Brussels, 12/11/2008 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 12 November, Budget Commissioner Dalia Grybauskaité presented the findings of the public consultation exercise, opened over a year ago, on the reform of the EU's financial framework (see EUROPE 9500). From the 300 submissions received and the many debates held came a “definite desire for change,” said Grybauskaité, who will bring forward a communication on the re-assessment of the EU's spending and budgetary resources. In general terms, the European budget needs to be more flexible to allow it to respond to immediate needs, and spend better and more efficiently.
The Commissioner, who was speaking at the “Reforming the Budget, Changing Europe” conference in Brussels, said the consultation exercise had revealed a desire to see the European budget turned towards the policies of the future and not the priorities of the past. To meet the major challenges facing Europe, there should be increased spending on research, the environment, the security of energy supply, tackling climate change, and so forth. Respondents also stressed the need to ensure that, for every action undertaken, Community spending was at the most appropriate level and that European spending brought a real added value.
With regard to the future of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), there was general consensus on the need for reform. Phasing out direct payments, introducing co-financing and gearing agricultural spending more towards research and the environment were among the key points raised. The aim, the Commissioner said, was not to get rid of the CAP, but to decide how to get best value for money out of agricultural spending at European level. She wondered if this policy area would not be better served by spending at national level. The idea of renationalising some CAP spending was also raised by the Commissioner in an interview with Financial Times Deutschland which appeared on the same day, in which she said that “a large part of the agricultural policy should be transferred back to national governments”.
Resources for the budget should also reflect political ambitions. The findings of the consultation exercise show that wide support for financing the Community budget through contributions based on Gross National Income (GNI). Alternative new resources linked to policy priorities had also seen growing support, the Commissioner noted, and she called for an end to the never-ending “juste-retour” (fair return) approach. A budget simply designed to give cash back could not effectively deliver its policy objectives, Grybauskaité argued. The consultation exercise showed strong support for an end to correction mechanisms, exceptions and budget rebates. Priority had to be given to a simpler, more understandable and more transparent budget.
With these objectives in mind, the Commissioner is hoping to present a political and strategic paper, setting out three options reflecting varying degrees of ambition in Community budget spending and income. The budget exists to deliver policies - that was why it was important to agree on EU priorities for decades to come before beginning to reflect on spending, she said. The Commission, then, would not be making any real political proposals at this point, unless the political will is apparent, and it was more likely that there would be technical amendments next year, the Commissioner later told press. The debate could, she said, be launched as early as the month of June, with the European elections, but the Commission would seem not to want to rush things, preferring to wait until autumn 2009. (A.B./transl.rt)