Brussels, 06/12/2012 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 6 December, during the Justice and Home Affairs Council, the Council officially approved the 2013 budget and the correcting budget 2012, after a first positive indicative vote from the budgets committee of the European Parliament this week. This concludes the hectic legislative procedure on the Council side. There is, however, an unknown element on the side of the Parliament, which is to vote on Wednesday 12 December, with MEPs making their approval subject to a number of guarantees (see EUROPE 10744). In the event of rejection, the “provisional twelfth” system will be applied, i.e. maximum spending per month next year will amount to one twelfth of the amounts set out per chapter in the 2012 budget.
As things stand, the budget adopted by the EU27 provides, for 2013: - €132.8 billion in payments (i.e. a 2.4% increase compared to 2012) and €150.9 billion in commitments (i.e. a 1.6% increased compared to 2012). It is broken down as follows: - competitiveness and employment: €16.1 billion in commitments and €11.9 billion in payments; - cohesion and employment: €54.4 billion in commitments and €47.2 billion in payments; - natural resources: €60.1 billion in commitments and €57.7 billion in payments; - security and justice: €1.4 billion in commitments and €876.6 million in payments; - citizenship: €707.2 million in commitments and €638 million in payments; - foreign affairs: €9.6 billion in commitments and €6.3 billion in payments; - and administration: €8.4 billion in commitments. (MD/transl.jl)