Brussels, 29/03/2012 (Agence Europe) - The European Parliament's budget for next year will show no increase in real terms, following the vote (548 to 69, with 42 abstentions) in plenary session on Thursday 29 March on the report by Derek Vaughan (S&D, UK) on estimates for Parliament revenue and expenditure for 2013.
The Parliament's budget will increase by 1.9% in 2013 (compared with 2012), which equates to EU-wide inflation. However, a further €8.5 million will be added to meet additional costs related to the arrival of Croatian MEPs. The overall European Parliament (EP) budget for 2013 is estimated at almost €1.76 billion.
The EP believes that the Parliament's places of work “should be limited to a single seat for members and officials” (instead of three: Strasbourg, Brussels, and Luxembourg). It is of the opinion that further reorganisation of the Parliament working methods should be considered and stresses that the EP should have the right to decide its own working arrangements. It further insists that the granting of European Parliament funding should only go to those parties that rigorously uphold the founding principles of the EU and the Charter of Fundamental Rights and asks, therefore, for the rules to be revised accordingly. (LC/transl.rt)