Brussels, 03/03/2010 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 3 March, the European Commission adopted three proposals to take into account budgetary affairs in the context of the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty. The proposals involve: the regulation on the multi-annual financial framework for 2007-2013; amendments to Regulation 1605/2002 of the Council focusing on the financial regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities (this regulation is sometimes called the “financial bible”); - the inter-institutional agreements between the European Parliament, Council and Commission on cooperation in budgetary matters. With these proposals, the Commission is hoping “to guarantee a good balance between the two branches of the budgetary authority and sufficient flexibility to establish the new budgetary procedure, while satisfying the requirements of the treaty”.
The treaty on the functioning of the European Union includes a regulation of the Council, adopted at unanimity, setting out a multi-annual financial framework. This financial framework sets out the amounts for the annual ceilings on lending for commitments for each payment and includes all other useful provisions pertaining to the effective functioning of annual budgetary procedures (Article 312). The current multiannual financial framework for 2007-2013, which the institutions approved in May 2006, is included in the inter-institutional agreement on budgetary discipline and good financial management.
The entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty has made obsolete certain provisions in the current inter-institutional agreement. Many of them are to be included in the regulation on the financial framework and certain others into the financial regulation. A new inter-institutional agreement is necessary for integrating the provisions that cannot be included in any of these two regulations.
The transposition of provisions in the current inter-institutional agreement into appropriate consecutive legal instruments is based on the following: 1) many provisions in force are made obsolete by the Lisbon Treaty: - provisions regarding the distinction between obligatory and none obligatory spending and the maximum rates of increase. Similarly, classification of spending is now obsolete; important aspects in inter-institutional cooperation in the budgetary sector are obsolete due to the changes introduced to the budgetary procedure by the Lisbon Treaty (no second reading, conciliation committee has a 21-day deadline, the Commission has the possibility of amending the draft budget until the conciliation committee meeting, etc); 2) The points directly linked to the financial framework are inserted into the regulation on the multi annual financial framework (annual adjustments in the financial framework, financial framework review, adaptation of the financial framework with regard to enlargement changes, framework period and the consequences of an absence of this framework, annual ceiling amounts per section); 3) Certain provisions in force must be integrated into the financial regulation or into the modalities for its execution, rather than into the regulation on the financial framework or into AII; 4) The remaining provisions - mainly questions relating to inter-institutional cooperation depending on the demands of the treaty - are included in a new inter-institutional agreement. This approach will guarantee a good balance between the two branches of the budgetary authority and sufficient flexibility to establish the new budgetary procedure, whilst satisfying the requirements of the treaty.
Inter-institutional agreement on budgetary cooperation. The draft inter-institutional agreement on budgetary cooperation includes all provisions from the inter-institutional agreement of 17 May 2006 on budgetary discipline and good financial management that: are not made obsolete by the treaty; that are not directly linked to the financial framework itself; that are not proposed to be included in the financial regulation. The Commission is taking care to ensure that “as far as it is possible”, the rules currently in place and which have proved efficient are protected, as well as “maintaining the balance of power” and the participation of the institutions in the budgetary procedure. Part I of this agreement includes certain complimentary provisions relating to the financial framework and, mainly, the provisions on the external instruments of the financial framework. Part II lists the provisions on inter-institutional collaboration and adapted to the new budgetary procedure. It also includes rules on the inclusion of the funding amounts contained in the legislative acts, as well as the provisions on funding the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and fisheries agreements. Part III includes all provisions from part III in the current agreement and which remain valid.
Financial regulation. The Commission proposal aims to amend the financial regulation, following the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty on 1 December 2009. This treaty introduces notable changes into the budgetary and financial domain, which will have to be transposed into the financial regulation. This financial regulation governs all provisions and procedures applying to the use of EU funds and has to be respected by all the institutions.
The Commission is proposing to include appropriate provisions in the financial regulation or modify those that require amendments, in an effort to take into consideration the following changes: - the introduction of the multiannual financial framework into the treaty and its link with the annual budgetary procedure: in this respect, due to the integration of the multi-annual financial framework into the treaty, certain provisions in the inter-institutional agreement on budgetary discipline and good financial management must be included in the financial regulation; - the new annual budgetary procedure and the elimination of the distinction between obligatory and non-obligatory spending, which has had an impact on provisions relating to transfers and the provisional twelfths system.
The proposal also includes rationalisation of the financial regulation with regard to the text of the Lisbon Treaty and proceeds to both technical adaptations and the elimination of obsolete provisions.
The Commission will present its proposal for a tri-annual re-examination of the financial regulation at the end of the first six months of 2010. Other aspects, relating to the creation of the European External Action Service (EEAS) will be the subject of a different proposal to the one the Commission will be presenting very shortly. (L.C./transl.fl)