2013 general budget: all sections, second version

On 25 May 2012, the Commission submitted a proposal containing the draft budget for the financial year 2013, regarding which no agreement was reached under the Conciliation procedure provided for in Article 314(4) to (6) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).

In application of Article 314(8) TFEU, the Commission submitted a new draft budget or the financial year 2013 on 23 November 2012.

• As regards commitment appropriations, this new draft budget is based on the latest state of play in the negotiations of the Conciliation Committee on 13 November 2012.
• For payment appropriations, the new draft budget is based on the Commission's original draft budget, as amended by letter of amendment No 1/2013.

At the trilogue on 29 November 2012, the European Parliament and the Council reached an ad referendum agreement on the new draft budget for 2013 amended as follows:

• commitment appropriations on eight budget lines under sub-heading 1a are reinforced for a total amount of EUR 15.986 million;
• appropriations on Item 05 07 01 06 (Accounting clearance of previous years' accounts with regard to shared management expenditure under the EAGGF Guarantee Section (previous measures) and under the EAGF) are set at an amount of -EUR 200 million;
• appropriations related to the 2011 salary adjustment are not included in the 2013 budget at this stage (except for the European Parliament); as part of the overall compromise, a joint statement on heading 5 and the salary and pension adjustment was agreed and seeks to stipulate provisionally it is foreseen not to include at this stage the budgetary impact of the 2011 salary adjustment in the 2013 budget. Without prejudice to Council's position in cases c-66/12, c-63/12, c-196/12 and c-453/12, Parliament and Council jointly request the Commission, should the Court rule in favour of the Commission and as soon as it does, to submit a draft amending budget devoted to finance, as needed, the impact of the 2011 adjustment for the institutions, including its retroactive effect on previous years and possible late interest;
• the overall level of payment appropriations in the 2013 budget is set at an amount of EUR 132 836 987 855; as part of the overall compromise, a reduction of the level of payment appropriations for 2013 as compared to the Commission's draft budget is foreseen.. Parliament and Council ask the Commission to request additional payment appropriations in an amending budget if the appropriations entered in the 2013 budget prove 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 (The EU as a global player). Moreover, the European Parliament and the Council urge the Commission to present by mid-October 2013 at the latest updated figures concerning the state of play and estimates regarding payment appropriations under subheading 1b and rural development under heading 2, and, if necessary, to present a draft amending budget.
• the European Parliament and the Council will take position on any draft amending budget as quickly as possible in order to avoid any shortfall in payment appropriations. In addition, the European Parliament and the Council 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. In any event, the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission shall ensure that the financial means are made available to allow the Union to fulfil its legal obligation in respect of third parties;
• as regards payment needs for 2012, the European Parliament and the Council note that the level of payments, proposed by the Commission in its 2013 draft budget, was based on the assumption that payment needs in 2012 would have been addressed with appropriations available in the 2012 budget. However, the additional payment appropriations authorised in amending budget No 6/2012 were lowered by EUR 2.9 million with respect to the amount proposed by the Commission, and are not at the level of all payment claims received. Therefore, the Commission undertakes to present, at an early stage in the year 2013, a draft amending budget devoted to the sole purpose of covering the 2012 suspended claims, as soon as the suspensions are lifted, and the other pending legal obligations. The European Parliament and the Council will take position on this draft amending budget as quickly as possible in order to cover any outstanding gap;
• all reserves voted by the European Parliament are maintained, with the exception of the reserve related to "Schengen governance" (Articles 18 02 05 – Visa information system, 18 02 06 - External Borders Fund, 18 05 08 - Prevention, preparedness and consequence management of terrorism and 18 05 09 - Prevention of and fight against crime), for which 20 % of the appropriations on the line are placed in the reserve.

Outcome of Council’s proceedings: on 6 December 2012, the Council reached an agreement on the new draft budget for 2013, as amended.