2011 Budget: Commissioner not afraid of words. The possibility of the EU having its 2011 budget on time is getting stronger, as indicated in the developments highlighted in EUROPE 10264. On Wednesday, the European Commission will be presenting a new draft and several indications suggest that we can hope that the European Parliament and Council will reach the compromises that are still necessary, by avoiding blockages in a number of essential areas of Community activity, such as the launch of the common diplomatic service and the way in which the European financial supervisory agencies function.
In this context, it should be emphasised that the European commissioner responsible for the budget, Janusz Lawandowski (Poland), has not hesitated to speak out openly and make his position known. For example, in an interview (with Belgian newspaper Le Soir), he did not restrict himself to underlining the importance of this first budget which is entirely defined according to institutional procedures and competencies introduced by the Lisbon Treaty, he also unveiled the different positions by indicating which member states had actually provoked the blockage. Our publication has, of course, provided detailed indications on these aspects and this column has particularly highlighted the fact that the blockage was not based in any way on the budget figures but on the future, particularly on the new multiannual financial perspectives to come into force when the current ones expire ( 2013). The indications provided by the commissioner do not add very much but they do provide an official seal to what was already known and the tone of the positions he took is significant. I will explore three of these factors:
Significance. “This crisis is not about the budget, it is about cooperation between the main European institutions and the model for integration”.
The blockage. “More than 20 countries supported a compromise. The problem was really with one or two delegations”. The commissioner explicitly mentioned the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. He pointed out that “the British media is Eurosceptic and being against 'Brussels' pays dividends on the home front”.
Consequences. “There are many unknown factors. The provisional twelfths would mean that we would not be able to compensate the agricultural subsidies for the eleven countries concerned, including Ireland. Delayed payments could reach a figure of €23 or 24 billion. Ireland's budgetary position would have deteriorated”.
The role of Parliament is undeniable. I believe that the explanations cited above should, given the substance of their source, help convince political forces of the necessity to approve this budget without delay, the Parliament safeguarding its principled position on the institutional aspects but without considering it indispensable that all these aspects be clarified beforehand. The questions raised by the EP are fundamental and it was right to bring them up now. Future EU spending, on which common policies and European activities usually depend, is likely to be linked to the creation of own resources. The EP is correct to highlight its rightful role in the fundamental forthcoming debate on this subject; but the link with the 2011 budget could to be overcome because the Parliament will undoubtedly assume this role. When the moment arises, no one will be able to deny the Parliament this.
The reasons why own resources are needed. Historic figures involved in European construction, as well as a few new leaders, have in the meantime begun to speak out. One only needs to look at the list of signatories in favour of the position that has just been published supporting Community own resources: Etienne Davignon, Jacques Delors, Ana de Palacio, Mario Monti, Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa and others, in addition to the new pro-European generation, including Guy Verhofstadt. Their text rejects the idea that at a time when national budgets are being cut, the Community budget should experience the same treatment: “this approach is mistaken; it is based on an ill-conceived premise and is in nobody's interest”. The European budget accounts for 1% of the EU's GDP and it could constitute the instrument for relaunching the economy, “European spending cannot be arithmetically added to national spending… it allows spending to be rationalised through economies of scale and through more effective action, with fewer resources”. This involves the creation of new own resources, which would not constitute a European tax but an instrument that would help fight against climate change (a tax on fuel) or against excesses committed in the financial arena (tax on financial transactions). “A European budget based on own resources linked to an ambitious project is born out of economic and social necessity, as well as out of the need for urgent political action”.
Political action has thus been launched, without compromising the indispensable and urgent 2011 budget.
(F.R./transl.fl)