51998IP0425

A4-0425/98

Decision on the outcome of the conciliation procedure provided for by the Joint Declaration of the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission of 4 March 1975 on the joint guidelines adopted by the Council with a view to adopting a Council Regulation (Euratom, ECSC, EEC) amending the Financial Regulation of 21 December 1977 applicable to the general budget of the European Communities (COM(96)0351 - C4-0497/96 - 8914/98 - C4-0416/98 - 96/0189(CNS))(Conciliation procedure)

The European Parliament,

- having regard to its opinion ((OJ C 286, 22.9.1997, p. 330.)) on the Commission proposal to the Council ((OJ C 296, 8.10.1996, p. 13.)),

- having regard to the amended Commission proposal ((OJ C 359, 25.11.1997, p. 9.)),

- having regard to the joint guidelines adopted by the Council on 5 June 1998 (8914/98 - C4-0416/98 - 96/0189(CNS)),

- having regard to the Joint Declaration of the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission of 4 March 1975, and in particular paragraphs 2 and 7 thereof,

- having regard to the text forwarded by the Council following the trialogue meeting of 23 September 1998 and to the outcome of conciliation on 12 October 1998,

- having regard to Rule 63(4) of its Rules of Procedure,

- having regard to the report of its Committee on Budgetary Control (A4-0425/98),

1. Notes the outcome of conciliation, the details of which are attached, and shares the favourable opinion of its delegation;

2. Expresses to the Council its satisfaction at the latter's spirit of cooperation, which augurs well with a view to the undertakings to be met in connection with the recasting of the Financial Regulation;

3. Instructs its Secretary-General, in agreement with the Secretary-General of the Council, to arrange for the details of the outcome to be published in the Official Journal;

4. Instructs its President to forward this decision to the Council and Commission.

ANNEXE

OUTCOME OF CONCILIATION

(Amendments made to the Council's joint guidelines (C4-0416/98))

I. Amendment of the text of the joint guidelines

(The amended text is underlined.)

1. Article 1(3)(b) of the joint guidelines states:

(b) in paragraph 4, the following shall be inserted as the third subparagraph:

'All acts implementing the budget which are capable of giving rise to a confusion of interests between delegator, delegatee and third party recipient of expenditure shall be prohibited. The implementing arrangements set out in Article 139 shall govern the conditions for implementing this Article, in particular the following aspects:- causes of the confusion of interests;- persons between whom the confusion of interests may arise;- consequences of the confusion of interests.¨2. Article 1(3)(c) of the joint guidelines reads as follows:

(c) in paragraph 4, the following subparagraph shall be added:

'Any member of staff who authorises commitments or payments without having been delegated or subdelegated the necessary powers, or in excess of the limits of the powers expressly conferred upon him, shall render himself liable to disciplinary action and, where appropriate, to payment of compensation in accordance with Title V. Each institution shall adopt internal rules which shall specify the procedure for issuing acts of subdelegation. Such acts shall obligatorily specify in detail the powers being ceded."

3. In Article 1(10) of the joint guidelines, the following sentence is added at the end of the text replacing the second and third paragraphs of Article 39 of the Financial Regulation:

"The Court of Auditors shall report annually to the Parliament and the Council, within the context of the discharge procedure, on the consequences of the decision to overrule, from the point of view of the legality of, or non-compliance with, a directive as regards public works or service contracts.¨4. Article 1(14) of the joint guidelines states:

(14) in Article 58(3), the following sentence shall be added:'The tenderer's offer must from the outset contain all the essential elements required in the invitation to tender, subject to being considered inadmissible. The implementing arrangements set out in Article 139 shall apply for the purpose of establishing the criteria for identifying the essential elements of the tender.¨ANNEXE

II. Statements for the minutes of the conciliation proceedings

Joint statement by the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission'The European Parliament, the Council and the Commission state that the provisions on cancelling appropriations contained in Articles 1(7) and 36(2) of the Financial Regulation shall not apply to the Structural Funds and the Cohesion Fund, so as not to affect the outcome of the discussions on the proposals submitted by the Commission in connection with Agenda 2000 on the reform of the Structural Funds and the Cohesion Fund (COM(98)0130 final).

The Parliament, the Council and the Commission also state that they will ensure that solutions adopted in the Regulations that result from those proposals are consistent with the said Articles 1(7) and 36(2).'

Statements by the Commission1. 'The Commission states that, in the proposal for the reform of the Financial Regulation it will present early in 1999, it will submit the appropriate provisions to deal, in a consistent manner and in accordance with the aims of sound financial management, with the interest accruing from Community appropriations.'

2. 'The Commission has noted the European Parliament's request for establishment of the availability of appropriations by the financial controller, when he gives his prior approval for commitments of expenditure, to mean availability for the financial year and the budget heading in question. The Commission states that it will examine this request carefully in preparing the proposal for the reform of the Financial Regulation which it will present early in 1999.'