Brussels, 25/07/2012 (Agence Europe) - European Commission President José Manuel Barroso spoke out on Tuesday 24 July in protest at the paring down imposed by the Council on the EU budget for 2013. In a letter to heads of state and government he says that cutting payment levels by more than €5 billion in 2013, compared with the Commission's initial proposals, would be a “false economy” (see EUROPE 10662 for the Council position on the 2013 budget). These cuts will, Barroso says, “have serious consequences for economic recovery as these cuts would affect regions, researchers or SMEs with the risk that they would then be starved of finance”.
“I am writing to you now because I am concerned that the negotiations on the 2013 budget are already compromising the spirit of our recent agreement by not making sufficient funds available to enable the European Union to pay agreed levels of support for many growth-enhancing projects”, Barroso states in his letter. He points out that only three weeks ago the European Council signed the Pact for Growth and Jobs (funding for the economy).
The annual budget sets the amount of legally-binding commitments to citizens, SMEs, researchers, farmers, students and regions that the European Union will support, he notes. These commitments create obligations to be honoured later through appropriate payments according to agreed rules and the actual implementation of programmes, he goes on. “Without these commitments, many of these projects would never get off the ground. Putting into question the ability of the EU to honour its obligations undermines the credibility of our funding programmes and indeed of our commitment to support growth”, he argues.
He hails the courageous efforts being made by countries to consolidate public finances. He believes that the draft budget proposed by the Commission took full account of this context by freezing new commitments in real terms. The proposed increase in payment levels of 6.8% for 2013 largely stems from legal obligations, he says. “This is a question of implementing what we have all already agreed”, he argues. He points out that, in 2012, the Commission has had difficulty in paying some of the bills for research, innovation and cohesion. “This puts us in the invidious position of having to choose which bills to pay and which to delay. If we do not properly address the situation in the 2012 budget and with an inadequate agreement on the 2013 budget it will only make this untenable situation worse.” (LC/transl.rt)