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31 JANUARY 2009. - Act to approve the Decision of the Council of the European Union of 7 June 2007 on the System of Clean Resources of the European Communities (1)

ALBERT II, King of the Belgians,
To all, present and to come, Hi.
The Chambers adopted and We sanction the following:
Article 1^er. This Act regulates a matter referred to in Article 77 of the Constitution.
Art. 2. The decision of the Council of the European Union of 7 June 2007 on the system of the own resources of the European Communities will emerge its full and full effect.
Promulgate this law, order that it be clothed with the seal of the State and published by the Belgian Monitor.
Given in Brussels on 31 January 2009.
ALBERT
By the King:
Minister of Foreign Affairs,
K. DE GUCHT
Minister of Finance,
D. REYNDERS
The Secretary of State in Budget,
Mr. WATHELET
Seal of the state seal:
Minister of Justice,
S. DE CLERCK
____
Note
(1) 2008-2009 session.
Senate.
Documents. - Bill tabled on 7 January 2009, No. 4-1090/1.
Annales parliamentarians. - Discussion and voting. Session of January 15, 2009.
Room.
Documents. - Project transmitted by the Senate, No. 52-1740/1. Report on behalf of Commission No. 52-1740/2. - Text adopted in plenary and subject to Royal Assent, No. 52-1740/3.
Annales parliamentarians. - Discussion and voting. Session of January 29, 2009.

Decision of the Council of 7 June 2007 on the System of Clean Resources of the European Communities (2007/436/EC, Euratom)
The Council of the European Union,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, including article 269;
Considering the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community, including its Article 173;
Considering the Commission ' s proposal;
Considering the opinion of the European Parliament (1);
Having regard to the opinion of the Court of Auditors (2);
Considering the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee (3);
Considering the following:
(1) The European Council, held in Brussels on 15 and 16 December 2005, concluded, inter alia, that clean resource arrangements should be guided by the general objective of fairness. Therefore, these arrangements should ensure, in accordance with the relevant conclusions of the 1984 European Council of Fontainebleau, that no member State should bear excessive budgetary burden in relation to its relative prosperity. It is therefore necessary to introduce provisions concerning certain Member States in particular.
(2) The Community's own resource system must provide sufficient resources for the orderly development of Community policies, subject to the need for strict budgetary discipline.
(3) For the purposes of this decision, gross national income (GNI) should be defined as the annual GNI at market prices as determined by the Commission under the European system of national and regional accounts in the Community (hereinafter referred to as "EC 95"), in accordance with Council Regulation (EC) No. 2223/96 (4).
(4) In view of the transition from SEC 79 to SEC 95 for the purpose of budget and clean resources and in order to maintain the level of financial resources available to the Communities, the Commission recalculated, in accordance with Article 3, paragraphs 1^er Decision 2000/597/EC, Euratom of the Council of 29 September 2000 on the system of the own resources of the European Communities (5), the cap of the clean resources and the cap of the credits for commitments, as a percentage expressed with two decimals, on the basis of the formula contained in the article. The Commission communicated the new ceilings to the Council and the European Parliament of 28 December 2001. The clean resource ceiling was set at 1.24 per cent of the total GNI of the Member States at market prices and a ceiling of 1.31 per cent of the total GNI of the Member States was set for credits for commitments. The European Council of 15 and 16 December 2005 concluded that these ceilings should be maintained at current levels.
(5) In order to maintain the level of financial resources available to the Communities, these ceilings expressed as percentages of the GNI should be adjusted for changes in SEC 95 resulting in substantial changes in the GNI level.
(6) As a result of the transposition in European Union law of agreements arising from the multilateral trade negotiations of the Uruguay Round, there is no more significant difference between agricultural rights and customs duties. It is therefore necessary to delete this distinction in the area of the budget of the European Union.
(7) For the sake of transparency and simplicity, the European Council of 15 and 16 December 2005 concluded that the uniform rate of appeal of the value added tax (VAT) must be frozen at 0.30 per cent.
(8) The European Council of 15 and 16 December 2005 concluded that Germany, Austria, the Netherlands and Sweden should receive reduced appeal rates for the T.V.A. during the period 2007-2013 and that the Netherlands and Sweden should benefit from gross reductions in their annual contributions calculated on the basis of the GNI during the same period.
(9) The European Council of 15 and 16 December 2005 concluded that the correction mechanism in favour of the United Kingdom must be maintained, as well as the reduction of the funding of this correction to be enjoyed by Germany, Austria, Sweden and the Netherlands. However, after a phased-in period between 2009 and 2011, the United Kingdom must participate fully in the financing of enlargement costs, except for direct agricultural payments and market-related expenditures as well as the portion of the rural development expenditures from the " Guarantee" section of the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EFOGA). The calculation of the correction in favour of the United Kingdom must therefore be adjusted by the progressive exclusion of the expenses allocated in the Member States that have acceded to the European Union after 30 April 2004, except for the above-mentioned expenses for agriculture and rural development. The additional contribution of the United Kingdom as a result of reduced spending is not to exceed EUR 10.5 billion at 2004 prices during the period 2007-2013. In the event that there would be a further expansion before 2013, with the exception of the membership of Bulgaria and Romania, the amount must be adjusted accordingly.
(10) The European Council of 15 and 16 December 2005 concluded that the provisions of Article 4, point (f), second paragraph, of Decision 2000/597/EC, Euratom, which provide for the exclusion of annual pre-accession expenses in candidate countries from the calculation of the correction in favour of the United Kingdom, shall cease to apply at the end of 2013.
(11) The European Council of 15 and 16 December 2005 invited the Commission to undertake a comprehensive and comprehensive review, covering all aspects of European Union expenditure, including common agricultural policy (CAP), as well as resources, including compensation for the United Kingdom, and to report in 2008-2009.
(12) Provisions should be made to clarify the passage of the system introduced by Decision 2000/597/EC, Euratom to the system resulting from this decision.
(13) The European Council of 15 and 16 December 2005 concluded that this decision must take effect on 1^er January 2007,
ARETE LES PRESENTES PROPOSALS, DONT IL RECOMMENDS ADOPTION TO MEMBERS:
Article 1^er
Clean resources are allocated to the Communities to ensure the financing of the European Union budget in accordance with the terms set out in the following articles, in accordance with Article 269 of the Treaty establishing the European Community (hereinafter referred to as "EC Treaty") and Article 173 of the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community (hereinafter referred to as "Euratom Treaty").
The European Union's general budget is, without prejudice to other revenues, fully financed by the Community's own resources.
Article 2
1. Constituent resources in the European Union's general budget, revenues from:
(a) levies, bonuses, additional or compensatory amounts, amounts or additional elements, of the tariffs of the common tariff and other duties established or to establish by the institutions of the Communities on trade with non-member countries, customs duties on the products of the treaty, which have expired, establishing the European Coal and Steel Community, as well as contributions and other duties provided for in the joint sugar organization;
(b) without prejudice to paragraph 4, second paragraph, of the application of a uniform rate valid for all Member States to the harmonized attitude of the T.V.A., as determined by Community rules. The attitude to be taken into account does not exceed 50% of the GNI of each Member State, as defined in paragraph 7;
(c) without prejudice to paragraph 5, second paragraph, of the application of a uniform rate - to be determined in the context of the budgetary procedure taking into account all other revenues - to the sum of GNIs of all Member States.
2. In addition, make up specific resources included in the European Union's general budget revenues from any new taxes that would be instituted, within the framework of a common policy, in accordance with the EC Treaty or the Euratom Treaty, provided that the procedure of Article 269 of the EC Treaty or Article 173 of the Euratom Treaty was completed.
3. Member States shall hold 25 per cent of the amounts referred to in paragraph 1 (a) for collection costs.
4. The uniform rate referred to in paragraph 1 (b) is 0.30 per cent.
For the period 2007-2013 only, the call rate for the TVA resource is 0.225 per cent for Austria, 0.15 per cent for Germany and 0.10 per cent for the Netherlands and Sweden.
5. The uniform rate referred to in paragraph 1, point (c), is applicable to the GNI of each Member State.
For the period 2007-2013 only, the Netherlands has a gross reduction of EUR 605 million from its annual contribution calculated on the basis of the GNI, and Sweden has a gross reduction of EUR 150 million from its annual contribution calculated on the basis of the GNI at the prices of 2004. These amounts are adjusted to current prices by the application of the GDP deflator for the most recent European Union expressed in euros, as determined by the Commission, which is available at the time of the preparation of the preliminary budget. These gross reductions are granted after the calculation of the correction to the United Kingdom and its funding referred to in Articles 4 and 5 and have no impact in this regard.
6. If, at the beginning of the fiscal year, the budget has not been adopted, the existing VAT and GNI call rates remain applicable until the new rates come into force.
7. For the purposes of this decision, "NB" means the NBR for the year at market prices, as determined by the Commission pursuant to SEC 95, in accordance with Regulation (EC) No. 2223/96.
In the event of amendments to SEC 95 resulting in substantial changes to the NBN as determined by the Commission, the Council, acting unanimously on the Commission's proposal and after consultation with the European Parliament, decides whether these amendments apply for the purposes of this decision.
Article 3
1. The total resources allocated to the Communities to cover annual credits for payments shall not exceed 1.24 per cent of the total GNI of the Member States.
2. The total annual appropriation for commitments included in the European Union's general budget must not exceed 1.31 per cent of the total amount of GNI of the Member States.
An orderly relationship is maintained between credits for commitments and credits for payments in order to ensure their compatibility and allow compliance with the ceiling referred to in paragraph 1^er for the following years.
3. In the event of changes to SEC 95 resulting in substantial changes in the level of the GNI applicable for the purposes of this decision, the Commission recalculates the limits of the credits for payments and commitments set out in paragraphs 1^er and 2 on the basis of the following formula:
1.24 % (1.31 %) x RNBt-2 + RNBt-1 + RNBt SEC current
RNBt-2 + RNBt-1 + RNBt SEC modified
t being the last full year for which data pursuant to Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No. 1287/2003 of 15 July 2003 relating to the harmonization of gross national income at market prices ("RB Regulation") (6) are available.
Article 4
1. A correction of budgetary imbalances is granted to the United Kingdom.
This correction is established:
a) by calculating the difference in the previous year between:
- the percentage share of the United Kingdom in the sum of uncapped T.V.A. plates, and
- the percentage share of the United Kingdom in total expenditure,
(b) by multiplying the difference resulting from total expenditure;
(c) by multiplying the result obtained in point (b) by 0.66;
(d) by subtracting from the result obtained in point (c) the effect that results for the United Kingdom of the passage to the ceased T.V.A. and the payments referred to in Article 2, paragraph 1, point (c), that is, the difference between:
- what the United Kingdom should have paid for amounts financed by the resources referred to in Article 2, paragraph 1^er, points (b) and (c), if the uniform rate of T.V.A. had been applied to uncut plates, and
- payments made by the United Kingdom in accordance with Article 2, paragraph 1^er(b) and (c),
(e) by subtracting from the result obtained in point (d) the net earnings of the United Kingdom resulting from the increase in the percentage of the resources referred to in article 2, paragraph 1, point (a), retained by the Member States to cover the collection and related costs;
(f) each enlargement of the European Union, by calculating an adjustment to be made on the result referred to in (e) in order to reduce compensation, thus ensuring that expenditures not compensated prior to enlargement remain after enlargement. This adjustment is made by reducing the total apportionment of the amount equivalent to the annual pre-accession expenditures in the candidate countries. All amounts thus calculated are deferred to the following fiscal years and are adjusted annually by applying the GDP deflator for the most recent available European Union as determined by the Commission. This point ceases to apply from the correction to be budgeted for the first time in 2014;
(g) by adjusting the calculation, by reducing the total amount of expenditure apportioned in the total amount of expenditure apportioned in the Member States that have acceded to the European Union after 30 April 2004, except for direct agricultural payments and market-related expenditures as well as part of the rural development expenditures from the Guarantee section of the FEOGA.
This reduction is gradually implemented according to the following schedule:
For the consultation of the table, see image
2. During the period 2007-2013, the additional contribution of the United Kingdom resulting from the reduction in apportionment referred to in paragraph 1^er, point g), does not exceed EUR 10.5 billion at prices in 2004. Each year, the Commission's services verify whether the cumulative adjustment of the correction exceeds that amount. For the purpose of this calculation, the amounts at current prices are converted to 2004 prices by applying the GDP deflator for the most recent available European Union as determined by the Commission. If the ceiling of EUR 10.5 billion is exceeded, the contribution of the United Kingdom is reduced accordingly.
Should there be a new expansion before 2013, this ceiling of EUR 10.5 billion is adjusted up accordingly.
Article 5
1. The financial burden of correction shall be borne by the other Member States in the following manner:
(a) the distribution of the charge shall first be calculated according to the respective share of the Member States in the payments referred to in Article 2, paragraph 1^er, point (c), the United Kingdom being excluded and without taking into account the gross reductions in GNI contributions to the Netherlands and Sweden referred to in Article 2, paragraph 5;
(b) then adjusted to limit the financial contribution of Germany, Austria, the Netherlands and Sweden to a quarter of their normal contribution resulting from this calculation.
2. The correction is granted to the United Kingdom by reduction of its payments resulting from the application of Article 2, paragraph 1, point (c). The financial burden assumed by other Member States is added to the payments resulting from the application for each Member State of Article 2, paragraph 1^er(c)
3. The Commission shall make the necessary calculations for the purposes of section 2, paragraph 5, section 4 and this section.
4. If, at the beginning of the fiscal year, the budget was not adopted, the correction granted to the United Kingdom and the financial burden assumed by the other Member States, in the last definitive budget, remain in effect.
Article 6
Revenues under Article 2 are indistinctly used to finance all expenses in the European Union's general budget.
Article 7
The potential surplus of Community revenues over all actual expenditures over a fiscal year is deferred to the next year.
Article 8
1. The own resources of the Communities referred to in Article 2, paragraph 1^er, point (a), are perceived by member States in accordance with national legislative, regulatory and administrative provisions, which are, where appropriate, appropriate to the requirements of community regulation.
The Commission shall conduct, at regular intervals, a review of the national provisions made available to it by the Member States, notify the Member States of the modifications that it considers necessary to ensure the conformity of the said provisions with Community regulations and reports to the budgetary authority.
Member States shall put the resources provided for in Article 2, paragraph 1^er(a), (b) and (c), at the disposal of the Commission.
2. In accordance with the procedure provided for in Article 279, paragraph 2, of Treaty EC and Article 183 of the Euratom Treaty, the Council shall establish the necessary provisions for the implementation of this decision as well as those relating to the monitoring of recovery, the provision of the Commission and the payment of revenues referred to in Articles 2 and 5.
Article 9
As part of the comprehensive and comprehensive review, covering all aspects of European Union expenditures, including the CAP, as well as resources, including compensation for the United Kingdom, to be reported in 2008-2009, the Commission undertakes a general review of the clean resources system.
Article 10
1. Subject to paragraph 2, Decision 2000/597/EC, Euratom is repealed to 1^er January 2007. Any reference to Decision 70/243/ECSC, EEC, Euratom of the Council of 21 April 1970 on the replacement of the financial contributions of the Member States by resources specific to the Communities (7), to Decision 85/257/EEC, Euratom of the Council of 7 May 1985 on the system of the own resources of the Communities (8), to Decision 88/376/EEC, Euratom of the Council of 24 June 1988 on the system of the own resources of the Communities (9atoms)
2. Sections 2, 4 and 5 of Decisions 88/376/EEC, Euratom, 94/728/EC, Euratom and 2000/597/EC, Euratom remain applicable to the calculations and adjustments of revenues derived from the application of a uniform rate valid for all Member States at the base of the T.V.A. determined in a uniform and limited manner at a rate between 50 and 55 per cent of the GNP or the GNI
3. Member States continue to retain 10% of the amounts referred to in Article 2, paragraph 1^er, point (a), which should have been released by Member States before 28 February 2001, in accordance with applicable Community rules.
Article 11
This decision is notified to the Member States by the Secretary-General of the Council and published in the Official Journal of the European Union.
The Member States shall promptly notify the Secretary General of the Council of the fulfilment of the procedures required by their respective constitutional rules for the adoption of this decision.
This decision comes into force on the first day of the month following receipt of the last notification referred to in the second paragraph.
It takes effect on 1^er January 2007.
Article 12
This decision is published in the Official Journal of the European Union.
Luxembourg, 7 June 2007.
By the Council:
The President
Mr. GLOS
____
Note
(1) Notice rendered on July 4, 2006 (not yet published in the Official Journal).
(2) OJC 203 of 25.8.2006, p. 50.
(3) OJC 309 of 16.12.2006, p. 103.
(4) OJ L 310 of 30.11.1996, p. 1. Last amended Regulation
Regulation (EC) No 1267/2003 of the European Parliament and
Council (OJ L 180 of 18.7.2003, p. 1).
(5) OJ L 253 of 7.10.2000, p. 42.
(6) OJ L 181 of 19.7.2003, p. 1.
(7) OJ L 94 of 28.4.1970, p. 19.
(8) OJ L 128 of 14.5.1985, p. 15.
(9) OJ L 185 of 15.7.1988, p. 24.
(10) OJ L 293 of 12.11.1994, p. 9.