Brussels, 19/04/2012 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 25 April, the European Commission is to adopt the draft EU budget for the financial year 2013, and it is certain to propose a considerable increase to the payment appropriations. This increase is expected to be higher than that requested last year for the 2012 budget by European Commissioner Janusz Lewandowski (+4.9%) and possibly above 6%. Readers may recall that the 2012 budget stood at €129 billion in payment appropriations, and the Council and European Parliament had limited the increase in these 2012 credits to 2%. The Commission is also expected to undertake to evaluate programmes which are not working well in all general areas, in order to bring unjustified funds back into the communal pot, so that they can be redistributed wherever they are needed.
In view of the economic situation, the Commission intends to present a budget for 2013 with financing capacity entirely based on growth and employment, in line with the EUROPE 2020 strategy. Wherever any leeway exists, investments should be made in European programmes which bring added value for growth (infrastructure, education, training for young people out of work, science and research), states the Commission.
This considerable increase in the payment commitments is logical, given that 2013 is the last year of the current financial framework (2007-2013) and that the Council and European Parliament have been making cuts in the payments initially proposed for two years. This means that the payment of certain invoices has been postponed, creating a snowball effect and bringing about an increase in the payment appropriations.
As regards administrative expenditure (5.9% of the total budget of the EU), the requested increase in credits should not be above the level of inflation, and the Commission intends to show that it plans to tighten its belt and to encourage the other institutions to do the same. The expenditure earmarked for Croatia, which is due to join the EU in July 2013, has not yet been taken into account in the draft budget for 2013.
The annual Community budget is equivalent to around 1% of the national wealth of the Union, the Commission points out. (LC/transl.fl)