Brussels, 28/06/2001 (Agence Europe) - By adopting the report by Carlos Costa Neves (EPP-ED, Portuguese) on issues that would be appropriate to examine in view of the three ways talks on the preliminary draft budget 2002, which precedes the vote in first reading by the Council, the EP Budgets Committee was concerned with the increase in spending by the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which could occur to the detriment of other Community policies, questions, due to the failure of the fisheries negotiations with Morocco, the finalities of the EUR 125 million still included in reserve and underlines that the present estimates for administrative spending already exceed the ceiling foreseen. This report will be discussed in plenary on 4 July.
The Budgets Committee proposes to examine the following elements in view of the dialogue:
- Financial framework: The Budgets Committee notes that there exists an appreciable margin below the global ceiling for payment credits in 2002 and that this margin should be used to better implement the Community polices, in particular those that stem from Section 3 (internal policies) and 4 (external policies), and to liquidate the still large volume of undertakings not executed in the various sectors.
- Agriculture: The rapporteur questions the reasons for which the Commission proposed such a large a reserve at this stage (EUR 1 billion to cover the additional spending linked to foot and mouth disease and BSE), while it could still adapt the preliminary daft budget with an amending letter at a future stage in the procedure, and calls on it to provide (before the EP's first reading) details of the estimated needs for this reserve.
- Common Foreign and Security policy: The MEPs question that the credits (maintained at the same level as the previous year) are truly justified, when taking into account the number of activities, which were previously financed under CFSP and which now have their own legal basis, support the efforts deployed by the Commission to ensure a better planning of the actions stemming from this policy and call on the Council and Commission to move to multiannual spending programmes.
- Administrative spending: He underlined that the present estimates presented by the other institutions (Court of Auditors, Court Justice, Council…) already exceed the ceiling of Section 5, the increase called for by the Council for its budget was the largest of all, namely 9.10% compared to 2001. The Budgets Committee once more calls for the cost of the new Security and Defence Policy to be present in a transparent manner under a separate heading in section II of the budget, in accordance with the undertakings of the Council in the context of the SAB N°2 (on the adapting of the financial outlook).
- Migration and asylum policy: In an amendment fiercely debated, the Budgets Committee finally decided to reject a part of the paragraph on the needs defined by the Commission, including for the monitoring centre for migratory flows. It confirms its intention to launch initiatives in asylum and migration policy and take stock of the needs with regards to the return to country of origin policy, the fight against the trafficking of human beings, cooperation in the field of external border checks and common actions against illegal immigration.
