Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-07-05-Speech-2-568-000"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20110705.37.2-568-000"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, last Wednesday, the Commission adopted its proposals for the next multiannual financial framework, and I have the honour to present it, together with Mr Lewandowski, immediately at the Conference of Presidents.
For this reason, the common agricultural policy (CAP), for example, whilst remaining the most important EU policy – and, I repeat, the CAP, which has been under so much attack, is still, in our proposal, the premier European policy – must also be able to contribute fully to other common priority objectives. We therefore propose that farmers also contribute to improving the ecological character of their farms. This is useful, of course, for attaining agricultural objectives, but it is also useful for attaining our environmental and climate policy objectives.
It is essential for the future of our children and grandchildren that we be more environmental-friendly and firmly committed to combating climate change.
We therefore propose to refocus policies in this area, and we want to increase the budget allocation devoted to it to at least 20% of total overall expenditure.
We can also dramatically change the everyday life of our citizens by adapting our spending more effectively to needs, as and when they arise.
I am thinking in particular of countries both in the euro area and outside it benefiting from macroeconomic support programmes, which we can support in their budget consolidation efforts through a temporary increase in EU cofinancing, while the budget remains constant. I would emphasise that this aspect is very important. At times, analysts focus on the overall value, on what is entered in the budget. When all is said and done, what is important is investment that truly affects people, investment that truly benefits the poorest regions of Europe, and what can be improved by enhancing absorptive capacity.
I am also thinking in particular of the poorest Europeans, of those who literally need our help to survive. To meet the needs in all circumstances of those who, without food aid, would go hungry, we propose, for the 2014-2020 period, to renew the programme for providing food to the poorest people, and we hope that the Council will finally approve the draft regulation, which has been on the table since 2008, so that this programme can be resumed as early as 2012.
Finally, an effective EU budget, which is at the service of all Europeans, is a budget that provides real European added value, that is to say, a truly pan-European budget.
A pan-European approach means, in particular, funding at EU level what the Member States are unable to fund by themselves, and not only benefiting from all the synergy effects and scale effects but also avoiding unnecessary duplication. In some cases, savings can be made through spending at EU level. Therefore, all those who say, in a simplistic way, that spending more money on Europe violates the principle of economy, are simply wrong. Quite often, a euro spent at European level saves money at national level. As you know, one of our main proposals is the creation of a Connecting Europe Facility to fund integration projects in the transport, energy and information technology sectors.
This will both improve access to the internal market and put an end to the isolation of certain economic enclaves. The proposed target amount for the new fund is EUR 40 billion, plus EUR 10 billion from the Cohesion Fund. We also provide for recourse to EU project bonds. As I promised you here, at a part-session, we think high leverage can be obtained through mobilising a certain amount of the EU budget linked to loans from the European Investment Bank, and even private funds, for certain medium and long-term projects, most of which will be profitable. This is one of the important innovations contained in our proposal.
The budget we propose is also quite clearly a solidarity budget: solidarity with the Member States and the poorest regions and also solidarity in our efforts to tackle the challenges facing us, ranging from energy security to migration, as well as solidarity with third countries, particularly the poorest countries. It is important for Europe to make its voice heard in the world not only to defend its interests but also to promote its values, primarily respect for human dignity.
While drafting these proposals, we benefited greatly from the high quality of your contributions, especially the excellent SURE report, for which I would like to thank you.
That is why we propose to increase the budget allocation devoted to external relations by EUR 70.2 billion, including EUR 20.6 billion for the financing instrument for development cooperation, so that we can deliver on our commitment to the Millennium Development Goals, particularly the eradication of poverty.
Solidarity also means solidarity of European institutions, which must contribute to the general European effort. We therefore propose not to increase administrative expenditure, which currently represents just 5.7% of the total EU budget. At the same time, we propose to make further changes to the staff regulations for the European Civil Service, which could generate savings of more than EUR 1 billion by 2020, while also ensuring its independence, competence and permanence. I want to emphasise this. We are making these proposals because we think that we, too, need to show solidarity with those who face greater challenges. However, we are not making these proposals because we think badly of the European Civil Service. On the contrary, I believe that the EU Administration is one of the best administrations in the world, and I believe that it is in our interest to maintain the level of prestige and independence of the European Civil Service.
This ambitious, innovative and unifying budget is also a responsible and realistic budget based on a rigorous approach. As you know, it is 1.11% of GDP in commitment appropriations. This includes both the part traditionally referred to as ‘financial perspectives’, amounting to 1.05% of EU GDP in commitments – with an expected 1% in payment appropriations – and 0.06% in appropriations devoted to reserves not only for unexpected expenditure for which the Union must, if need be, be prepared to intervene, but also to major projects that have seen major budgetary slippages, such as International Experimental Fusion Reactor (ITER) and Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES), and to integrating the European Development Fund already financed from direct contributions of the Member States.
We propose to make savings in certain areas so that we can spend more on present and future priorities. As a result, while preserving the priority to be given to economic, social and territorial cohesion – because, as I often say, without cohesion there is no solidarity, and without solidarity there is no Union – and also while maintaining the role of the common agricultural policy (CAP), we will free up resources to fund new priorities, such as research and innovation, education and training, pan-European infrastructure, energy, migration and the neighbourhood policy. If Europe does not invest more in these sectors, we will not be up to the task of meeting our challenges. I believe that these sectors are essential, especially to ensure competitiveness in Europe in an increasingly demanding world.
We also want, in the spirit of the Treaty, a more autonomous, more transparent and more equitable budget. While the Member States want to pay less – a lot of Member States would prefer to pay less – what we want specifically is to reduce their contribution by increasing own resources, while keeping the budget constant. I promised you I would return with proposals for own resources, and that is what the Commission has done. It is this determination that is at the heart both of our proposals for new own resources – with a financial transactions tax and modernisation of the VAT resource – and of our proposals to reform the system of rebates and correction mechanisms.
Ladies and gentlemen, we are all aware that the forthcoming debates will be very difficult. More than ever, it is essential that these debates be conducted in a truly European spirit so that, together, we can transform these proposals into an ambitious and realistic budget that is equal to the hopes of our citizens. I know that, in this endeavour, the Commission will be able to count on this Parliament.
Thank you for your attention.
The European budget we are proposing for the 2014-2020 period is both ambitious and innovative, responsible and rigorous.
It is a budget which, in the current economic context, provides reasonable funding for our European policies, with increased funding for sectors of the future.
It is a budget which will cost the taxpayer no more than the current budget but which may make a huge difference for 500 million Europeans. How can we achieve this?
First of all by focusing our spending on funding priorities that will enable us to work together to achieve our shared objectives, those of the Europe 2020 strategy. That is why the budget we are proposing is largely devoted to growth and employment. While it is true that, even today, in some of our countries there are quite demanding programmes, notably budget consolidation programmes, it is also true that we need to promote growth. Without growth, we will not be able to return to the path of prosperity. Let us not forget, therefore, that this budget, which is for 2014, is a budget that needs to increase growth and employment in Europe; it is a budget that must be a tool dedicated to the idea of growth.
We propose to increase the research and innovation budget allocation significantly – by 46% – and to strengthen programmes to promote education, training and European youth.
In order to stimulate sustainable economic growth, we propose to link cohesion policy, which has a budget allocation of EUR 376 billion, more closely to the Europe 2020 strategy. It is necessary both to avoid dispersion and to develop a strong culture of European responsibility. All requests for European funds must be clearly linked to the attainment of our shared priority objectives. This is what I call ‘positive conditionality’. It will enable us to obtain the best possible value for money for every euro spent, since one and the same euro can and does have multiple impacts. Well invested, one and the same euro can strengthen economic and territorial cohesion, increase energy efficiency, contribute to combating climate change, and promote social objectives.
That is why, from the outset, I invited analysts not to look at the budget from the traditional perspective of examining budget allocations sector by sector, at times adopting an approach I would tend to describe as bureaucratic, but to see what can be done through interlinking the different policies, the reason being that, I repeat, a single euro can help us achieve several European objectives at the same time."@en1
|
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata | |
| lpv:videoURI |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples