Brussels, 14/11/2012 (Agence Europe) - The crisis on the EU budget is not far away: negotiations between the three main European institutions on the 2013 budget broke down on Tuesday 13 November at around 20: 00 hours, four hours before conciliation procedures were due to close (see EUROPE 10729). The Council is criticising the European Parliament for having refused to even discuss the 2013 budget. This failure does not bode well for next week's special European summit, which will attempt to reach an agreement on the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for 2014-2020 (see other article).
The Cypriot ambassador and delegate Minister, Andreas D. Mavroyiannis said they were disappointed by this wasted opportunity. The Cypriot presidency said that this failure was due to the lack of flexibility shown by the European Parliament, which held negotiations to ransom on the 2013 budget by demanding a preliminary agreement on the amending budget 2012 (No.6/2012), which involves the €9 billion in payment appropriations needed to fund programmes that have run out of money this year, including the €7.17 billion for cohesion policy. The Council was obliged to take note of the impossibility of reaching an agreement with the Parliament on the 2013 budget and other related subjects, including the amending budget No.6/2012. Throughout the conciliation procedure, the Cypriot presidency did not spare any effort in its attempts to reconcile the different positions, and the EU member states, although divided with regard to the amount (and the funding modalities) for extending payment appropriations, have shown “greater openness” with regard to certain elements in the package, according to a Council press release.
Strategic differences. The Cypriot presidency noted that the mandate given to the conciliation committee on 23 October consisted in attempting to find an agreement on the 2013 budget. Nonetheless, throughout the conciliation procedure, the Parliament refused to negotiate the 2013 budget at all. It insisted that before discussing this dossier, there should be an agreement on draft amending budget No.6/2012. In these conditions, the Cypriot presidency regretted that the conciliation committee was prevented from respecting the spirit and the letter of the provisions in the treaty. The Council was prepared to discuss all the different elements in the package and sought to tackle them simultaneously in an attempt to locate a balanced solution on all the elements in the package, a solution that would have been satisfactory to all the different parties and countries concerned. The Council considers that there is a clear link between the two elements because they ensure the continuity of European measures and must be funded out of national budgets.
The Parliamentary delegation, headed by Alain Lamassoure (EPP, France) justified its refusal to negotiate the 2013 budget by alluding to the Council being unable to resolve the problem of the 2012 balance. The breakdown in negotiations over the amending budget will delay payments that are worth €1.47 billion to Spain, €1.58 billion to Poland and €508 million to Greece.
Another Commission proposal in ten days. The Council is hoping that the Parliament will make a swift commitment to constructive negotiations and is hoping that it will receive the new draft budget 2013 from the European Commission. The latter plans to adopt it after the European Council on the MFF for 2014-2020. The European institutions will have until the end of the year to reach an agreement on the new draft budget. According to provisions in Article 315 of the treaty on the functioning of the EU, if the budget is not adopted by the beginning of 2013, spending can be made on a monthly basis for each section, within a limit of twelve funding instalments for the 2012 budget or the 2013 draft budget proposed by the Commission, where the smallest of the two amounts put forward will be chosen.
Mavroyiannis acknowledged that this failure means that prospects for the negotiations at the European summit next week are not looking good.
Aid to Italy. The Council, however, approved draft budget No.6/2012 as proposed by the Commission. Assistance of €670 million under the EU Solidarity Fund will be granted to Italy, following the earthquakes last May in Emilia-Romagna. According to certain observers, this demonstrates the Council's solidarity. It should be emphasised, however, that certain countries, such as the United Kingdom, Sweden and the Netherlands would have preferred the total amount of this aid not to have come from fresh funds, but rather from funding that had not been used up and had been transferred. This aid is expected to be definitively approved on 21 November at the European Parliament plenary session. (LC/trans/fl)