Interinstitutional agreement: legal bases and implementation of the budget, following the C-106/96 judgment

The report by Efthymios CHRISTODOULOU (EPP, Gr), proposing that Parliament's plenary endorse the text of the interinstitutional agreement on legal bases and implementation of the budget, was adopted unopposed by the Committee The agreement was concluded at the budgetary conciliation meeting on July 17th following tough negotiations between the Parliament delegation and the Council designed to find a solution to the problem of implementing funds from the 1998 budget without a legal basis, while observing the Court of Justice's ruling of May 12th. The aim was to guarantee funding for activities of various NGOs working in the social field, development cooperation, human rights and democracy. The Commission was asked to use its implementing powers to ensure funding for measures to combat violence against children and illegal and harmful internet content, to support and monitor electoral processes and to promote human rights and democracy. It must provide details of the funding for the budget lines which have no legal basis before the House decides whether to adopt the agreement. The agreement also sets out a lasting overall framework, as Parliament has been demanding for some time, enabling new measures to be introduced through the EU budget procedure: provision is made for appropriate procedures for launching and financing pilot projects and preparatory actions.