LA IMPORTANCIA DE LAS INTERVENCIONES DE POLÍTICA PÚBLICA LOCALES CON

also continue to encourage positive initiatives, such as the timely submission of voluntary national management declarations that provide assurance on the regularity of EU expenditure. The Commission has also welcomed and supported joint actions from Supreme Audit Institutions of Member States, which aimed at exchanging know-how and experiences. However, as stated by the Court in its opinion 6/2007 on annual summaries and national declarations, information provided in the latter can only be relied upon if the declarations are of adequate and comparable scope, approach and timing.

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Budgetary Management TABLE OF CONTENTS

Paragraph Introduction 3.1 Observations 3.2-3.12

Targets achieved by amending budgets 3.2-3.4

Implementation of programmes 3.5-3.6

Cohesion policies expenditure 3.5-3.6

The European Economic Recovery Plan 3.7-3.8

Outstanding budgetary commitments (‘RAL’) 3.9-3.12

THE COURT'S OBSERVATIONS THE COMMISSION'S REPLIES INTRODUCTION

3.1. This chapter analyses issues arising from the implemen­ tation of the EU general budget in 2008. It covers in particular the rate of budgetary implementation, the implementation of EU programmes, in particular EU cohesion policies expen­ diture, the amending budgets and the level of outstanding budgetary commitments.

OBSERVATIONS

Targets achieved by amending budgets

3.2. The budgetary appropriations adopted for 2008 (voted budget and amending budgets) together with the carryover from 2007 totalled 132,3 billion euro in commitments and 117 billion euro in payments, an increase of 4,7 % and 1,7 % respectively compared to the final budget in 2007 ( 1 ). Overall, the total budgetary commitment appropriations of the year were 2,2 billion euro below the financial framework ceiling, while payment appropriations remained below by 14,0 billion euro (see Diagrams III and IV in Annex I).

3.3 The 10 amending budgets voted during the year resulted in an overall 1,4 billion euro increase in appro­ priations for commitments and a 4,6 billion euro decrease in appropriations for payments. The decrease is mostly a reaction to lower than expected spending in the areas of Cohesion Policies (4,5 billion euro) and External Relations (0,3 billion euro). Reducing appropriations for payments through amending budgets represents good financial management by adjusting to changes and reducing the budgetary surplus ( 2 ) (allowing, in particular, own resources to be returned to Member States earlier).

3.4. The Commission produces a series of documents containing inter alia the following information on the imple­ mentation of the budget of the European Communities ( 3 ):

_____________

( 1 ) Assigned revenues 2008 excluded. Assigned revenues cover i.a.

refunds arising from recovery of amounts paid in error, which are re-allocated to their budget line of origin, contributions from EFTA members increasing specific budget lines, or revenue from third parties where agreements have been concluded involving a financial contribution to EU activities.

( 2 ) The budgetary surplus (budget outturn) is the result of the imple­

mentation of the budget. It is not a reserve and it cannot be accumulated and used in future years to finance expenditure. The unused revenue that the surplus represents is offset against the own resources to be collected for the following year.

( 3 ) Detailed information on budgetary implementation for 2008 can

be obtained from Part II of the Annual Accounts of the European Communities, Financial Year 2008, the EC’s (DG Budget) documents ‘Report on budgetary and financial management — financial year 2008’ as well as from the Report on the ‘Analysis of the budgetary implementation of the Structural and Cohesion Funds in 2008’.

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— the budgetary surplus at the end of 2008 (1,8 billion euro) remained at almost the same level as in 2007 (1,5 billion euro);

— utilisation rates in 2008 for both commitments and payments, at 99 % and 97 % respectively (after amending budgets), remain at a similar high level as in 2007, the first year of the new programming period (96 % and 98 %);

— 2,1 billion euro of unused payment appropriations (excluding assigned revenues, see footnote 1) were not cancelled but carried over from 2008 to 2009, a higher level than in 2007 (1,2 billion euro);

— for the area of ‘Cohesion’ ( 4 ) (included in the Titles 04, 05, 11 and 13 ( 5 )) the 4,5 billion euro reduction in payment appropriations resulted in a final utilisation rate of 99 % (it would have been 88 % had the ninth amending budget not been adopted);

— Member States’ forecasts for payments resulting from commitments to spend made between 2000 and 2006 have improved over the last three years. The overall over-estimation was reduced from 33 % in 2006 to 18 % in 2007 and 16 % in 2008. As concerns commitments made under the current programming period (2007- 2013), the over-estimation of payments was 27 % in 2008.

Implementation of programmes Cohesion policies expenditure

3.5. Concerning the 2000-2006 Structural Funds programmes, the implementation of payment appropriations for 2008 turned out to be considerably higher than expected. Instead of the estimated 16,3 billion euro, the payments amounted to 24,0 billion euros. The initial esti­ mation was based on the assumption that the amounts of payment claims in 2008 would slow-down, because the n+2 deadline ( 6 ) did not apply and no new commitments occurred since 2006. However, the expected slow-down did not occur. _____________

( 4 ) The term ‘Cohesion’ describing a policy area (see chapter 6) was

introduced for the programming period 2007-2013 and covers the Structural Funds (European Regional Development Fund and European Social Fund) and the Cohesion Fund. Prior to that (for the programming period 2000-2006) the Structural Funds included the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund, and also the Agricultural Fund-Guidance Section and the Financial Instrument for Fisheries/Guidance. The Cohesion Fund was not considered as a Structural Fund, having a separate legal basis. Since this chapter refers to the different programming periods, the two terms — ‘Cohesion area’ and ‘Structural Funds’ — are used intentionally.

( 5 ) The titles cover policy areas 04: Employment and Social Affairs; 05:

Agriculture and Rural Development; 11: Fisheries and Maritime Affairs; 13: Regional Policy.

( 6 ) The n+2 deadline requires automatic de-commitment of all funds

not spent by the end of the second year following the year of allocation.

THE COURT'S OBSERVATIONS THE COMMISSION'S REPLIES 3.6. The presentation by the Member States for approval by

the Commission of the compliance statements, a prerequisite to the reimbursements from the Cohesion programmes of 2007-2013, has been slow (see paragraph 6.26). This led to the execution of payment appropriations being significantly lower than expected (12,6 billion euro). Almost all payments in 2008 for the new programming period represented initial advances.

3.6. Member States have 12 months from approval of