Brussels, 25/03/2011 (Agence Europe) - Next year's EU budget should be one of the main tools for helping Europe's economy to recover after the crisis, by focusing on employment, economic governance and growth, according to the European Parliament (EP) which, in Brussels on Thursday 24 March, adopted the report by Francesca Balzani (S&D Italy) on the general guidelines for the preparation of the 2012 budget of the EU.
MEPs say that the 2012 budget should focus on the five targets of the EU 2020 strategy. They say they are concerned that proposals coming out of the Council (consisting of underfunding parts of the budget, especially those for cohesion, citizenship and foreign affairs) could put existing measures at risk, if unforeseen events, such what has happened recently in several North African countries, or new political priorities arise. They say that the EU has a key role to play in supporting Arab countries at this historic point of their democratic development. (L.C./transl.rt)