Brussels, 14/11/2002 (Agence Europe) - The three institutions will be meeting up on Friday to prepare for the Budget Council on 25-26 November, which should see a decision being made during the second reading on the draft 2003 budget. The mobilisation of a flexibility instrument for external actions (including CFSP loans) and administrative spending will be the most difficult subjects to sort out. The Committee of Permanent Representatives from Member States to the EU (Coreper) reached an agreement on Wednesday on the main guidelines for the draft budget. The latter reflects the constraint exercised on the national budgets and rejects a number of amendments adopted by the EP during its first reading in October (see EUROPE 25 October p 13-14).
In order to respect the ceilings that have been set up within these financial perspectives and keep to reasonable growth, payment appropriations (+1.4% compared to 2002), Coreper is not envisaging use of a flexibility instrument at this stage, contrary to the position of the EP. It also intends to re-establish CFSP loans at the first Council reading, which the EP had decided to reduce in October. Coreper has not yet taken a decision on administrative expenditure, as it has not had the time to examine the Commission proposal on the funding of enlargement. In other sections, Coreper approved the agriculture motion in the Commission's letter of rectification (see EUROPE 31 October p 11) and rejected most of the EP amendments on increasing loans for structural actions (everything appears ready to find a solution for finding funding of EUR 27 million for the restructuring of the Spanish and Portuguese fishing fleets), it has only accepted certain EP priorities for internal policies (European funds for refugees, the Marco polo programme and trans-European networks).