Brussels, 20/06/2011 (Agence Europe) - Could the European Commission have found a powerful ally in the battle with member states on the draft EU budget 2012? In adopting the mandate on 15 June for the budgetary trialogue on 11 July, the European Parliament's budgets committee is recommending that the EP defends the 4.9% rise (compared to 2011) in payment commitments proposed by the European Commission in the draft budget.
The Commission arguments to justify the €6.2 billion rise in payments (two €132.7 billion) appear to have convinced members of the EP's budget committee.
The budget committee calls on the Council not to reduce payment appropriations. By adopting the report from Francesca Balzani (S&D, Italy) on the mandate for the budgetary trialogue, the EP budgets committee underlines that the proposed increase of 4.9% compare to the 2011 budget is based on the, Commission's “careful and critical analysis” of payment needs and is “the minimum required to honour legal commitments made by the EU in previous years”. MEPs warn the Council against making “horizontal cuts” in budgets without assessing the EU's actual needs. If member states do make such cuts, MEPs urge them to explain publicly and identify clearly which of the EU's political priorities or projects they would delay or drop altogether.
EU countries are very divided on the Commission's initial proposal. Nine so-called “net contributor” countries of the EU budget are demanding no rise in the level of payment appropriations.
Support for EUROPE 2020 strategy and southern neighbours. The European Commission estimates that 43.5% of the draft budget contributes to the EUROPE 2020 strategy. MEPs find this a positive but insufficient figure and are therefore calling for a more ambitious approach towards funding this strategy. They would also like to know whether the budget will enable the EU to cope with events taking place in southern Mediterranean countries, particularly in terms of immigration management and emergency situations. They regret that the Commission has not proposed additional resources to meet this challenge.
On 24 June, the EP will vote on the mandate for the trilogue.
European Commissioner, Janusz Lewandowski, told German daily, Handelsblatt, that freezing the next multiannual financial framework at the 2013 level is not an option. He said that, “we would be unable to meet our commitments, which member states have also agreed to, and we would be unable to meet the challenges facing us. Freezing the budget is not an option because it would mean a significant nominal decline over the years of up to 30% by 2020”. (L.C./transl.fl)