Brussels, 29/11/2006 (Agence Europe) - The three EU institutions managed to overcome their differences on the topics which had caused the dialogue on the draft 2007 budget between the Council and Parliament, on 21 November, to fail (see EUROPE 9312). The way is now clear for the 2007 EU budget to be adopted by the European Parliament on 14 December at its Strasbourg plenary session. The deadlock was broken by negotiations in a budgetary trilogue on 28 November, the positive outcome of which was approved the following day by qualified majority by the Committee of Permanent Representatives to the EU (Coreper). The Council of EU Ministers is expected to formally adopt the outcome of the second Council reading on the draft 2007 budget on Thursday 30 November. The EP budgets committee is expected to adopt its recommendation on the same day, ahead of the plenary session vote.
On payment appropriations, the compromise suggests €115.5 billion in 2007, corresponding to 0.99% of the EU27's Gross National Income (GNI) and almost €3.5 billion more than the 2006 budget. This corresponds more or less with the European Commission's initial proposal for 2007, taking account of two letters of amendment which were accepted by the two branches of the budgetary authority (reduction of €852 million in initial estimates for agricultural spending and the creation of a €500 million reserve for the Globalisation adjustment Fund). Compared with the second Council reading (€114.3 billion, or 0.99% of GNI), on 14 December, the EP could increase payment appropriations by a total of a little over €1.2 billion, for programmes related to the Lisbon Strategy, such as research and some external operations. As for cohesion policy, it is the figures put forward initially by the Commission that have been adopted (€45.4 billion in commitment s and €37.8 billion in payments).
In terms of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), the EP agreed to the call from Member States: re-establishment of the appropriations originally proposed by the Commission - €159.2 billion in commitment appropriations and €120.4 billion in payment appropriations. In first reading, the Parliament reduced these appropriations by €72.6 billion and €54.6 billion respectively. At the request of the EP, the Council gave written confirmation that it would continue to keep MEPs regularly informed on operations financed by these appropriations, including the EU ESDP mission to Kosovo. The ESDP budget in 2007 was likely to be insufficient to cover all the needs of the Kosovo mission. An agreement will have to be found at a later time on ways of freeing up additional funding.
With regard to administrative spending, the three institutions have committed themselves to producing, by 30 April 2007, a full assessment of their staffing needs, putting the emphasis on the new posts needed because of the 2004 and 2007 enlargements. The two branches of the budgetary authority accept the 800 posts asked for by Budget Commissioner Dalia Grybauskaité for the 2007 enlargement. They have given up the declaration calling on the Commission to get rid of a number of posts to make savings; finally, a compromise was found on updating the 2002 arrangements on the financial regulation. The EP feels the main progress relates to improvements in transparency on beneficiaries from the agricultural funds (which should be comparable with that which exists in the structural funds) and the publication by Member States of information on cases of fraud, which take place on their territory, to the detriment of the EU budget. (lc)