Brussels, 23/11/2010 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 23 November, the European Parliament and Council would not be moved from their respective positions in the power struggle over the 2011 budget, while the European Commission announced a new draft budget for “1st December at the very latest”. Everyone seemed determined to sink last week's conciliation failure into oblivion and to come to an agreement by the end of year. If, however, this is not achieved, “then everyone must shoulder their responsibilities”, said Melchior Wathelet of Belgium, who is president-in-office of the Budget Council, speaking at a debate on the budget on Tuesday afternoon at the EP in Strasbourg. He asked what signal the EU would be giving in this difficult context of the crisis in Ireland and elsewhere if it were unable to tighten its belt to reach a compromise on its own budget. Wathelet also sounded a note of caution against the “very concrete and practical consequences” felt by the citizens who would be the first victims. After these persuasive declarations, the representative of the Belgian Presidency of the EU Council nonetheless put a damper on the EP's request relating to the famous “political statement”. The Council, Wathelet said, cannot go beyond what was offered at the last conciliation meeting. To this, the leader of the Socialist Group (S&D), Martin Schulz, immediately retorted: “If that is really the Council's position, then we are heading straight for confrontation”. EP President Jerzy Buzek took the view that agreement was still possible even by the end of the year on condition, however, that the Council take the EP's three main demands into account, namely: budgetary flexibility, the role of the Parliament in adopting multiannual budgetary frameworks, and the establishment of own resources. Daniel Cohn-Bendit, Co-President of the Greens Group, called on the EP not to be afraid to stick to its position even it this meant delaying adoption of the budget by several months. The EP's position is firm, the Council must “take it or leave it”, he said.
José Manuel Barroso announced that the Commission would be presenting a new draft budget 2011 within the next few days, and by 1 December at the latest, in the hope of reaching an agreement by the end of the year. Failure would be “very difficult to explain to the public”, he said. The new draft budget proposed will take up all the points on which agreement has already been reached. The draft will also take account of the proposal made by the EP to step up the commitments under the heading “competitiveness for growth and employment” and under the heading “external relations”, via the flexibility mechanism, Barroso said. The future agreement should also shed light on questions relating to the future financing of the EU budget, he added. Barroso announced: “The Commission will make use of its right of initiative to present formal proposals on own resources before the end of the month of June”. He also said he was in favour of budgetary flexibility, asserting: “It is important for flexibility to be clearly maintained for adoption by qualified majority of revision below 0.03% of Gross National Income”.
Speaking on behalf of the EPP, Joseph Daul of France asked how one could consent to the Council adopting programmes without providing funding, when any local authority would be slammed for behaviour of this sort. The EP is hoping for a comprehensive agreement comprising the 2011 budget, the flexibility proposal, and the guarantee of future policy funding. There is nothing new about the request to open debate on own resources as it results from the decision taken by the Council itself in May 2006. The Union budget must provide assurance for the future even in times of crisis, said Alain Lamassoure (EPP, France). The budget has become the “place where contradictory national interests clash”, he said, calling on member states to understand that there are huge advantages to be gained from exploiting “potential economic sources springing from the pooling of certain spending”.
Own resources worthy of the name would strengthen European democracy, took up Guy Verhofstadt of Belgium on behalf of the ALDE Group. He invited the Union to “reinvent its financing”, without forgetting that flexibility is not a concession on the part of the Council but rather an “acquis”. Daniel Cohn-Bendit of Germany, speaking for the Greens/EFA, said they should do what Alain Lamassoure was suggesting - discuss own resources “in the public arena” (by means of a convention or conference), to result in cutting national contributions and strengthening the Union's budget. In this debate, it is not just a question of money but of its effective use and also, in particular, of Parliament's rights, Martin Schulz (S&D, Germany) hammered out, saying the heads of member state governments are versed in the parliamentary tradition and should therefore understand that, in a democracy, it is the parliament that controls the executive. The Council's stubbornness not to wish to discuss own resources was also criticised by Lothar Bisky (GUE/NL, Germany), while Lajos Bokros (ECR, Hungary) expressed more optimism about reaching an agreement on flexibility. (H.B./L.G./transl.jl)