1 BUDG Wednesday 1 April 2015 9.00-10.00 Coordinators meeting (In camera) 10.00-12.30 BUDG meeting Brussels - Room JAN 6Q2 In the Chair: Jean Arthuis, Chairman 1. Adoption of the agenda 2. Chairman's announcements Languages available: BG, CS, DA, DE, EN, EL, ES, ET, FI, FR, HU, IT, LV, NL, PL, PT, RO, SK, SL, SV Meeting documents: In the light of the European Parliament's paperless project please bear in mind that only a very limited number of paper dossiers will be available in the meeting room. Meeting documents are available on the following public and internal websites: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/meetdocs/2014_2019/organes/budg/budg_8leg_meetinglist.htm and (EP internal only): http://www.emeeting.ep.parl.union.eu/committee/ Webstreaming: The entire meeting (except in camera parts) will be web-streamed and can be followed here. Please be aware that each time a speaker activates the microphone to make an intervention the camera will be automatically directed to the speaker. ecommittee: Further information on the work of the Committee on Budgets can be found on the ecommittee page: http://www.budgnet.ep.parl.union.eu/budgnet/cms/home/menu_current_leg/ The latest Implementation and "RAL" figures for the 2014 Budget, together with previous regular updates, have been published on the following PolDepNet Intranet pages: http://www.poldepnet.ep.parl.union.eu/poldept/cms/poldepnet/poldep_d/poldepd_facts_and_figures /implementation_figures 3. Approval of minutes of : 16 March 2015 1
VOTING TIME 4. Amendment of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1311/2013 laying down the multiannual financial framework for the years 2014-2020 Co-Rapporteurs: Jan Olbrycht, Isabelle Thomas Consideration and adoption On 20 January 2015, the Commission adopted a proposal for the revision of the MFF regulation in line with its article 19, which provides for the transfer of allocations not used in 2014 in case of late adoption of new rules or programmes under shared management. Since a significant amount of programmes could not be adopted in 2014 (and were not advanced enough either to benefit from the procedure for carry-over of appropriations under Article 13 of the Financial Regulation), commitment appropriations for programmes under shared management lapsed in 2014 for an amount of EUR 21 billion. This corresponds to the 2014 tranches of programmes that could neither be committed in 2014 nor carried over to 2015. The Commission proposes to transfer the bulk of the allocations not used in 2014 to 2015. While the revision adjusts the MFF ceilings accordingly, corresponding appropriations are budgeted for 2015 through DAB 2/2015. On 17 February 2015 the ECOFIN Council found a unanimous 'agreement in principle' on the Commission's proposal and, in line with Art 312 TFEU, requested Parliament to give its consent. The draft report by the two co-rapporteurs, granting Parliament's consent, will be put to vote. No amendments have been tabled. This report will be submitted to the Brussels April micro-plenary session. 5. Mobilisation of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund : application EGF/2014/017 FR/Mory-Ducros - France Rapporteur: Jean-Paul Denanot Exchange of views The BUDG Committee will vote a draft report containing a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council to mobilize the EGF. The EGF contribution of EUR 6 052 200 is foreseen for re-integration into the labour market of 2513 workers made redundant in Mory-Ducros SAS, an entreprise operating in the 'Land transport and transport via pipelines' sector in France. The redundancies are linked to the global financial and economic crisis which caused a decline of physical output in Europe, resulting in a reduction in volumes to be transported. This triggered a price war within the sector, which was aggravated by the upward evolution in the various costs (petrol, wages, materials), thus leading to a steady deterioration in operating margins and a series of losses for the sector in France since 2007, followed by a wave of bankruptcies in the road haulage sector. 2
This mobilisation request is based on the intervention criteria of Article 4(1)(a) of the 2013 EGF Regulation, which requires at least 500 workers being made redundant or self-employed persons' activity ceasing, over a reference period of four months in an enterprise in a Member State, including workers made redundant by suppliers and downstream producers and/or self-employed persons whose activity has ceased. 14 amendments have been tabled, out of which 10 from EMPL. This report will be submitted to the Brussels April micro-plenary session. 6. Amending Regulation (EU) No 1304/2013 on the European Social Fund, as regards an increase of the initial pre-financing amount paid to operational programmes supported by the Youth Employment Initiative Rapporteur: Jean Arthuis Consideration and adoption The BUDG Committee will vote an opinion on the draft amending regulation (EU) No 1304/2013 modifying the European Social Fund regulation (ESF). The purpose of the Commission's proposal is to increase the initial pre-financing rate from 1% (or 1.5% for Member States under financial assistance) up to 30% of the Union contribution to all Operational Programmes under the Youth Employment Initiative (YEI). The increased pre-financing rate concerns all payments in the year 2015 from the specific allocation for the YEI in subheading 1b (budget line 04 02 64). It is hoped that this additional pre-financing will allow Member States to advance payments to beneficiaries more easily, leading to an acceleration of YEI programming. A total of 7 amendments have been tabled to the Commission proposal by BUDG Members, including 3 by the rapporteur. The CULT committee has also delivered its opinion. The report will be voted by the EMPL committee on 16 April, after which negotiations with Council under the ordinary legislative procedure can start. 7. Green growth opportunities for SMEs Rapporteur: Liadh Ní Riada Consideration and adoption The draft opinion proposes making maximum use of the possibilities included in the EU budget, in particular via the COSME and Horizon 2020 programmes as well as via the Structural and Investment Funds to provide support towards green SMEs. Reference is made as well to the additional possibilities offered by the new European Fund for Strategic Investments, the constitution of which is in progress. 20 amendments have been tabled. 3
8. Budget 2015 : Section III Rapporteur: Eider Gardiazabal Rubial Any transfer request DEC 11/2015 Transfer request DEC 11 implements the mobilisation of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund for case EGF/2014/017 FR/Mory-Ducros, France, voted before (see point 5). 9. Budget 2015 : Other Sections Rapporteur: Monika Hohlmeier Any transfer request CoR establishment plan 2015 On 23 March 2015 the EP received the request to modify the establishment plan of the Committee of the Regions for 2015. The modification consists of the transformation of 1 AST 3 post from permanent to temporary post. Since the transformation concerns a post of the same grade, the cost of the operation will be neutral in budgetary terms. According to the conclusions of the CoR Conference of Presidents of 11 September 2014, the secretariats of several political groups should be reinforced in order to allow them to follow the activity of their respective group and ensure an adequate support to their members. This modification concerns a reinforcement for the ALDE group. EESC - INF1/2015 On 24 March, the EESC addressed to the budgetary authority the transfer request no. 1/2015 based on Article 25 (1) of the of the Financial Regulation. It concerns a transfer of EUR 38 819 from article 212 'furniture' to article 238 'Other administrative expenditure', which covers inter alia all removal and handling expenses. As indicated in the transfer request, following the cooperation agreement signed between the two Committees and the European Parliament, there was a need for a reorganisation of the Translation Directorate and a subsequent reorganisation of other Directorates, resulting in an increased number of internal moves. Prior to these internal reorganisations, article 238 was already slightly in deficit that was contained by reducing or delaying some activities. Some appropriations under article 212 (covering purchase, hire, maintenance and repair furniture, the replacement of worn-out and broken furniture and office machines) can be made available for transfer. As some call for tenders to replace expired framework contracts are still ongoing some purchases in this area could be delayed. 4
10. Building Policy Rapporteur: Monika Hohlmeier Building project of the 5th extension of the Court of Justice In June 2011 the Court of Justice notified the two arms of the budgetary authority of the project for a fifth extension of the building of the Court of Justice. The project encompasses the construction of an administrative building in the form of an extension of the current buildings of the seat of the Court, intended to accommodate, inter alia, some translation units currently installed in a building, of a provisional structure, rented outside the main site of the Court. The project is part of the institution's continuous buildings policy, which consists of bringing together the three courts and the services of the Court on a single site and in buildings which are owned by the European Union. Within the context of that notification, the Council Budget Committee agreed to the project for a 5th extension and refrained from issuing an opinion. The European Parliament's Committee on Budget sent the Court of Justice the preliminary favourable opinion dated 8 July 2011, asking a new notification once the results of the architectural studies and detailed cost of plans have been drawn up. This additional information answers the Parliament's request by providing detailed information concerning the development of this project's key contracts, the results of the architectural study and by confirming the financial aspects of the project, in such a way as to inform the Committee on Budget as faithfully as possible. In accordance with Article 203(5) of the Financial Regulation, the Budget Committee has four weeks to take a decision. END OF VOTING TIME BUDGET 2016 11. Outcome of the budgetary trilogue of 30 March 2015 In line with the interinstitutional agreement of 2 December 2013 and with common practice, a trilogue between representatives of the three institutions took place on 30 March in the Council, i.e. before the adoption of the draft budget by the Commission in order to discuss the possible priorities for the budget of the coming financial year. During this trilogue, the Chair and the Rapporteurs for the 2016 budget (Section III and Other sections) and for the 2015 budget (Section III) held discussions with the Council presidency and with the Commission on: The implementation of the joint statements on payment appropriations and on the payment plan; Parliament's and Council's guidelines for the 2016 budget; The pragmatic calendar of the budgetary procedure; The pending draft amending budgets; Any other business (interinstitutional working group on agencies and administrative expenditure) The Members of the BUDG delegation to this meeting will provide a feedback to the committee. 5
12. Pilot Projects and Preparatory Actions in budget 2015 and 2016 Co-Rapporteurs: Eider Gardiazabal Rubial, José Manuel Fernandes Presentation of working document PP-PAs are important tools for the formulation of political priorities and the introduction of new initiatives that, if proved successful, may turn into standing EU activities and programmes. As every year, the 2016 annual budgetary procedure contains a mechanism for agreeing on a package of new and ongoing pilot projects (PP) and preparatory actions (PA). The procedure starts with an exchange of views on the Commission First Interim Report on the Implementation of PP-PAs in the 2015 budget and a Working Document which describes the procedure for 2016. Out of the 57 pilot projects and preparatory actions, the interim report sets out the main elements for the implementation of 51 projects/actions totalling EUR 53.6 million in commitment appropriations. For 3 pilot projects/actions (representing a total amount of EUR 2 million in commitment appropriations), the Commission considers, in line with the position expressed in the letter of executability of 23 October 2014, that the proposed actions can be covered by an existing legal base; the Commission therefore proposes to transfer the appropriations to the relevant legal base s budget lines. For 2 projects/actions (representing a total amount of EUR 1 million in commitment appropriations), the Commission considers that appropriations voted under the 2015 budget may not be implemented as ongoing actions financed by previous years' appropriations already address the objectives set out for the action. Finally for one preparatory action, representing an amount of EUR 0.5 million in commitment appropriations, the Commission is at this stage still examining the possible options for the implementation of the action. Given the time needed by the Commission ahead of the financing decision, a specific procedure, including sending proposals for PP-PAs for pre-assessment to the Commission, has been implemented with fruitful results since 2011. An early dialogue will be started with the Commission to improve and clarify the implementation of proposed new and on-going projects and actions. Please note that if the proposals for pilot projects and preparatory actions are to become part of the budget and thereby finally authorized, they must also be tabled as budgetary amendments to the draft budget in September. Draft calendar: End of February First interim report from COM 1 April Presentation and discussion of COM interim report and EP working document on PP/PAs June DB and second interim report from COM (WD IV) 4 June, 12.00 Deadline for tabling indicative PP/PAs proposals for pre-assessment Early July Round back from pre-assessment 16 July Possible discussion of assessment report in BUDG 3 September Deadline for tabling budgetary AMs (committees + MEPs) 10 September Deadline for tabling budgetary AMs (political groups) 6
13. Estimates of revenue and expenditure for the financial year 2016 - Section I - Parliament Rapporteus: Gérard Deprez Consideration of amendments The Rapporteur will present to the committee the outcome of the conciliation meeting with the Bureau, held on 24th March in Brussels, at which BUDG and Bureau's delegations agreed on the general framework for the budget 2016, and will make a first analysis of the amendments tabled to his draft report. 84 amendments have been tabled. A second round of conciliation is scheduled for 14 April. In accordance with Coordinators' decision of 11 March, after the conciliation the Rapporteur is given the mandate to adjust the BUDG position through Rapporteur's amendments. Draft calendar: Date Body Event 9 March Bureau Consideration and adoption of the Bureau position on the preliminary draft estimates (STR) 16 March BUDG Presentation of the draft report in BUDG 19 March, 12:00 BUDG Deadline for AMs in BUDG AT4AM EN only 24 March and BUDG/ Conciliation with the Bureau 14 April Bureau 16 April BUDG Indicative vote on the BUDG draft report 27 April Bureau Adoption of the preliminary draft estimates (STR) 27 April at 21:00 BUDG Final vote in BUDG (STR) 29 April Plenary Plenary vote 14. Any other business 15. Next meeting : 16 April 2015 7