Brussels, 13/05/2016 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 17 May, the Council of the EU is expected to adopt without debate a regulation modifying regulation 609/2014 on the details and procedure to make available the traditional own resources, own resources based on VAT and own resources based on GNI (gross national income) and measures to address Treasury requirements.
The own resources make up the revenue of the EU budget and there are three types: traditional own resources (mainly customs duties and sugar levies) and VAT-based and GNI-based own resources.
The new regulation provides for the following rules, amongst others:
Revised rules for calculating the interest that the member states have to pay on own resources made available late. The following is proposed: - an increase in the interest rate applied by the central banks (from 2.0% to 2.5%); - a further 0.25% added to this rate for each month of delay (as is currently the case); - a new ceiling of 16% for the increase to the base rate applied by the central banks.
A new procedure for adjusting the VAT and GNI own resources: in order to avoid excessive budgetary constraints for the member states just before the end of the year, the regulation gives them more time between the formal notification of the adjustments and their entry into the EU budget.
New rules are provided, ensuring that negative interest applied to the Commission's own resources accounts opened in the member states is offset by them (the member states) to prevent losses to the EU budget.
The text gives the Commission the possibility to ask the member states to bring forward up to an additional half of one twelfth of the VAT and GNI own resources to cover the expenditure of the European structural and investment funds. This aims to make it possible further to reduce the risk of late payments due to temporary shortages of cash resources. The current rules already allow the Commission to ask the member states to bring forward up to two additional twelfths to cover the expenditure of the European agricultural guarantee fund.
The main provisions of the new regulation will apply retroactively from 1 January 2014, once the decision on the own resources has been ratified by all member states. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)