Brussels, 22/10/2012 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 22 October, the Council of Ministers of the EU stated that it was unable to accept all of the amendments on the draft budget 2013 the European Parliament is planning to adopt this Tuesday 23 October. This means that the conciliation committee provided for by article 314, paragraph 5 of the European Treaty may now meet in the very near future. After the vote at the plenary session, a consultation period of 21 days will start. If the Parliament and Council reach an agreement, the final budget may be approved in November.
On 8 October, the budgetary committee of the Council examined the amendments by the committee on budgets (agreed upon on 3 and 4 October) and unanimously agreed that not all of these could be approved. The budget committee of the EP wanted a draft budget 2013 of €151.1 billion in commitment appropriations, or 2.2% more than in 2012. In payment appropriations, the MEPs propose an increase of 6.82% to €137.9 billion. The Council adopted its position in July, limiting the increase in payments to 2.79% compared to 2012. (LC/transl.fl)