Brussels, 25/03/2013 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 27 March 2013, the European Commission will unveil a draft amending budget for 2013 that is likely to make substantial changes due to the invoices to be and the low payment appropriation levels decided in December for the EU budget for 2013.
Last year, draft amending budget No. 6 for 2012, which dealt with bills remaining to be paid, made provision for carrying forward €2.9 billion needed to 2013. After agreeing on the 2013 budget in November 2012, the Commission has received more bills due by 31 December 2013 totalling €16 billion, more than 10% of the annual budget decided upon for 2013 (€132.8 billion). Most of the unpaid bills are for cohesion policy.
The Commission knew at the end of last year that the budget suggested by the Council of Ministers and EP for 2013 would not cover all payments because it was a budget for eight months rather than twelve, as Budget Commissioner Janusz Lewandowski caustically put it.
The European Commission has acted on the instructions of the EU institutions at the end of 2012, that it should produce an amending budget for 2013.
In a resolution on the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for 2014-2020 tabled on 13 March 2013, the European Parliament said that there was no question of starting the new MFF by carrying forward unpaid bills and the EP, therefore, refuses to enter negotiations on the MFF for 2014-2020 until the outstanding invoices for 2012 and 2013 have been paid and, thus, until the Commission has unveiled an amending budget.
In the resolution, the EP “strongly opposes the current accumulation and rollover of outstanding payment claims in the EU budget, and expresses its firm opposition to a financial framework that might lead the EU budget into a structural deficit, against the provisions of the Treaty (Articles 310 and 323 TFEU.”
In addition, it “strongly opposes the current accumulation and rollover of outstanding payment claims in the EU budget, and expresses its firm opposition to a financial framework that might lead the EU budget into a structural deficit, against the provisions of the Treaty (Articles 310 and 323 TFEU); is therefore determined to prevent any further shifts of payments from 2013 to the next MFF; recalls the declaration annexed to the EU Budget 2013 calling for the Commission to present, at an early stage in the year 2013, a Draft Amending Budget devoted to the sole purpose of covering all unpaid payment claims for 2012; emphasises that it will not start negotiations on the MFF until the Commission comes forward with an Amending Budget corresponding to this political commitment, and will not conclude these negotiations before the final adoption by Council and Parliament of this Amending Budget; also demands a political engagement from the Council that all legal obligations due in 2013 will be paid out by the end of this year”.
Draft budget for 2014 will be late
The European Commission will unveil the draft EU budget for 2014 later than unusual, possibly in May. The draft budget is usually unveiled by the College of Commissioners in April. The delays are due to uncertainty about the MFF for 2014-2020, which has not yet been endorsed by the European Parliament and which, therefore, means that the Commission does not have the upper limits for the various headings of the budget (payments and commitments) or details of what the budget covers. The Commission does not yet know how much cash is to go the various programmes, including the common agricultural policy and rural development and cohesion policy so it is working in the dark, state Commission officials. It is trying to work out how much will be needed, which will then be adjusted as talks continue on the MFF for 2014-2020, and will publish an amending budget later to adjust the draft budget for 2014. Once the proposal has been published, the Council of Ministers and EP will publish their own positions and then try to agree on the budget by the end of the year. These talks are linked to the negotiations over the amending budget for 2013. (LC/transl.fl)