Brussels, 01/03/2004 (Agence Europe) - After the presentation of the European Commission's political strategy for next year, the Ecofin Council is to adopt conclusions on the "budgetary guidelines for 2005" on 9 March. According to this draft text, the Council takes note of the technical adjustment of the financial perspectives for 2005 given changes in GNI and prices (leading to a reduction in the ceilings of all three columns: see EUROPE of 24 February 2004, p.1), and calls for the 2005 budget "rigorously to respect the new ceilings". Council also calls for "sufficient margins to be kept" below all the ceilings for the various categories, except those on structural actions, to ensure healthy financial management and the ability to face up to unforeseen circumstances.
Agriculture: The Commission is called upon to present realistic forecasts in its preliminary draft budget for expenditure on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), and especially to guarantee the accuracy of payment appropriations for rural development.
Structural actions: The Council welcomes the new approach retained by the Commission's services to plan payment appropriations under the structural funds. Furthermore, Council stresses the importance of "pushing forward" the simplification of procedures with a view to making it easier to implement the programmes.
Internal policies: "despite the difficulties this raises", the Council underlines the importance of ensuring adequate funding of measures related to the conclusion of the Lisbon European Council of March 2000, and insists that particular attention be paid to the funding of actions on immigration, co-operation and controls at external borders.
External actions: In contrast to the Commission, which is already planning recourse to the flexibility instrument to fund a part of aid to the rebuilding of Iraq, the Council believes (despite the reduction in the ceiling to take account of changes in price) that all programmes and actions should be paid for "within the limits of the new ceiling of the financial perspectives". The Council welcomes the increase of the budgetary allocation for the common foreign and security policy (CFSP) in 2004. It believes that in 2005, the allocation for CFSP should be sufficient "fully to support the actions of the European Union in this field", and face its future needs.
Administrative expenditure: Given the reduction in the ceiling of this category, the institutions are called upon to establish "rigorous draft forecasts", emphasises the Council, which points out that the institutions have undertaken (in a statement adopted on 24 November 2003) to make sure that the new ceiling can be respected in the preliminary draft budget 2005.