Brussels, 26/03/2012 (Agence Europe) - The EU Council of Ministers adopted its position on Monday 26 March on the draft amending budget (DAB) No 1 to the general budget for 2012 regarding the financing of ITER, the nuclear reactor project. The position was passed by qualified majority, with Luxembourg, Sweden and the Netherlands abstaining. Now it is for the European Parliament to adopt its position.
The Council made no amendments to the European Commission proposal to allocate €650 million in commitment appropriations to the project, this sum coming from the margin of sub-heading 1a (Growth), in line with the agreement between the European Parliament and the Council in December 2011. This agreement related to the €1.3 billion additional cost of the ITER project for the period 2012-2013. The agreement is as follows: €100 million included in the EU 2012 budget; €840 million from the €650 million increase in 2012 and €190 million in 2013 from credits from the “competitiveness for growth and jobs” heading. This sum is compensated by the reduction in the ceilings for agriculture (€450 million in 2011) and administration (€243 million in 2011 and €147 million in 2012); €360 to be included in the 2013 budget.