Opinion on Financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union (recast)

09.03.2023

Mr Johan Van Overtveldt

Chair

Committee on Budgets

BRUSSELS

Ms Monika Hohlmeier

Chair

Committee on Budgetary Control

BRUSSELS

Subject: Opinion on Financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union (recast) (COM(2022)0223 – C90179-2022 – 2022/0162(COD))

Dear Mr Chair,

Under the procedure referred to above, the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy has been asked to submit an opinion to your committee and to the Committee on Budgetary Control. At its meeting of 13 July 2022, the committee decided to send the opinion in the form of a letter. It considered the matter at its meeting of 9 March 2023 and adopted the opinion at that meeting.

The opinion consists of the following amendments, which, in accordance with the usual treatment of opinions under Rule 56, I kindly ask you to put to the vote during the vote on the report in your committee:

ITRE 1

Article 14 – paragraph 1

Where budgetary commitments are decommitted in any financial year after the year in which they were made as a result of the total or partial non-implementation of the actions for which they were earmarked, the appropriations corresponding to such decommitments shall be made available again to the benefit of the budget line of origin.

Justification

The consequence of the amendment returning the decommitments to the benefit of the budget lines of origin, would address directly the problems with research decommitments.

ITRE 2

Article 15

deleted

Justification

A technical deletion necessary in view of the amendment to Art. 14

ITRE 3

Article 33 – paragraph 2 – point d

(d) programmes and activities shall, where feasible and appropriate, in accordance with the relevant sector-specific rules, be implemented to achieve their set objectives without doing significant harm to the environmental objectives of climate change mitigation, climate change adaptation, the sustainable use and protection of water and marine resources, the transition to a circular economy, pollution prevention and control and the protection and restoration of biodiversity and ecosystems, as set out in Article 9 of Regulation (EU) 2020/852 of the European Parliament and of the Council.

Justification

The amendment alters the Commission proposal on including the Do No Significant Harm principle in the FR. It creates the possibility to specify the application of the principle in sectoral legislation. This would allow ITRE to determine the scope and manner of application appropriate for, for example, the research programme. ITRE has commented on this scope and manner of application already in the past, for example in paragraph 41 of the EIC Implementation INI.

Yours sincerely,

CristianSilviu Buşoi