Annual report 2002 - EOI

ANNEXES 267
B THE
OMBUDSMAN’S
BUDGET
An independent budget
The Statute of the European Ombudsman provided originally for the Ombudsman’s
budget to be annexed to section I (European Parliament) of the general budget of the
European Union.
In December 1999, the Council decided that the Ombudsman’s budget should be independent.
Since 1 January 2000 8 , the Ombudsman’s budget has been an independent
section of the budget of the European Union (section VIII-A).
Structure of the Budget
The Ombudsman’s Budget is divided into three titles. Title 1 of the budget contains
salaries, allowances and other costs related to staff. This Title also includes the cost of
missions undertaken by the Ombudsman and his staff. Title 2 of the budget covers buildings,
equipment and miscellaneous operating expenditure. Title 3 contains a single
chapter, from which subscriptions to international Ombudsman organisations are paid.
Co-operation with the European Parliament
To avoid unnecessary duplication of administrative and technical staff, many of the
services needed by the Ombudsman are provided by, or through, the European Parliament.
Areas in which the Ombudsman relies, to a greater or lesser extent, on the assistance of
the Parliament’s services include:
• personnel, including contracts, salaries, allowances and social security;
• financial control and accounting;
• preparation and execution of Title 1 of the budget;
• translation, interpretation and printing;
• security;
• informatics, telecommunications and mail handling.
The co-operation between the European Ombudsman and the European Parliament has
allowed for considerable efficiency savings to the Community budget. The co-operation
with the European Parliament has in fact allowed the administrative staff of the
Ombudsman not to increase substantially.
Where the services provided to the Ombudsman involve additional direct expenditure by
the European Parliament a charge is made, with payment being effected through a liaison
account. Provision of offices and translation services are the largest items of expenditure
dealt with in this way.
The 2002 budget included a lump-sum fee to cover the costs to the European Parliament
of providing services which consist solely of staff time, such as administration of staff
contracts, salaries and allowances and a range of computing services.
The co-operation between the European Parliament and the European Ombudsman was
initiated by a Framework Agreement dated 22 September 1995, completed by Agreements
on Administrative Cooperation and on Budgetary and Financial Cooperation, signed on 12
October 1995.
8
Council Regulation 2673/1999 of 13 December 1999 OJ L 326/1.