Amending budget 6/2004: section III Commission, Executive Agency for Intelligent Energy, general statement of revenue

PURPOSE : preliminary draft amending budget to create a new budget line 06 01 04 30 "Executive Agency for Intelligent Energy" to receive this Agency's operating subsidy. CONTENT : The multiannual programme for action in the field of energy: "Intelligent Energy - Europe" was adopted by the European Parliament and the Council on 26 June 2003. In the light of the cost-benefit analysis carried out and in order to achieve more efficiently the objectives set by this Community programme, it was considered necessary to have an Executive Agency perform certain management tasks; the Commission accordingly adopted Decision 1230/2003/EC on 23 December 2003, in line with the opinion of the Committee for Executive Agencies, setting up the Intelligent Energy Executive Agency. The Commission decision states that the Agency will receive a grant which will be entered in the general budget of the European Communities from the funds allocated to the Community programme Intelligent Energy - Europe. The new budget line will receive appropriations from the other budget lines for the programme. In the Commission decision setting up the above executive agency, the estimate of the annual operating expenditure of the Agency in 2004 assumed that the Agency would start operating in January 2004 with eight seconded officials. It also assumed that the remaining staff would join from May 2004. Under these assumptions the Commission estimated the 2004 subsidy to the Agency to be EUR 3.385 million. The Commission now expects the Agency to start operating in May 2004, including the eight seconded officials. Therefore, the annual subsidy in 2004 should be adapted to take into account the reduced operating costs that result. The 2004 subsidy to the Agency will amount to EUR 2.770 million. This appropriation constitutes the subsidy to cover the executive agency's expenditure on personnel and administration.�