Brussels, 23/07/2012 (Agence Europe) - The Council is expected to adopt its position on the budget for 2013 (a 2.79% increase in payment appropriations compared with 2012) on Tuesday 24 July. The United Kingdom, Sweden and the Netherlands are expected to vote against, and Austria to abstain (see EUROPE 10655).
Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom adopted a joint communiqué stating that budgetary restraint is still of the highest importance in the EU at a time when the member states are making sustained efforts to consolidate their finances and move towards growth. They take the view that a budget rise of 2.79% is higher than they would have liked, and warn that no further increase in, EU spending should be agreed before the end of the year.
Estonia, Hungary, Poland and Romania argue in a joint statement that the level of payments agreed in the Council position to the 2013 draft budget “constitutes a minimum” (especially as far as cohesion policy is concerned), which should be seen as a starting point for negotiations with the European Parliament in the autumn. To be credible the EU must secure an “appropriate level of resources in order to respect all the past commitments, while pursuing common EU policies”, these countries say. They go on to say that the higher the level of payments that is agreed, the smaller the RAL is left (gap between commitment and payment appropriations). (LC/transl.rt)