Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-06-06-Speech-3-242"
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"en.20070606.22.3-242"2
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"Mr President, the Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe supports the guiding principle that Mr Itälä has set for Parliament’s 2008 budget, namely that the budget should be kept at the 2007 level, allowance being made for inflation. It should not be higher than this without special reason. This is because 2008 is, of course, a year of consolidation after the enlargements and the extra appropriations that resulted from those enlargements. Now is the time to review matters and keep a constant eye on the opportunities to effectivise and prioritise our administration. There are, of course, new needs. There are things that can be done better. That applies to translation and interpreting, where it is not always possible for Members to get the service they need, and it applies to the needs for professional assistance for legislation work, which are also on the increase. In addition, the European Parliament should develop better communications tools, such as web TV, to make it easier to follow Parliament’s work.
As a guiding principle, the money for these improvements should be provided within the budgetary framework mentioned. The Bureau, however, has now decided to fix the preliminary draft estimates at EUR 1.49 billion, which corresponds to 20% of the EU’s administrative expenditure. This is, of course, the amount that we are setting as the upper limit for the budget. At the same time, reserves totalling EUR 55 million have been set aside for real estate policy and new political priorities, with EUR 10 million going to the election campaign for 2009 and a good EUR 14 million being set aside for unforeseen expenses. Parliament’s Presidency, however, does not provide any further details about what kind of projects they have in mind. In the ALDE Group, we have always supported the real estate policy. It is a good thing that Parliament has bought buildings at the most advantageous time, rather than continuing to rent. We also support the campaign in advance of the election, but we do not think it reasonable to put forward a budget containing such large and unexplained sums. The budget must reflect the actual needs and present a clear and transparent view of the economy over the next few years. There is thus a job for Mr Itälä to do, and I wish him luck with negotiating a more realistic budget. Parliament should take a lead and exhibit a level of budgetary discipline at least equal to what we expect and demand from the other institutions."@en1
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