Brussels, 25/07/2011 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 25 July, the Council of Ministers of the EU called for the payment appropriations of the EU budget for 2011 to be frozen, with major cuts to be made compared to the Commission's initial proposal. In comparison with the amounts proposed by this institution, the Council has reduced payments by €3.65 billion and commitment appropriations by €1.59 billion.
The Council has adopted by written procedure its stance on the budget of the EU for 2012, in which it calls for increases in payments to be limited to 2.02% compared to 2011. The increase in payments recommended by the Council corresponds to the inflation rate of 2% retained by the Commission of the 2012, which means that in real terms, the budget of the EU will be frozen. Readers may recall (EUROPE 10414) that the Austrian, Danish, Finnish, Dutch, Swedish and British delegations voted against. Most of these countries wanted a tougher stance, with additional cuts in credit lines.
“The Council's position take due account of the member states' fiscal consolidation efforts whilst allowing the financing of the EU priorities (such as the measures aimed at tackling the effects of the crisis and at promoting growth)”, states a press release. The Council has made an effort on the administrative expenditure of the EU, limiting the increase of these to 0.5% for payment appropriations. The Council has cut its own administrative budget by 5.45% compared to 2011 figures. The Council's position calls for a total 2012 budget of €129 billion in payments (corresponding to 0.98% of the gross national income (GNI) of the EU) and €146.2 billion in commitments, which leaves a margin of €2.14 billion below the upper limits of the financial framework. The position of the Council will be used as a mandate for the Polish Presidency to negotiate the 2012 budget with the European Parliament. The EP is set to adopt its position at the end of October. A conciliation procedure, to last three weeks, will start on 1st November, in the event of disagreement between the EP and the Council. (L.C./transl.fl)