Brussels, 30/11/2012 (Agence Europe) - Though the makings of an agreement on the 2013 budget and the amending budget for 2012 were there in the afternoon of Thursday 29 November (see EUROPE 10741), the European Parliament was unable to bring matters to fruition the following day, Friday 30. Coreper, however, was ready to give its go-ahead. Uncertainty again reigns over prospects for an agreement on the 2013 budget as this edition goes to press on Friday. In the afternoon of 30 November, European Parliament President Martin Schulz created confusion in announcing that “there can be no talk of an agreement on the EU budget 2013 at this stage” on the basis of the compromise discussed the previous day. After discussions with the chairman of the Parliamentary budgets committee, Alain Lamassoure (EPP, France) and consultation of the political groups, he said that “the guarantees that Parliament demanded from the member states are still missing. Therefore, no majority in the EP for the draft compromise discussed yesterday can be expected for now”. The outline of a draft package on these budgets resulting from tripartite talks had initially been confirmed in the afternoon of Thursday 29, both by the Cypriot Presidency of the Council of Ministers and the Commission, as well as the Parliament. However, in the evening of the same day, Parliament back-pedalled, announcing that talks were scheduled to continue. It had been expected, nonetheless, that the meeting of the Parliamentary coordinators would approve the agreement, ahead of adoption in committee on Monday. Sources in the Parliament said that, at this stage, the draft compromise must be seen as having been neither rejected nor adopted, as the objectives set by the Parliament had not been achieved. The decision is expected finally to be taken on Tuesday 4 December. At the Commission, too, uncertainty reigned on how to react to this turnaround. Coreper, meeting on Friday also, to finalise matters, was ready to approve the draft agreement, confirmed the spokesman for the Cypriot Presidency Nikos Christodoulides in the late afternoon on Twitter. (MD/transl.fl)