Introductory text

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 152(1) thereof,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities^f1, and in particular Article 110 thereof,

Having regard to Decision No 1786/2002/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 September 2002 adopting a programme of Community action in the field of public health (2003 to 2008)^f2, and in particular Article 8(1), thereof,

Having regard to Commission Decision 2004/858/EC of 15 December 2004 setting up an executive agency, the ‘Executive Agency for the Public Health Programme’, for the management of Community action in the field of public health — pursuant to Council Regulation (EC) No 58/2003^f3, and in particular Article 6 thereof,

Whereas:

The work plan for 2007 was adopted on 12 February 2007.

The budget available for 2007 (commitments) was estimated at EUR 40 000 000. The contribution of EEA/EFTA countries was estimated at EUR 912 000. The contribution of one Applicant Country (Turkey) was estimated at EUR 958 000. The total budget for 2007 was estimated at EUR 41 870 000. The total indicative amount for the call for proposals was estimated at EUR 33 888 000. The overall indicative amount for the call for tenders was EUR 4 064 000.

The contribution received from EEA/EFTA countries amounted to EUR 884 640. The contribution to be received from one Applicant Country (Turkey) amounted to EUR 957 697. The following former candidate countries, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Romania and Slovenia contributed to the Public Health Programme on the basis of the Enlargement Protocols for an amount of EUR 7 133 382,18, of which EUR 1 226 395,9 were committed in the previous years of the abovementioned Programme. The amount of EUR 5 906 986,28 is therefore still available for financing actions in 2007.

The total budget available for 2007 is therefore EUR 47 749 323,28. The total amount for the call for proposals is EUR 37 888 963. The total amount for the call for tenders is EUR 5 324 000.

The actions initially foreseen for 2007 with the cooperation of the OECD will be postponed to 2008, therefore a part of the budget allocated to finance direct grant agreements with the OECD is now available for other actions in 2007. Three actions are foreseen with the cooperation of the WHO and one action with the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) for a total amount of EUR 2 550 000 instead of the initial amount estimated at EUR 2 032 000.

In the light of the increased budget made available, it is therefore necessary to amend the Work Plan for 2007 to finance a larger number of tenders, projects under the 2007 Call for Proposals and of direct grant agreements with international organisations.

Furthermore, since in 2007 final budget item 17 03 01 01 did not have the necessary commitment allocation, the relevant amount available under budget article 17 03 06 was transferred to item 17 03 01 01 at the beginning of the budget year.

The expenditure for administrative management of the programme is covered by budget item 17 01 04 02^f4.

The Public Health Programme Committee gave a favourable opinion on this draft Decision.

Commission Decision 2007/102/EC^f5 should therefore be amended accordingly,

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS: