If within this period the Council has more of the amendments adopted by the  European Parliament or if the modifications proposed by the latter have been rejected or  modified, the modified draft administrative budget shall again be forwarded to the European  Parliament. The Council shall inform the European Parliament of the results of its  deliberations.

6. Within 15 days of the draft administrative budget being placed before it, the European  Parliament, which shall have been notified of the action taken on its proposed modification,  may, acting by a majority of its Members and three fifths of the votes cast, amend or reject the  modifications to its amendments made by the Council and shall adopt the administrative  budget accordingly. If within this period the European Parliament has not acted, the  administrative budget shall be deemed to be finally adopted.

7. When the procedure provided for in this Article has been completed, the President of the  European Parliament shall declare that the administrative budget has been finally adopted.

8. However, the European Parliament, acting by a majority of its Members and two thirds of  the votes cast, may, if there are important reasons, reject the draft administrative budget and  ask for a new draft to be submitted to it.

9. A maximum rate of increase in relation to the expenditure of the same type to be incurred  during the current year shall be fixed annually for the total expenditure other than that  necessarily resulting from this Treaty or from acts adopted in accordance therewith.

The Commission shall, after consulting the Economic Policy Committee, declare what this  maximum is as it results from:  

• The trend, in terms of volume, of the gross national product within the Community;
• The average variation in the budgets of the Member States; and
• The trend of the cost of living during the preceding financial year.

The maximum rate shall be communicated, before 1 May, to all the institutions of the Community. The latter shall be required to conform to this during the budgetary procedure,  subject to the provisions of the fourth and fifth subparagraphs of this paragraph.

If, in respect of expenditure other than that necessarily resulting from this Treaty or from acts  adopted in accordance therewith, the actual rate of increase on the draft administrative budget  established by the Council is over half the maximum rate, the European Parliament may,  exercising its right of amendment, further increase the total amount of that expenditure to a  limit not exceeding half the maximum rate.

Where the European Parliament, the Council or the Commission considers that the activities  of the Communities require that the rate determined according to the procedure laid down in  this paragraph should be exceeded, another rate may be fixed by agreement between the  Council, acting by a qualified majority, and the European Parliament, acting by a majority of  its Members and three fifths of the votes cast.

10. Each institution shall exercise the powers conferred upon it by this Article, with due  regard for the provisions of this Treaty and for acts adopted in accordance therewith, in  particular those relating to the Communities' own resources and to the balance between  revenue and expenditure.

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