European Development Fund, 9th EFD: Financial Regulation

The European Parliament adopted a resolution on the 9 th EDF, based on the report by Michiel van HULTEN (PES, Netherlands). Parliament refused to deliver an opinion on the Commission proposal. It pointed out that, according to a judgement of the Court of Justice, EDF expenditure does not constitute European Community expenditure and cannot therefore be made subject to the legal and institutional framework of the EC Treaty. The Council consulted Parliament on an optional basis. No progress has been made as regards budgetising the European Development Funds, as Parliament has consistently demanded. Parliament stated that is not legally obliged to legitimise EDF-related budget provisions by adopting an opinion on the draft Financial Regulation for the 9 th EDF. Within the present framework governing the EDF, delivering an opinion would mean taking on political responsibility for a host of aspects beyond its control. Parliament pointed out that the position adopted in the resolution had no adverse consequences for implementation of the European Development Funds. The objective of the resolution was to improve the legal, institutional and budgetary framework relating to the EDF. The Commission is asked to submit before mid-2003 a communication on the implications of budgetising the EDF. The Council should be guided, in the absence of a Parliament opinion, by the observations made by the Court of Auditors in its Opinion No 12/2002 on the Financial Regulation for the 9 th EDF. Finally, Parliament called on the European Convention and the prospective IGC tasked with reform of the Treaties to examine the question of incorporating the EDF into the Union budget.�