Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-10-26-Speech-3-029-000"

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"en.20111026.3.3-029-000"2
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". Mr President, I would like to say a big thank you to Ms Balzani, Mr Fernandes and Mr Böge, who have succeeded in obtaining broad support for their proposals at a very difficult time, and that is important. When I meet with my constituents, I often encounter myths regarding the EU budget. Many people believe that the EU is a heavy and growing burden on taxpayers. They hardly believe me when I tell them that the EU budget corresponds to only around 2% of Europe’s public expenditure, that most of it goes back to the Member States and that the rate of increase is lower than that of the Member States’ own budgets. They also find it hard to believe that we do not have any debts and that every year we give the surplus back to the Member States. Unfortunately, they also often believe that all taxpayers would benefit from cuts in the EU budget. The truth is, of course, that it would make it harder for the most vulnerable countries to overcome the crisis. Certain Member States, with the Polish Presidency at the forefront, are defending the EU’s role in this situation against those who only care about the net result for their own national treasuries. I am grateful for this. In the current situation, we have decided to take a cautious approach. We are making more cuts than ever before in the European Parliament’s own budget. We are asking for increases in only three priority areas: investments in research and development, jobs and lifelong learning, aid for Palestine and North Africa and payment appropriations for the Structural Funds, so that they really can be used to help to combat the economic crisis. I am very pleased that we in the European Parliament are in agreement about defending these requirements. I am convinced that there will in reality be support for them in many Member States, too. Let us try to find a solution that enables us both to defend the EU’s role and to strengthen these economic priority areas."@en1
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