Brussels, 11/10/2013 (Agence Europe) - The EU Council of Ministers has not yet reached agreement on several amending budgets for 2013, including one on the outstanding payment appropriations for 2013 to the tune of €3.9 billion (see EUROPE 10938), for which the necessary qualifying majority has not yet been reached. A new Coreper (the committee of member states' permanent representatives to the EU) meeting is scheduled for Monday 14 October on these draft amending budgets.
After a meeting of experts on Tuesday, and then a meeting of Coreper on Wednesday, the EU delegations will try on Monday 14 October to reach agreement on three amending budgets:
Income. The draft amending budget No. 6 for 2013 aims to settle the problem of lower-than-forecast customs and VAT income, €4 billion and €384 million respectively, partially compensated for by a rise in the cash raised through fines to €1.2 billion. Income needs to be of the same level as expenditure, so income based on GDP would need to increase by €3.1 billion.
Floods and drought. The Commission has unveiled draft amending budget No. 9 for 2013 to help Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic repair damage caused by floods in the summer and Romania for damaged caused by the drought in the summer of 2012. The total demanded of the Solidarity Fund is €400 million. The Lithuanian Presidency suggests that the sum be financed by deploying a total of €509 million of appropriations.
Payment appropriations. On 25 September, the European Commission unveiled draft amending budget No. 8 for 2013 to settle outstanding invoices totalling €3.9 billion, €3 billion of which from the Structural Funds (see EUROPE 10929). At the moment, “net contributor” countries to the EU budget oppose this and the United Kingdom, the Scandinavian countries and the Netherlands voted against the first instalment of €7.3 billion in July to cover the outstanding invoices. The amending budget also raises the problem for some of the countries that will benefit from it because they would find it difficult to find the extra cash given their current budget restraints.
The European Parliament is making its approval on 23 October of the EU's multiannual financial framework for 2014-2020 conditional upon agreement being reached at the Council of Ministers on the outstanding €3.9 billion (see EUROPE 10938 on the conditions laid down by the Parliament). The Parliament also wants further detail about the high-level group on reform of own resources, which will be discussed by Coreper on Wednesday or Thursday. (LC/transl.fl)