Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-12-11-Speech-2-229"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20071211.35.2-229"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, Commissioner, Mr President-in-Office, ladies and gentlemen, the budgetary procedure for 2008 has shown how far the European Parliament can progress in negotiations with the Council if we are determined to implement our ideas for a European policy.
From the outset we have said that, following the demise of the public-private partnership idea, Galileo would have to be financed with European funds on the basis of the Community method. Anything else would have been unacceptable to Parliament. Parliament stood its ground on that point and then pressurised the Council – or, let us be honest, forced the Council – to break new ground in voting by a majority – not unanimously, mind you – to approve the compromise with us, which includes what is termed a small revision. I say that here as a German who is grateful to the Portuguese Presidency.
As a result, we shall be able to fund Galileo and the European Institute of Technology properly until 2013. While this makes me proud of our Parliament, I am not forgetting, of course, the extremely helpful role that the Commission has played in this budgetary process. My sincere thanks go to you, Commissioner, and to all the staff of your departments. You unquestionably helped to ensure that the Council was put on the right path, not only in relation to our competition and innovation policies but also with regard to the arrangements on foreign policies. Our compromise will also provide us with enough funds for the time being to honour our European commitments in Kosovo and Palestine.
It goes without saying that Parliament has had to pay a price for this progress. In 2008 an appropriation of EUR 285 million will be made to the common foreign and security policy. While this is EUR 125 million more than the 2007 allocation, we are all well aware that heading 4 will remain chronically underfunded until the end of the period covered by the financial perspective. However delighted we in Parliament might initially be at this shift in the Council’s position, we must also strongly emphasise that the Council has not only remained focused on its main aim of paying out as little as possible but has actually achieved that aim. Total planned expenditure amounts to EUR 120.3 billion, which represents only 0.96% of the combined gross national income of the Member States, whereas the financial perspective provides for 1.04%.
In 2008, then, we shall have a tight-fitting budget, although we should have preferred something more comfortable. All the more reason for a concerted effort on our part to ensure that the Commission implements the multiannual programmes swiftly and correctly, that it acts on our comments on specific budget lines in ways that match our intentions, that its initial response to our proposals for pilot projects and preparatory measures is to seek ways of implementing them, not to describe all the obstacles to their realisation. I call on all Members, including those who serve on specialised committees, to monitor the implementation of the 2008 budget systematically and critically.
Let me conclude by expressing my sincere thanks to the rapporteurs, all my fellow Members and the secretariat for their wholehearted constructive cooperation in 2007. I hope for the same parliamentary solidarity in 2008 whenever I have the task of drafting a report."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples