Brussels, 13/05/2016 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission will present the draft budget of the European Union for 2017 “before the summer”, rather than 25 May as initially planned.
The Commission prefers not to call it a “delay”, as the publication dates of the draft budgets have varied between mid April and late June in recent years. It explains that the work is still underway to determine the needs.
“This is a key moment in the refugee crisis and we need to adapt our budget proposals accordingly”, explained a source close to the Commissioner for the Budget, Kristalina Georgieva. The scale of the migrant crisis is such that there is no margin left in the 2016 budget and an equally difficult situation in 2017 is to be expected.
The institution will therefore need a bit longer, also to be able to take account of the extra funds needed to reinforce the security of the Community institutions and assess precisely what the payment appropriation requirements will be for next year, to avoid having to resort to too many amending budgets.
It declined to confirm whether the revised timetable also had anything to do with the referendum in the United Kingdom of 23 June on the country's membership of the EU. The Commission reiterated that it was giving itself until the end of June to present the draft 2017 budget. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)
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