Brussels, 02/12/2004 (Agence Europe) - The European Parliament is not prepared to support new financial perspectives without a guarantee on funding its priorities, its policies that allow for "integration and further EU cohesion" and a "margin for manoeuvre" for unexpected events. This is the message sent to Member States in a resolution adopted on Thursday in Brussels (499 votes for, 67 against and 39 abstentions) by the EP and submitted by the president of the parliament, Josep Borrell, in the name of the temporary parliamentary committee which he presides on the political challenges and budgetary means of the enlarged Union 2007-13. In the EP's resolution, it reaffirms its objective of having a "multiannual financial framework for post-2006" but notes that the Treaty of the EU "does not contain a legal obligation for financial perspectives". The resolution calls for the necessary agreement between the parliament and the Council so that the EU has its financial perspectives after 2006 as "the two institutions are equal". MEPs call on the European Council to ensure that the future presidencies of the EU "pursue inter-institutional dialogue through regular consultations with Parliament, in a comprehensive way, preferably under the Luxembourg presidency". The EP calls for "monthly trialogues" to be organised to guarantee effective exchange of information on internal discussions that should lead to respective common positions in "real time" on the issue of own resources.
Asked on Wednesday evening during a plenary by British Labour Party member Terry Wynn (former president of the budgets committee, who replaces president Borrell, the president of the Council Atzo Niolai pointed out that the Dutch presidency was seeking the orientations and principles for the negotiations on the 2007-13 financial perspectives by the end of the year. According to the planned timetable, he indicated that they were hoping to get a political agreement in June 2005 (under the Luxembourg presidency) and legislative proposals for the end of 2005 (under the British presidency). A.M. Wynn said that he wanted monthly trialogues on the future financial perspectives and indicated to Mr Nicolai that negotiations at the Council were complex and that it would be difficult to organise but they could instead continue with informal meetings between the presidency of the Council and the parliament. (German Christian Democrat Reimer Böge rapporteur for the temporary committee on financial perspectives hopes that his report will be adopted by the plenary on 11 May 2005: EUROPE 24 November p 16).