Strasbourg, 25/10/2001 (Agence Europe) - When voting on first reading, in Strasbourg on Thursday, on the draft budget 2002, the European Parliament approved a budget amounting to 99.634 billion euro in commitment appropriations and 98.736 in payment appropriations, an increase, respectively, of 624.999 million euro and 3.138 million euro on the figures agreed by the Council of 20 July. In this context, Parliament adopted the reports by Carlos Costa Neve (Portuguese, EPP-ED), on the general budget, and Kathalijne Buitenweg (Dutch, Green/EFA) in which it observes that the current ceilings of the financial perspectives under most headings (administration, external actions, Structural Funds, internal policies) no longer allow for needs to be met, yet needs which the European Union has to face up to. Parliament also calls on the Council henceforth to engage in genuine negotiations with it in the next stages of the budgetary procedure. Here is an overview of the spread of the appropriations to have emerged from the first reading:
The rapporteurs of the different committees expressed their hopes and concerns: for the Economic and Monetary Committee, Mr. Kuckelhorn (German, SPD) recommended parliamentary control over agencies and their activities; for the Industry Committee, Ms. Gill (British, Labour) demanded progress in achieving the knowledge-based economy; for the Agriculture Committee, Mr. Gorlach (SPD) demanded that tobacco farmers be offered concrete alternatives; for the Committee on Constitutional Affairs, Ms. Beres (French, Socialist) defended the financial backing for the European Movement.
This budget is one of the smallest budgets on which Parliament has ever been called upon to vote, observed British Conservative, Mr. Elles, for the EPP/ED: but enlargement will, by 2006, render the budgetary exercise more difficult. Mr. Elles considered that the appropriations provided for for the Food Safety Agency had to remain in reserve until such times as its headquarters had been decided upon. Rumours are circulating on the fact that the "early-retirement" package planned for Commission officials will not benefit those of the Parliament: whereas, Ms. Elles considers that it should be valid for all institutions. One principle will inspire us in our judgement of the budget: we must have best value for money. This demand is shared by British Labour's Mr. Wynn, chair of the Budgets Committee, speaking on behalf of the Socialist Group. At the last conciliation, we agreed practically on nothing, Mr. Wyn lamented, demanding an in-depth discussion between the three institutions on how in future to finance Categories 3, 4 and 5.
The problem of the remainder to be spent must be settled, said Finland's Mr. Virrankoski, for the Liberal Group, deploring the deadlock in the fisheries agreement with Morocco, and calling for part of the appropriations earmarked for this agreement to be used for the modernisation of the Portuguese and Spanish fleets. The EU, said Germany's Ms. Ruhle, on behalf of the Greens, must not raise hopes concerning the intervention of the structural Funds and humanitarian aid without looking at needs and appropriations: it has to remain flexible and able to act abroad. The budgetary discipline has been respected, and that's a good thing, according to Finland's Mr. Seppanen, for the United Left/Nordic Left, but one item forgotten is that of the fight against unemployment, which is a Union priority. Europol and Eurojust need developing to combat terrorism, but this must not serve as excuse for making a Community issue of this policy, said France's Ms. Caullery, for the Union of the Europe of Nations Group. Ms. Caullery criticised the appropriations devoted to information on the euro, which, she said, is paramount to propaganda. Along the same lines, the Netherlands' Mr. van Dam, for the Europe of Democracies and Diversities Group, considered that "unilateral propaganda" from Brussels in favour of political Union has as sole result alienating citizens. There are at least twenty-three border regions that need the Union's aid in view of enlargement, pleaded Austrian Mr. Ilgenfritz, of the FPO, for his part. German Social-democrat Mr. Walter agreed on this point, but placed special emphasis on the budget not forgetting the goal of social inclusion, even more topical in a situation where recession is feared. As for Mr. Staes, Belgian Green, Head of the EP delegation for Central Asia, he asked for more appropriations to be devoted Kazakhstan, where the population has a life expectancy of 52 years and 12-year old girls victims of nuclear irradiation have breast cancer. It is the first time that a rapporteur on the budget has not "tinkered" with the financial perspectives, observed Dutch Liberal Mr. Mulder, and Mr. Dell'Alba, of the Bonino list, asked if it would not be a good idea, in the interest of a coherent discussion on the budget, to return to the old system, in which the Commissioner responsible for the budget also dealt with the personnel.