Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-07-01-Speech-2-320"
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"en.20030701.12.2-320"2
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"Mr President, the report before us on the conciliation procedure with regard to the 2004 budget presents a good picture of Parliament’s main areas of focus. I want to thank Mr Jan Mulder, as a member of my own group and as general rapporteur, for an excellent report.
Next year’s budget is legally problematic, as for the first four months the EU will be a community of 15 Member States, but will expand to comprise 25 Member States from the beginning of May. Because each Member State has to be able to participate in decision-making affecting itself, the budget for the enlarged Union cannot be finalised until after enlargement. The budget’s principles of universality and annuality, however, require that it should be drawn up immediately for the whole year. For that reason the solution sought, where the budget will be dealt with, as appropriate, in December, with the part that concerns the new Member States not being finalised until there is an Amending Budget next May, is the proper way to proceed.
The budget has also now been clearly presented as an activity-based one. This will clearly separate operational expenditure, administrative costs and responsibility for implementation for each policy area. This is an excellent reform. It will increase the budget’s information value and facilitate its monitoring. This system, however, should be improved, for example by including all administrative expenditure in the budget for each policy area, as the report points out.
The biggest weakness in the preliminary draft budget is the meagre amounts for payment appropriations. They represent just 0.99% of the Gross National Income of the Member States, which is the lowest they have been for 17 years. At the same time outstanding commitments have skyrocketed and at present are reaching the EUR 126 billion mark. This is an increase of EUR 15.4 billion on last year. If we want to achieve a balance in EU budget policy, commitments and payments have to be balanced. This will mean improvements in administration and simplified systems at all levels.
I wish my friend, Mr Mulder, every success with the rest of the work."@en1
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