Revised budget of the expenditure of the Assembly for the year 2000 and opinion of the Council REPORT1 submitted on behalf of the Committee on Budgetary Affairs and Administration by Mr Martínez Casañ, Chairman and Rapporteur TABLE OF CONTENTS OPINION 362 on the revised budget of the expenditure of the Assembly for the year 2000 EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM submitted by Mr Martínez Casañ, Chairman and Rapporteur APPENDIX I: Letter from the Head of Finance Section, Secretariat-General of WEU, to the President of the Assembly APPENDIX II: Recapitulatory table showing changes made to the Assembly's draft budget on the basis of the Council decision APPENDIX III: Trend of the Assembly's budgets from 1999 to 2000 Adopted unanimously by the Committee on 10 May 2000. Adopted by the Assembly on 6 June 2000 (3rd sitting).

Explanatory Memorandum (submitted by Mr Martínez Casañ, Chairman and Rapporteur) The Budget and Organisation Committee met on four occasions to examine the WEU budgets, including that of the Assembly. It became clear in the initial stages of the discussions in the Commit-tee that the objective of many of the delegations was to maintain the budget of the Organisation as a whole and/or of each of its constituent parts at zero real growth with this to be achieved mainly by freezing all decisions concerning the permanent staff. At its meeting on 15 December 1999, the Council approved both the WEU Assembly's budget for 2000 and the budgets of the ministerial organs. As a result of that decision, the Assembly's total budget for 2000 (including pensions) comes to _6 284 650 as against _6 209 554 in 1999, i.e. an increase of 1.21% as represented by _75 096. The Council's decisions Head I (Permanent staff). The Council did not agree to the voluntary early retirement scheme for staff over 60. It was suggested that this scheme could be one item in the discussions on an overall concept of staff matters that the Secretary-General would be preparing with a view to a major struc-tural change in WEU planned for spring 2000. However, the Council refused to carry over to 2000 a surplus under Head I of the Assembly's 1999 budget which had been earmarked for the purpose of funding part of the incentive scheme as necessary. Furthermore, the Council did not agree to the creation of the two analyst posts (grade A2) requested. Neither did it approve the dual-grading proposal. Heads II-V (for which the Assembly has budgetary autonomy). The Council approved a rate of 2.22%, bringing the total of Heads II-V to _1 967 550 for 2000 as against _1 924 745 in 1999, an increase of _42 805. It also agreed to a symbolic increase under Head II to take account, among other things, of its refusal to create the additional posts. Other adjustments Statutory increases: salaries and pensions were increased by 1.4% on 1 January 2000 instead of by 1.8% as envisaged when the draft budget was drawn up. The WEU contribution rates for health insurance for serving and retired Paris staff went up by 22% with effect from 1 January 2000. The insurers gave notification of this increase on 25 January 2000. Results The following adjustments to the appropriations in the draft budget can therefore be made (see attached tables for further information): a reduction in the total for Head I (Permanent staff) of _196 182) to take account of the lower statutory remuneration adjustment (+1.4% instead of 1.8%), the decision not to allow the creation of the two grade A2 posts (remuneration and recruitment costs) and the rejec-tion of the dual-grading proposal; an increase in the total for Head II (Temporary staff) of _22 131 to take account, albeit on a limited scale, of the Council's decision not to allow the creation of two analyst posts; the appropriations (excluding new requests) for Heads III to V are unchanged; the pensions budget has been adjusted to take account of the various upwards and downwards adjustments (see Head I above).

APPENDIX I: Letter from the Head of Finance Section, Secretariat-General of WEU, to the President of the Assembly 23 December 1999 Dear President, I am writing to inform you that the Council has approved the budget of the Assembly of Western European Union for the year 2000 by virtue of an agreement under the silent procedure which came to an end on 22 December 1999. Yours sincerely, (signed) L. GOUBERT Mr Lluis Maria de Puig President of the Assembly of Western European Union 43, avenue du Président Wilson 75775 Paris Cedex 16

APPENDIX II: Recapitulatory table showing changes made to the Assembly's draft budget on the basis of the decision of the Council of WEU (in euros) Head Title Draft budget for 2000 Changes resulting from the Council's decision Revised budget for 2000 Head I Permanent staff       Sub-head 1 Basic salaries 2 613 200 -188 182 2 425 018 Sub-head 2 Allowances 637 082 0 637 082 Sub-head 3 Social charges 501 000 0 501 000 Sub-head 4 Expenditure relating to the recruitment and departure of staff 23 000 -8 000 15 000 Sub-head 5 Medical examinations 1 400 0 1 400   TOTAL HEAD I 3 775 682 -196 182 3 579 500 Head II Temporary staff       Sub-head 6 Staff recruited for sessions 526 000 2 000 528 000 Sub-head 7 Interpreters required for Assembly work between sessions 140 000 2 002 142 002 Sub-head 8 Temporary staff for the Office of the Clerk 28 600 18 129 46 729 Sub-head 9 Social charges 34 750 0 34 750   TOTAL HEAD II 729 350 22 131 751 481 Head III Expenditure on premises and equipment       Sub-head 10 Share of joint expenditure on the Paris premises 109 400 - 47 109 353 Sub-head 11 Hire of committee rooms 3 500 1 123 4 623 Sub-head 12 Technical and other installations for Assembly sessions 149 500 - 8 013 141 487 Sub-head 13 Various services for the organisation of sessions 14 800 12 14 812 Sub-head 14 Maintenance of the premises 5 000 1 319 6 319 Sub-head 15 Purchase or repair of office furniture 10 500 1 830 12 330 Sub-head 16 Purchase of reproduction and other office equipment 25 000 - 7 275 17 725 Sub-head 17 Hire and maintenance of reproduction and other office equipment 97 750 120 97 870   TOTAL HEAD III 415 450 - 10 931 404 519 Head Title Draft budget for 2000 Changes resulting from the decision of the Council Revised budget for 2000 Head IV General administrative costs       Sub-head 18 Postage, telephone, facsimile and transport of documents 121 650 110 121 760 Sub-head 19 Duplication paper, headed writing paper and other office supplies 37 550 56 37 606 Sub-head 20 Printing and publication of documents 115 000 - 4 030 110 970 Sub-head 21 Purchase of documents 22 100 33 22 133 Sub-head 22 Official car 20 000 36 20 036 Sub-head 23 Bank charges 950 - 25 925   TOTAL HEAD IV 317 250 - 3 820 313 430 Head V Other expenditure       Sub-head 24 Travel and subsistence allowances and insurance for the President of the Assembly, committee chairmen and rapporteurs 55 750 43 55 793 Sub-head 25 Expenses for representation 63 300 46 63 346 Sub-head 26 Committee study missions 1 000 310 1 310 Sub-head 27 Official journeys of members of the Office of the Clerk 183 500 - 1 754 181 746 Sub-head 28 Expenses of experts and the auditor 20 650 3 20 653 Sub-head 29 Expenditure on information 70 900 - 2 005 68 895 Sub-head 30 Expenses for political groups 101 200 - 1 373 99 827 Sub-head 31 Contingencies and other expenditure not provided for elsewhere 400 62 462 Sub-head 32 Non-recoverable taxes 6 100 - 12 6 088   TOTAL HEAD V 502 800 - 4 680 498 120   OPERATING BUDGET TOTAL 5 740 532 - 193 482 5 547 050   Receipts 13 800 0 13 800   OPERATING BUDGET NET TOTAL 5 726 732 - 193 482 5 533 250   Expenditure on pensions 1 101 500 - 142 500 959 000   Receipts 208 000 - 400 207 600   PENSIONS NET TOTAL 893 500 - 142 100 751 400   GRAND NET TOTAL 6 620 232 - 335 582 6 284 650   Estimated cost of incentive scheme 319 350 - 319 350 0   GRAND TOTAL 6 939 582 - 654 932 6 284 650

APPENDIX III: Trend of the Assembly's budgets from 1999 to 2000   2000 b 1999 a % (a-b)/b   A B   A B   A. OPERATING BUDGET Head I - Permanent Staff 3 579 500 64,69 56,96 3 555 950 65,04 57,27 0,66 Head II - Temporary Staff 751 481 13,58 11,96 721 907 13,20 11,63 4,10 Head III - Premises and equipment 404 519 7,31 6,44 400 118 7,32 6,44 1,10 Head IV - General administrative costs 313 430 5,66 4,99 310 020 5,67 4,99 1,10 Head V - Other expenditure 498 120 9,00 7,93 492 700 9,01 7,93 1,10 Total 5 547 050 100,25 88,26 5 480 695 100,25 88,26 1,21 Receipts 13 800 0,25 0,22 13 720 0,25 0,22 0,58 NET TOTAL A 5 533 250 100,00 88,04 5 466 975 100,00 88,04 1,21 B. PENSIONS BUDGET Pensions, allowances and social charges 959 000   15,26 930 091   14,98 3,11 Receipts 207 600   3,30 187 512   3,02 10,71 NET TOTAL B 751 400   11,96 742 579   11,96 1,19 GRAND NET TOTAL (A+B) 6 284 650   100,00 6 209 554   100,0 1,21   Total Heads II-V of the operating budget 1 967 550     1 924 745     2,22 Column A = Operating budget net total Column B = Grand net total of operating budget and pensions budget