Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-04-20-Speech-2-285"
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"en.20040420.11.2-285"2
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".
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the budget for 2005 will be the first budget for the enlarged Union to be adopted by an enlarged budgetary authority. The Commission will adopt the preliminary draft for the 2005 budget within the next few weeks. At the first reading by the Council in July, under the Dutch Presidency, 25 Member States will be represented, and the MEPs from 25 Member States will take part in the first parliamentary reading in October.
2005 is the sixth year of the Financial Perspective that is now in force. When a planning period nears its end, the room for manoeuvre becomes increasingly limited as more and more funds are tied up in advance by decisions made in previous years. Next year will be particularly tight, because the adjustments, as I mentioned, have turned out to be smaller than originally envisaged. For 2005 the current financial plans provide for EUR 119 billion in commitment appropriations and EUR 114 billion in payment appropriations, which corresponds to 1.09% of gross national income. The cost of implementing decisions of previous years – those taken in the framework of Agenda 2000, the Accession Treaty, the multiannual programmes, the roadmaps or even the agricultural reform package, the full impact of which will be felt next year as its cost rises to about EUR 1 billion – swallows the bulk of the funds within each of the ceilings.
There will be a need for close and fruitful cooperation among all participants if we are to reach a timely agreement on the budget for 2005. As in past years, the Commission will cooperate closely with the rapporteurs and the Parliamentary Committee on Budgets and with the Council’s Economic and Financial Committee under the Dutch Presidency. On a personal level too, I shall naturally make it a point of honour to cooperate very closely and effectively, as in the preceding years, so that we can draw up and adopt a budget that will help significantly to achieve the aims of the enlarged Union.
The budget of 2005 will thus be presented to a host of new faces, not least within the Commission. There can, however, be no doubt that the budget will be dominated by enlargement, and this is also emphasised by the general rapporteur, Mr Garriga Polledo, in his report. May I offer you my very sincere thanks for your report, Mr Garriga Polledo, particularly since you were under pressure to produce it within a very short time because of the postponement of the communication from the Commission on the policy strategy for 2005.
One of the aims of the 2005 budget is to implement the agreements contained in the Treaty of Accession. In concrete terms, this means that direct payments to farmers are to be entered in the budget for the first time. It also means an increase in the financial commitments from the Structural Funds, as agreed in Copenhagen. The Structural Funds are the main instrument with which the European Union gives financial assistance to the new Member States in order to narrow the prosperity gap, and they should remain the principal instrument of cohesion policy in the future too.
At the consultation before the first reading of the budget for 2005, I shall report to you on the latest progress in the programming of the Structural Funds for the new Member States. The political priority attaching to enlargement is also reflected in administrative expenditure: the Commission will, as stated in the communication of 2002 and reiterated a few moments ago by your general rapporteur, apply for the next batch of additional posts for enlargement. This will involve the establishment of 700 new posts, about half of which will be assigned to the language services.
As far as administrative expenditure is concerned, special efforts and particularly close cooperation will be required from all the institutions if we are to operate within the ceiling which is set in the financial plans and which has turned out to be lower than previously calculated because of the reduction in the appropriation for exchange losses. Mr Kuckelkorn, of course, has dealt with that very thoroughly, and may I extend my thanks to you too, Mr Kuckelkorn, for your report. Lastly, for the priority task of enlargement, the Commission is also proposing an increase in pre-accession aid to Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania, as decided by the Council with the support of Parliament.
Lending new dynamism to economic growth in Europe is a task for the Member States and the Union, a task that will help to shape the next few years. Enlargement itself will generate economic impetus. Additional efforts are, however, needed to tap the full potential of the enlarged single market. These efforts receive financial backing from the EU budget, not only through the Structural Funds but also, for example, with the funds allocated to the trans-European networks, and provision has been made for an increase in these funds next year. The funds earmarked for measures such as the creation of a chemicals-testing agency are essential expenditure if we are to ensure that the new approach to chemicals policy, which involves testing old substances for their impact on the environment and public health, does not become a bureaucratic impediment to the chemical industry but should actually speed up the innovation process.
The dreadful events of 11 September 2001 and the savage terrorist acts in Madrid have clearly emphasised the danger emanating from terrorism. In the European Union we need more cooperation, more effective cooperation, in order to protect our citizens from such dangers. The measures envisaged in this domain are another priority for the 2005 budget, and I note that all the institutions are in agreement on this point too.
The internal security of the European Union and its role in the field of foreign policy are inseparable. As far as the foreign-policy budget is concerned, we face another significant challenge in 2005. The adjustment entry is lower than the rate of inflation. This means in practice that the budget for the common foreign policy will be reduced in real terms. This is in stark contrast to all the political pronouncements as well as being glaringly inconsistent with the spirit of the draft constitution, which we hope will be adopted within the next few weeks. There is simply no escaping the fact that the ceiling on the foreign-policy budget was set too low. This mistake must not be repeated in the next round of financial planning.
Nevertheless, we must safeguard the appropriations for the main priorities, such as combating poverty and honouring our commitments in Afghanistan and in the Balkans too, commitments to which Mr Garriga Polledo also referred in his speech. For next year we need a contingency reserve again to enable us to make funds available for Iraq. Let us hope, and let us all play our part in ensuring, that next year’s Iraq agenda really can be devoted to reconstruction."@en1
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