Brussels, 01/09/2009 (Agence Europe) - Algirdas Šemeta appears to have convinced MEPs on Tuesday 1 September of his qualities and ambition to occupy the post of European Commissioner for the Budget until the end of the European Commission's current mandate (31 October). He is due to replace Dalia Grybauskaité, who was victorious in the presidential elections in Lithuania. On 16 September, the European Parliament will vote in plenary session on the nomination of the three new commissioners designate (see other article on Karel de Gucht, while Pawel Samecki, the commissioner designate for regional policy, will be given a hearing in front of MEPs on Wednesday 2 September). Following the hearing, the budgets committee will send the EP president a “letter of appreciation” on the candidate designate, followed by a more general letter from the president of the EP to José Manuel Barroso about the three candidates.
Algirdas Šemeta began by giving a rundown about his experience as the minister of finance in Lithuania, which gives him a number of qualities in relation to the post of budget commissioner - especially when this would involve tackling an EU budget now expected to play a major role in helping European economies recover and fight global warming.
Budgetary procedures 2010. Šemeta said that he agreed on the fact that the procedure ought to be concluded in accordance with current treaty rules. He said that the rules could not be changed at half time. He also affirmed that he regretted the reductions in funding decided by the Council in first reading (July) for the 2010 budget. In October, an amending letter will be presented on the new agricultural spending situation and the commissioner designate said that it appears that initial forecasts were much better than in previous years.
Šemeta declared that the Commission would soon be presenting a proposal on how to fund the €2.4bn needed for 2010 in order to continue the European economic recovery plan. He referred to the use of agricultural funding (including that not used up in the sector) and the redeployment of funding in other areas. He pointed to the initiatives already taken by the Commission to simplify the management of structural funds and speeding up payments, particularly for the European Social Fund.
Budgetary review. Algirdas Šemeta admitted that “I am in a difficult situation” and was unable to say whether the current Commission or the next one would be producing proposals on this very important subject. The Commission, however, is expected to do this work before the end of the year. He said that he hoped that the Commission would “put the bar sufficiently high” on reform and called for “resources to be concentrated on a few key priorities, which bring added European value”. In this connection, he highlighted sustainable growth, job creation, the fight against climate change, energy and external EU action.
The commissioner designate also called for “greater flexibility” in the multiannual financial framework, a demand supported by many MEPs. Finally, he called for a “fair and transparent” system of own resources and said that they should gradually get rid of refund mechanisms and budgetary exceptions.
Alain Lamassoure, the president of the EP's budgets committee, warned against the temptation by some commissioners to act as the Secretariat General of the Council of Ministers of the EU, explaining that this was also something they had had to explain to Mr Barroso and a number of other commissioners, adding: “We don't need a Commission acting at the behest of the Council but a Commission that assumes its responsibilities”. The president of the budgets committee insisted on the fact that the institutions had to prepare the application of the Lisbon methods as from 1 January 2010 because the system will be “completely different”.
Göran Färm (S&D, Sweden) asked the commissioner designate how he intended to resolve differences between the institutions on the €2.4bn funding for the recovery plan needed for 2010.
Anne Jensen (ALDE, Denmark), underlined the crucial importance of having a more flexible budget that would allow for rapid responses to certain changes.
Helga Trüpel (Greens/EFA, Germany) wanted to know what the Commission intended to do for promoting ecological change: “Would you be prepared to agree to more money for research and Erasmus student grants?”. (L.C./transl.rh)