Brussels, 31/10/2011 (Agence Europe) - Amending Letter No 3 to the draft budget for 2012, which relates to updating the estimated needs for agricultural spending, shows that commitment appropriations for agriculture expenditure amount to €44,092 million, €88 million less than the Commission's draft budget for 2012. This lower expenditure is mostly explained by higher than expected assigned revenue.
The amending letter shows that needs of intervention measures on agricultural markets are up by €94 million compared with the Commission's initial proposal (a rise of €75 million when the additional assigned revenue is taken into account). The Commission has, for example, proposed €23 million for private storage aid in the olive oil sector.
The €88 million reduction in agricultural expenditure results in a margin under the EAGF sub-ceiling, which now stands at €619 million. The new margin for Heading 2 (resource management) is €737 million in total.
International fisheries agreements. The amending letter also relates to the most recent information on fisheries agreements. The Commission is proposing reductions of €3.5 million and €2.8 million in commitment appropriations and payment appropriations respectively for international fisheries agreements.
European Chemicals Agency. The Commission brought forward a proposal on 12 July 2009 on the placing on the market and use of biocidal products. This proposal includes new tasks for the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), part of which is to be financed under Heading 2 (management of natural resources) of the multiannual financial framework. The Council adopted its position on first reading on 21 June 2011 and introduced changes which give rise to additional workload and associated resource needs. So that ECHA is ready in time to be able to take on the additional tasks assigned to it by the co-legislators, the Commission proposes that the subvention is increased by €1.7 million, both in commitment appropriations and payment appropriations. (LC/transl.rt)