Brussels, 28/09/2010 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 28 September, the European Commission presented the financial report on the EU budget for 2009, showing that over 30% of the 2009 budget of the EU was dedicated to economic recovery and growth. “Each euro invested in our regions can generate two or three times that thanks to the leverage effect. That is when the EU budget really makes a difference on the ground”, commented Janusz Lewandowski, European Budget Commissioner.
The year 2009 was marked by exceptional public finance intervention aimed at controlling the impact of the financial crisis and its broader economic fallout. On the budgetary front, the Commission acted resolutely, by implementing the first stages of the European economic recovery plan, which allowed the allocation of €2 billion for a whole series of priority energy projects. Thanks to the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund, the European Union has contributed to alleviating the impact of individual plant closures in eight countries with support of €52 million.
The financial report 2009 shows that 97% of appropriations were spent, i.e. a level of implementation similar to that recorded in 2008 (98%), which demonstrates that planning quality has improved and that member states are no longer being asked to make excessive contributions, the commissioner said.
Overall expenditure from the EU budget in 2009 amounted to €112.1 billion. Out of this, €44 billion was dedicated to growth and employment (research, trans-European networks and cohesion policy), making up 39.25% of the total budget. Spending on the safeguarding and the management of natural resources (mainly agricultural, environment and fisheries expenditure) accounted for €50.8 billion, i.e. 45.31% of the total budget implemented.
Breakdown per country. In absolute terms, France remained the main beneficiary of EU spending in 2009 (as in 2007 and 2008), with nearly €14 billion. It ranks before Germany (which was in third place in 2008) and Spain (which drops a place). Italy remains fourth in line, just ahead of Poland, which currently enjoys major EU financial support in the agricultural and cohesion areas. The United Kingdom comes 6th. In relative terms, that is by calculating the ratio between spending shared out across the EU and Gross National Income (GNI), Lithuania is the leading recipient (0.40%, of which 0.31% are linked to the decommissioning of the Ignalina nuclear plant in that country), ahead of Luxembourg, Estonia, Hungary and Latvia.
Budget balance (difference between what a country receives and what it pays out to the EU budget). The largest net contributors to the 2009 budget of the EU were Denmark (balance of -0.42% of GNI), Italy (-0.34%), Finland (-0.32%), France (-0.30%) and Germany (-0.26%). In gross amounts, however, Germany continues to be the leading contributor, with over €20.5 billion, ahead of France (€20 billion) and Italy (€15 billion).
Main achievements in 2009. In 2009, the European Union spent €6.3 billion under the 7th framework programme for research and technological development. EU funding allowed over 1,000 projects in research cooperation to be supported, such as the “Fuel path” project on effective production of biofuels, which aims to find ways to optimise biofuel production so that the share of bioenergy reaches at least 14% of all energy sources used in the EU by 2020. Over 34,000 small and medium-sized enterprises received European funds as part of the programme for innovation and competitiveness. According to estimates made, funding granted by the EU helped to create and safeguard over 200,000 jobs between 2007 and 2008. Furthermore, the Erasmus programme financed over 300,000 mobility grants involving 4,000 universities. The share of cohesion policy in the budget remained high. Payments under the 2007-2013 framework amounted to €25.5 billion, more than twice as much as in 2008 (€11.5 billion). The EU budget supported farmers in the EU with over €40 billion in the form of direct aids and market interventions, accounting for almost half of farmers' income.
Over €10 billion spent on external action. In 2009, the EU was the second largest provider of development aid in the world, with commitments amounting to €12 billion and reaching around 140 developing countries. EU humanitarian aid and food assistance helped over 150 million people in 70 countries in 2009. Under common foreign and security policy, the EU managed 10 missions in hotspots around the world, such as Kosovo, Southern Caucasus, Afghanistan, the Middle East and Africa. One of the biggest recipients of external aid is Sudan (€115 million) - 3.6 million people benefited from food assistance in Darfur and 436,000 in South Sudan in 2009. Administrative spending for all institutions represented €7.4 billion. In 2009 as in 2010, the Commission upheld its commitment not to request any new posts in future years except in the case of accession by new member states.
Nearly 70% of the EU budget is financed by member states' national budgets, depending on their relative GNI. (L.C./transl.jl)