Brussels, 27/04/2010 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 27 April, the European Commission adopted its proposal on the 2011 draft budget, whose main objective is to promote the relaunch of the European economy in a post-crisis period. Janusz Lewandowski, the European commissioner responsible for financial programming and the budget, mentioned a “budget prototype” for two reasons: on the one hand, it is the first EU budget developed under the new Lisbon Treaty provisions, “which requires a new spirit of co-operation between the Council and the European Parliament: a single reading and only 21 days for reconciliation to strike the deal”. On the other hand, “we are in the post-crisis period, therefore public spending must be well targeted, well-managed and justified by precise forecasts”. The commissioner added that the 2011 budget should also reflect the EU's new approach for creating jobs and growth and helping young people find work (20% of young people in the EU are unemployed).
The Commission is proposing a draft budget in 2011 of €142.6 billion in commitment appropriations, 2.2% more than in 2010 if we do not take into account the funding programme in the recovery plan (€2 billion in 2010) and +0.8% if we take into account funding under the recovery plan. In payment appropriations, the total proposed rises to €130.1 billion (which represents 1.05% of Gross National Income in the EU), 5.9% more than in 2010 if the recovery plan is excluded (€1 billion in payments) but + 5.8% if the recovery plan is taken into account. The commissioner also noted the increase in commitments made to structural funds, which will help relaunch activities on the ground. Cohesion policy is considered by Janusz Lewandowski to be an “anti-crisis package which contributes to the real economy and which has a multiplication effect”.
The planned breakdown of the budget funding in 2011 demonstrates that 45% of the €142.6 billion (commitments) will go to cohesion and competitiveness, 42% to natural resources (31% in direct aid and market spending in agriculture) and 6% to external relations and administrative spending. In payment appropriations, the breakdown demonstrates that natural resources take the lion's share (45%, of which 34% will go to direct aid and market spending) ahead of sustainable growth (42%).
“Competitiveness” (Section 1a): €13.4 billion in commitment appropriations and €12.1 billion in payments, +3.4% and +14.7% respectively compared to 2010 if energy projects and economic recovery projects for 2010 are not included but - 9.6 and +6.8% if funding from the recovery plan is included. The draft budget includes an increase in investment for research, development and innovation, as well as for infrastructure and human capital. The envelope and seventh research and technical development framework programme will increase by 13.8% and reach a figure of €8.6 billion (in commitment preparations). Funding for the trans-European transport networks and energy will increase by 16.8% (to a figure of €1.3 billion) and that for the innovation and competitiveness programme will increase by 4.4% compared to last year (to a figure of €549 million).
The Commission is proposing to increase funding for education and lifelong learning by 2.6% (a planned €1.1 billion), which will allow more than 200,000 grants for Erasmus students. There is a planned budget of €127 million to help 120,000 people participate in the “youth in action” programme (+1.6%). There will also be a budget of €754 million to encourage the mobility of young researchers.
The Commission is also planning a budget of €258 for closing down the Kozloduy plant.
“Cohesion” (Section 1b): €51 billion in commitment appropriations and €42.5 billion in payment appropriations, a respective increase of +3.2 and +16.9% compared to 2010. On the ground, structural funds and cohesion funds will be maintained in an active execution phase. €39.9 billion in commitment appropriations are planned for structural funds, the same amount as in 2010 and €11 billion for cohesion funds. With regard to payment appropriations for the 2007-2013 programmes, €31.3 billion has been planned for structural funds (+17.8% compared to 2010). For 2000-2006, €4.9 billion will be paid (8.7% less than in 2010): €2.4 billion under the ERDF, €1 billion under the European Social Fund and €1.5 billion for cohesion funds.
Natural Resources (Section 2): €59.5 billion in commitment appropriations and €58.1 billion in payment appropriations, +0% compared to 2010. Commitment appropriations for market spending and direct aid expected to be €43.7 billion, a very slight decrease of €73 million compared to 2010. Funding for market intervention decreases (by €900 million), while funding for direct aid increases (by more than €600 million), which is mainly down to the gradual introduction of direct aid in the new EU countries. The Commission will grant an envelope of €14.4 billion for rural development measures (+0.5% compared to 2010). It should also be noted that funding for environmental protection, as part of the Life+ programme, gets a funding increase of +8.7% and reaches a figure of €333 million.
Citizenship, Freedom, Security and Justice (Section 3): €1.8 billion in commitment appropriations and €1.5 billion in payment appropriations, respective increases of +7.7 and +6.7% compared to 2010. The substantial envelopes granted under the “security and freedom protection” sections (+24.4%) and “managing immigration flows” (+18.5%) can be explained by the priority placed on implementation of the five-year action plan which the EU has just adopted in the area of citizenship, justice, security, asylum and immigration.
The EU on the world stage (Section 4): €8.6 billion in commitment appropriations (+5.6% compared to 2010) and €7.6 billion in payment appropriations (-2.4%). The Commission will grant €200 million to Palestine (€20 million more than last year), €7.9 million for the Baltic Sea strategy, €25 million to support economic and social development of the Turkish Cypriot community, €65 million in EU commitment appropriations for the next UN conference on the Millennium Development Goals and €65 million to help reinforce EU aid to developing countries seeking to tackle global warming. In the area of CFSP, the Commission will grant funding of €327.3 million, a 3.8% increase on figures for 2010.
Administration (Section 5): €8.3 billion in commitment appropriations (+4.5%) and the same amount in payment appropriations (+4.5%). The Commission, for the second consecutive year, will not be requesting any new posts. It will proceed to the redeployment of 2,200 staff in an effort to take into account new priorities (new instruments resulting from the Lisbon Treaty and implementation of the EU 2020 strategy). Next autumn, the Commission will present an amending letter for the funding needed to ensure the operational functioning of the European External Actions Service (EEAS).
Recovery for 2011. Implementation of the European Economic Recovery Plan has not been left out and more than €1 billion will go towards pursuing energy projects on the ground in the field of carbon capture and storage, offshore wind energy and energy infrastructures adopted in 2009 and at the beginning of 2010. Similarly, an envelope of around €500 million will fund broadband access projects in rural areas.
EU 2020 strategy. The Commission has calculated that the funding for 2011 that will go on leading initiatives in the EUROPE 2020 strategy, which will account for around €57.9 billion in funding (€21.9 for innovation, €9 billion for employment and new qualifications, €1.1 billion for youth, €21.1 billion for effective resources management and €800 million for industrial policy in the era of globalisation), around 40% of the total budget.
In his replies to questions from the press, Janusz Lewandowski explained that the proposed increase in payment appropriations for the 2011 budget as a whole is a “rather favourable message”. It can mainly be put down to the increase in payment appropriations going towards structural funds. The commissioner explained that “there are currently significant budget problems but the main difficulty is having access to funding and capital. We are therefore taking measures to tackle the crisis we experienced in 2009 and this year. These payments will have a multiplying effect and help towards growth”.
The fact that in 2011 payment appropriations will be greater than commitment appropriations last year, is an indication of “good management” of the budget, explained Janusz Lewandowski.
In the context of the Commission's future work on a budget, the commissioner advocated adoption of the Commission's communication on the re-examination of the EU budget (spending and income) by September at the latest and adoption on the future multiannual financial framework 2014-2020 in Spring 2011 (even if the European Parliament demands a five-year framework instead of seven). He admitted that he was not in a very comfortable situation because of delays (the late setting up of the new Commission) and that the two exercises were in danger of overlapping. He also admitted that there was a difficulty in extending the current financial perspectives. (L.C./transl.fl)