Amending budget 1/2008: EU Solidarity Fund, budgetary structure for the REA and the ERCEA, establishment plan of FRONTEX, Galileo Programme, budget article on Exceptional crisis expenditure

The Committee on Budgets unanimously adopted a report drawn up by Kyösti VIRRANKOSKI (ALDE, FI), and took note of Preliminary draft amending budget No 1/2008 established by the Council and recalled that the draft amending budget covered the following points:

-the mobilisation of the EU Solidarity Fund for an amount of EUR 162.4 million in commitment and payment appropriations, relating to major storm damage in the United Kingdom in June and July 2007,

–the creation of the necessary budgetary structure to accommodate the Research

Executive Agency (REA) and the European Research Council Executive Agency (ERCEA);

-modification of the establishment plan of the European Agency for the Management of the Operational Cooperation at the External Borders of the Member States of the European Union (FRONTEX),

–the creation of budget item 06 01 04 12 - Galileo Programme - expenditure on administrative management;

–the creation of budget article 27 01 11 - Exceptional crisis expenditure - to enable the financing of exceptional expenditure linked to a declared crisis. The line will be endowed with a "p.m."

With regard to the EUR 2 million in budgetary transfers for the Galileo Programme, the Commission had indicated that the expenditure on administrative management is not to be seen as "extra" appropriations but correspond to a reshuffle, within the global envelope allocated to Galileo for 2008, from an operational line to a line of administrative nature. The Committee felt that some doubts over the relevance of the proposal of EUR 2 million devoted to administrative management contained in the AB 1/2008 remain. An amendment has therefore been proposed re-establishing the operational line for Galileo with EUR 890 million in commitments.