Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-09-05-Speech-2-166"
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Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of the Presidency of the Council, I have the honour to present to you the draft general budget of the European Communities for the financial year 2007, which the Council adopted on 17 July 2006. This is the first budgetary procedure under the new financial framework. The transition to the new financial year should be smooth and at the same time continuity and consistency must be ensured. In this respect I believe that cooperation between both arms of the budgetary authorities, the European Parliament and the Council, will continue. I am convinced that both institutions share the same objective – to agree on the 2007 budget by the end of the year.
The Council raised payment appropriations under heading 4 for cross-border cooperation and reconstruction in Iraq because of their political importance. In accordance with the interinstitutional agreement, the Council left room for EUR 220 million in commitment appropriations in case of unexpected circumstances. It approved the amount proposed in the preliminary draft budget for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, which also meets the stipulations in the interinstitutional agreement.
With regard to heading 5, administrative expenditure, the Council adopted an overall view. It very carefully examined the appropriation needs of each institution. Administrative expenditure is nevertheless 3.4% up on the figure in the 2006 budget. The increase in the Council’s administrative expenditure was limited to 0.3%, which is worthy of note. The Council believes that it is very important to recruit new staff, in consideration of enlargement in 2004 and future enlargement too. For that reason it has approved all the newly requested measures for enlargement for the year 2007.
One of the Council’s main aims has been to ensure that there is a genuine increase in productivity in the administration of the EU during the period covered by the new financial framework. To this end, the Council issued a statement on a comprehensive programme of growth in productivity in administration for the period 2007–2013. You are very well aware of the different components of the administration package. I would stress that this is an objective of the Council and not of a single Member State or the Finnish Presidency alone.
In connection with heading 5, I would also like to remind everyone of another statement by the Council, which concerns the recruitment process connected with the 2004 round of enlargement. The Council is especially concerned about the way recruitment has slowed down this year. We expect there to be significant progress made in the recruitment process in order to achieve the greatest possible geographical balance as soon as possible. I hope that Parliament will support our intentions here and thus also our statement.
My assumption is that these latest demands made in respect of administration must also be capable of being applied to the Union’s institutions. The EU institutions are no different from other organisations. The EU needs to do its work as efficiently as possible. In this way we can show the public that we produce a real return for their money: value added. This requires an ability on the part of the budgetary authorities to prioritise resources. At the same time, more efficient administration increases public confidence in the work of the Union.
In the months to come, we will have to deal comprehensively with the crisis in the Middle East and the necessary EU action. Nor should we ignore the fact that the European Parliament and the Council need to think about the future and examine the Union’s global challenges in the budgetary procedure in 2007.
Finally, I want to say that I am confident that our main objectives will be realised, that we will finalise the budget for the financial year 2007 in good time and that it will be adequate though not excessive. We know that this is only the first phase of the budgetary procedure, and that there is still a long way to go before the 2007 budget is finally adopted. I am confident, however, that we will be able to look at the matter from all angles so as to reach a final agreement, one that is acceptable to all parties and, above all, to the public.
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I thank you for your attention.
Before I present the draft budget adopted by the Council in more detail, I would like to recall the main principles that guided the Council’s decision-making. Firstly, I would stress that the Council complied with the new interinstitutional agreement of 17 May 2006 in all respects. The Council thereby reconfirmed its belief that it is very important for general budgetary discipline to be observed at EU level in the way it is at national level. Special attention was paid to the fact that the annual ceilings for expenditure endorsed in the new financial framework were to be adhered to, and that sufficient leeway was to be left for maximum expenditure under the different headings for unpredictable situations. In dealing with the budget, the main principle we employed was close assessment of specified and real expenditure needs. Although there needs to be adequate and timely financing of all the European Union’s priority areas, this does not mean that appropriations should be overestimated.
In its efforts to exercise impeccable and disciplined financial management, the Council has made a detailed analysis of the needs in all policy areas. Having taken stock of previous budgets, and having thoroughly examined selected activity-related reports, absorption capacity and the real requirements for 2007, the Council finally decided on a controlled increase in payment appropriations in the draft budget. It is the Council’s opinion that this level of payment appropriations is adequate and not too low.
I would like to focus attention on the fact that the Council has consistently adhered to a bottom-up approach. Thus, the final figures in our draft budget are the result of targeted action based on objective factors. The Council’s first reading is thus in no way based on cuts made across the board. The same is also true for administration.
Secondly, we adopted a comprehensive approach. In fact, we examined a number of activity-related reports by the Commission, which covered all areas of policy in the budget. Thirdly, the EU’s budgetary procedure is in need of innovation. That would be best accomplished by equal and proactive scrutiny on the part of the budgetary authorities. Without innovative budgetary solutions, we cannot enhance the Union’s competitiveness or improve administrative efficiency within the institutions.
Commitment appropriations in this draft budget total EUR 125.8 billion. This is 3.7% up on the budget for 2006. Payment appropriations total EUR 114.6 billion, which is 2.3% more than in the 2006 budget. The commitment appropriations under subheading 1a have barely been cut, as the Council believes that competitiveness and responding to global challenges is very important. The Council also proposed two new pilot projects under this subheading, one of which concerns the learning triangle, and the other of which concerns the reliability of the supply of energy to the Union. The Council will also approve the statement on pilot projects and preparatory action. Under the new interinstitutional agreement, both budgetary authorities must state their intentions regarding the pilot projects or preparatory action. The Council’s draft states that there are four special areas for priority action in the European Union in which the Council believes pilot projects or preparatory action should be implemented. Hopefully, we will achieve consensus through cooperation.
With regard to subheading 1b, the Council adopted the commitment appropriations in the preliminary draft budget. The Council cut payment appropriations by EUR 425 million in those budget lines that relate to the completion of the programmes that were begun prior to the year 2000 and the programmes for the period 2000–2006, taking account of the current rate of implementation for them. With respect to the new programming period, the Council did not make any reductions and, furthermore, issued a statement saying that it thought it was important that the Commission should quickly approve the action programmes and projects proposed by the Member States.
Under heading 2, the Council effected a limited reduction of EUR 365 million for budget lines relating to interventions in respect of all agricultural markets, except for those budget lines where the same size special deduction had already been made. There was a general principle obtaining here, which took account of former implementation rates and estimates of real needs. The Council, however, stated that agricultural expenditure and expenditure relating to international fishing agreements should be re-examined in the autumn on the basis of the Commission’s revised communication.
The Council left room for EUR 75 million for commitment appropriations under subheading 3a. The Council nevertheless increased appropriations in the External Borders Fund, because it regards this as a major political priority."@en1
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