Thursday 1 December 2011
ANNEX I

Budget 2012 – Joint conclusions

These joint conclusions cover three sections:

1.	Budget 2012

2.	Budget 2011 – Amending Budget 6/2011

3.	Joint statements

1.   Budget 2012

1.1.   ‧Closed‧ lines

Unless stated otherwise below in these conclusions, all budget lines not amended by either Council or Parliament, and those for which Parliament accepted Council's amendments during their respective reading are confirmed.

For the other budget items, the Conciliation Committee has reached the following conclusions:

1.2.   Horizontal issues

Decentralised agencies

The total EU contribution in 2012 (consisting of appropriations to be inscribed in the 2012 budget and assigned revenues available, in commitment appropriations and in payment appropriations) for decentralised agencies is reduced by 1 %, as compared to the Draft Budget (DB) as amended by Amending Letter 3/2012. However, the total EU contribution (in commitment appropriations and in payment appropriations) is set at the level of the DB for FRONTEX (Title 1 & 2), the European Asylum Support Office (EASO), the European Banking Authority (EBA), the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) and the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA). For FRONTEX Title 3, see heading 3a under section 1.3 below.

As compared to the Commission's Draft Budget, this leads to an overall reduction in the EU contribution to the following decentralised agencies of EUR 6.1 million, as shown in the table below:

in EUR million
Budget line	Name decentralised agency	Total EU contribution in 2012 (budget appropriations and assigned revenues): commitment appropriations		Budget 2012
		Initial amount	Revised amount	Reduction in Budget 2012
02 03 03	European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) – Chemicals	p.m.	p.m.	p.m.
02 05 02	European GNSS Agency (GSA)	10,600	10,494	–0,106
04 04 03	European Foundation for Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (EUROFOUND)	20,590	20,384	–0,206
04 04 04	European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA)	14,830	14,682	–0,148
06 02 01	European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA)	35,214	34,862	–0,352
06 02 02	European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA)	53,565	53,229	–0,336
	Of which anti-pollution measures (06 02 02 03)	20,000	20,000	—
06 02 08	European Railway Agency (ERA)	25,260	25,007	–0,253
09 02 03	European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA)	8,420	8,336	–0,084
09 02 04	Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communication – Office (BEREC)	4,336	4,293	–0,043
15 02 25	European Centre for Development of Vocational Training (CEDEFOP)	17,610	17,434	–0,176
17 03 10	European Medicines Agency (EMA)	39,188	38,841	–0,347
	Of which orphan medicinal products (17 03 10 03)	4,488	4,488	—
32 04 10	European Agency for Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER)	7,315	7,242	–0,073
33 06 03	Gender Institute (EIGE)	7,820	7,742	–0,078
Sub-total	Heading 1a			–2,203
07 03 09	European Environment Agency (EEA)	36,676	36,309	–0,367
07 03 60	European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) – Biocides	2,756	2,728	–0,028
07 03 70	European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) – Prior Informed Consent	1,470	1,455	–0,015
11 08 05	Community Fisheries Control Agency (CFCA)	9,310	9,217	–0,093
Sub-total	Heading 2			–0,502
18 02 11	Agency for the Operational Management of large-scale IT Systems	20,000	19,800	–0,200
18 05 02	European Police Office (EUROPOL)	84,500	83,655	–0,845
18 05 05	European Police College (CEPOL)	8,536	8,451	–0,085
18 05 11	European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA)	15,708	15,551	–0,157
33 02 03	Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA)	20,400	20,196	–0,204
33 03 02	EUROJUST	33,300	32,967	–0,333
Sub-total	Heading 3a			–1,824
17 03 03	European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC)	57,300	56,727	–0,573
17 03 07	European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)	77,122	76,351	–0,771
Sub-total	Heading 3b			–1,344
15 02 27	European Training Foundation (ETF)	20,247	20,045	–0,202
Sub-total	Heading 4			–0,202
31 01 09	Translation Centre	p.m.	p.m.	p.m.
Sub-total	Heading 5			p.m.
Total	Net impact			–6,076

As regards the level of appropriations to be entered in the 2012 budget, the abovementioned reductions for individual agencies by budget article will be shared out by budget item proportionally to the weight in the Draft Budget of the two budget items concerned (contribution to Title 1 & 2 and contribution to Title 3).

The number of posts for all decentralised agencies is set at the level proposed by the Commission in the Draft Budget, as amended by Amending Letter 3/2012.

Executive agencies

The EU contribution (in commitment appropriations and in payment appropriations) and the number of posts for executive agencies are set at the level proposed in the Draft Budget, with the exception of the ‧closed‧ line for the EU contribution to EACI from the Marco Polo programme (06 01 04 32).

Pilot Projects/Preparatory Actions

A comprehensive package of 70 pilot projects/preparatory actions (PP/PA), including two projects/actions in section X (EEAS) of the budget, for an amount of EUR 105.4 million in commitment appropriations is agreed, including all PP/PA proposed by the Parliament, the Commission and the European External Action Service. When a pilot project or a preparatory action appears to be covered by an existing legal basis, the Commission may propose the transfer of appropriations to the corresponding legal basis in order to facilitate the implementation of the action. Furthermore, the changes to the budget remarks for the pilot project ‧European Institute of Peace‧ in section X (EEAS) set out in Annex are agreed.

As regards the payment appropriations for pilot projects and preparatory actions, specific rules are defined in section 1.4 below.

This package fully respects the ceilings for pilot projects and preparatory actions provided in the IIA.

1.3.   Expenditure headings of the financial framework - commitment appropriations  (1)

After taking into account the above conclusions on ‧closed‧ budget lines, agencies and pilot projects and preparatory actions, the Conciliation Committee has agreed on the following:

Heading 1a

Commitment appropriations are set at the level proposed by the Commission in the Draft Budget, with amendments to the following programmes and actions:

in EUR million
Budget line	Name	Reinforcements / reductions of commitment appropriations
		DB 2012	Budget 2012	Difference
02 02 01	CIP – Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme	148,6	156,1	+7,5
02 04 01 01	Space Research	250,3	251,3	+1,0
02 04 01 02	Security Research	242,1	243,0	+0,9
04 03 04	EURES	19,5	20,6	+1,1
04 03 15	European Year for Active Ageing (already closed)	—	2,7	+2,7
08 02 01	Cooperation - Health	637,2	639,5	+2,3
08 03 01	Cooperation – Food, agriculture and fisheries, and biotechnology	311,6	312,8	+1,2
08 04 01	Cooperation – Nanosciences, nanotechnologies, materials and new production technologies	499,2	501,0	+1,8
08 05 01	Cooperation – Energy	166,0	178,3	+12,3
08 06 01	Cooperation – Environment (including climate change)	279,8	280,9	+1,1
08 07 01	Cooperation – Transport (including aeronautics)	322,6	323,8	+1,2
08 08 01	Cooperation – Socioeconomic sciences and the humanities	92,1	92,4	+0,3
08 09 01	Cooperation – Risk-sharing finance facility (RSFF)	197,3	198,0	+0,7
08 10 01	Ideas	1 547,5	1 564,9	+17,4
08 12 01	Capacities – Research infrastructures	50,0	50,2	+0,2
08 13 01	Capacities – Research SMEs	238,6	251,2	+12,6
08 14 01	Capacities – Regions of knowledge	20,0	20,1	+0,1
08 15 01	Capacities – Research potential	66,4	66,6	+0,2
08 16 01	Capacities – Science in society	44,6	44,8	+0,2
08 17 01	Capacities – International cooperation activities	32,0	32,1	+0,1
08 19 01	Capacities – Support for coherent development of research policies	13,1	13,1	+0,0
09 04 01 01	Support for research cooperation in the area of information and communication technologies (ICTs – Cooperation)	1 240,4	1 244,5	+4,1
09 05 01	Capacities – Research infrastructures	31,2	31,3	+0,1
10 02 01	Non-nuclear activities of the Joint Research Centre (JRC)	31,4	31,5	+0,1
15 02 02	Erasmus Mundus	103,8	105,6	+1,9
15 02 22	Lifelong Learning	1 058,5	1 110,5	+52,0
15 07 77	People	886,4	905,7	+19,3
32 04 06	CIP – Intelligent Energy	122,3	129,8	+7,5
32 06 01	Research – Energy	147,6	162,6	+15,0
Sub-total	Reinforcements			+ 165,0
	— Of which reinforcements CIP			+15,0
	— Of which reinforcements FP7			+92,0
04 03 07	Analysis, studies and awareness raising (already closed)	4,9	2,2	–2,7
	Reductions support expenditure (various lines – already closed)			–0,5
Sub-total	Reductions			–3,2
Total	Net impact			+ 161,8
	Margin heading 1a		–50,0

The impact on payment appropriations of the agreed reinforcements and reductions in commitment appropriations, as set out in the table above, is explained in section 1.4 below.

The Flexibility Instrument will be mobilised for an amount of EUR 50.0 million for the ‧Europe 2020 Strategy‧.

Without prejudice to the joint statement on the financing of the ITER project set out in section 3.4 below, the commitment appropriations put in the reserve for ‧ITER‧ (budget article 08 20 02) are set at EUR 417.9 million.

Heading 1b

Commitment appropriations are set at the level proposed in the Draft Budget, with the exception of the budget line 13 03 31 ‧Technical assistance and dissemination of information on the EU strategy for the Baltic Sea Region and an improved knowledge of macro-regions strategy‧, for which an amount of EUR 2.5 million in commitments is agreed. As a consequence, the margin under the expenditure ceiling of heading 1b amounts to EUR 8.4 million.

Heading 2

Commitment appropriations are set at the level proposed by the Commission in the Draft Budget, as amended by Amending Letter 3/2012, with amendments to the following programmes and actions:

in EUR million
Budget line	Name	Reinforcements / reductions of commitment appropriations
		DB 2012	Budget 2012	Difference
	Increase in appropriations for agriculture in Amending Letter 3/2012			+ 115,5
	— Of which reinforcement aid to producer groups for preliminary recognition (budget item 05 02 08 11)	150,0	195,0	+45,0
	Decrease in appropriations for agriculture in Amending Letter 3/2012			– 201,2
Sub-total	Net reduction of appropriations for agriculture in AL 3/2012			–85,7
05 07 01 06	Clearance of accounts	–69,0	– 200,0	– 131,0
05 02 12 08	School milk	81,0	90,0	+9,0
Sub-total	Net impact of changes			– 122,0
	Margin heading 2		834,2

The impact on payment appropriations of the agreed reinforcements and reductions in commitment appropriations, as set out in the table above, is explained in section 1.4 below.

Reflecting the political agreement reached on the ‧Programmes for deprived persons‧ (budget item 05 02 04 01), the appropriations currently in reserve for this purpose are put on the line concerned.

The three institutions agreed on the joint statement set out in section 3.3 below.

Heading 3a

Commitment appropriations are set at the level proposed by the Commission in the Draft Budget, with amendments to the following programmes and actions in line with the level agreed between Council and Parliament (‧closed‧ lines):

in EUR million
Budget line	Name	Reinforcements / reductions of commitment appropriations
		DB 2012	Budget 2012	Difference
18 02 03 02	Frontex – Title 3	50,5	59,5	+9,0
18 03 03	European Refugee Fund	93,5	102,5	+9,0
33 02 05	Daphne	17,5	19,5	+2,0
Sub-total	Reinforcements			+20,0
18 01 04 16	Prevention, preparedness and consequences management of terrorism – support expenditure (already closed)	0,3	0,2	–0,10
33 01 04 01	Fundamental rights and citizenship – support expenditure (already closed)	0,35	0,3	–0,05
33 01 04 03	Criminal justice – support expenditure (already closed)	0,4	0,35	–0,05
33 01 04 04	Civil justice – support expenditure (already closed)	0,3	0,25	–0,05
Sub-total	Reductions			–0,25
Total	Net impact			+19,75
	Margin heading 3a		38,2

The impact on payment appropriations of the agreed reductions in commitment appropriations, as set out in the table above, is explained in section 1.4 below.

Heading 3b

Commitment appropriations are set at the level proposed by the Commission in the Draft Budget, with amendments agreed to the following programmes and actions:

in EUR million
Budget line	Name	Reinforcements / reductions of commitment appropriations
		DB 2012	Budget 2012	Difference
15 05 06	Special annual events	p.m.	1,5	+1,5
15 05 55	Youth in Action	134,6	139,6	+5,0
16 02 02	Multimedia actions	30,5	31,5	+1,0
16 03 04	Communicating Europe in Partnership	12,7	13,0	+0,3
Sub-total	Reinforcements			+7,8
	Reductions support expenditure (various lines – already closed)			–0,3
Sub-total	Reductions			–0,3
Total	Net impact			+7,5
	Margin heading 3b		1,6

The impact on payment appropriations of the agreed reinforcements and reductions in commitment appropriations, as set out in the table above, is explained in section 1.4 below.

Heading 4

Commitment appropriations are set at the level proposed by the Commission in the Draft Budget, including Amending Letter 1/2012, with amendments agreed to the following programmes and actions:

in EUR million
Budget line	Name	Reinforcements / reductions of commitment appropriations
		DB 2012	Budget 2012	Difference
19 08 01 02	ENPI – Palestine, MEPP, UNRWA	200,0	200,0	AB6
19 04 03	Electoral observation	35,1	38,0	+2,9
19 06 01 01	Instrument for Stability	225,0	232,8	+7,8
19 09 01	Latin America	352,6	364,3	+11,7
19 10 01 01	Asia	506,4	520,9	+14,5
22 02 07 03	Turkish Cypriot Community	25,0	28,0	+3,0
Sub-total	Reinforcements			39,9 + AB6
01 03 02	Macro financial assistance (already closed)	105,0	95,6	–9,45
04 06 01	IPA – Human Resources	114,2	112,2	–2,0
05 05 02	IPA – Rural Development	237,5	234,5	–3,0
05 06 01	International agricultural agreements (already closed)	6,5	6,4	–0,1
07 02 01	Multilateral environmental activities (already closed)	2,3	2,2	–0,1
19 05 01	Industrialised third countries (already closed)	25,0	24,0	–1,0
19 10 01 02	Afghanistan	199,9	198,9	–1,0
19 11 01	Evaluation of results, follow-up and audit (already closed)	15,6	14,0	–1,6
19 11 02	Information programmes for third countries	12,5	11,5	–1,0
19 11 03	EU in the world	5,0	2,5	–2,5
20 02 01	External trade relations (already closed)	9,8	7,3	–2,5
20 02 03	Aid for trade – multilateral (already closed)	4,5	3,8	–0,7
21 06 03	Adjustment support for sugar protocol countries	186,4	174,8	–11,6
21 07 04	Commodities agreements (already closed)	5,9	3,4	–2,5
21 08 01	Evaluation of results, follow-up and audit (already closed)	11,7	9,6	–2,2
21 08 02	Awareness on development issues (already closed)	10,8	9,9	–0,9
22 02 10 02	Information and communication for third countries	11,0	10,0	–1,0
23 02 03	Disaster preparedness (already closed)	35,2	34,8	–0,4
19 01 04 04	CFSP – support expenditure (already closed)	0,75	0,5	–0,25
	EP reductions support expenditure (various lines)	177,3	168,0	–9,25
Sub-total	Reductions			–53,0
Total	Net impact			–13,1
	Margin heading 4		– 150,0

The impact on payment appropriations of the agreed reinforcements and reductions in commitment appropriations, as set out in the table above, is explained in section 1.4 below.

The Flexibility Instrument will be mobilised for an amount of EUR 150.0 million for the European Neighbourhood Policy. Furthermore, the frontloading of 2011 commitment appropriations for Palestine is agreed, as set out in section 2 below.

Heading 5

As far as the appropriations and establishment plan posts of all Institutions are concerned, the position of the European Parliament is approved. Furthermore, the reinforcements proposed in Amending Letter 2/2012 are approved. Finally, an amount of EUR 10.4 million is added for pensions. As a consequence, the margin under the expenditure ceiling of heading 5 amounts to EUR 474,4 million.

1.4.   Payment appropriations

The overall level of payment appropriations in the 2012 budget is set at EUR 129 088,043 million. As part of the overall compromise, the Conciliation Committee agrees on the joint statement on payments as set out in section 3.1 below.

The following methodology is applied to share the agreed reduction in the overall level of payments as compared to the Draft Budget (as amended by Amending Letters) across the headings and budget lines, so as to translate the overall compromise on commitments into corresponding payments, and to balance the overall payments level across the headings.

1.	The starting point for the calculation is the overall level of payments as agreed above, amounting to EUR 129 088,043 million in 2012.

2.

As a second step, the method takes into account the agreed level of commitments for non-differentiated appropriations. By definition, the level of commitment appropriations for this type of expenditure is equal to the level of payment appropriations, which is not affected in the following steps. By analogy, the same applies to decentralised agencies, for which the EU contribution in payment appropriations is set at the level proposed in section 1.2 above.

3.

Thirdly, payment appropriations for pilot projects and preparatory actions are set as follows: — Section III (Commission): the payment appropriations for all new pilot projects and preparatory actions are set at 50 % of the corresponding commitments or to the proposed level if lower; in the case of extension of existing pilot projects and preparatory actions the level of payments is the one defined in the Draft Budget plus 50 % of the corresponding new commitments, or to the proposed level if lower; — Section X (EEAS): the payment appropriations for pilot projects and preparatory actions are set at the level proposed by the European Parliament.

4.

Fourthly, in addition to the agreed reinforcements and reductions in commitment appropriations for differentiated expenditure, as set out in the draft compromise proposal by financial framework headings above, the following specific amounts in payment appropriations are agreed: a. Heading 1a: the level of payment appropriations for the ‧European Globalisation Adjustment Fund‧ is set at EUR 50 million; the level of payment appropriations for the ‧European Year for Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations‧ is set at the level agreed between Council and Parliament (‧closed‧ line); b. Heading 2: the level of payment appropriations for ‧International Fisheries Agreements‧ is set at the level proposed in Amending Letter 3/2012; c. Heading 3b: the level of payment appropriations for the ‧Special Annual Events‧ is set at the level proposed in the Parliament position; d. Heading 4: the level of payment appropriations for the ‧Emergency Aid Reserve‧ is set at EUR 90 million; the level of payment appropriations for ‧Palestine‧ is set at the level proposed in the Draft Budget; the level of payment appropriations for ‧Macro Financial Assistance‧ is set at the level agreed between Council and Parliament (‧closed‧ line); the level of payment appropriations for ‧Sugar Protocol Countries‧ is set at the level agreed between Council and Parliament (‧closed‧ line, in payment appropriations).

5.

The overall reduction of payments to be shared across headings and budget lines equals: a. the overall level of payments agreed under point 1 above, minus: b. the Draft Budget as amended by Amending Letters 1/2012, 2/2012 and 3/2012 combined with the impact on payments of the steps taken in points 2 to 4 above. This overall reduction in the level of payments (5a - 5b) is then distributed across budget lines for differentiated expenditure under the expenditure headings, according to the following distribution key, which takes into account a limited rebalancing of payment cuts in favour of heading 1a, stemming from headings 2 and 4: a. : Heading 1a : 31.00 %; b. : Heading 1b : 38.45 %; c. : Heading 2 : 21.25 %; d. : Heading 3a : 1.00 %; e. : Heading 3b : zero %; f. : Heading 4 : 8.30 %.

6.

Without prejudice to the amounts defined in points 2 to 4 above, the cuts by heading as defined in point 5 above are then spread across budget lines, including ‧closed‧ lines, on the basis of the weight of payments for individual budget lines concerned in the Draft Budget as amended by Amending Letters 1/2012, 2/2012 and 3/2012. As an exception to this rule, however, it is proposed to distribute the overall cut for heading 1b proportionally to the Council position, i.e. preserving the Draft Budget for the Convergence objective.

1.5.   Budgetary remarks

All textual amendments introduced by the European Parliament or the Council are agreed under the understanding that they cannot modify or extend the scope of an existing legal base.

1.6.   New budget lines

Unless mentioned otherwise in the joint conclusions agreed by the Conciliation Committee or agreed jointly by both arms of the budgetary authority in their respective reading (new budget article 04 03 15 ‧European Year for Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations‧), the budget nomenclature as proposed by the Commission in its Draft Budget and its amending letters will remain unchanged, with the exception of pilot projects and preparatory actions.

The split of budget article 16 03 02 between budget item 16 03 02 01 (heading 3b) ‧Communication of the Commission Representations‧ and budget item 16 03 02 02 (heading 5) ‧European Public Space‧ proposed by the European Parliament is agreed.

1.7.   Reserves

All reserves voted by the European Parliament are maintained. The amount of the reserve on line 26 01 20 (EPSO) is decreased by 50 %, as are the reserves on lines A4 01 01 and A4 02 01 01.

2.   Budget 2011

Draft Amending Budget 6/2011 is approved with the following modifications:

in EUR million
Budget line	Name	Reinforcements / reductions of commitment appropriations
		DAB 6/2011	Difference	AB 6/2011
04 02 20	ESF – Operational technical assistance	+3,25	—	+3,25
19 08 01 02	ENPI – Palestine, MEPP, UNRWA	+60,4	+39,6	+ 100,0
21 06 07	Banana Accompanying Measures	—	+13,4	+13,4
Sub-total	Reinforcements	+63,7	+53,0	+ 116,7
01 03 02	Macro financial assistance	–51,4	–53,0	– 104,4
05 06 01	International agricultural agreements	–0,1	—	–0,1
07 11 01	Multilateral and international climate agreements	–0,2	—	–0,2
14 03 03	International organisations customs and tax	–0,1	—	–0,1
15 02 03	Third countries education and vocational training	–6,3	—	–6,3
21 07 03	FAO contribution	–0,3	—	–0,3
21 07 04	Commodities agreements	–2,0	—	–2,0
Sub-total	Reductions	–60,4	–53,0	– 113,4
Total	Net impact	+3,25	—	+3,25

in EUR million
Budget line	Name	Reinforcements / reductions of payment appropriations
		DAB 6/2011	AB 6/2011
04 02 17	ESF – Convergence	+ 204,0	+ 226,35
04 02 19	ESF – Regional Competitiveness	+ 204,0	+ 226,35
04 02 20	ESF – Operational technical assistance	+0,3	+0,3
08 04 01	Cooperation – Nanosciences, nanotechnologies	+82,0	+82,0
09 04 01	Cooperation – ICTs	+60,0	+60,0
Sub-total	Reinforcements	+ 550,3	+ 595,0
05 04 05 01	Rural Development	p.m.	– 395,0
Sub-total	Reductions	p.m.	– 395,0
Total	Net impact	+ 550,3	+ 200,0

As proposed by the Commission, the reduction in payment appropriations for ‧Rural development programmes‧ is used to meet the outstanding payment needs for the European Social Fund (ESF).

In accordance with the joint statement on Draft Amending Budget 7/2011 (European Solidarity Fund) agreed as set out in section 3.2 below, an amount of EUR 38 million in payment appropriations is to be redeployed from ‧Rural development programmes‧ to finance the payment appropriations for the mobilisation of the European Solidarity Fund, as shown in the table below:

in EUR million
Budget line	Name	Reinforcements / reductions of payment appropriations
		DAB 7/2011
13 06 01	Solidarity Fund – Member States	+38,0
Sub-total	Reinforcements	+38,0
05 04 05 01	Rural Development	–38,0
Sub-total	Reductions	–38,0
Total	Net impact	0

3.   Joint statements

As part of the agreement on the 2012 Budget and DAB 6/2011 as set out above, the following joint statements have been agreed.

3.1.   Joint statement on payment appropriations

Taking into account the ongoing fiscal consolidation efforts in Member States, the Council and the European Parliament agree on a reduction of the level of payment appropriations for 2012 as compared to the Commission's Draft Budget. They ask the Commission to request additional payment appropriations in an amending budget if the appropriations entered in the 2012 budget are insufficient to cover expenditure under sub-heading 1a (Competitiveness for growth and employment), sub-heading 1b (Cohesion for growth and employment), heading 2 (Preservation and management of natural resources), heading 3 (Citizenship, freedom, security and justice) and heading 4 (EU as a global player).

In particular, the Council and the European Parliament urge the Commission to present by the end of September 2012 at the latest updated figures concerning the state of play and estimates regarding payment appropriations under sub-heading 1b (Cohesion for growth and employment) and rural development under heading 2 Preservation and Management of Natural Resources, and, if necessary, to present a draft amending budget.

The Council and the European Parliament will take position on any draft amending budget as quickly as possible in order to avoid any shortfall in payment appropriations. In addition, the Council and the European Parliament undertake to process swiftly any possible transfer of payment appropriations, including across financial framework headings, in order to make the best possible use of payment appropriations entered in the budget and align them to actual execution and needs.

3.2.   Joint statement on Draft Amending Budget 7/2011

The Council and the European Parliament take note of the Commission's intention to present on 21 November 2011 a Draft Amending Budget (DAB 7/2011) for the mobilisation of the European Solidarity Fund, which is expected to amount to EUR 38 million, both in commitment and payment appropriations. The payment appropriations will be redeployed from ‧Rural development programmes‧ (budget item 05 04 05 01).

The Council and the European Parliament will endeavour to take position on Draft Amending Budget 7/2011 before the end of 2011, in accordance with their respective internal procedures.

3.3.   Joint statement on preventing measures for future crisis in the fruit and vegetable sector

The E-coli crisis has highlighted the need for an appropriate response mechanism to market crisis within the EU. In this light, the Council and the Parliament undertake to act swiftly on related transfer requests from the Commission or, after examination of the scope for reallocating authorised appropriations, on an amending budget to be proposed by the Commission in case of an exceptional market crisis in the fruit and vegetable sector requiring the definition of specific emergency measures as foreseen in article 191 of Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 (‧Single CMO‧ Regulation), in the spirit of the Commission's proposal to dispose of mechanisms to prevent future crisis through producers organisations.

3.4.   Joint statement on the financing of the ITER project

The European Parliament and the Council agree to meet in a Trilogue with the participation of the Commission on Wednesday 23 November 2011 afternoon to address the issue of the additional cost of the ITER project in 2012-2013, in order to arrive at an agreement before the end of the year.

The European Parliament and the Council invite the Commission to facilitate reaching an agreement on the additional financing needs of the ITER project, taking into account the concerns of both arms of the budgetary authority.

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(1)  The summary tables by financial framework headings in this section do not include the reduction of appropriations for decentralised agencies and the agreed package on pilot projects and preparatory actions (see section 1.2 above).

Thursday 1 December 2011
ANNEX II

modification of budget remarks:

Pilot project Section X (EEAS)

Voted text, with changes proposed in BOLD ITALICS

Pilot project — European Institute of Peace

Building on the 2009 Concept on Strengthening EU Mediation and Dialogue Capacities, t he pilot project aims, at analysing and examining options, and related costs and benefits, to efficiently serve the needs of EU in peace mediation.

Building on previous and ongoing efforts on the EIP, taking into account existing studies, including from the European Parliament, as well as existing business plans developed for this purpose, this cost-benefit analysis would consider questions such as possible institutional set up, including costs structures, management systems and funding requirements.

The pilot project should, in particular, explore the possibilities of optimizing the potential of, and ensuring synergies with, existing capacities within the EEAS, other EU institutions, the European Union Institute for Security Studies, the European Security and Defence College, the Member States and their national entities engaged in peace mediation, as well as other stakeholders.

The EIP's objectives should be based on the EU's fundamental values and objectives as defined by the treaties.

Without prejudice to the results of the pilot project , the EIP's tasks could include advice, research, training, mediation and informal diplomacy aiming at conflict prevention and the peaceful resolution of conflicts; lessons learned and best practices from the implementation and management of relevant EU missions, outreach to the wider academic, research and NGO community and public advocacy in these areas. The pilot project should in particular focus on how a possible independent Institute could both enhance EEAS and wider EU capacities in these fields and optimise existing resources in co-ordination with the relevant EU Institutions.

Preparatory action Section III (Commission)

Cross-border journalism (Budget line 16 02 06)

A paragraph is addedat the end of the remarks, as follows:

This preparatory action for European research grants for journalists is intended to facilitate and develop serious cross-border journalistic research at Union level. Calls for tenders will be organised with a view to selecting common investigation projects involving journalists from at least two Member States, with a cross-border or European dimension resulting from a national, regional or local perspective. The results of the journalistic investigation selected will be published in at least all the Member States involved.

For this purpose, a feasibility study will be set-up in order to find new ways to launch this project. The study must look at ways in which independent, critical journalism can be funded by the EU, while ensuring the independence of information.