Brussels, 26/06/2013 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 26 June, the European Commission published a draft European Union budget for 2014, recommending a 6% cut in spending on the 2013 budget.
The Commission suggests a total EU budget for 2014 of €142.01 billion in commitment appropriations and €135.9 billion in payment appropriations, equivalent to 1.05% of EU27 gross domestic income (GDI) for commitments (1.15% in 2013) and 1.01% in payments (1.1% in 2013).
EU Budget Commissioner Janusz Lewandowski said the budget was being unveiled that day because, under the Lisbon Treaty, it has to be unveiled by 1 July each year, but it will need to be adjusted later in light of the agreement yet to be reached on the EU's multiannual financial framework (MFF) for 2014-2020.
The Commission prepared the draft budget on the basis of the most recent progress in the talks on the MFF, on the assumption that the requests unveiled by the European Commission for new funding to meet unpaid payment requests for 2013 will be adopted in 2013.
The draft budget for 2014 provides for a 3.3% rise in commitment appropriations for Heading 1a (Competitiveness for Growth and Jobs), the extra cash to be used to tackle unemployment and stimulate growth through measures such as nearly €9 billion for Horizon 2020 (the new research and innovation programme), the Youth Employment Initiative (€3.6 billion), the Connecting Europe Facility (nearly €2 billion) and measures to support business, particularly small companies, in Europe. For the second year in a row, the Commission suggests a 1% cut in staff (not including new personnel because of Croatia joining the EU), with the idea of cutting staff numbers by 5% in five years. The Commission also recommends a 1.1% cut in its own administrative expenditure. The overall increase in Heading 5 (Administration) is mainly due to increased numbers of retired officials and the costs of Croatia joining the EU. (LC/transl.fl)