Brussels, 13/04/2007 (Agence Europe) - On Friday 14 April, the European Commission adopted a preliminary draft rectifying budget (the fourth for the budget under way), which will allow the contributions of the member states to the 2007 budget to be reduced by €1.848 billion. This proposal shows that of the €107.4 billion of EU expenditure in 2006, only €950 million were unused. The total budgetary surplus of 2006 stands at €1.848 billion, if additional revenue is added to it. This proposal has still to be adopted by the two branches of the budgetary authority (Council and Parliament).
Dalia Grybauskaité, the commissioner with responsibility for the financial programming of the budget, sees this as a sign of the constant improvement in the management of the budget and better planning. “The budget is being used more efficiently and the member states are paying no more than what is strictly necessary”, she commented. The under-execution registered in 2006 expenditure, combined with higher revenue than anticipated (coming mainly from third-party contributions) has led to a “historically low” budgetary surplus and confirms the downward trend of the annual budgetary surpluses. The sums remaining unspent have gone from €11.6 billion in 2000, to €2.4 billion in 2005, then €1.848 billion in 2006.
The Commission praises the merits of the “early warning system” which allows problems in the execution of the budget to be detected and put right quickly. This system will be called upon to play an increasingly important role as of 2007, which will be the first year of the new financial programming framework. This year, the Commission acknowledges the fact that there is an increased risk of the under-use of credits, until the point at which the new programmes are fully operational.
The surplus of €1.848 billion will allow the member states to obtain a reduction of their contribution to the Community budget in 2007, as this is calculated according to their respective share in the gross national income (GNI) of the EU. The reductions will therefore benefit the 27 member states: Germany (-366 million EUR), United Kingdom (-308 million), France (-291 million), Italy (-232 million), Spain (-159 million), Netherlands (-84 million), Belgium (-51 million), Sweden (-49 million), Poland (-42 million), Austria (-41 million), Denmark (-36 million), Greece (-32 million), Finland (-27 million), Ireland (-25 million), Portugal (-24 million), Czech Republic (-17 million), Romania (-16 million), Hungary (-14 million), Slovakia (-7 million), Slovenia (-5 million), Bulgaria (-4 million), Lithuania (-4 million), Luxembourg (-4 million), Latvia (-3 million), Cyprus (-2 million), Estonia (-2 million) and Malta (-1 million EUR). (lc)