2009 budget: Section III, Commission

On 17 November 2008, the Commission sent the Council letter of amendment No. 3 to the preliminary draft budget for 2009 concerning Section II - Council.

This letter of amendment covers the expenditure relating to the proceedings of the Reflection Group established by the European Council on 14 December 2007 (please refer to procedure file BUD/2008/2026B concerning the 2009 budget “Other sections”).

Given the specific activity of the Reflection Group and for the sake of transparency, it is proposed to include the expenses relating to this Working Group (EUR 1 060 000) in a new Title 4 which is separate from Section II – Council – of the General Budget.

This amending letter is neutral in terms of the budget with the required appropriations to be taken from the contingency reserve (EUR 2.5 million), which is included in the preliminary draft budget for 2009.

On 27 November 2008, the Council established letter of amendment No. 3 to the draft budget for the financial year 2009 on the basis of letter of amendment No. 3 to the preliminary draft budget for 2009 as submitted by the Commission.