Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-05-13-Speech-2-150"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20030513.7.2-150"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I would like, first of all, to greet our fellow Members from the states which are no longer candidate countries but are not yet full Members. We are delighted to have them here, to complete what has been a lengthy, at times difficult process, but at the end of which, I am glad to say, the desired result has been fully achieved.
The preliminary draft budget presented today by the Commission is, by force of circumstances, an atypical draft, in that it is to be considered to be in two separate parts. The first part will enter into force for the current 15 Member States on 1 January 2004. The second part, however, will apply to the Union of 25 and will enter into force as of 1 May 2004. Assessing it is therefore not an easy task, and there are some political aspects which, in my opinion, must not be underestimated: first and foremost, the age-old question of payment appropriations. At EUR 100.6 billion, the volume of expenditure has been increased by hardly 3.3% of the 2003 figure; moreover, the 2003 budget related solely to the Europe of 15. This extremely small increase is explained by a reduction of approximately 2% in the volume of expenditure laid down for the European Union of 15.
All this is absurd. Indeed, not only does the Commission not intend, once and for all, to concentrate on resolving the problem of the RALs, which has been one of Parliament’s priorities for years, but, what is more, it is presenting a draft which will lead to exactly the same situation being repeated with regard to the countries joining the Union as of 2004.
Then there is the question of heading 3. The increase in the ceiling, obtained by Parliament, is a significant result, which will allow us to finance some particularly sensitive policies with an easy mind, but I still feel it is not sufficient. If we genuinely want a political Union, a direction for all the political groupings present in the Chamber – which we can all endeavour to follow – then we must also give them the working tools they need, the instruments necessary to achieve our goals."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples