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Europaudvalget 2006-07
2792 – økofin Bilag 4
Offentligt

28. marts 2007

Referat af rådsmødet (ECOFIN) den 27. marts 2007

Dagsordenspunkt:

Stabilitets- og konvergensprogrammer

Rådet vedtog udtalelser om stabilitetsprogrammer for Spanien og Belgien samt

konvergensprogrammer for Letland, Bulgarien og Rumænien.

Der var enighed om, at medlemslandene i højere grad bør benytte de aktuelt ”go-

de tider” til at gennemføre strukturelle forbedringer og sikre langsigtet holdbarhed

af de offentlige finanser samt for hovedparten af landene at undgå procyklisk fi-

nanspolitik.

Dagsordenspunkt:

Rådets prioriteter for EU’s budget for 2008

Der blev vedtaget rådskonklusioner (jf.

vedlagte bilag),

som beskriver Rådets priori-

teter for EU’s budget for 2008.

Dagsordenspunkt:

Kommissionens handlingsplan for en integreret

struktur for intern kontrol

Kommissionen præsenterede en statusrapport for handlingsplanen for en integre-

ret struktur for intern kontrol med EU’s budget, mhp. at fremme arbejdet mod at

Revisionsretten kan give en revisionspåtegnelse uden forbehold vedr. betalingerne

fra EU’s budget.

Statusrapporten viser gode fremskridt i arbejdet, herunder at 12 af 40 tiltag er

implementeret og de resterende 28 ventes implementeret i løbet af 2007.

Rådet ventes at vende tilbage til sagen på Rådsmødet den 5. juni 2007 og Kom-

missionen forventer at have en endelig rapport færdig primo 2008.

Dagsordenspunkt:

Direktivforslag om erhvervelse af større aktieposter

i finansielle virksomheder

Rådet opnåede politisk enighed om direktivforslaget om de nationale tilsyns vur-

deringer af ansøgninger om erhvervelser af større aktieposter i finansielle virk-

somheder. Formålet med direktivet er at lette fusioner og virksomhedsopkøb på

tværs af grænserne i EU, og dermed øge integrationen af de finansielle markeder.

Direktivforslaget ventes endeligt vedtaget på et kommende Rådsmøde.

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Dagsordenspunkt:

Betalingsdirektivet

Rådet nåede til enighed om betalingsdirektivet, som har til formål at skabe ram-

merne for hurtige og effektive betalingstjenesteydelser på tværs af grænserne. Med

direktivforslaget indføres harmoniserede regler vedrørende bl.a. kapitalkrav, kre-

ditgivning og informationskrav for såkaldte betalingsinstitutter.

Direktivforslaget påvirker hverken den nuværende finansieringsmodel for Dan-

kortet eller de danske forbrugerbeskyttelsesregler i tilfælde af misbrug af beta-

lingskort.

Formandskabet arbejder for at nå en aftale med Europa-Parlamentet om direktiv-

forslaget i 1. læsning.

Diverse:

I margin af mødet drøftedes den økonomiske situation i EU og formanden for

eurogruppen afrapporterede om gruppens møde den 26. marts 2007.

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Bilag:

Rådskonklusioner om prioriteterne for EU’s budget 2008

"1.

The Council points out that the 2008 budgetary procedure, the second

one within the 2007-2013 financial framework, falls in a period of

both consolidation and development for the achievement of the Euro-

pean Union's objectives and priorities. The EU is faced with the chal-

lenge of guaranteeing the continuity and coherence of actions while

pursuing forward-looking policies to adjust to a fast changing world.

The Council confirms that the Interinstitutional Agreement (IIA) on

budgetary discipline and sound financial management of 17 May 2006

is the base for the establishment of the 2008 budget and has to be ap-

plied to the full. The Council underlines the importance it attaches to

compliance with the financial framework and the strict respect of the

annual limits set therein.

In this context, the Council is fully aware that a good collaboration

between the two arms of the budgetary authority and the Commission

is an essential element in achieving a satisfactory result and looks

forward to establishing an effective spirit of co-operation throughout

the whole 2008 budgetary procedure.

The Council recalls the importance of maintaining an overall budget-

ary discipline and considers that the same degree of budgetary con-

straints exercised by the Member States for their own national budgets

should be applied to the EU budget. In this context, the Council reiter-

ates its wish that the annual 2008 budget should provide sufficient and

justified level of resources to ensure an efficient and effective imple-

mentation of EU policies.

The Council strongly believes that at the beginning of a new financial

period it is very important to maintain in the final budget sufficient

margin below the ceilings of the various Headings, with the exception

of Heading 1b, for the purpose of sound financial management and of

dealing with unexpected needs.

In order to achieve the best possible use of resources, both commit-

ment and payment appropriations for 2008 should reflect real and well

defined needs and be compatible with the ceilings set in the financial

framework. Moreover, absorption capacity and past implementation

should be carefully taken into account when establishing appropria-

tions. The Council reaffirms the importance of reprioritisation and re-

allocation. This would provide to the budgetary authority the neces-

sary flexibility to adapt the appropriations to meet present and future

needs in a realistic way.

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The Council encourages the Commission and the Member States to

pursue their efforts to deliver better forecasts. However, it points out

that, while it is up to the Member States to present structural opera-

tions estimates as accurate as possible, it is the Commission that bears

the ultimate responsibility for the assessment of the actual needs and

for the appropriations introduced in the Preliminary Draft Budget

(PDB).

The Council reiterates the great importance of keeping the payment

appropriations firmly under control. The Council is aware that the es-

timates for the 2008 budget are particularly challenging, the second

year of the new financial period entailing both advance payments for

new actions, intermediate payments and the closure of the pro-

grammes related to the previous financial period. A sufficient and jus-

tified level of payment appropriations should be entered in the budget,

taking into account past implementation and realistic needs. It exhorts

all the parties involved to make every possible effort to avoid overes-

timation.

While acknowledging the progress made recently in the establishment

of the Preliminary Draft Budget estimates, the Council calls on the

Commission to increase its efforts to further improve it, so as to sub-

stantially reduce the difference between the PDB and outturn, as illus-

trated in the annex. Under these circumstances the PDB would be a

benchmark throughout the whole budgetary procedure. In this context,

the Council stresses the need for a constant monitoring and improve-

ment of budget implementation to contribute towards avoiding the

significant under-use of funds that occurred in the beginning of the fi-

nancial perspective 2000-2006.

The Council asks the Commission to provide all the updated infor-

mation necessary throughout the year to allow the budgetary authority

to adapt the budget in a realistic way. The Council welcomes the

"budget forecast alert system" and expects it to be further improved.

Such a monitoring system would facilitate and justify the proposal and

adoption, in due time, of adjusting measures by means of the appro-

priate budgetary tools, including letters of amendment.

The Council recalls that high quality Activity Statements and timely

financial information on spending proposals are a prerequisite condi-

tion for the budgetary authority to confirm and establish priorities. It

looks forward to the improvement of the "Activity Based Budgeting"

(ABB) in 2008, in particularly regarding performance indicators. The

Council reiterates its commitment to make constructive use of the in-

formation provided together with the PDB, particularly regarding the

justification of the level of appropriations allocated to the different

programmes and policies and the proposed variations. The Council

10.

11.

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stresses its willingness to continue an enhanced examination of a set

of Activity Statements during the 2008 budgetary procedure. The re-

sults of the analysis of the Activity Statements shall continue to have

budgetary implications.

12.

As regards some sectoral issues, the Council wishes the following

elements to be kept constantly in mind in preparing the 2008 budget:

–

The Council encourages the Commission to continue its efforts

together with the Member States in order to establish an accu-

rate level of payments for structural funds. The Council stresses

the importance of fully implementing efficiently and effectively

the provisions contained in the legislative framework adopted

for the 2007-2013 period, in particular by issuing timely guide-

lines regarding the simplification of procedures.

The Council reminds the Commission of its commitment to pro-

vide the budgetary authority with detailed information on the

adoption of the structural funds programmes, in particular on

advance payments, together with the PDB.

–

The Commission is invited, as in the previous years, to present

realistic and well defined forecasts regarding CAP expenditure

in its Preliminary Draft Budget and in its letter of amendment

taking into account the past implementation as well as the fore-

seeable market prices evolution at European and international

level. Particular attention should be given to ensuring that the

payment appropriations for expenditure related to rural devel-

opment are accurate.

As regards external actions, the Council considers that the Euro-

pean Union must confirm and develop its role as a global player

and expects its priorities to be taken into account. In this con-

text, the Council recalls the importance it attaches to the Com-

mon Foreign and Security Policy funding and stresses that the

level of appropriations has to be fully in line with the provisions

and amounts established in the IIA.

The Council strongly believes that an adequate margin within

the ceiling of Heading 4 is of the highest importance for the Eu-

ropean Union, so as to be able to take quick and effective action

in the case of unexpected needs and crisis. In this context, the

Council points out that in the 2008 budgetary procedure an

amount of EUR 200 millions, earmarked for the Guarantee Fund

in the annual financial framework, will become available under

Heading 4 because of the recent implementation of a new mech-

–

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anism for financing the Fund. The Council considers that this

amount should remain unused and added to the margin.

–

Recalling the common objective of reducing bureaucracy and

bearing in mind the parallel efforts of the Member States and the

gains achieved, the Council considers it essential to monitor and

to improve EU institutions' effectiveness with a view to achiev-

ing greater administrative efficiency and stresses the crucial im-

portance of redeployment and reorganisation. To this end, it re-

calls the importance it attaches to the fact that all institutions as

well as an independent body provide a comprehensive

cost/benefit analysis of administrative resources. Furthermore,

the Council recalls the Commission's commitment to undertake

a medium term evaluation of its staff needs by 30 April 2007.

In addition, the Council exhorts all institutions to present their

analysis and plans for economies of scale. These reports would

provide the budgetary authority all the appropriate information

to evaluate the situation and take an objective decision on how

to allocate and use the resources in the best possible way. The

objective should be to achieve a substantial efficiency gain,

mainly by further development of targeted measures and by re-

deployment and reorganisation of administrative structures in

each EU institution.

–

Moreover, the Council urges the Commission to improve clarity

in the area of administrative spending, by presenting a clear con-

solidated picture of all administrative expenditure, including

agencies.

As far as the European Union's decentralised agencies are con-

cerned, the Council stresses the importance of keeping a tight

grip on their funding with the purpose of making economies

through realistic appropriations, in line with real needs, and of

avoiding over-budgeting. For better clarity and transparency, the

Council expects the Commission to provide together with the

PDB a concise and comprehensive budgetary overview covering

all decentralised agencies.

The Council recalls the need to apply a thorough cost/benefit as-

sessment before setting up new agencies and to implement the

review clauses foreseen in their specific regulations. In addition,

the Council invites the Commission to submit a comprehensive

report to the budgetary authority so as to allow for a general as-

sessment as to whether the existing strategy on decentralised

agencies should be pursued.

–

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–

The Council reiterates the importance it attaches to the recruit-

ment process in the context of enlargement and expects all insti-

tutions to take the necessary steps to carry it forward without de-

lay, in line with the joint declaration agreed in the 2007 budget-

ary procedure.

13.

The Council recalls that the budget is one of the most significant tools to

guarantee the accountability of the European Union towards its citizens.

Therefore, it attaches the greatest importance to these guidelines and ex-

pects them to be fully taken into account already in the Preliminary Draft

Budget for 2008. These guidelines will be forwarded to the European

Parliament and the Commission."