(8a)

The European Parliament has continuously called for the Union budget to be financed wholly by own resources, as stipulated in the Treaty, and has regularly highlighted the shortcomings and limits of the existing system of own resources, which is non-transparent, unfair, not subject to parliamentary control, highly complex and totally incomprehensible to European citizens, who ultimately bear the consequences. The European Parliament considers that such a system violates, in essence, the letter and the spirit of the Treaty.

(8b)

The European Parliament considers that the current system of Union financing, whereby some 74 % of revenues stem from GNI-based contributions and 11 % from the existing, statistical VAT-based contributions, has only reinforced the logic of ‘fair return’ that has prevailed in every debate in the Council, both on the revenue and the expenditure side of the Union budget and has led to the introduction of complex and opaque rebates and other correction mechanisms, and it contributes to the recurrent problem of shortage of payments in the annual budgetary procedure. The European Parliament considers also that the current system prevents the formation of a sufficient majority in Council to budgetise a sufficient level of payment appropriations in the annual budgets to meet EU legal obligations and political commitments.

(8c)

The European Parliament has strongly advocated in favour of an in-depth reform of the own resources system that should return to a system of genuine, clear, simple and fair own resources. The European Parliament considered that the Commission legislative proposals on own resources of June 2011 were taking a step in the right direction and were, as such, supported by an overwhelming majority of the European Parliament from the outset; The European Parliament regrets that the Council was unable to make any progress on the reform of the own resources system on the basis of those legislative proposals. The European Parliament regrets that the final European Council political agreement on 8 February 2013 has even introduced new rebates and exceptions.

(8d)

A High Level Group on own resources is established by common accord of the three Union institutions, as set out in the Joint Declaration on Own Resources, forming part of the political agreement on the MFF 2014-2020. This high level group shall undertake a general review of the Own Resources system guided by the overall objectives of simplicity, transparency, equity and democratic accountability. All aspects of the reform of the own resources system should be examined. A first assessment will be available at the end of 2014.

(8e)

The outcome of the work of the High Level Group shall be assessed in an inter-institutional conference during 2016, with the participation of national parliaments. On the basis of the results of this work, the Commission will assess if new Own Resources initiatives are appropriate. This assessment will be done in parallel to the MFF 2014-2020 post electoral review/revision, to be launched by the Commission by the end of 2016 at the latest. The European Parliament believes that the work of this High Level Group should pave the way for possible reforms be agreed and become operational for the period covered by the next MFF.