Brussels, 04/10/2012 (Agence Europe) - On 23 October, the European Commission is expected to adopt a draft amending budget requesting a “substantial” extension of payment appropriations for repaying European Social Funds (ESF) invoices, as well as Erasmus student grants and research programmes. These programmes are short of money due to the low level of payment appropriations approved last December by the Council and European Parliament (see EUROPE 10702).
On Wednesday 3 October, Patrizio Fiorilli, a spokesperson for the Commissioner for the budget, Janusz Lewandowski, said, “Erasmus is short of money”. He did, however, provide assurances that, “most of the payments to students have been made”. The Commission does not yet have the definitive figures for the amount of the 2012 draft amending budget. The spokesman explained that, “this is currently being calculated” but did not confirm the €10 billion mentioned by Alain Lamassoure, the president of the European Parliament budget committee. Fiorilli explained on Thursday 4 October to EUROPE that this amending budget would be, “substantial because we already know that it will be a lot of money”.
The spokesperson also explained that this was not a specific problem to ESF or Erasmus programmes but rather a situation that dated back to 2010. “Every year, Parliament and the Council cut our draft budget. Therefore every year we find ourselves short of money at the end of the year and have to transfer November and December invoices to January from the following budget, which is itself too low. This consequently produces a snowball effect: every year the lack of funding increases”. The only difference between this year and previous years is the following: as we arrive at the end of the current financial framework (2007-2013), “we have increasing requests for repayment from member states”. If this amending budget 2012 were adopted, this would help to demonstrate that the increase in the 2013 budget compared with 2012 is not that huge in percentage terms, explained the spokesperson to the Commissioner for the budget. EU countries have so far agreed to an increase in payment appropriations for 2013 of 2.79%, although the Commission was originally counting on +6.8%.
Fiorilli deplored the fact that the EU budget is 80% funded by contributions from the states but that, “the paradox is that member states are putting forward the repayments from European budget that they are expecting, which is worsening liquidity problems for other states”.
On Tuesday, Lamassoure described the situation as absurd and announced that, “if we do not get this amending budget for the end of the year, the shortfall will be €400 million for France, €600 million for Greece, €900 million for Spain and between €150 and €200 million for the United Kingdom”.
Several MEPs have protested against the attitude displayed by the Council. Jean-Luc Bennahmias (ALDE, France) said that, “Erasmus proves in an absurd way, the stinginess of member states”. He added that, “although for a long time we have known that many funds are left gathering dust in the coffers of the European Union structural funds, the budget of one of the most useful and popular programmes in the EU now sees itself compelled to having to beg in response to basic requirements this year. Everything is back to front”.
The ESF has run out of funding and the member states have lost their bearings, exclaimed Elisabeth Morin-Chartier (EPP, France) on Wednesday. She said that by refusing a decent European budget, certain member states were putting the ESF (the only European professional integration tool for tackling the crisis) in a serious and unprecedented situation. The permanent EP rapporteur on the ESF added that they could not agree to be, “made a hostage to the budgetary policies of member states and a variable adjustment for the Union”. (LC/trans.fl)