Brussels, 22/12/2005 (Agence Europe) - Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schussel, who will be the President of the European Council in the first half of 2006, has called for fundamental reform of the EU budget with a new European tax to supplement own resources. The way Member States negotiate the EU's budget cannot continue, said Schussel in an interview with the Financial Times on 22 December: 'Europe will kill itself if it continues like that.' The European tax would replace direct contributions from Member States to the EU budget and show each European citizen that they get a lot from the EU for little money, said Schussel, adding that he personally liked the idea of a European tax because it would be good for everyone to know what they have to contribute to the European project.
On the European Constitution, Schussel shares the views of German Chancellor Angela Merkel (see EUROPE 9095) and other European leaders who believe the Constitution is not dead. The Austrian Presidency would not be able to solve the constitution problem during its six months in office, but it would try to create a more positive backdrop to pave the way for potentially revitalising the draft European Constitution in 2007 after the French presidential elections and the Dutch general elections, said Schussel. Over the next six months, the Austrian Presidency wants to give ordinary people more confidence in the European project and the European institutions by focussing on economic reforms, growth and employment (the revised Lisbon Strategy). The Spring European Council in Brussels on 23/24 March 2006 will only look at these issues. The Austrian Presidency also wants to focus on debate about the EU's enlargement strategy and the EU's external borders but Schussel said it was not yet the right time to make the final decision on the EU's external borders.