Brussels, 18/09/2009 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 15 September, with adoption of the report by Jutta Haug (SPD, Germany), the European Parliament approved the draft amending budget No 8 for the 2009 financial year which above all provides for an additional €49.34 million in commitment appropriations for the eradication of foot and mouth disease in sheep. This funding will cover costs incurred by member states for urgent vaccination of herds in addition to the sum of €62 million set out in the 2009 budget. The total allocation for 2009 will therefore be €111.34 million (€130 million in 2008).
The amending budget also provides for a €3.9 million reinforcement of the Community subsidy to Eurojust (in order to meet new needs, including more personnel, move to new building, etc), as well as: - the creation of a budget item “operation of the high-flux reactor (HFR)” (based in Petten, Netherlands); - the creation of a budget item European Police Office - transition costs (the EU budget finances part of the transition costs due to transformation of the European Police Office into a full Community agency); - and changes to the establishment plan of OLAF (allocation of an additional 12 permanent AD11 posts without financial contribution). The net financial impact of this amending budget amounts to €51.64 million in commitments, without further payment appropriation requests. (L.C./transl.jl)