4 FEBRUARY 2002. - An Act to approve the Council Decision of 29 September 2000 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 29 September 2000 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 4 February 2002.
ALBERT
By the King:
The Foreign Ministry,
L. MICHEL
The Minister of Budget,
J. VANDE LANOTTE
Minister of Finance,
D. REYNDERS
Seen and sealed the state seal:
Minister of Justice,
Mr. VERWILGHEN
____
Note
(1) Session 2001-2002.
Senate.
Documents. - Bill tabled on 8 November 2001, No. 2-675/1. - Report, no. 2-675/2.
Annales parliamentarians. - Discussion and voting. Session of December 13, 2001.
Room.
Documents. - Project transmitted by the Senate, No. 50-1562/1. - Report, no. 50-1562/2. - Text adopted in plenary and subject to Royal Assent, No. 50-1562/3.
Annales parliamentarians. - Discussion and voting. Session of December 20, 2001.

Decision of the Council of 29 September 2000 on the System of Clean Resources of the European Communities
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 Article 173,
Given the Commission's proposal (1),
Considering the opinion of the European Parliament (2),
Having regard to the opinion of the Court of Auditors (3),
Considering the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (4),
Considering the opinion of the Committee of the Regions (5),
Considering the following:
(1) The European Council meeting in Berlin on 24 and 25 March 1999 concluded, inter alia, that the system of the Community's own resources should be fair, transparent, of a satisfactory, simple and cost-effective relationship based on criteria that best reflect the capacity of each Member State.
(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) It is appropriate to use the best data for the European Union budget and the Community's own resources. The application of the European Integrated Economic Accounts System (hereinafter referred to as "SEC 95") in accordance with Council Regulation (EC) No. 2223/96 (6) will improve the measurement quality of national accounts data.
(4) It is appropriate to use the most recent statistical concepts for the purpose of own resources and, consequently, to define the gross national product (GNP) as equivalent, for these purposes, to gross national income (GNI) as determined by the Commission under SEC 95, in accordance with Regulation (EC) No. 2223/96.
(5) In addition, if the amendments to SEC 95 result in substantial changes in the NWA as determined by the Commission in accordance with Regulation (EC) No. 2223/96, it is appropriate for the Commission to decide whether these amendments apply for the purposes of its own resources.
(6) In accordance with Decision 94/728/EC, Euratom of the Council of 31 October 1994, on the system of the own resources of the European Communities (7), the maximum resource ceiling for 1999 was set at 1.27 per cent of the GNP of the Communities at market prices, and the overall ceiling was set at 1.335 per cent of the GNP of the Communities for credits for commitments.
(7) It is appropriate to adapt these ceilings expressed as a percentage of the GNP to maintain the level of financial resources available to the Communities by establishing a formula for determining the new ceilings, as defined for the purposes of this decision, to be applied from the date of entry into force of this decision.
(8) It is appropriate to use the same method in the future when changes to SEC 95 may have effects on the level of the GNP.
(9) In order to maintain the process of taking into account the contributory capacity of each Member State to the clean resources system and to correct, for the less prosperous Member States, the regressive elements of the current system, the European Council, held in Berlin on 24 and 25 March 1999, concluded that the EU funding rules should be amended as follows:
- the maximum appeal rate for the T.V.A. resource would be reduced from 1% to 0.75% in 2002 and 2003, and 0.50% as of 2004,
- the T.V.A. base of the Member States would remain reduced to 50% of their GNP.
(10) The European Council, held on 24 and 25 March 1999, concluded that it was useful to adapt the amount retained by the Member States to cover the costs related to the perception in relation to the so-called traditional resources paid to the European Union budget.
(11) Budgetary imbalances should be corrected so as not to affect the resources available to community policies and resolved, to the extent possible, by a spending policy.
(12) The European Council of 24 and 25 March 1999 concluded that the method of calculating the correction of budgetary imbalances in favour of the United Kingdom defined in Decision 88/376/EEC, Euratom (8), and confirmed by Decision 94/728/EC, Euratom should not include exceptional gains resulting from changes in funding systems and future expansion. As a result, in the enlargement, an adjustment will reduce the "total allocated expenses" in an amount equivalent to that of the annual pre-accession expenses in the candidate countries, which will ensure that expenditures that are not compensated remain.
(13) For clarity reasons, the calculation of the correction of budgetary imbalances in favour of the United Kingdom has been simplified. This simplification does not affect the determination of the amount of the correction granted to the United Kingdom.
(14) The European Council of 24 and 25 March 1999 concluded that funding for the correction of budgetary imbalances in favour of the United Kingdom should be amended to allow Germany, Austria, the Netherlands and Sweden to reduce their financial contribution to 25% of the normal contribution.
(15) The monetary reserve, below the FEOGA monetary reserve, the reserve for the financing of the Loans Guarantee Fund and the reserve for emergency assistance in third countries are covered by specific provisions.
(16) The Commission should begin before 1^er January 2006, a general review of the functioning of the clean resources system and, where appropriate, formulates relevant proposals, taking into account all the useful factors, including the effects of enlargement on the financing of the European Union budget, the possibility of modifying the structure of the own resources by creating new self-reliant resources and the correction of the budgetary imbalances granted to the United Kingdom, as well as the reduction granted to Germany, to
(17) Provisions must be made to clarify the passage of the system introduced by Decision 94/728/EC, Euratom to the system resulting from this decision.
(18) The European Council of 24 and 25 March 1999 concluded that this decision should take effect on 1^er January 2002,
Arrested these provisions, which it recommends to the Member States:
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 the "EC Treaty") and Article 173 of the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community (hereinafter referred to as the "Euratom Treaty").
The budget of the European Union is, without prejudice to other revenues, fully financed by the Community's own resources.
Article 2
1. Constituent resources from the European Union budget, revenues from:
(a) levies, bonuses, additional or compensatory amounts, additional amounts or elements and other established rights or to be established by the institutions of the Communities on exchanges with non-member countries in the context of the common agricultural policy, as well as contributions and other rights provided for in the joint organization of markets in the sugar sector;
(b) the rights of the common tariff and other rights established or to be established by the institutions of the Communities on trade with non-member countries and customs duties on the products under the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community;
(c) the application of a uniform rate valid for all Member States at the harmonized T.V.A. base, as determined by Community rules. The attitude to be taken into account does not exceed 50% of the GNP of each Member State, as defined in paragraph 7;
(d) the application of a rate - to be determined in the context of the budgetary procedure taking into account all other revenues - to the sum of the GNP of all Member States.
2. In addition, there are specific resources included in the European Union's budget that are derived 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 has been completed.
3. Member States shall retain, as a collection fee, 25 per cent of the amounts referred to in paragraph 1, (a) and (b) , which are recorded after 31 December 2000.
4. The uniform rate referred to in paragraph 1 (c) is the rate resulting from the difference between:
(a) the maximum appeal rate of the T.V.A. resource, which is:
0.75 per cent in 2002 and 2003,
0.50% from 2004,
and
(b) a rate ("frozen rate") equivalent to the ratio between the amount of the compensation referred to in Article 4 and the sum of the plates T.V.A. (established in accordance with paragraph 1, point (c) ) of all Member States, taking into account that the United Kingdom is excluded from the financing of the correction to which it benefits and that the share of Germany, Austria, the Netherlands and Sweden in the normal financing of
5. The rate set out in paragraph 1 (d) shall apply to the GNP of each Member State.
6. If, at the beginning of the fiscal year, the budget has not been adopted, the uniform rate of the T.V.A. and the rate applicable to the GNP of the Member States previously set, without prejudice to the provisions agreed in accordance with Article 8, paragraph 2, with respect to the FEOGA monetary reserve, the reserve for the financing of the Loan Guarantee Fund and the reserve for emergency assistance in third countries, remain applicable to new rates.
7. For the purposes of this decision, the GNP is defined as the GNI for the year at market prices, as determined by the Commission pursuant to SEC 95, pursuant to Regulation (EC) No. 2223/96.
In the event of changes to SEC 95 resulting in changes to the NBN as determined by the Commission, the Council, unanimously deciding 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 the credits for payments cannot exceed a certain percentage of the total GNP of the Member States. This percentage, expressed with two decimals, will be calculated by the Commission in December 2001 on the basis of the following formula:
Depth of clean resources =
1.27 % x PNB SEC second edition 1998 + 1999 + 2000
PNB SEC 95 1998 + 1999 + 2000
2. The credits for commitments in the European Union's general budget must have an orderly evolution leading to a global envelope that is not more than a certain percentage of the total GNP of the Member States. This percentage, expressed with two decimals, will be calculated by the Commission in December 2001 on the basis of the following formula:
Baseline for commitments =
1.335 % x PNB SEC second edition 1998 + 1999 + 2000
PNB SEC 95 1998 + 1999 + 2000
An orderly relationship will be maintained between credits for commitments and credits for payments to ensure their compatibility and to allow compliance with the ceilings mentioned in paragraph 1^er for the following years.
3. The Commission shall communicate to the Budgetary Authority the new caps of clean resources before 31 December 2001.
4. The method described in paragraphs 1^er and 2, applies in the event of an amendment to SEC 95 resulting in changes in the GNP level.
Article 4
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 the total apportioned expenditure;
(b) by multiplying the difference resulting from total expenditure;
(c) by multiplying the result obtained under (b) by 0.66;
(d) by subtracting from the result obtained under (c) the effect for the United Kingdom of the passage to the ceased T.V.A. and the payments referred to in Article 2, paragraph 1, point (d), 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 (c) and (d) 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(c) and (d);
(e) from 2001, by subtracting from the result obtained under (d) the net earnings of the United Kingdom resulting from the increase in the percentage of resources referred to in Article 2, paragraph 1^er, points (a) and (b), retained by member States to cover the costs of perception and related costs;
(f) each enlargement of the European Union, an adjustment to be made on the result referred to in (e) will be calculated in order to reduce compensation, thus ensuring that expenses not compensated before 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 calculated are deferred to the following fiscal years and are adjusted annually by applying the Euro GNP deflator used to adapt the financial outlook.
Article 5
1. The financial burden of correction shall be borne by the other Member States in the following manner:
The apportionment 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(d), the United Kingdom being excluded; It is 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^er(c) and (d). 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) and (d).
3. The Commission shall make the necessary calculations for the purposes of 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 section 2 are indistinctly used to finance all budget expenditures. Revenues necessary for the total or partial coverage of the FEOGA money reserve, the reserve for the financing of the Loans Guarantee Fund and the reserve for emergency assistance in third countries, included in the budget, are only called to Member States at the time of the implementation of the reserves. The provisions relating to the operation of these reservations shall, as appropriate, be decided in accordance with Article 8, paragraph 2.
Article 7
The potential surplus of Community revenues over all actual expenditures over a fiscal year is deferred to the next year.
Any surpluses resulting from a transfer of FEOGA chapters, the "guaranteed" section, or any surpluses of the External Share Guarantee Fund paid to the Statement of Revenues in the Budget are considered to be clean resources.
Article 8
1. The own resources of the Communities referred to in Article 2, paragraph 1^er, points (a) and (b) are collected 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, at regular intervals, conduct a review of the national provisions which are communicated to it by the Member States, notify the Member States of the modifications that it considers necessary to ensure their conformity with the Community regulations, and report to the Budgetary Authority. Member States shall put the resources referred to in Article 2, paragraph 1^er(a) to (d) at the disposal of the Commission.
2. Without prejudice to the audit of the accounts and compliance and regularity controls provided for in Article 248 of the EC Treaty and Article 160 C of the Euratom Treaty, this verification and these controls essentially relating to the reliability and effectiveness of the national procedures and systems for determining the basis for the clean resources of the T.V.A. and the PNB, and without prejudice to the controls organized under Article 279, point c) , of the EC Treaty and Article 183, point c), of the Euratom Treaty, the Council, deciding unanimously on the provision of the
Article 9
The Commission shall undertake, before 1^er January 2006, a general review of the clean resources system, together with, where appropriate, appropriate proposals, taking into account all relevant factors, including the effects of enlargement on budget financing, the possibility of modifying the clean resources structure by creating new self-sustaining resources and the correction of budgetary imbalances granted to the United Kingdom and the reduction granted to Germany, Austria, the Netherlands and Sweden,^er.
Article 10
1. This decision is notified to the Member States by the Secretary-General of the Council and published in the Official Journal of the European Communities.
The Member States shall promptly notify the Secretary-General of the completion 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 2002, with the exception of Article 2, paragraph 3, and Article 4, which take effect on 1^er January 2001.
2. (a) Subject to (b), Decision 94/728/EC, Euratom is repealed at 1^er January 2002. Any reference to the decision of the Council of 21 April 1970 on the replacement of Member States' financial contributions by Community-specific resources (9), Decision 85/257/EEC, Euratom of 7 May 1985 on the system of Community-specific resources (10), Decision 88/376/EEC, Euratom, or Decision 94/728/EC, Euratom, must be agreed as made in this decision.
(b) Sections 2, 4 and 5 of Decisions 88/376/EEC, Euratom and 94/728/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 manner and limited to 50% or 55% of the GNP of each Member State, according to the fiscal year concerned, and to the calculation of the correction of the budgetary imbalances
(c) For amounts referred to in section 2, paragraph 1^er, points (a) and (b) , which should have been released by Member States by 28 February 2001, in accordance with applicable Community rules, Member States continue to retain 10 per cent of those amounts as a collection fee.
Brussels, 29 September 2000.
By the Council:
The president,
L. FABIUS
____
Notes
(1) OJC 274 E of 28.9.1999, p. 39.
(2) OJC 368 of 20.12.1999, p. 16.
(3) JO C
(4) JO C
(5) OJC
(6) OJ L 310 of 30.11.1996, p. 1. Regulation as amended by Regulation (EC) No 448/98 (OJ L 58 of 27.2.1998, p. 1).
(7) OJ L 293 of 12.11.1994, p. 9.
(8) OJ L 185 of 15.7.1998, p. 24.
(9) OJ L 94 of 28.4.1970, p. 18.
(10) OJ L 128 of 14.5.1985, p. 15. Decision repealed by Decision 88/376/EEC, Euratom.

List of related states
For the consultation of the table, see image
The decision came into force on 1^er March 2002.