and projects which were recently approved; considers, therefore, that the budget of the Frontex Agency should be increased to provide them with sufficient resources to operate Eurosur
Amendment 7 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 5. Insists that the Agencies should have adequate resources to implement the systems and projects which were recently approved; considers, therefore, that the budget of the Frontex Agency should be increased to provide them with sufficient resources to operate Eurosur; considers further that the budget of Europol and of the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) should be increased in order to provide for the new established European Cybercrime Centre as well as the recently adopted asylum package and the new tasks resulting thereof for the three agencies;
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 5. Insists that the Agencies should have adequate resources to implement the systems and projects which were recently approved; considers, therefore, that the budget of EASO should be increased sufficiently to allow the agency to fulfill its many tasks; and that the budget of the Frontex Agency should be increased to provide them with sufficient resources to operate Eurosur;
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 a (new) 5a. Questions the wisdom of establishing a budget line in respect of the smart borders package even though that package has yet to be adopted by the co- legislator; notes that no specific funding has been allocated to that budget line for 2014; calls on the Commission to establish budget lines for such actions only after the co-legislator has approved those actions through the appropriate legislative act;
source: PE-516.865
2013/09/03
AGRI
11 amendments...
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1. Notes that, given the ceiling imposed by the 7-8 February 2013 European Council for Heading 2 – ‘Sustainable growth: natural resources’ which will include a sub-ceiling for market-related expenditure and direct payments – of the 2014-20 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), all the major categories of Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) spending are likely, in practice, to be cut in 2014, including direct payments, market measures and rural development, and that direct support will be more equitably distributed between Member States, while taking account of the differences that still exist in terms of wage levels, purchasing power, the output of the agriculture industry and input costs, having regard to the overall context of the common agricultural policy and the EU budget;
Amendment 10 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 10 b (new) 10b. Draws attention to the need for the resources provided to be married as closely as possible with the commitments made, in order to achieve the objectives of increasing the competitiveness and sustainability of European agriculture.
Amendment 11 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 10 c (new) 10c. Calls for the full alignment of direct payments in the EU-28 as soon as possible;
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4. Insists, in this context, that the Council respect its promises to provide sufficient payment appropriations in the 2013 budgetary procedure to allow
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 5. Reiterates that
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 7 7. Notes that, while the budget for direct payments and market measures under the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) will be increased in 2014 by 0
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 8 8. Regrets, in particular, the application of the 'financial discipline' mechanism, meaning that a large number of the Union's farmers will suffer a cut of around 5% in direct payments paid out in the 2014 financial year; calls, therefore, on the Member States to develop the necessary mechanisms for efficiently transferring to farmers unused appropriations from the reserve in the next financial year;
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 8 8. Regrets, in particular, the application of the
Amendment 7 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 9 9. Calls on the Commission and Member States to monitor
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 10 10. Welcomes the steps taken towards the establishment of the European Prices Monitoring
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 10 a (new) 10a. Welcomes the allocation of funds to support beekeeping and hopes that they will be used effectively in the Member States;
source: PE-516.905
2013/09/18
DEVE
13 amendments...
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1. Welcomes the EU Member States' reconfirmation of all the Official Development Assistance (ODA) commitments into which they have entered individually and collectively, including that to raise the level of ODA to 0.7% by 2015; reminds the Member States that in addition to reconfirming their commitments, they
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1. Notes
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3. Deeply regrets the fact that the 2014 ceiling for the Global Europe heading in the draft MFF is significantly lower than the corresponding ceiling for 2013 and that this generates
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 5. Emphasizes that recovered amounts are considered revenues that should remain in the Union budget and therefore contribute to a stabilisation of the budget; points out that this delivers a strong message and incentive to Member States to improve their management and control systems; regrets that while approximately 80 % of the budget is actually spent by Member States there is no clear commitment from most of the Member States for a declaration justifying that the money is well spent;
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 a (new) 5a. Asks to be informed by the Commission about all amounts received during the year 2013 from agreements with the major tobacco companies including penalty payments as foreseen in the agreements, fines from companies that breach EU rules and regulations, including the total amount which was attributed to the budget of the Union;
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 5. Draws attention to the specific nature of the humanitarian aid, which brings relief to people in acute danger or deep distress, and to the chronic, grave and further worsening lack of payments money in this chapter;
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 6. Welcomes the programme statements of operational expenditure accompanying the 2014 draft budget, which contain besides numerical data related to the programme also information in terms of EU added value, the contribution to Europe 2020 Strategy (Headline targets and Flagship initiatives) as well as general and specific objectives supported by indicators and targets; notes
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 6. Recognises that through numerous links in today's interconnected world, the costs of failures to effectively address deep development and humanitarian needs, as well as the costs of insufficient climate action, will have to be borne also by the EU itself; points out that development assistance and humanitarian aid,
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 7 7. Recalls in particular that, in its resolution accompanying the decision to grant the 2011 discharge to the Commission, the Parliament urged the Commission to develop a new culture of performance, to propose a clear definition of European added value until the mid- term review in the various areas of policies and programmes and to focus, within the section relating to the internal policies of the evaluation report provided for by Article 318 TFEU, also on the Europe 2020 strategy as being the economic and social policy of the Union, the emphasis being placed on the progress made in the achievement of the flagship initiatives;
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 9 Amendment 7 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 9 Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 9 a (new) 9a. Regrets the fact that the 2014 budget will increase the RAL with an expected amount of EUR 6 billion (compare working document BUDG_DT(2013)510689 on the outstanding commitments for 2013 and calculation methods); calls upon the Commission and the Council to take the still increasing amount of outstanding commitments into account and come forward with measures to reduce the amount of outstanding commitments.
source: PE-519.542
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The Committee on Budgets adopted the joint report by Anne E. JENSEN (ALDE, DK) (section III Commission) and Monika HOHLMEIER (EPP, DE) (other sections) on the Council position on the draft general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2014 all sections. Section III Commission: Members recalled that the priorities for the 2014 budget are economic and sustainable growth, competitiveness, the creation of employment and the fight against youth unemployment as well as the EU's role in the world. They insisted that the Commission and the Member States should make every effort to ensure that the EU budget is spent in an efficient way and that anything financed with it should have a clear European added value. Recalling their determination to ensure a sufficient and realistic level of commitment and payment appropriations to allow the programmes to kick-off with sufficient funds in the multiannual financial framework (MFF) for the period 2014 - 2020 and to avoid delays in their implementation, Members therefore deplored the Council's decision to proceed again this year with the usual approach of horizontal cuts to the draft budget, aimed at artificially reducing the level of the Union's resources for 2014 by an overall total of EUR 240 million (-0,2%) in commitment appropriations and EUR 1 061 million (-0,8%) in payment appropriations as compared to the draft budget, thus leading to a significant decrease compared to the 2013 budget (including amending budgets Nos 1 to 5) both in commitments (-6%) and in payments (-6,6%). Members were surprised that in its position the Council has not only not taken into account the agreement on the MFF, regarding the frontloading of the Erasmus+ COSME and Horizon 2020 programmes but has further decreased the appropriations for some of those programmes. Members deeply regretted that the Council has introduced cuts in both commitment appropriations and payment appropriations in all headings:
In Members opinion, those cuts are in direct contradiction with the political agreement on the MFF on frontloading and also disregard Parliament's priorities, as outlined in its resolution on the general guidelines for the preparation of the 2014 budget and the recommendations on the mandate for the trilogue on the 2014 budget. Nor did they accept the Council's argument that the proposed cuts correspond to under-implemented or low-performing programmes, since its cuts in commitments affect mostly the implementation capacity of a new generation of programmes which have not yet started or do not take into account the multiannual nature of the Unions policies. They also deplored the arbitrary to the administrative and support lines considering these cuts to be detrimental to the successful start of the new programmes. They called on Parliament to restore therefore, the draft budget on all lines of administrative and support expenditure cut. Members also called for a reversal of the trend of the last years, where the outstanding payments at the end of the year have grown exponentially. They therefore called on the Council to agree to a joint political commitment to use all means available under the MFF Regulation for the period 2014-2020 including recourse to the contingency margin and/or revision of the payment ceiling. Against the linear reduction of appropriations: Members indicated they could not accept Council's decision to reduce commitment and payment appropriations because commitments reflect Union political priorities and should be set with a long-term perspective, taking into account a time when the economic downturn might have ended. They took the view, therefore, that as a general principle, commitments should be restored at draft budget level. They suggested an increase in commitment appropriations slightly above the draft budget on a selected number of budget lines relating to the programmes of direct benefit for European citizens, and contributing to the delivery of the Europe 2020 priorities - which are crucial for the growth and competitiveness of the Union - as well as those projecting European values and solidarity abroad. The 2014 budget in figures: Members call on Parliament to set the overall level of appropriations for 2014 at:
They, therefore, called for the mobilisation of the Flexibility Instrument for an amount of EUR 274.2 million in commitment appropriations to reinforce the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived, pending the final agreement of the legislative authority on the legal basis. In Heading 4 the Flexibility Instrument should provide additional assistance to Cyprus and further support for humanitarian aid in the Middle East. Revenue: Members called for a more realistic budgeting of the expected revenue from fines imposed by the Commission on companies in breach of Union competition law and for further discussion on the budgeting of the surplus in the budget in order to avoid a complex procedure, incomprehensible to the outside world, which currently consists of returning it to Member States via a reduction of their respective GNI-contribution. Payment appropriations: once again, Members deplored the cuts in payments brought by the Council, which result in a decrease of EUR 9.5 billion (9 500 million) (-6.6%) in payment appropriations as compared to the adopted budget for 2013 (including amending budgets Nos 1 to 5). They reiterated that, despite the adoption of a lower MFF for the period 2014-2020 and the absolute need to keep honouring past commitments, the Council kept blindly following its past strategy to artificially cut the level of payments. Particularly this year - the Council's position to leave an artificial margin of EUR 1 billion under the 2014 payments ceiling serves no purpose, especially given the magnitude of the expected carry-over of outstanding payments at the end of 2013. The Council position does not take account of the dramatic shortage of payments, notably in the field of cohesion policy. Members therefore strongly rejected, therefore, the Councils approach to payments and reinstated the draft budget as regards payments for the majority of the headings cut by the Council. Members welcomed the adoption by the Commission of draft amending budget No 8/2013 (second tranche of draft amending budget No 2/2013), which provided for an additional EUR 3.9 billion for outstanding payments from 2013 and which is one of the conditions to put the MFF Regulation to the vote. In regard to each of the budget headings, Members had the following remarks:
They also decided to reinforce the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived, by allocating a total commitment appropriation of EUR 500 million to the actions promoting social cohesion and alleviating the worst forms of poverty in the Union. Moreover, they approved the creation of new dedicated budget lines for technical assistance for the five Structural Funds.
Members called for the mobilisation of the Flexibility Instrument for EUR 50 million in order to finance the real needs for the Union's contribution to the Middle East peace process. They suggested putting the EUR 50 million of additional appropriations in reserve pending an assessment from the Commission of the sound management of the aid by the Palestinian authorities. They also called for an increase of the payment appropriations for the Emergency Aid Reserve (+ EUR 147 million) in order to avoid a repeat of the situation where the Commission is not in a position to react in a timely manner to emerging humanitarian crises.
Agencies: Members reject the Commission's approach to staff, according to which the agencies' establishment plans are not only to be reduced by 1 % on the basis of the political agreement on the MFF, which applies to all institutions and bodies, but are also to contribute another 1% to a "redeployment pool". They therefore modified the establishment plans of most agencies in such a way as to implement the agreed 1 % reduction but did not do so, however, for agencies which in their initial request already applied the 1+1 % reduction. Members decided to increase the appropriations for the three financial supervisory agencies, as well as for, among others, FRONTEX and EUROPOL. Other sections: generally speaking, Members believed that the budget of each Union institution, due to its specific mission and situation, should be treated individually, without one-size-fits-all solutions. They called for the budgets for Parliament and the Council to be maintained and are concerned by the Council's cuts, in the 2014 draft budget, of staff salary adjustments of 1.7 % for 2011 and 2012 in those institutions. They requested an amending budget to cover the backlog and the respective salary adjustments, should the Court of Justice rule in favour of the salary adaptation prescribed by the Staff Regulations. As far as the European Parliaments budget is concerned, Members, once again, called for a roadmap to a single seat. They welcomed the agreement reached during the conciliation meeting of 24 September 2013 between the Bureau and the Committee on Budgets and pointed out that the overall level of its 2014 budget is EUR 1 783 976 098, which represents a net reduction of EUR 29 168 108 compared to the preliminary draft estimates of 26 February 2013. Members approved the following adjustments to the estimates:
Other technical amendments were approved for the other EU institutions. New
The Committee on Budgets adopted the joint report by Anne E. JENSEN (ALDE, DK) (section III Commission) and Monika HOHLMEIER (EPP, DE) (other sections) on the Council position on the draft general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2014 all sections. Section III Commission: Members recalled that the priorities for the 2014 budget are economic and sustainable growth, competitiveness, the creation of employment and the fight against youth unemployment as well as the EU's role in the world. They insisted that the Commission and the Member States should make every effort to ensure that the EU budget is spent in an efficient way and that anything financed with it should have a clear European added value. Recalling their determination to ensure a sufficient and realistic level of commitment and payment appropriations to allow the programmes to kick-off with sufficient funds in the multiannual financial framework (MFF) for the period 2014 - 2020 and to avoid delays in their implementation, Members therefore deplored the Council's decision to proceed again this year with the usual approach of horizontal cuts to the draft budget, aimed at artificially reducing the level of the Union's resources for 2014 by an overall total of EUR 240 million (-0,2%) in commitment appropriations and EUR 1 061 million (-0,8%) in payment appropriations as compared to the draft budget, thus leading to a significant decrease compared to the 2013 budget (including amending budgets Nos 1 to 5) both in commitments (-6%) and in payments (-6,6%). Members were surprised that in its position the Council has not only not taken into account the agreement on the MFF, regarding the frontloading of the Erasmus+ COSME and Horizon 2020 programmes but has further decreased the appropriations for some of those programmes. Members deeply regretted that the Council has introduced cuts in both commitment appropriations and payment appropriations in all headings:
In Members opinion, those cuts are in direct contradiction with the political agreement on the MFF on frontloading and also disregard Parliament's priorities, as outlined in its resolution on the general guidelines for the preparation of the 2014 budget and the recommendations on the mandate for the trilogue on the 2014 budget. Nor did they accept the Council's argument that the proposed cuts correspond to under-implemented or low-performing programmes, since its cuts in commitments affect mostly the implementation capacity of a new generation of programmes which have not yet started or do not take into account the multiannual nature of the Unions policies. They also deplored the arbitrary to the administrative and support lines considering these cuts to be detrimental to the successful start of the new programmes. They called on Parliament to restore therefore, the draft budget on all lines of administrative and support expenditure cut. Members also called for a reversal of the trend of the last years, where the outstanding payments at the end of the year have grown exponentially. They therefore called on the Council to agree to a joint political commitment to use all means available under the MFF Regulation for the period 2014-2020 including recourse to the contingency margin and/or revision of the payment ceiling. Against the linear reduction of appropriations: Members indicated they could not accept Council's decision to reduce commitment and payment appropriations because commitments reflect Union political priorities and should be set with a long-term perspective, taking into account a time when the economic downturn might have ended. They took the view, therefore, that as a general principle, commitments should be restored at draft budget level. They suggested an increase in commitment appropriations slightly above the draft budget on a selected number of budget lines relating to the programmes of direct benefit for European citizens, and contributing to the delivery of the Europe 2020 priorities - which are crucial for the growth and competitiveness of the Union - as well as those projecting European values and solidarity abroad. The 2014 budget in figures: Members call on Parliament to set the overall level of appropriations for 2014 at:
They, therefore, called for the mobilisation of the Flexibility Instrument for an amount of EUR 274.2 million in commitment appropriations to reinforce the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived, pending the final agreement of the legislative authority on the legal basis. In Heading 4 the Flexibility Instrument should provide additional assistance to Cyprus and further support for humanitarian aid in the Middle East. Revenue: Members called for a more realistic budgeting of the expected revenue from fines imposed by the Commission on companies in breach of Union competition law and for further discussion on the budgeting of the surplus in the budget in order to avoid a complex procedure, incomprehensible to the outside world, which currently consists of returning it to Member States via a reduction of their respective GNI-contribution. Payment appropriations: once again, Members deplored the cuts in payments brought by the Council, which result in a decrease of EUR 9.5 billion (9 500 million) (-6.6%) in payment appropriations as compared to the adopted budget for 2013 (including amending budgets Nos 1 to 5). They reiterated that, despite the adoption of a lower MFF for the period 2014-2020 and the absolute need to keep honouring past commitments, the Council kept blindly following its past strategy to artificially cut the level of payments. Particularly this year - the Council's position to leave an artificial margin of EUR 1 billion under the 2014 payments ceiling serves no purpose, especially given the magnitude of the expected carry-over of outstanding payments at the end of 2013. The Council position does not take account of the dramatic shortage of payments, notably in the field of cohesion policy. Members therefore strongly rejected, therefore, the Councils approach to payments and reinstated the draft budget as regards payments for the majority of the headings cut by the Council. Members welcomed the adoption by the Commission of draft amending budget No 8/2013 (second tranche of draft amending budget No 2/2013), which provided for an additional EUR 3.9 billion for outstanding payments from 2013 and which is one of the conditions to put the MFF Regulation to the vote. In regard to each of the budget headings, Members had the following remarks:
They also decided to reinforce the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived, by allocating a total commitment appropriation of EUR 500 million to the actions promoting social cohesion and alleviating the worst forms of poverty in the Union. Moreover, they approved the creation of new dedicated budget lines for technical assistance for the five Structural Funds.
Members called for the mobilisation of the Flexibility Instrument for EUR 50 million in order to finance the real needs for the Union's contribution to the Middle East peace process. They suggested putting the EUR 50 million of additional appropriations in reserve pending an assessment from the Commission of the sound management of the aid by the Palestinian authorities. They also called for an increase of the payment appropriations for the Emergency Aid Reserve (+ EUR 147 million) in order to avoid a repeat of the situation where the Commission is not in a position to react in a timely manner to emerging humanitarian crises.
Agencies: Members reject the Commission's approach to staff, according to which the agencies' establishment plans are not only to be reduced by 1 % on the basis of the political agreement on the MFF, which applies to all institutions and bodies, but are also to contribute another 1% to a "redeployment pool". They therefore modified the establishment plans of most agencies in such a way as to implement the agreed 1 % reduction but did not do so, however, for agencies which in their initial request already applied the 1+1 % reduction. Members decided to increase the appropriations for the three financial supervisory agencies, as well as for, among others, FRONTEX and EUROPOL. Other sections: generally speaking, Members believed that the budget of each Union institution, due to its specific mission and situation, should be treated individually, without one-size-fits-all solutions. They called for the budgets for Parliament and the Council to be maintained and are concerned by the Council's cuts, in the 2014 draft budget, of staff salary adjustments of 1.7 % for 2011 and 2012 in those institutions. They requested an amending budget to cover the backlog and the respective salary adjustments, should the Court of Justice rule in favour of the salary adaptation prescribed by the Staff Regulations. As far as the European Parliaments budget is concerned, Members, once again, called for a roadmap to a single seat. They welcomed the agreement reached during the conciliation meeting of 24 September 2013 between the Bureau and the Committee on Budgets and pointed out that the overall level of its 2014 budget is EUR 1 783 976 098, which represents a net reduction of EUR 29 168 108 compared to the preliminary draft estimates of 26 February 2013. Members approved the following adjustments to the estimates:
Other technical amendments were approved for the other EU institutions. |
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