1995 discharge: EC general budget (section III)

OBJECTIVE: presentation of the revenue and expenditure accounts and the financial statement for the 1995 budget (Section III - Commission). SUBSTANCE: The first part of the document presents a summary of the Commission utilization of appropriations in 1995 heading by heading. The Commission also gives an account of the implementation of the budget within the framework of the financial perspective. It notes that the 1995 budget procedure is the first to have taken place completely within the framework of the Interinstitutional Agreement of 29 October 1993 and stresses that no proposal for adjustment of the financial perspective to the implementation conditions (paragraph 10 of the Agreement) was submitted for that year, in particular because the previous programming of the structural funds covered the period 1988-1993 and had therefore been completed. However, 1995 should have been marked by the enlargement, implying an adjustment of the financial framework in force at two levels: - a technical adjustment of the financial perspective to the trend in GNP and the prices of the Community of 12: this adjustment was made in February 1994 on the basis of the latest economic forecasts then available and which were less favourable than those adopted for the establishment of the initial financial perspective at the Edinburgh Council. Apart from the unfavourable economic context the 1995 budgetary procedure was affected by the delay in the ratification by the Member States of the new decision on own resources. As it was not possible for the decision to enter into force before the end of 1994 the ceiling on own resources was kept at 1.20% of GNP and the 1995 budget had to be adopted within this limit; - an adjustment directly related to the new resources of the enlarged Community: the ceilings of the perspective were first raised for the period 1995-1999 to take account of the direct needs caused by enlargement (each heading had an average increase seeking to cover the three new Member States). At the same time the ceilings for headings 2 and 3 were increased to meet specific needs: Heading 2: increase of ECU 200 m for Community initiatives in order to allow the financing of the Peace Programme for Northern Ireland; Heading 3: increase of ECU 400m to cover financing of the programme for the modernization of the textile and clothing industry in Portugal. In conclusion, in the financial perspective of the enlarged Community, expressed in 1995 prices, the total ceiling of payment appropriations for 1995 was set at 1.20% of GNP. �