Avis juridique important

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31990D0354

90/354/Euratom, ECSC, EEC: Decision of the European Parliament of 3 April 1990 granting discharge to the Commission in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Communities for the financial year 1988 concerning Sections I - Parliament, II - Council, III - Commission, IV - Court of Justice and V - Court of Auditors

Official Journal L 174 , 07/07/1990 P. 0042 - 0051

*****DECISION  OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT  of 3 April 1990  granting discharge to the Commisison in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Communities for the financial year 1988 concerning Sections I - Parliament, II - Council, III - Commission, IV - Court of Justice and V - Court of Auditors  (90/354/Euratom, ECSC, EEC)  THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT,  - having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community and in particular Article 78g thereof,  - having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community and in particular Article 206b thereof,  - having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community and in particular Article 180b thereof,  - having regard to the budget for the financial year 1988,  - having regard to the revenue and expenditure accounts and the balance sheet relating to the financial year 1988,  - having regard to the report of the Court of Auditors concerning the financial year 1988 accompanied by the replies of the institutions (1),  - having regard to the Council recommendation of 12 March 1990 (Doc. C 3-83/90),  - having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgetary Control and the opinions of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs and Industrial Policy, the Committee on Energy, Research and Technology, the Committee on Social Affairs, Employment and the Working Environment, the Committee on Regional Policy and Regional Planning, the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Protection, the Committee on Youth, Culture, Education, the Media and Sport, the Committee on Development and Cooperation, the Committee on Women's Rights, the Committee on External Economic Relations and the Committee on Transport and Tourism (presented orally) (Doc. A 3-67/90),  1. Notes that authorized revenue and expenditure for the financial year 1988 totalled:  1.2.3 //  // (ECU)   // (ECU)   // - Revenue   //   // 43 844 949 426   // - Appropriations for commitments:   //   //   // - Appropriations authorized in the general budget   // 45 344 151 524   //   // - Appropriations remaining from the financial year 1987 or made available as a result of cancellations of commitments in the financial year 1988   // 712 608 215   //  // - Appropriations corresponding to revenue from services rendered to third parties   // 30 951 397  // 46 087 711 136  (1) OJ No C 312, 12. 12. 1989, p. 1.  2. Grants discharge to the Commission in respect of the implementation of the budget on the basis of the following amounts:  1.2.3 //  // (ECU)   // (ECU)   // (a) Revenue   //   //  // - Own resources   // 40 288 384 747   //   // - Financial contributions   // 211 379 795   //   // - Other revenue   // 1 343 652 575  //  //  //  // 41 843 417 117  // (b) Expenditure  //   //   // - Payments made for the financial year   // 40 301 897 311   //   // - Appropriations carried over to 1989  // 819 039 725  // 41 120 937 036  // (c) Balance for the financial year 1988   //   // + 1 140 058 832  // Calculated as follows:   //   //   // - Revenue for the financial year   //  // 41 843 417 117   // - Payments from the appropriations for the financial year   // 40 301 897 311   //   // - Appropriations carried over to 1989   // 819 039 725  // - 41 120 937 036  // Difference   //   // 722 480 081   // - Appropriations carried over from 1987 which have lapsed   //  // + 381 493 640   // - Exchange difference in the financial year 1988   //   // + 36 085 111  // Balance for the financial year 1988   //   // 1 140 058 832   // This balance reflects the accounting situation only and does not include expenditure actually incurred during this financial year   //   //   // (d) Utilization of appropriations for commitments   //   // 43 358 290 261  // (e) Balance sheet as at 31 December 1988:   //  //  (ECU)  1,2.3,4 //  //  // ASSETS  // LIABILITIES  //  // 1.2.3.4 // Fixed assets   // 10 020 908 237   // Fixed capital   // 12 386 459 644   // Inventories   // 67 823 372  // Current liabilities   // 4 732 228 899   // Current assets  // 2 281 652 314   // Cash accounts   // 433 311 894   // Cash accounts   // 5 134 945 078   // Accrued expenses   // 387 170 385   // Prepaid expenses   // 433 841 821   //   //   //  //   //   //   // Total  // 17 939 170 822   // Total  // 17 939 170 822   //    //   //   //  3. Records its comments in a resolution which forms an integral part of this Decision;  4. Instructs its President to forward this Decision and the resolution embodying its comments to the Commission, the Council, the Court of Justice, the Court of Auditors, the European Investment Bank and the bodies responsible for budgetary control in the national parliaments and to have them published in the Official Journal of the European Communities (L series).  Done at Strasbourg, 3 April 1990.  1.2 // The Secretary-General   // The President   // Enrico VINCI   // Enrique BARÓN CRESPO  // - Appropriations for payments   //   // 43 844 949 426  RESOLUTION  embodying the comments which form an integral part of the decision granting a discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Communities for the financial year 1988  THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT,  - having regard to Article 206b of the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community,  - having regard to Article 85 of the Financial Regulation of 21 December 1977 pursuant to which the Community institutions must take all appropriate steps to act on the comments appearing in the discharge decisions,  - whereas the same Article also requires the institutions to report, at the request of the European Parliament, on the measures taken in the light of Parliament's comments and, in particular, on the instructions given to those of their departments responsible for the implementation of the budget,  - having regard to the Council recommendation of 12 March 1990 (C 3-83/90),  - having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgetary Control and the other documents referred to in the discharge decision (Doc. A 3-67/90),  A. whereas the accounts for the financial year 1988 must be assessed in the light of the European Council decisions of 11 to 13 February 1988; whereas these decisions, which are of fundamental importance for the Community, created a framework for overcoming the grave crisis which had affected the Community's finances since 1982 and whereas the Commission, without detracting from the role of Parliament, the Council and the Member States, has played its full part in initiating action;  B. whereas these decisions have radically altered the conditions governing the drawing-up, implementation and control of the budget, in particular by strengthening the implementing powers of the Commission and whereas control by Parliament must therefore be stepped up, where appropriate in liaison with the national parliaments;  C. whereas the system of financial perspectives establishes for each financial year objectives linked to completion of the single market and economic cohesion; whereas the achievement of these objectives constitutes a yardstick for granting the discharge and assessing the manner in which the Commission has exercised its responsibilities within the meaning of Article 205 of the EEC Treaty,  I. Comments on the implementation of the budget, follow-up and control of actions financed  Problems in the implementation of the budget  1. Notes that the Commission has managed to take advantage of the more stringent provisions of the Financial Regulation concerning the annuality of appropriations which came into force in 1988 in that its management has resulted in a higher utilization rate for appropriations for commitments and for payments (with the exception of appropriations under the EAGGF Guarantee Section);  2. Stresses however that the reform, insofar as it imposes strict limits on the carry-over of appropriations, has resulted in an increase in cancellations of both appropriations for payment (more than ECU 800 million) and of commitment appropriations made available as a result of decommitments (more than ECU 700 million);  3. Considers that these cancellations highlight:  (a) management problems at national and Community level;  (b) the risk that the Community will fail to achieve the multiannual objectives laid down in the financial perspective, particularly as regards cohesion, should current trends persist;  (c) the need for the budgetary authority and the Commission to ensure that the financial perspectives are met in implementing the budget and, where appropriations are cancelled, to make the necessary adjustments pursuant to Articles 10 and 11 of the Interinstitutional Agreement;  4. Calls on the Commission to ensure the transparency of decisions on the carry-over of appropriations and the restoration of commitment appropriations, by setting out the reasons for such decisions;  5. Points out that too many budget headings, often amended by Parliament, have not been implemented satisfactorily and calls on the Commission to look into the reasons for this underutilization in order to improve not only global implementation of the budget but also the implementation of individual headings;  6. Asks its committees responsible to carry out ongoing checks during each financial year on the budget headings which concern them; 7. Deplores the fact that ECU 15 billion has been tied up as outstanding commitment appropriations, in many cases for very old projects, thereby denying funds to worthwhile projects; calls on the Commission;  (a) to strengthen and systematize its procedures for monitoring and closing files, particularly in the area of the Structural Funds, research and cooperation;  (b) to ensure the widespread application of Article 1 of the Financial Regulation as regards the duration of commitments entered into for multiannual projects, by keeping the possibilities of derogation to an absolute minimum;  8. Considers that although the balance of ECU 1 140 million has been calculated on the basis of the existing regulations it cannot be regarded as a true reflection of the implementation of the budget since it fails to take account of the late payment of ECU 1 638 million which should have been made by two Member States pursuant to the Interinstitutional Agreement of 1988;  9. Regrets that the Commission has not proposed that the positive balance for the financial year should be used for the early repayment of debts incurred in connection with the disposal of butter stocks, by amending Council Regulation (EEC) No 801/87 (1) and revising the financial perspective and calls on the Commission in future to submit proposals before the end of the financial year earmarking the balance for the early repayment of any debts falling due;  Problems of monitoring and control  10. Takes the view that gradual decentralization of management which the Commission has been introducing for a number of years, is not acceptable unless the Commission retains overall responsibility and takes the necessary action to ensure the uniformity and effectiveness of the projects financed;  11. Frequently notes in this connection that to date the decentralization of management has resulted in less stringent monitoring and control of actions managed at national level, as regards:  (a) the common agricultural policy where the early warning system and procedures for clearance of accounts are not yet meeting all the objectives assigned to them;  (b) the structural policies, owing to shortcomings in assessment, monitoring and control on the spot and coordination with the national authorities;  (c) research, which is sometimes impeded by difficulties in monitoring the implementation of scientific programmes and adjusting projects to new developments;  (d) development aid where procedures are cumbersome or there are no standard procedures for monitoring or closing files;  (e) own resources, where shortcomings in monitoring the application of the Sixth Directive and inadequate checks on claims arising from VAT and on the national accounts for traditional own resources have resulted in amounts due to the Community being written off;  12. Considers that the fact of the Commission abdicating its responsibilities as regards implementation and management of the budget, as was the case for quotas and levies in the dairy sector, could jeopardize the achievement of the objectives of market integration and economic cohesion set for 1993;  13. Proposes that if the principle of subsidiarity is to continue to be interpreted as subordination to national policies and authorities, it should be replaced by the concept of partnership which implies that the Commission has full responsibility for actions covered by decentralized management;  14. Takes the view that the use of Community funds in third countries which do not have adequate administrative structures should be subject to concomitant checks by the Court of Auditors; takes the view that this requirement must be enshrined in the agreements concluded by the European Community and the third countries concerned; directs the Court of Auditors to report to it semiannually on implementation of aid to Eastern Europe;  II. Comments on the management of individual sectors  Own resources  15. Stresses that the inertia or weakness of the Commission in cases where which Community regulations have been incorrectly applied at national level amount to an abdication of its responsibilities pursuant to Article 205 of the Treaty and insists therefore that the Commission take recourse to necessary actions within the legal framework of the institutions;  16. Deplores the serious shortcomings found in the sector of VAT and traditional own resources, such as:  (a) the inadequate system for checking whether national legislation complies with the Sixth VAT Directive;  (b) the delays in taking appropriate action in the event of disagreement with a Member State as regards the existence and establishment of amounts deriving from VAT, inadequate checks on the amounts paid follo  wing rectifications, delays in imposing interest on late payments or failure to issue recovery orders;  (c) the lack of a monitoring programme for the recovery of traditional own resources; inadequate coordination between national and Community checks;  (d) lack of information on the establishment and making available of own resources;  (e) shortcomings in the Community transit system where there are no criteria for checking goods subject to tariffs and the operating rules are not applied by the Member States or the custom authorities;  (f) problems of applying Community rules on repayments and remissions of import or export duties, incomplete customs declarations and the inward processing arrangements;  17. Calls on the Commission to take into account the provisions of Annex VII of Parliament's Rules of Procedure and inform Parliament of any differences, problems and infringements that occur so that the Committee on Budgetary Control may draw the relevant conclusions;  18. Deplores the fact that as a result of these shortcomings the Commission is unable to ensure that the own resources made available to the Community correspond to the amounts due to it;  19. Calls on the Commission correctly to assess the amount of own resources which must be made available, propose any corrections that may be necessary and justify such deviations from the normal method of calculation;  20. Demands that the Commission shows outstanding debtors of own resources on the Community's balance sheet, indicating Member State (or States) involved;  21. Stresses that the adoption of Regulation (EEC) No 1552/89 on the application of Decision 88/376/EEC, Euratom on the Community system of own resources (1) will, for the first time, allow autonomous inspections to be conducted in the Member States and more detailed information to be forwarded to the Community on cases of fraud and irregularities and the measures taken by national authorities; urges the Commission, furthermore, to increase the overall effectiveness of controls and systematically to audit the financial results of inspections;  22. Points out that the two proposals for Council regulations on measures to simplify the Community transit system should make it easier to recover customs duties by abolishing the transit advice note and calls on the Council to accept their responsibility and adopt the regulations on measures to simplify the Community transit system;  23. Calls on the Commission to include in its proposal for a European customs code provisions on the standardization of customs formalities, the simplification of procedures and measures required to combat irregularities and fraud;  24. Calls on the Commission to ensure that the adoption of these new legal bases are accompanied by uniform and complete translation of Community law into national, legal and administrative provisions, an improvement in the quantity and quality of accounting and financial data forwarded by the Member States and the introduction of procedures capable of ensuring that the Communities' own resources are properly established, collected and taken into account and in this regard instructs the Commission to report to the Committee on Budgetary Control by 1 November 1990 on the legal steps taken to fulfil the demands of the European Parliament; calls on the Commission to pursue its efforts to establish a common and more transparent budgetary nomenclature and to ensure that the accountancy data concerning own resources which the Member States forward to the Commission is presented in a more detailed manner;  EAGGF Guarantee Section: problems across the board  25. Notes with satisfaction that the introduction of agricultural stabilizers and the special scheme for disposal of butter stocks brought about a sharp reduction in the book value of stocks;  26. Believes, however, that the overall savings achieved in the EAGGF Guarantee Section in 1988 are due as much to favourable circumstances (change in the US dollar-ecu exchange rate and world market trends) as to the effect of the newly introduced budget discipline measures;  27. Calls on the Commission, therefore, to take the following measures to tighten the control of agricultural spending:  (a) the monthly reports submitted under the early warning system should be supplemented by short and medium-term forecasts of production and market trends so that action can be taken rapidly where there is any risk of forecasts being exceeded;  (b) the Commission is invited to submit proposals to strengthen its powers relating to agricultural stabilizers;  (c) the Commission must take action in response to any persistent deviation from the expenditure profile by chapter, as set out in Article 6 of Council Decision 88/377/EEC of 24 June 1988 on budgetary discipline (1); management confined to ensuring that the agricultural guideline is respected as a whole, thus  enabling imbalances in certain sectors to be offset by savings in other areas, would be in breach of Article 39 of the Treaty, which cites stabilizing markets as one of the objectives of the CAP;  28. Intends to carry out a detailed investigation of the reasons for the shortcomings and delays in the procedure for clearance of EAGGF Guarantee Section accounts;  29. Notes the sharp increase in irregularities and fraud reported by the Member States and the proportionate fall in the amounts recovered;  30. Deplores the fact that the Commission does not provide adequate information on the financial implications of its investigations, particularly as regards the recovery of amounts improperly paid;  31. Calls on the Unit for the coordination of fraud prevention to continue the work it has undertaken in 1989 at four levels:  (a) checks, by increasing the number of investigations carried out pursuant to Article 9 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 729/70 (1);  (b) standardization proposals; submission of a European customs code, review of the provisions for the control of export refunds, adoption of a regulation on checks on commercial documents of beneficiaries and debtors of the EAGGF Guarantee Section;  (c) administrative rationalization: simplification of the system of different refunds and review of the proof of arrival of agricultural products at their final destination;  (d) regulations: insists that the Commission draw up proposals for regulations which provide a deterrent to fraud in the form of administrative penalties and in any case insists that the Commission uses the powers at its disposal to deduct amounts due to the Community budget from allocations to be paid to Member States as penalties for abuse of the Community funds;  32. Calls on the Council to adopt the Community Crimes Treaty which has been before Council since 1976 and which would go some way toward protecting the Community's financial interests and combatting fraud and asks the Council to commence examination of the following outstanding legislation:  - draft for a Treaty amending the Treaties establishing the European Communities so as to permit the adoption of common rules on the protection under criminal law of the financial interests of the Communities and the prosecution of infringements of the provisions of those Treaties,  - draft for a Treaty amending the Treaty establishing a single Council and a single Commission of the European Communities so as to permit the adoption of common rules on the liability and protection under criminal law of officials and other servants of the European Communities,  - proposal for a Council Regulation (EEC) on the strengthening of controls on the application of Community rules on agricultural products,  - amendment to the proposal for a Council Regulation (EEC) on the strengthening of controls on the application of Community rules on agricultural products;  EAGGF Guarantee Section: problems in specific sectors  33. Calls on the Commission to report to Parliament by 1 October 1990 on:  (a) the economic impact of co-responsibility levies in the cereals sector with regard to the objectives of stabilizing budgetary expenditure which they were intended to meet;  (b) the problems created for accounting and budgetary administration by the fact that these levies have the status of negative expenditure;  (c) trends in expenditure in the sector since the introduction of the levies, and in the economic parameters which are the cause of such expenditure (production, stocks, exports, etc.);  (d) the date of collection of co-responsibility levies in the various Member States;  34. Approves the efforts made by the Commission and the national authorities to tighten controls, apply sanctions and to recover amounts wrongly paid out in connection with production aid for durum wheat, and calls on the Commission to adjust the level of production aid to the state of the market;  35. Intends to review the question of the financial neutrality of the sugar sector in the light of the communications from the Commission and the Court of Auditors;  36. Notes the alarming deterioration seen in recent months with respect to the artificial trade patterns affecting sugar exports which exploit different methods of customs control and fluctuations in exchange rates; notes that such diversions of trade both distort the conditions of competition and result in losses to the Community budget which the Court of Auditors estimates at ECU 10 million for the sugar sector; calls, therefore, on the Commission to take energetic action to end this phenomenon;  37. Is highly alarmed by the fact that sample checks carried out by the Commission concerning the quality of olive oil in intervention revealed that in 93 % of the cases examined the quality found was lower than that which was declared and calls on the Commission to ensure that the quality control tests on olive oil taken into intervention are carried out on entry to the storage facilities;  38. Asks the Commission to use subsidies and guaranteed prices to restore equilibrium to the tobacco market where there is overproduction of varieties for which there is no demand;  39. Calls on the Commission to submit proposals amending the common organization of the market in the fruit and vegetables sector to encourage organizations to make efforts to seek outlets for their production on national and international markets rather than relying on withdrawals from the market;  40. Asks the Commission to review the price system for the distillation of wine to curb the growth in stocks;  41. Condemns the Commission's attitude to the problems of milk quotas and the serious infringements noted in the financial years 1984/85 and 1985/86; considers that the decision not to pursue the actions against five Member States out of six and the adoption of Regulations excusing retroactively the infringements which have been established meant:  (a) a loss of ECU 520 million, which was borne by adjustments which the Commission planned to make in clearance of the 1986 accounts and which represent the budgetary impact of the incorrect application of the quota regulation;  (b) violation of the principle of equal treatment for all Member States and all categories of purchasers and producers concerned;  42. Calls on the Commission, once the Council has adopted the two proposals concerning the amounts granted on export of agricultural products in general and the adoption of new rules governing export refunds for beef and veal, to implement the new control measures in the beef and veal sector and to report to Parliament in due course on their effectiveness;  43. Calls on the Commission to take the necessary measures to tighten up controls on the ewe premium and to report to Parliament;  Structural policy: Structural funds, borrowing and lending operations, transport policy and sexual equality  44. Takes the view that, in the process of carrying through the structural fund reform, the Commission will encounter the same problems which typified structural operations up until 1988, such as the fact that fund resources are spread too thinly and that, overall, the funding has little impact on the economies of the regions concerned, inadequate selection, monitoring and checking procedures in respect of operations leading to an increase in outstanding commitments, the cancellation of appropriations and irregularities; the lack of additionality and lack of real impact of funding on decisions to invest;  45. Calls upon the Commission to make full use of the scope afforded by the new rules (laying down of strategic objectives; project selection, monitoring and checking on the basis of the partnership arrangements, Community support frameworks and operational programmes; collaboration with the Court of Auditors to lay down criteria for ex post assessments) in order to ensure that the Community's structural operations are a genuinely effective means of realizing objectives with regard to cohesion;  46. Suggests to the Commission that monitoring and checks carried out as part of the reform of the funds should be based on the following criteria;  (a) progress will have to be assessed with regard not only to implementation of a programme as a whole, but also to the regularity of all the operations financed under a given programme;  (b) the Commission should define more clearly the monitoring criteria to be applied by the committees provided for in Title VIII of the coordination regulation and should ensure that these committees are closely involved in monitoring Community support frameworks;  (c) the provisions of Article 1 (3) (a) of the Financial Regulation (time-limit for the implementation of legal commitments for measures extending over more than one financial year) should be enforced to prevent funds from being tied up in the future;  (d) the Commission should take advantage of the scope provided by Article 23 of the coordination regulation to carry out on-the-spot checks without advance notice;  (e) particular attention should be paid to coordinating the various subsidies and coordinating the latter with lending instruments;  47. Calls on the Court of Auditors to submit a special report on the application of the principle of additionality to the Structural Funds;  48. Will monitor how the assistance programmes for the development of the Portuguese economy are managed (pre-accession aid, Pedap, Pedip) to ensure that the action taken is consistent with objectives and that the Portuguese economy is fully integrated into the European market; 49. Believes that the instances of cancellation of commitments entered into in 1988 under the Social Fund, involving a total of some ECU 500 million, underline the seriousness of the management problems affecting the Fund at both national and Community level, in particular where project selection and monitoring are concerned;  50. Urges the Commission to reduce the period required to recover advances wrongly paid by the Social Fund and to charge interest when repayment is delayed, pursuant to Article 24 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 4253/88 (1);  51. Notes that the programme approach to the implementation of specific Social Fund projects has failed and considers that this failure cast serious doubt on the Commission's ability to use the broader programme-based approach provided for within the framework of the reform of the Fund;  52. Deplores the failure of the overall programme for the psychiatric hospital on Leros and calls on the Commission:  (a) to report within six months on progress in the implementation of Greece's general health reform programme;  (b) to request the Greek authorities to reimburse all Community payments made in error for a project not carried out on Leros;  (c) to make any further grants to the health reform programme conditional upon the setting-up of monitoring committees as provided for under Council Regulation (EEC) No 4130/88 (2) and on the implementation of the revised psychiatric programme;  53. Instructs its Committee on Budgetary Control to carry out, in collaboration with the other committees responsible, concurrent monitoring as to how the reform is put into effect and to conduct an assessment of the first stage of this reform as soon as the Commission has submitted the report referred to in Article 16 of the framework Regulation on the Structural Funds;  54. Will analyse the simplified nomenclature introduced by the Commission for headings relating to the Structural Funds to ensure the transparency of implementation of the budget within the framework of the reform;  55. Underlines that closer coordination between aid and loans will guarantee the greatest possible synergistic effect in implementing structural policy but considers that to this end rationalization is required in the borrowing and lending sector; notes with satisfaction that some measure of progress has been achieved, namely:  (a) an agreement between the Court of Auditors and the EIB with regard to the audit of NCI operations in the countries of the recipients;  (b) an agreement between the Commission and the EIB relieving the Community budget of any risks relating to the differences between the NCI Treasury's credit and debit balances;  (c) improvement in the efficiency and transparency of the management of borrowings in a number of fields (internal rules, management methodology, internal control, procedures for calling for tenders and for the negotiation of borrowings and refinancing);  56. Will keep careful track of the implementation of the Commission's future measures to improve the regularity and transparency of the structures assigned to the management of loans;  57. Will consider the possibility of improving the budgetary structure of the various financial instruments in accordance with more directly political criteria;  58. Awaits the study which the Commission is to submit on the entering of loans and borrowings in the budget and the Commission's proposals;  59. Calls on the Commission to promote a Community transport policy underpinned by adequate budget appropriations and by the creation of a legal basis to finance major European transport routes and coordinating transport policy with the regional and structural policy priorities of the Community;  60. Calls on the Court of Auditors to draw up a separate report on Community expenditure on women's rights and to include a chapter on it every year in its annual report; calls on the Commission to publish annually a report on this;  Research, energy, environment  61. Notes that the greater degree of annuality of the budget did not adversely affect implementation of the research budget in terms of commitment appropriations; points out, however, that ECU 59 300 000 of the year's payment appropriations was cancelled and calls on the Commission to implement a more dynamic form of budgetary management to ensure that the greatest possible volume of available appropriations is used by the end of a financial year;  62. Believes that the long-standing difficulty in ensuring full outturn of the appropriations entered in Chapter 73 stems from the difficulty of reconciling the annuality of the budget with the multiannual nature of the research framework programme; calls therefore, on the Commission to obviate this problem by means of transfers of allocations within the financial perspective, as provided for in Article 11 of the Interinstitutional Agreement;  63. Calls on the Commission to take steps to reduce the growing weight of outstanding commitments, evidence of the failure to keep funded projects under proper review; calls in particular on the Commission to monitor all phases of implementation of a funded scientific programme, withholding funding from all projects which, once under way, prove unsatisfactory and adapting the conditions of funding of each project to take account of its scientific and operational development;  64. Believes that the volume of work carried out by the JRC for third parties will testify to the excellence of the Centre's activities but fears that it is highly unlikely that the goal of generating ECU 130 million in revenue in the period from 1988 to 1991 can be attained; calls on the Commission to provide the JRC with enough qualified staff to develop its marketing strategy;  65. Will keep the restructuring of the Joint Research Centre, which began late in 1988, under close review and calls on the Commission to place the new institute-based management system on a footing of institute accountability, by means of continuous monitoring of mangagement to identify discrepancies between forecasts and work carried out, on the basis of direct charging of costs to each institute; calls, to that end, on the JRC management to probe more deeply in its study of the organization of budgetary management, using computerization where appropriate;  66. Will examine the communication to be submitted by the Commission to Parliament and the Council on the measures to be taken to improve management efficiency and points out, even at this stage, that a series of measures will have to be taken to tackle the deficiencies affecting indirect-action research as regards the protracted decision-making process, the legal treatment of ownership, overlapping between the Directorates-General responsible for research, comitology, project monitoring, and payment;  67. Beleives that fraud or irregularities are possible in the research sector too, in particular as a result of artificial inflation of costs, and calls, therefore, on the Commission to draw up a typology of costs to enable the units negotiating a contract to determine the actual costs of the projects;  68. Calls on the Commission to charge the management costs for environment budget headings to its operating budget;  69. Calls on the Court of Auditors to draw up a special report on Community spending in the environment sector and to devote a special chapter of its annual report to this field; calls on the Commission to publish an annual report on the environment;  Information policy  70. Calls on the Commission to draw up a single operational programme covering all the information, communications and cultural activities as part of a document listing all the relevant budget headings to be submitted to Parliament, which will make an assessment within the framework of the budgetary and discharge procedures;  71. Considers that coordination between the various Commission Directorates-General engaged in information activities and between the central administration and the external offices is vital to prevent duplication of work and to strengthen existing forms of collaboration;  72. Calls on the Commission to undertake a cost-benefit analysis for information programmes to which financial resources are committed and to include the findings in the preliminary draft budget and in its operational programme;  Development aid and food aid  73. Deplores the significant increase in outstanding commitments under Title 9 of the budget and calls on the Commission to adopt a more dynamic financial management, in particular by making systematic use of the procedure for automatic closure of dormant files used for projects under Chapter 93;  74. Notes that the budgetary management of Chapter 93 for aid to Latin American and Asian developing countries has seen serious delays in the funding of projects and calls on the Commission to take the following action to remedy the situation:  (a) redeployment of delegation staff (still inadequate) and central staff (often overlapping of work);  (b) changeover from committee procedures which result in major operational delays to a system of advisory committees;  (c) investigation of the possibility of reducing the excessive number of annual projects funded and drawing up multiannual programmes;  75. Calls on the Commission to pay greater attention to sound budgetary management of Article 936 (aid to refugees), by drawing up rules for the selection, management and monitoring of projects;  76. Calls on the Commission to submit within six months of the date of the discharge decision, an analysis of the impact of the new mobilization scheme for food aid;  77. Considers that the declaration of the three institutions annexed to the revised Financial Regulation could provide the basis for a much-needed and lasting solution to the problem of the pipeline between Chapters 29 and 92 of the budget; 78. Deplores the fact that the management and utilization problems which have arisen with the counterpart funds have not yet been solved and that proceeds from sales, often less than the actual value of the aid, are sometimes used to finance public sector deficits; consequently calls on the Commission to tighten up the clauses in the agreements concerning deadlines to ensure that the commercial value of the aid is charged to specific accounts;  Administrative expenditure  79. Notes that there were major cancellations in the budgets of the Court of Auditors and the Court of Justice and calls on these institutions to make more accurate forecasts of their budgets;  80. Strongly urges the institutions with a permanent seat to purchase their buildings;  81. Notes that the Court of Justice has begun the procedure for filling the new post of Deputy Financial Controller entered in the 1990 establishment plan;  82. Considers it vital to carry out a study of the degree of independence enjoyed by the financial controllers of the institutions in exercising their duties and calls on the Court of Auditors, for this purpose, to provide Parliament with an analytical table of all the decisions to overrule a refusal to approve expenditure in each institution for the period 1984 to 1988 inclusive; requests that such a table should henceforward be sent to Parliament each year, for the previous financial year, before the beginning of the discharge procedure; insists that, for any case where the visa of the Financial Controller of any institution is refused, and where the President of that institution overrules the refusal, all supporting documents, including the reasons for refusal, provided by the Financial Controller, be submitted to its Committee on Budgetary Control;  83. Asks the Commission to report at the earliest opportunity on the forthcoming reform of the Joint Sickness Insurance Scheme; also asks that negotiations be opened with medical associations in Brussels, Luxembourg and Ispra on rules relating to fees;  84. Calls on the Court of Auditors to notify Parliament of the action taken to ensure independent monitoring of the mission expenses of its Members;  Problems across the board  System of internal control  85. Will continue its study of the suggestions made by the Court of Auditors concerning internal control by the institutions so as to draw conclusions for any future revision of the Financial Regulation;  Flow of information to the discharge authority  86. Calls on the Court of Auditors in its annual report to devote:  (a) at least one paragraph of each chapter to an analysis of the implementation of the budget in the sector concerned;  (b) one chapter to each of the areas included in the Court's annual programme of work, so that all Community policies within a period not exceeding the period needed to implement a four-year working programme are subject to an audit by the Court;  87. Requests the court of Auditors to draw up a special report on expenditure on environmental policy;  88. Calls on the Commission to include in Volume I of its revenue and expenditure account (financial analysis) a detailed analysis of the state of implementation of appropriations and the reasons for underutilization;  Relations with the national parliaments  89. Considers that it is vital to establish a system of coordination with the national parliaments in order to identify common problems and to pursue parallel action at the level of the Community system and the internal legal and administrative systems of the Member States in a number of areas of common interest such as:  (a) the transposition of Community legislation into national law;  (b) the management and control of administrative machinery set up at national level to implement Community policies;  (c) preparatory work (selection and proposal) carried out by the national authorities when considering the projects and programmes to be submitted for Community funding.  European Schools and European University Institute  90. Thinks that its Committee on Budgetary Control should examine the relationship between the Joint Sickness Insurance Scheme of the European Communities and the sickness insurance applied to teachers at the European School and at the European University Institute in Florence;  91. Calls on the Commission and the Board of Governors to intervene urgently with the Italian authorities so as to arrive at a solution designed to make available without further delay the funds needed for repair and maintenance of buildings at the European School in Varese.  (1) OJ No L 79, 22. 3. 1987, p. 14.  (1) OJ No L 155, 7. 6. 1989, p. 1.  (2) OJ No L 185, 15. 7. 1988, p. 29.  (1) OJ No L 94, 28. 4. 1970, p. 13.  (1) OJ No L 374, 31. 12. 1988, p. 1.  (2) OJ No L 362, 30. 12. 1988, p. 1.( c ) investigation of the possibility of reducing the excessive number of annual projects funded and drawing up multiannual programmes;  75 . Calls on the Commission to pay greater attention to sound budgetary management of Article 936 ( aid to refugees ), by drawing up rules for the selection, management and monitoring of projects;  76 . Calls on the Commission to submit within six months of the date of the discharge decision, an analysis of the impact of the new mobilization scheme for food aid;  77 . Considers that the declaration of the three institutions annexed to the revised Financial Regulation could provide the basis for a much-needed and lasting solution to the problem of the pipeline between Chapters 29 and 92 of the budget;  78 . Deplores the fact that the management and utilization problems which have arisen with the counterpart funds have not yet been solved and that proceeds from sales, often less than the actual value of the aid, are sometimes used to finance public sector deficits; consequently calls on the Commission to tighten up the clauses in the agreements concerning deadlines to ensure that the commercial value of the aid is charged to specific accounts;  Administrative expenditure  79 . Notes that there were major cancellations in the budgets of the Court of Auditors and the Court of Justice and calls on these institutions to make more accurate forecasts of their budgets;  80 . Strongly urges the institutions with a permanent seat to purchase their buildings;  81 . Notes that the Court of Justice has begun the procedure for filling the new post of Deputy Financial Controller entered in the 1990 establishment plan;  82 . Considers it vital to carry out a study of the degree of independence enjoyed by the financial controllers of the institutions in exercising their duties and calls on the Court of Auditors, for this purpose, to provide Parliament with an analytical table of all the decisions to overrule a refusal to approve expenditure in each institution for the period 1984 to 1988 inclusive; requests that such a table should henceforward be sent to Parliament each year, for the previous financial year, before the beginning of the discharge procedure; insists that, for any case where the visa of the Financial Controller of any institution is refused, and where the President of that institution overrules the refusal, all supporting documents, including the reasons for refusal, provided by the Financial Controller, be submitted to its Committee on Budgetary Control;  83 . Asks the Commission to report at the earliest opportunity on the forthcoming reform of the Joint Sickness Insurance Scheme; also asks that negotiations be opened with medical associations in Brussels, Luxembourg and Ispra on rules relating to fees;  84 . Calls on the Court of Auditors to notify Parliament of the action taken to ensure independent monitoring of the mission expenses of its Members;  Problems across the board  System of internal control  85 . Will continue its study of the suggestions made by the Court of Auditors concerning internal control by the institutions so as to draw conclusions for any future revision of the Financial Regulation;  Flow of information to the discharge authority  86 . Calls on the Court of Auditors in its annual report to devote :  ( a ) at least one paragraph of each chapter to an analysis of the implementation of the budget in the sector concerned;  ( b ) one chapter to each of the areas included in the Court's annual programme of work, so that all Community policies within a period not exceeding the period needed to implement a four-year working programme are subject to an audit by the Court;  87 . Requests the court of Auditors to draw up a special report on expenditure on environmental policy;  88 . Calls on the Commission to include in Volume I of its revenue and expenditure account ( financial analysis ) a detailed analysis of the state of implementation of appropriations and the reasons for underutilization;  Relations with the national parliaments  89 . Considers that it is vital to establish a system of coordination with the national parliaments in order to identify common problems and to pursue parallel action at the level of the Community system and the internal legal and administrative systems of the Member States in a number of areas of common interest such as :  ( a ) the transposition of Community legislation into national law;  ( b ) the management  and control of administrative machinery set up at national level to implement Community policies;  ( c ) preparatory work ( selection and proposal ) carried out by the national authorities when considering the projects and programmes to be submitted for Community funding .  European Schools and European University Institute  90 . Thinks that its Committee on Budgetary Control should examine the relationship between the Joint Sickness Insurance Scheme of the European Communities and the sickness insurance applied to teachers at the European School and at the European University Institute in Florence;  91 . Calls on the Commission and the Board of Governors to intervene urgently with the Italian authorities so as to arrive at a solution designed to make available without further delay the funds needed for repair and maintenance of buildings at the European School in Varese .  ( 1 ) OJ No L 79, 22 . 3 . 1987, p . 14 .  ( 1 ) OJ No L 155, 7 . 6 . 1989, p . 1 .  ( 2 ) OJ No L 185, 15 . 7 . 1988, p . 29 .  ( 1 ) OJ No L 94, 28 . 4 . 1970, p . 13 .  ( 1 ) OJ No L 374, 31 . 12 . 1988, p . 1 .  ( 2 ) OJ No L 362, 30 . 12 . 1988, p . 1 .


Avis juridique important

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31980D0896

80/896/EEC, Euratom: Council Decision of 15 September 1980 appointing a member of the Economic and Social Committee

Official Journal L 255 , 30/09/1980 P. 0014 - 0014

****      COUNCIL DECISION   OF 15 SEPTEMBER 1980   APPOINTING A MEMBER OF THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE  ( 80/896/EEC , EURATOM )   THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES ,   HAVING REGARD TO THE TREATY ESTABLISHING THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY , AND IN PARTICULAR ARTICLES 193 TO 195 THEREOF ,   HAVING REGARD TO THE TREATY ESTABLISHING THE EUROPEAN ATOMIC ENERGY COMMUNITY , AND IN PARTICULAR ARTICLES 165 TO 167 THEREOF ,   HAVING REGARD TO THE CONVENTION ON CERTAIN INSTITUTIONS COMMON TO THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES , AND IN PARTICULAR ARTICLE 5 THEREOF ,   HAVING REGARD TO THE COUNCIL DECISION OF 19 SEPTEMBER 1978 APPOINTING THE MEMBERS OF THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE FOR THE PERIOD ENDING ON 18 SEPTEMBER 1982 ,   WHEREAS A SEAT ON THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE HAS BECOME VACANT FOLLOWING THE RESIGNATION OF MR FASSINA , WHICH WAS NOTIFIED TO THE COUNCIL ON 9 SEPTEMBER 1980 ;   HAVING REGARD TO THE NOMINATIONS SUBMITTED ON 9 SEPTEMBER 1980 ,   HAVING OBTAINED THE OPINION OF THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES ,   HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS :   SOLE ARTICLE   MR DANILO BERETTA IS HEREBY APPOINTED A MEMBER OF THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE IN PLACE OF MR FASSINA FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE LATTER ' S TERM OF OFFICE , WHICH RUNS UNTIL 18 SEPTEMBER 1982 .   DONE AT BRUSSELS , 15 SEPTEMBER 1980 .   FOR THE COUNCIL   THE PRESIDENT   G . THORN


Avis juridique important

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31995D0436

95/436/EC: Council Decision of 23 October 1995 appointing an alternate member of the Committee of the Regions

Official Journal L 257 , 27/10/1995 P. 0036 - 0036

COUNCIL DECISION of 23 October 1995 appointing an alternate  member of the Committee of the Regions (95/436/EC)THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN  UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 198a  thereof, Having regard to the Council Decision 94/65/EC of 26 January 1994 appointing members and alternate  members of the Committee of the Regions for the period 26 January 1994 to 25 January 1998  (1), Whereas a seat as an alternate member on the Committee has become vacant following the resignation  of Mr Juan José García Escribano, notified to the Council on 12 July 1995; Having regard to the proposal from the Spanish Government, HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS: Sole Article Mr Antonio Gómez Fayrén is hereby appointed an alternate member of  the Committee of the Regions in place of Mr Juan José García Escribano for the remainder of the  latter's term of office, which runs until 25 January 1998. Done at Luxembourg, 23 October 1995. For the Council The President P. SOLBES MIRA


Avis juridique important

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31992D0351

92/351/EEC: Council Decision of 15 June 1992 on the conclusion of the Agreement in the form of an exchange of letters between the European Economic Community and the Kingdom of Morocco fixing the additional amount to be deducted from the levy on imports into the Community of untreated olive oil, originating in Morocco, for the period 1 November 1987 to 31 December 1993

Official Journal L 192 , 11/07/1992 P. 0057

COUNCIL DECISION  of 15 June 1992  on the conclusion of the Agreement in the form of an exchange of letters between the European Economic Community and the Kingdom of Morocco fixing the additional amount to be deducted from the levy on imports  into the Community of untreated olive oil, originating in Morocco, for the period 1 November 1987 to 31 December 1993  (92/351/EEC)THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,  Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, and in particular Article 113 thereof,  Having regard to the Cooperation Agreement between the European Economic Community and the Kingdom of Morocco (1), which entered into force on 1 November 1978, and in particular to Annex B thereto,  Having regard to the recommendation from the Commission,  Whereas it is necessary to approve the Agreement in the form of an exchange of letters between the European Economic Community and the Kingdom of Morocco fixing the additional amount to be deducted from the levy on imports into the Community of  untreated olive oil, falling within CN codes 1509 10 10, 1509 10 90 and 1510 00 10 and originating in Morocco, for the period 1 November 1987 to 31 December 1993,  HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:  Article 1  The Agreement in the form of an exchange of letters between the European Economic Community and the Kingdom of Morocco fixing the additional amount to be deducted from the levy on imports into the Community of untreated olive oil falling  within CN codes 1509 10 10, 1509 10 90 and 1510 00 10 and originating in Morocco for the period 1 November 1987 to 31 December 1993, is hereby approved on behalf of the Community.  The text of the Agreement is annexed to this Decision.  Article 2  The President of the Council is hereby authorized to designate the person empowered to sign the Agreement for the purpose of binding the Community.  Article 3  This Decision shall take effect on the day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities. Done at Luxembourg, 15 June 1992. For the Council  The President  Joao PINHEIRO   (1) OJ No L 264, 27. 9. 1978, p. 2.


title: 2011/842/EU: Council Decision of 13 December 2011 on the full application of the provisions of the Schengen acquis in the Principality of Liechtenstein

text:
               16.12.2011

               EN

               Official Journal of the European Union

               L 334/27

         COUNCIL DECISION
   of 13 December 2011
   on the full application of the provisions of the Schengen acquis in the Principality of Liechtenstein
   (2011/842/EU)
   THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
   Having regard to the Protocol between the European Union, the European Community, the Swiss Confederation and the Principality of Liechtenstein on the accession of the Principality of Liechtenstein to the Agreement between the European Union, the European Community and the Swiss Confederation on the Swiss Confederation’s association with the implementation, application and development of the Schengen acquis
       (1) and in particular Article 10(1) thereof,
   Whereas:

               (1)

               Article 10(1) of the said Protocol provides for the provisions of the Schengen acquis to be put into effect for the Principality of Liechtenstein pursuant to a decision of the Council to that effect after the Council has satisfied itself that the necessary conditions for the implementation of that acquis have been fulfilled by Liechtenstein.

               (2)

               The Council, having verified that the preconditions for the application of the data protection part of the Schengen acquis concerned had been fulfilled by the Principality of Liechtenstein, rendered, by Decision 2011/352/EU (2), provisions of the Schengen acquis relating to the Schengen Information System applicable to the Principality of Liechtenstein from 9 June 2011.

               (3)

               The Council has verified, in accordance with the applicable Schengen evaluation procedures as set out in the Decision of the Executive Committee of 16 September 1998 setting up a Standing Committee on the evaluation and implementation of Schengen (SCH/Com-ex (98) 26 def.) (3), whether the necessary conditions for the application of the Schengen acquis have been met in all other areas of the Schengen acquis in the Principality of Liechtenstein.

               (4)

               On 13 December 2011, the Council concluded that the conditions in each of the areas mentioned had been fulfilled by the Principality of Liechtenstein.

               (5)

               It is possible to set the date for the application of the Schengen acquis in full by the Principality of Liechtenstein, that is to say the date from which checks on persons at the internal borders with the Principality of Liechtenstein should be lifted.

               (6)

               From that date, the restrictions on the use of the Schengen Information System, provided for in Decision 2011/352/EU, should be lifted.

               (7)

               In accordance with Article 15 of the Agreement between the European Community and the Swiss Confederation concerning the criteria and mechanisms for establishing the State responsible for examining a request for asylum lodged in a Member State or in Switzerland (4) and with Article 8 of the Protocol between the European Community, the Swiss Confederation and the Principality of Liechtenstein on the accession of the Principality of Liechtenstein to the Agreement between the European Community and the Swiss Confederation concerning the criteria and mechanisms for establishing the State responsible for examining a request for asylum lodged in a Member State or in Switzerland (5), the latter Agreement has been implemented from 7 March 2011.

               (8)

               The Agreement between the Principality of Liechtenstein and the Kingdom of Denmark concerning the implementation, application and development of the Schengen acquis that are based on provisions under Title V of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, signed at Brussels on 18 March 2011, stipulates that it shall be put into effect on the same date as the provisions referred to in Article 2 of the Protocol are put into effect for the Principality of Liechtenstein.

               (9)

               In accordance with the second subparagraph of Article 15(1) of the Agreement between the European Union, the European Community and the Swiss Confederation on the Swiss Confederation’s association with the implementation, application and development of the Schengen acquis
                   (6) and as a result of the partial application of the Schengen acquis by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland provided for in Council Decision 2004/926/EC of 22 December 2004 on the putting into effect of parts of the Schengen acquis by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (7),and in particular the first subparagraph of Article 1 thereof, only part of the provisions of the Schengen acquis applicable to the Principality of Liechtenstein in its relations with Member States applying the Schengen acquis in full is to apply in the relations of the Principality of Liechtenstein with the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

               (10)

               In accordance with the third subparagraph of Article 15(1) of the Agreement between the European Union, the European Community and the Swiss Confederation on the Swiss Confederation’s association with the implementation, application and development of the Schengen acquis and as a result of the partial application of the Schengen acquis by the Republic of Cyprus, on the basis of Article 3(2) of the 2003 Act of Accession, and the Republic of Bulgaria and Romania, on the basis of Article 4(2) of the 2005 Act of Accession, only the part of the Schengen acquis applicable in these Member States should also be applicable to the Principality of Liechtenstein in its relations with these Member States,

         HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:
   Article 1
   1.   All the provisions referred to in Annexes A and B to the Agreement between the European Union, the European Community and the Swiss Confederation on the Swiss Confederation’s association with the implementation, application and development of the Schengen acquis and all the provisions listed in the Annex to the Protocol to that Agreement and any act constituting a further development of one or more of these provisions, shall apply to the Principality of Liechtenstein, in its relations with the Kingdom of Belgium, the Czech Republic, the Kingdom of Denmark, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Republic of Estonia, the Hellenic Republic, the Kingdom of Spain, the French Republic, the Italian Republic, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Republic of Austria, the Republic of Poland, the Portuguese Republic, the Republic of Slovenia, the Slovak Republic, the Republic of Finland, and the Kingdom of Sweden as from 19 December 2011.
   All restrictions on the use of the Schengen Information System by the Member States referred to in the first subparagraph shall be lifted as from the same date.
   2.   The provisions of the Schengen acquis put into effect by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland on the basis of Article 1 of Decision 2004/926/EC and any act constituting a further development of one or more of those provisions, shall apply to the Principality of Liechtenstein, in its relations with the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland as from 19 December 2011.
   3.   The provisions of the Schengen acquis applicable to the Republic of Cyprus on the basis of Article 3(1) of the 2003 Act of Accession, and to the Republic of Bulgaria and Romania, on the basis of Article 4(1) of the 2005 Act of Accession, and any act constituting a further development of any of those provisions, shall apply to the Principality of Liechtenstein in its relations with the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Bulgaria and Romania as from19 December 2011.
   Article 2
   This Decision shall enter into force on the day of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

      Done at Brussels, 13 December 2011.

            For the Council

            The President

         M. CICHOCKI

      (1)  OJ L 160, 18.6.2011, p. 21.

      (2)  OJ L 160, 18.6.2011, p. 84.

      (3)  OJ L 239, 22.9.2000, p. 138.

      (4)  OJ L 53, 27.2.2008, p. 5.

      (5)  OJ L 160, 18.6.2011, p. 39.

      (6)  OJ L 53, 27.2.2008, p. 52.

      (7)  OJ L 395, 31.12.2004, p. 70.


title: 2009/78/EC: Commission Decision of 23 January 2009 establishing the Committee of European Banking Supervisors (Text with EEA relevance)

text:
               29.1.2009

               EN

               Official Journal of the European Union

               L 25/23

      COMMISSION DECISION

   of 23 January 2009
   establishing the Committee of European Banking Supervisors
   (Text with EEA relevance)
   (2009/78/EC)
   THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
   Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
   Whereas:

               (1)

               As part of the so-called Lamfalussy process, the Commission adopted Decision 2004/5/EC of 5 November 2003 establishing the Committee of European Banking Supervisors (1) (hereinafter the Committee). The Committee took up its duties on 1 January 2004, serving as an independent body for reflection, debate and advice of the Commission in the field of banking regulation and supervision.

               (2)

               Fulfilling the provisions of Directive 2005/1/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 March 2005 amending Council Directives 73/239/EEC, 85/611/EEC, 91/675/EEC, 92/49/EEC and 93/6/EEC and Directives 94/19/EC, 98/78/EC, 2000/12/EC, 2001/34/EC, 2002/83/EC and 2002/87/EC in order to establish a new organisational structure for financial services committees (2), the Commission carried out a review of the Lamfalussy process in 2007 and presented its assessment in a Communication of 20 November 2007 entitled ‘Review of the Lamfalussy process — Strengthening supervisory convergence’ (3).

               (3)

               In the Communication, the Commission pointed out the importance of the Committee of European Securities Regulators, the Committee of European Banking Supervisors and the Committee of European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Supervisors (hereinafter the Committees of Supervisors) in an increasingly integrated European financial market. A clear framework for the activities of these Committees in the area of supervisory convergence and cooperation was deemed necessary.

               (4)

               While reviewing the functioning of the Lamfalussy process, the Council invited the Commission to clarify the role of the Committees of Supervisors and consider all different options to strengthen the working of those Committees, without unbalancing the current institutional structure or reducing the accountability of supervisors (4).

               (5)

               At its meeting on 13 and 14 March 2008, the European Council called for swift improvements to the functioning of the Committees of Supervisors (5).

               (6)

               On 14 May 2008 (6), the Council invited the Commission to revise the Commission Decisions establishing the Committees of Supervisors so as to ensure coherence and consistency in their mandates and tasks as well as to strengthen their contributions to supervisory cooperation and convergence. The Council noted that specific tasks could be explicitly given to the Committees to foster supervisory cooperation and convergence, and their role in assessing risks to financial stability. Therefore a reinforced legal framework regarding the role and tasks of the Committee in this respect should be provided.

               (7)

               The composition of the Committee should reflect the organisation of banking supervision and should also take account of the role of central banks as regards the overall stability of the banking sector at national and Community level. The respective rights of the different categories of participants should be clearly identified. In particular, chairmanship and voting rights should be reserved to the competent supervisory authorities of each Member State. Participation in confidential discussions about individual supervised institutions should, where appropriate, be restricted to the competent supervisory authorities and to the central banks entrusted with specific operational responsibilities for supervision of the supervised institutions concerned.

               (8)

               The Committee should serve as an independent advisory group of the Commission in the field of banking supervision.

               (9)

               The Committee’s mandate should cover the supervision of financial conglomerates. To avoid duplication of work, to prevent any inconsistencies, to keep the Committee abreast of progress, and to give it the opportunity to exchange information, the collaboration with the Committee of European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Supervisors in the supervision of financial conglomerates should be exercised in the Joint Committee on Financial Conglomerates.

               (10)

               The Committee should also contribute to the common and uniform day-to-day implementation of Community legislation and its consistent application by the supervisory authorities.

               (11)

               The Committee does not have any regulatory powers at Community level. It should carry out peer reviews, promote best practices and issue non-binding guidelines, recommendations and standards in order to increase convergence across the Community.

               (12)

               Enhanced bilateral and multilateral supervisory cooperation depends on the mutual understanding and trust between supervisory authorities. The Committee should contribute to the improvement of such cooperation.

               (13)

               The Committee should also foster supervisory convergence across the Community. In order to be more specific about this objective, an indicative and open-ended list of tasks to be carried out by the Committee should be established.

               (14)

               In order to resolve disputes of a cross-border nature between supervisory authorities, in particular within colleges of supervisors, a voluntary and non-binding mediation mechanism should be provided by the Committee.

               (15)

               To benefit from the expertise acquired by the Committee and without prejudice to the powers of supervisory authorities, the supervisory authorities should be able to refer matters to the Committee with a view to obtaining its non-binding opinion.

               (16)

               The exchange of information between the supervisory authorities is fundamental to their functions. It is central for the efficient supervision of banking groups and for financial stability. Whilst the banking legislation imposes clear legal obligations on supervisory authorities to cooperate and exchange information, the Committee should facilitate practical day-to-day exchange of information between them, subject to relevant confidentiality provisions set out in the applicable legislation.

               (17)

               In order to reduce the duplication of supervisory tasks and thereby streamline the supervisory process as well as reduce the burden imposed on banking groups, the Committee should facilitate the delegation of tasks between supervisory authorities, in particular in cases specified in the relevant legislation.

               (18)

               With a view to fostering convergence and consistency across the colleges of supervisors and thereby ensuring a level playing field, the Committee should monitor their functioning without constraining the independence of the members of the college.

               (19)

               Quality, comparability and consistency of supervisory reporting are central to the cost-efficiency of Community supervisory arrangements and the compliance burden on cross-border institutions. The Committee should contribute to ensuring that overlap and duplication is eliminated and that the reporting data is comparable and of appropriate quality.

               (20)

               Financial systems in the Community are closely linked and events in one Member State can have a significant impact on financial institutions and markets in other Member States. The continuing emergence of financial conglomerates and the blurring of distinctions between the activities of firms in the banking, securities and insurance sectors give rise to additional supervisory challenges at national and Community level. In order to safeguard financial stability, a system is needed at the level of the Committee, the Committee of European Securities Regulators and the Committee of European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Supervisors in order to identify potential risks, across borders and across sectors, at an early stage and, where necessary, inform the Commission and the other Committees. Furthermore, it is essential that the Committee ensures that finance ministries and national central banks of the Member States are informed. The Committee has its role to play in this respect by identifying risks in the banking sector and regularly reporting on the outcome to the Commission. The Council should also be informed of these assessments. The Committee should also cooperate with the European Parliament and provide it with periodic information on the situation in the banking sector. The Committee should not, in this context, disclose information on individual supervised entities.

               (21)

               In order to adequately deal with cross-sector issues, the activities of the Committee should be coordinated with those of the Committee of European Securities Regulators, the Committee of European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Supervisors and the Banking Supervision Committee of the European System of Central Banks. This is of particular importance in addressing possible cross-sectoral risks to financial stability.

               (22)

               Given the globalisation of financial services and the increased importance of international standards, the Committee should also foster dialogue and cooperation with supervisors outside the Community.

               (23)

               The accountability of the Committee towards the Community Institutions is of high importance and should be of a well established standard while respecting the independence of supervisors.

               (24)

               The Committee should draw up its own rules of procedure and fully respect the prerogatives of the institutions and the institutional balance established by the Treaty. The enhanced framework of the activities of the Committee should be accompanied by improved working processes. To this end, if consensus cannot be reached, decisions should be taken by qualified majority corresponding to the rules set out in the Treaty.

               (25)

               For reasons of legal security and clarity Decision 2004/5/EC should be repealed,

         HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:
   Article 1
   An independent advisory group on banking supervision in the Community, called ‘the Committee of European Banking Supervisors’ (hereinafter the Committee), is hereby established.
   Article 2
   The Committee shall advise the Commission, in particular as regards the preparation of draft implementing measures in the field of banking activities and in the field of financial conglomerates, on its own initiative or at the request of the Commission.
   Where the Commission requests advice from the Committee, it may lay down a time limit within which the Committee shall provide such advice. Such time limit shall be laid down taking into account the urgency of the matter.
   Article 3
   The Committee shall fulfil the tasks assigned to it and contribute to the common and uniform implementation and consistent application of Community legislation by issuing non-binding guidelines, recommendations and standards.
   Article 4
   1.   The Committee shall enhance cooperation between national supervisory authorities in the field of banking and foster the convergence of Member States’ supervisory practices and approaches throughout the Community. To this effect, it shall carry out, at least, the following tasks:

               (a)

               mediate or facilitate mediation between supervisory authorities in cases specified in the relevant legislation or at the request of a supervisory authority;

               (b)

               provide opinions to supervisory authorities in cases specified in the relevant legislation or at their request;

               (c)

               promote the effective bilateral and multilateral exchange of information between supervisory authorities subject to applicable confidentiality provisions;

               (d)

               facilitate the delegation of tasks between supervisory authorities, in particular by identifying tasks which can be delegated and by promoting best practices;

               (e)

               contribute to ensuring the efficient and consistent functioning of colleges of supervisors in particular through setting guidelines for the operational functioning of colleges, monitoring the coherence of the practices of the different colleges and sharing best practices;

               (f)

               contribute to developing high-quality and common supervisory reporting standards;

               (g)

               review the practical application of the non-binding guidelines, recommendations and standards issued by the Committee.

         2.   The Committee shall review the Member States’ supervisory practices and assess their convergence on an ongoing basis. The Committee shall report annually on progress achieved and identify the remaining obstacles.
   3.   The Committee shall develop new practical convergence tools to promote common supervisory approaches.
   Article 5
   1.   The Committee shall monitor and assess developments in the banking sector and, where necessary, inform the Committee of European Securities Regulators, the Committee of European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Supervisors and the Commission. The Committee shall ensure that the finance ministries and national central banks of the Member States are informed about potential or imminent problems.
   2.   The Committee shall, at least twice a year, provide assessments to the Commission of micro-prudential trends, potential risks and vulnerabilities in the banking sector.
   The Committee shall include in these assessments a classification of the main risks and vulnerabilities and indicate to what extent such risks and vulnerabilities pose a threat to financial stability and, where necessary, propose preventative or remedial actions.
   The Council shall be informed of these assessments.
   3.   The Committee shall have in place procedures enabling the supervisory authorities to react promptly. Where appropriate, the Committee shall facilitate a joint assessment amongst supervisors within the Community on risks and vulnerabilities which may negatively affect the stability of the financial system of the Community.
   4.   The Committee shall ensure an adequate coverage of cross-sectoral developments, risks and vulnerabilities by closely cooperating with the Committee of European Securities Regulators, the Committee of European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Supervisors and the Banking Supervision Committee of the European System of Central Banks.
   Article 6
   1.   The Committee shall contribute to the development of common supervisory practices in the field of banking as well as on a cross-sectoral basis in close cooperation with the Committee of European Securities Regulators and the Committee of European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Supervisors.
   2.   To this effect, it shall in particular establish sectoral and cross-sectoral training programmes, facilitate personnel exchanges and encourage competent authorities to intensify the use of secondment schemes, joint inspection teams and supervisory visits and other tools.
   3.   The Committee shall, as appropriate, develop new instruments to promote the common supervisory practices.
   4.   The Committee shall enhance cooperation with the supervisory authorities of third countries, in particular by their participation in common training programmes.
   Article 7
   1.   The Committee shall be composed of high-level representatives from the following organisations:

               (a)

               the national public authorities competent for the supervision of credit institutions, hereinafter ‘the competent supervisory authorities’;

               (b)

               the national central banks entrusted with specific operational responsibilities for the supervision of individual credit institutions alongside a competent supervisory authority;

               (c)

               the central banks which are not directly involved in the supervision of individual credit institutions, including the European Central Bank.

         2.   Each Member State shall designate high-level representatives to participate in the meetings of the Committee. The European Central Bank shall designate a high level representative to participate in the Committee.
   3.   The Commission shall be present at the meetings of the Committee and shall designate a high-level representative to participate in its debates.
   4.   The Committee shall elect a chairperson from among the representatives of the competent supervisory authorities.
   5.   The Committee may invite experts and observers to attend its meetings.
   Article 8
   1.   The members of the Committee shall be required not to disclose information covered by the obligation of professional secrecy. All participants in the discussions shall be obliged to comply with the applicable rules of professional secrecy.
   2.   Whenever discussion of an item on the agenda entails the exchange of confidential information concerning a supervised institution, participation in such discussion may be restricted to the competent supervisory authorities directly involved and the national central banks entrusted with specific operational responsibilities for the supervision of the individual credit institutions concerned.
   Article 9
   1.   The Committee shall regularly inform the Commission about the outcome of its activities. It shall have regular contacts with the European Banking Committee established by Commission Decision 2004/10/EC (7) and the competent Committee of the European Parliament.
   2.   The Committee shall ensure cross-sectoral consistency of work in the financial services sectors by regular and close cooperation with the Committee of European Securities Regulators and the Committee of European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Supervisors.
   3.   The chairperson of the Committee shall meet the chairpersons of the Committee of European Securities Regulators and of the Committee of European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Supervisors at least once a month.
   Article 10
   The Committee may set up working groups. The Commission shall be invited to the meetings of the working groups as an observer.
   Article 11
   The Committee shall cooperate in the area of supervision of financial conglomerates with the Committee of European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Supervisors in a Joint Committee on Financial Conglomerates.
   The Commission and the European Central Bank shall be invited to the meetings of the Joint Committee on Financial Conglomerates as observers.
   Article 12
   Before transmitting its opinion to the Commission, the Committee shall, at an early stage, consult market participants, consumers and end-users extensively and in an open and transparent manner. The Committee shall publish the results of the consultations, unless the respondent requests otherwise.
   When providing advice on provisions applicable to both credit institutions and investment firms, the Committee shall consult all authorities which are competent for the supervision of investment firms and are not already represented in the Committee.
   Article 13
   The Committee shall draw up an annual work programme and transmit it to the Council, the European Parliament and the Commission by the end of October each year. The Committee shall periodically and at least annually inform the Council, the European Parliament and the Commission on the achievement of the activities set out in the work programme.
   Article 14
   The Committee shall work by consensus of its members. If no consensus can be reached, decisions shall be taken by qualified majority. The votes of the representatives of the Members of the Committee shall correspond to the votes of the Member States as laid down in Articles 205(2) and (4) of the Treaty.
   Members of the Committee which do not follow the guidelines, recommendations, standards and other measures agreed by the Committee shall be prepared to present the reasons for this choice.
   Article 15
   The Committee shall adopt its own rules of procedure and organise its own operational arrangements.
   With regard to decisions concerning amendments to the rules of procedure and elections to and dismissals from the Board of the Committee, the rules of procedure may foresee decision-making procedures that are different from those set out in Article 14.
   Article 16
   Decision 2004/5/EC is repealed.
   Article 17
   This Decision shall take effect on the day of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

      Done at Brussels, 23 January 2009.

            For the Commission

         Charlie McCREEVY

            Member of the Commission

      (1)  OJ L 3, 7.1.2004, p. 28.

      (2)  OJ L 79, 24.3.2005, p. 9.

      (3)  COM(2007) 727 final.

      (4)  Council Conclusions 15698/07 of 4 December 2007.

      (5)  Council Conclusions 7652/1/08 Rev 1.

      (6)  Council Conclusions 8515/3/08 Rev 3.

      (7)  OJ L 3, 7.1.2004, p. 36.


title: Decision (EU) 2016/955 of the European Central Bank of 6 May 2016 amending Decision ECB/2013/54 on the accreditation procedures for manufacturers of euro secure items and euro items (ECB/2016/12)

text:
                  16.6.2016

                  EN

                  Official Journal of the European Union

                  L 159/19

            DECISION (EU) 2016/955 OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK
      of 6 May 2016
      amending Decision ECB/2013/54 on the accreditation procedures for manufacturers of euro secure items and euro items (ECB/2016/12)
      THE GOVERNING COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK,
      Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 128(1) thereof,
      Having regard to the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank, and in particular Article 12.1, Article 16 and Article 34.3 thereof,
      Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 2532/98 of 23 November 1998 concerning the powers of the European Central Bank to impose sanctions (1),
      Having regard to Regulation (EC) No 2157/1999 of the European Central Bank of 23 September 1999 on the powers of the European Central Bank to impose sanctions (ECB/1999/4) (2),
      Whereas:

                  (1)

                  Article 128(1) of the Treaty and Article 16 of the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank provide that the European Central Bank (ECB) has the exclusive right to authorise the issue of euro banknotes within the Union. This right includes the competence to take measures to protect the integrity of euro banknotes as a means of payment.

                  (2)

                  Following the entry into force of Decision ECB/2013/54 (3), it became apparent that the ECB's power to impose appropriate and proportionate penalties, including financial penalties, in the event of non-compliance, needs to be strengthened to cover all scenarios that could require sanctions to be imposed pursuant to Article 20 of Decision ECB/2013/54.

                  (3)

                  Therefore Decision ECB/2013/54 should be amended accordingly,

            HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:
      Article 1
      Amendment
      Article 20 of Decision ECB/2013/54 is replaced by the following:

         ‘Article 20
         Financial penalties in the case of discrepancies in quantities of euro banknotes or banknote paper
         1.   A manufacturer performing production of euro banknote paper or euro banknotes shall report to the ECB, in accordance with the substantive security requirements, any discrepancy in quantities of euro banknote paper or quantities of partly or fully printed euro banknotes identified during a euro secure activity at its accredited manufacturing site.
         2.   If a discrepancy in quantities of euro banknote paper or quantities of partly or fully printed euro banknotes occurs during a euro secure activity at the accredited manufacturing site and is not dealt with by the manufacturer in accordance with the substantive security requirements, the ECB may impose a financial penalty on the manufacturer.
         3.   The seriousness of the discrepancy shall be taken into account in each case when deciding on the amount of the financial penalty. In particular, the face value of the banknotes constituting the discrepancy and the seriousness of the breach of the substantive security requirements shall be taken into account. If the said face value exceeds EUR 50 000, the ECB shall impose on the manufacturer a financial penalty equal to that face value, unless the circumstances of the case justify the imposition of a different penalty. If the face value is below EUR 50 000, the ECB shall impose on the manufacturer a penalty of EUR 50 000, unless the circumstances of the case justify the imposition of a lower penalty. A financial penalty shall under no circumstances exceed EUR 500 000.
         4.   A financial penalty shall apply only when an infringement of the substantive security requirements by a manufacturer is clearly verified. Decisions on financial penalties shall follow the procedures laid down in Regulation (EC) No 2532/98 and Regulation (EC) No 2157/1999 of the European Central Bank (ECB/1999/4) (*). In addition to the financial penalties, the ECB may decide to issue a warning decision, or to revoke or suspend a provisional accreditation or accreditation.

      Article 2
      Taking effect
      This Decision shall take effect on the day of its notification to the addressees.
      It shall apply from 1 June 2016.
      Article 3
      Addressees
      This Decision is addressed to manufacturers of euro secure items and euro items and to the national central banks of Member States whose currency is the euro, whenever they perform stock checks, checks on destruction or checks on transport.

         Done at Frankfurt am Main, 6 May 2016.

               The President of the ECB

            Mario DRAGHI

         (1)  OJ L 318, 27.11.1998, p. 4.

         (2)  OJ L 264, 12.10.1999, p. 21.

         (3)  Decision ECB/2013/54 of the European Central Bank of 20 December 2013 on the accreditation procedures for manufacturers of euro secure items and euro items and amending Decision ECB/2008/3 (OJ L 57, 27.2.2014, p. 29).


title: Council Decision 2009/796/JHA of 4 June 2009 amending Decision 2002/956/JHA setting up a European Network for the Protection of Public Figures

text:
               30.10.2009

               EN

               Official Journal of the European Union

               L 283/62

      COUNCIL DECISION 2009/796/JHA
   of 4 June 2009
   amending Decision 2002/956/JHA setting up a European Network for the Protection of Public Figures
   THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
   Having regard to the Treaty on European Union, and in particular Article 30(1)(a) and (c) and Article 34(2)(c) thereof,
   Having regard to the initiative of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (1),
   Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament (2),
   Whereas:

               (1)

               The possibility of assaults and attacks to public figures, either in an official capacity or in a non-official position, cannot be excluded.

               (2)

               The protection of public figures is the responsibility of the host Member State. Protective measures of the host Member State are based solely on the legal provisions in force in that Member State and the relevant international agreements.

               (3)

               The European Network for the Protection of Public Figures, which was set up in 2002, should contribute to providing protection as a formal channel for communication and consultation between national authorities.

               (4)

               It is therefore considered appropriate to amend Council Decision 2002/956/JHA of 28 November 2002 setting up a European Network for the Protection of Public Figures (3) so that it would also apply to persons in a non-official position who are deemed to be under threat because of their contribution to or impact on the public debate,

         HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:
   Article 1
   Decision 2002/956/JHA is hereby amended as follows:

               1.

               Article 2 is replaced by the following:
               ‘Article 2
               For the purposes of this Decision, “public figure” shall mean any person, either in an official capacity or in a non-official position to whom a protection service is assigned in accordance with the national legislation of a Member State or pursuant to the regulations of an international or supranational organisation or institution.’;

               2.

               the following point is added to Article 4:

                           ‘(f)

                           favouring contacts concerning the application of protection in cases where the protection of public figures has to be assured in two or more Member States between the relevant authorities within the Member States responsible for rendering protection services, either through the contact points or by means of direct contacts between the responsible services, as communicated by the contact points.’.

         Article 2
   This Decision shall take effect on the 20th day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

      Done at Luxembourg, 4 June 2009.

            For the Council

            The President

         M. PECINA

      (1)  OJ C 330, 30.12.2008, p. 2.

      (2)  Opinion delivered on 22 April 2009 (not yet published in the Official Journal).

      (3)  OJ L 333, 10.12.2002, p. 1.