12.8.2016   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 294/80

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having regard to Article 314 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

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having regard to Article 106a of the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community,

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having regard to Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union and repealing Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 (1), and in particular Article 41 thereof,

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having regard to the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2014, as definitively adopted on 20 November 2013 (2),

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having regard to Council Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1311/2013 of 2 December 2013 laying down the multiannual financial framework for years 2014-2020 (3),

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having regard to the Interinstitutional Agreement of 2 December 2013 between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on budgetary discipline, on cooperation in budgetary matters and on sound financial management (4),

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having regard to Council Decision 2007/436/EC, Euratom of 7 June 2007 on the system of the European Communities' own resources (5),

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having regard to Draft amending budget No 2/2014, which the Commission adopted on 15 April 2014 (COM(2014)0234),

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having regard to Draft amending budget No 8/2014, which the Commission adopted on 27 November 2014 (COM(2014)0722),

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having regard to the Joint conclusions agreed by the Parliament and the Council on 8 December 2014,

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having regard to the position on Draft amending budget No 8/2014, which the Council adopted on 12 December 2014 and forwarded to the Parliament on the same day (16745/2014 — C8-0293/2014),

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having regard to Rules 88 and 91 of its Rules of Procedure,

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having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgets (A8-0079/2014),

A.

whereas Draft amending budget (DAB) No 8/2014 was presented by the Commission because the Conciliation Committee could not reach an agreement on Draft amending budget No 2/2014, which had the exact same purpose and content as DAB No 8/2014;

B.

whereas DAB No 8/2014 aims to enter in the 2014 budget the surplus from the 2013 financial year, amounting to EUR 1 005 million;

C.

whereas the main components of that surplus are a positive outturn on income of EUR 771 million, an under-spending in expenditure of EUR 276 million, and a negative exchange rate difference of EUR 42 million;

D.

whereas on the income side the increase comes mainly from fines and interest on late payments (EUR 1 331 million), while the amount of own resources actually collected as compared to those budgeted is decreasing (- EUR 226 million) and revenue from surpluses, balances and adjustments is also in decline (-EUR 360 million);

E.

whereas on the expenditure side the under-implementation of appropriations for 2013 (EUR 107 million) and for 2012 (EUR 54 million) did not result from decreased absorption capacity but actually all available indicators point to the fact that there was a shortage of payment appropriations in both 2012 and 2013 budgets;

F.

whereas Article 18 of the Financial Regulation provides that this amending budget shall be devoted solely to any discrepancy between the provisional accounts and the estimates and that any such surplus shall be entered in the Union's budget through this amending budget;

1.

Takes note of DAB No 8/2014 devoted solely to the budgeting of the 2013 surplus, for an amount of EUR 1 005 million, in accordance with Article 18 of the Financial Regulation, as submitted by the Commission and of the Council's position thereon;

2.

Notes that DAB No 8/2014 was presented by the Commission because the Conciliation Committee could not reach an agreement on DAB No 2/2014, which had the exact same purpose and contents, and which the Council had approved in its reading of 17 July 2014, while the Parliament had introduced an amendment to it in its position adopted on 22 October 2014 in order to maintain its political and procedural link with DABs No 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7/2014;

3.

Points out that the Conciliation Committee could not reach an agreement on the adoption of DAB No 2/2014 because of the differences in positions between the Parliament and the Council on the outstanding payment needs for 2014 and the package of DABs No 2 -7/2014 , and not on the contents of DAB No 2/2014 per se;

4.

Recalls that the adoption of this DAB No 8/2014 will reduce the share of the GNI contribution from Member States to the Union budget by EUR 1 005 million and will therefore partly compensate for their contribution to the financing of DABs No 3, 5 and 7/2014;

5.

Approves the Council position on Draft amending budget No 8/2014;

6.

Instructs its President to declare that amending budget No 7/2014 has been definitively adopted and arrange for its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union;

7.

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission and the national parliaments.