Brussels, 01/06/2011 (Agence Europe) - The third largest political group in the European Parliament, the ALDE Group, believes that there is enough room for manoeuvre for austerity and budgetary ambition to be combined in the 2012 budget. ALDE proposes a real terms freeze on the EU's budget expenditure. This would mean an increase only in line with the rate of inflation, which is standing around 3%. However, the Liberals and Democrats argue that any money left unspent, instead of being returned to member states, should be poured into the following year's budget.
ALDE leader Guy Verhofstadt explained: “We want to avoid repeating last year's debate on the 2011 budget. There were two opposing groups: those who wanted to freeze credits at 2010 levels and those who wanted a substantial increase in the 2011 budget figures. We reached agreement but the debate was hardly very edifying.”
Barely has the draft EU budget for 2012, with its 4.9% increase in payment appropriations compared with 2011, been presented by the European Commission that it has been challenged by the largest EU member states. “Given the current economic situation and the need for austerity in the countries of the EU, we have adopted a realistic stance on the 2012 budget”, Verhofstadt said. The ALDE Group is calling for zero growth in real terms for 2012 budget spending (any increase would be limited to inflation).
If the European Parliament and the other institutions agree to freeze EU expenditure in real terms, “we will have to end the practice, in place for several years, of returning unspent money from the previous financial year to member states”, the ALDE leader said. “Every year between €4 and €5 billion return to member states' coffers”, he went on. ALDE would like that money to be re-injected into the budget (for example, up to €4.5 billion from 2011 could be put into the EU's general budget for 2012).
The money from the surplus could be used for additional objectives and policies agreed by the EU, such as the 2020 strategy or support for the new Arab democracies (“There is talk of a Marshall plan for North Africa”, Verhofstadt said). The EU budget surplus for 2010 was €4.9 billion.
ALDE argues that there is need for a real inter-parliamentary dialogue on the forthcoming multiannual financial framework (2014-2020). The group says that national parliaments have to be involved in the debate. This could be achieved by means of a major conference in the second half of this year on the financial future of the EU to be attended by representatives of the European Parliament, national parliaments, the Commission and EU governments, Verhofstadt said. “We have had positive contact (on this issue) with the incoming Polish Presidency of the Council of the EU”, he pointed out.
Does the ALDE position have the support of the others in the EP? Verhofstadt said that he had begun talks with the other political groups. “I feel that the reaction from most of the groups was positive”, he said.
Answering press questions, Carl Haglund said that, even though the increase proposed by the ALDE Group was lower that what the Commission was suggesting (+4.9% in payment appropriations), the group was sure that it met legal obligations as there was always the possibility of re-affecting funds within the budget. He pointed out that, last year, the Commission had proposed a 5% increase for the 2011 budget, but the agreement reached was much lower (2.9%) and legislation is being complied with. The EU, he argued, can operate on a budget lower than what is being proposed by the Commission.
The European Parliament will, next week (in Strasbourg 6-9 June), debate the report by Salvador Garriga Polledo (EPP, Spain) on the next multiannual financial framework (MFF) for 2014-2020. The report calls for an increase of at least 5% in the level of funding for the next multiannual framework. Haglund regretted that the draft report did not speak of the need to further examine current spending and to find ways of reallocating funding “before asking for more money”. In general, “we are very happy with what the report says about own resources”, he added. The draft report considers that “the main aim of the reform is to achieve an autonomous, fairer, more transparent, simpler and equitable financing system, which can be better understood by the citizens, and make clearer their contribution to the EU budget”. The reports calls for an end to existing rebates, exceptions and correction mechanisms, and is “convinced that the introduction of one or several genuine own resources for the Union, in order to replace the GNI-system, is indispensible”. (L.C./transl.rt)