Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-09-15-Speech-2-008"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20090915.3.2-008"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, it is a tremendous privilege for me to be here today. It makes me feel very humble and I am delighted to have the chance to present the Council’s draft general budget to you.
Under sub-heading 1B, the Council accepted the commitment appropriations proposed by the Commission. As regards payments, the Council believes that certain reductions can be made in relation to the preliminary draft budget, but I would like to stress that our draft nevertheless represents an increase in payment appropriations of 3.2% compared to 2009.
Under heading 2, the Council is proposing substantial increases with regard to both commitment appropriations and payment appropriations compared with 2009, by 4.5% and 9.5%, respectively, if we adjust for the accounting effects of the recovery plan.
With regard to heading 3, the Council made only a few small adjustments to the Commission’s preliminary draft budget. Sufficient resources will be available for migration policy, including Frontex.
As regards heading 4, it is extremely important to leave a substantial margin to the ceiling under this heading in order to be able to cope with unforeseen needs in the best possible way. The Council therefore secured a margin of around EUR 310 million in its first reading. This is particularly justified in light of the letter of amendment, which includes additional needs in this area. As regards the Emergency Aid Reserve, the Council accepted the Commission’s proposal regarding commitment appropriations. The common foreign and security policy is increasing in importance and the Council will therefore ensure that adequate funds are available for this.
With regard to administration, the Council made certain targeted reductions in view of the economic situation and the specificities of each institution. The aim is to ensure that administrative expenditure does not increase faster than inflation. The institutions’ requests for additional posts for new activities were not accepted, except for the new agencies that are planned for 2010 and for Frontex.
At our conciliation meeting in July, it was highlighted once again how important it is for the recruitment associated with the enlargements of 2004 and 2007 to be carried out, and we agreed on a joint statement. On the same occasion, your representatives indicated that they were willing to try to find a common approach in respect of the building policy of the EU institutions and bodies. I am sure that such a statement will, fortunately, be forthcoming later in the autumn.
Before I close, I would like to mention, and indeed to emphasise, the positive atmosphere that prevailed in our meetings with the European Parliament. I believe that constructive cooperation is the only way to achieve a sound budget.
Europe is facing considerable challenges. The economic situation looked significantly more worrying six months ago, but it seems to have stabilised. The risk scenario is more balanced and the risk of being drawn deeper into a downward spiral has reduced.
However, we face significant problems in the form of rising unemployment, growing budgetary deficits and increasing debt. In the light of this, there is a great need to maintain public finances that are sustainable in the long term. Many countries have a long way to go to balance their public finances.
Demographics will exert huge pressure on public finances. The challenges we face with regard to the climate will require new resources and the redistribution of existing resources. Overall, this means, in our opinion, that the budget that we are to agree on should reflect a high degree of restraint in order to leave room for future needs, with the emphasis on European added value and investments which, in the short term, can bring us out of the economic crisis and, in the long term, can also strengthen our competitiveness.
The Council’s draft, which was adopted unanimously, deals with and contributes to meeting these challenges. It is a disciplined budget and a sound one from the point of view of state finances. It will promote research, education, competitiveness, innovation and the building of infrastructures, and it will promote cohesion. The Council’s draft also contains margins for coping with unforeseen events.
The logic behind our draft general budget is quite simple. If we want to stimulate growth, employment and prosperity, the textbooks say that we should pursue a sustainable, credible and cautious policy, but with investment in education, research and infrastructure and in levelling out wage differences throughout the EU. This is precisely what we have attempted to do.
The Council’s draft is balanced, while still being ambitious. Compared with the 2009 budget, our commitments have increased by 1.1% and the payment appropriations by nearly 4%. Our draft and the agreement that we want to reach must meet the following fundamental requirements, which were also applied during the Council’s first reading. The budget must ensure that the EU’s various political priorities for 2010 are adequately financed. We in the EU must be able to react quickly to the challenges that await us. There must be an emphasis on providing European added value. Budgetary discipline and sound economic management are required. Otherwise, we will not be able to take the gradual steps towards balancing public finances once again.
It is important to respect the ceilings. The EU must have sufficient flexibility to cope with future needs and unforeseen events. It is vital for the EU budget to have adequate margins. The draft general budget that we are tabling represents EUR 138 billion in commitment appropriations and EUR 121 billion in payment appropriations. The reductions that the Council has made in relation to the preliminary draft budget presented by the Commission are based on a detailed analysis of the budget implementation, the budget forecast alerts and activity declarations, and we are looking at the capacity available to implement programmes and measures. The degree of implementation and the absorption capacity have been key factors in our analysis.
I will now take a brief look at the individual headings. Sub-heading 1A, research and innovation, is the most important element, and adequate funds have been secured in our draft budget. Another area to which more resources will be directed is projects within the energy and infrastructure sectors. If we adjust for the accounting effects of the economic recovery plan, the increase in this area amounts to around 8%. Eight percent! That is a lot, and as you all know, the financing of the European Economic Recovery Plan will be one of those topics that we will need to discuss during the autumn."@en1
|
| lpv:videoURI |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples