Brussels, 30/04/2002 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday, the European Commission adopted its proposal for the 2003 Community budget. The preliminary draft budget (PDB) is 100.006 billion euro in commitment appropriations and 92.218 billion euro in payment appropriations. When presenting this proposal, the Commissioner for the Budget, Michaele Schreyer, placed emphasis on its rigour. The Commission proposes a "sound balance between financing responsibilities and the European Union's new challenges and budgetary discipline", she declared. The Commissioner stressed that an increase of 1.4% of commitment appropriations (CAs) and 2.7% in payment appropriations (PAs) is "lower" than what is foreseen by Member States for their national budgets. Spending from the Community budget would represent 1.03% of the GNP of the Fifteen, which is lower than the maximum authorised of 1.08%. The Commission proposes, in euro:
- Agriculture: 45.118 billion CAs and PAs, spread between 40.419 billion for market spending and 4.698 billion for rural development. There remains a margin of 2.26 billion. In October the Commission will present an amending letter to adapt these estimates to agricultural market developments and the euro/dollar exchange rate. The PDB is based on a rate of 0.98 dollars to the euro.
- Structural funds: 33.995 billion in CAs, plus 27 million euro taken from the flexibility instrument for finance the restructuring of the Spanish and Portuguese fishing fleets. The PAs would be 33.358 billion. Ms. Schreyer stipulated that the Commission could add aid for Gibraltar, without stipulating the amount.
- Internal policies: EUR 6.714 billion for commitment appropriations (81 million margin) EUR 6.131 commitment appropriations.
- External relations: commitment appropriations EUR 4.192 billion (60 million margin). For this aid, focusing on "crisis management", the commission proposes EUR 685 million for the Balkans, 932 million for the Mediterranean and 546 million for Asia.
- Administrative expenses: 5.447 billion for commitment appropriation and 65 million for the flexibility instrument for funding the enlargement preparation, for which the Commission is requesting 500 expert temporary posts for six months after the date comes into effect.
- Three monetary reserves: guaranteeing emergency aid: 434 million with no margin.
- Pre-accession aid: 3.386 billion in commitment appropriations. On Tuesday the Commission had not yet outlined the commitment payment but does not expect any delays in programme implementation.
Ms Schreyer insisted that the Commission proposal meant that the agricultural section margins and internal and external relations budgets were below the ceiling set out at within the Berlin Financial Framework, to deal with events that were unplanned. The Preliminary Draft Budget is presented in both its traditional form, which includes the seven financial perspective sections and also "per activity", which presents the operational and administrative expenses in each policy. Commitment appropriations correspond to the 2003 budget funds for actions launched that year and credit payments are the effective expenses based on a large part of funds budgeted for in 2003 but also on the remainder from former years.
The Ecofin Council is to hold a first general discussion on PDB on 7 May. The Budget Council will adopt a first draft budget in July. The European Parliament will give its stance at first reading in the autumn. The Council will then definitively adopt compulsory expenditure (agricultural market spending, international fishing agreements, pensions and compensations, monetary reserve and reserve for loan guarantees), and the EP will adopt the rest of the budget at the end of the year (rural development, structural funds, internal policies, external policy, officials' remuneration, and pre-accession aid). Several consultation meetings bring together the two branches of the budgetary authority and the European Commission throughout this budgetary procedure. During her press conference, Ms Schreyer spoke of preparations for the next multiannual budgetary framework. She recalled that the Commission will present its proposal in 2004. "It would be a mistake for the new financial perspectives that apply as of 2007 not to be adopted until 2006", she warned, stressing that many programmes of the current period (2000-2006) began late because of late adoption of the financial framework.