Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-09-11-Speech-2-514-000"
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"en.20120911.36.2-514-000"2
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"Mr President, I am really honoured to present to you today the Council’s position on the draft budget of the European Union for the financial year 2013, which was adopted by the Council on 24 July 2012.
The cuts applied to this heading are the result of an analysis of past budget implementation and of expected absorption capacities. They are based on the latest information available and are subject to revision following the presentation by the Commission of its traditional letter of amendment in the autumn at the end of the 2012 agricultural year.
Regarding heading 3 (Citizenship, freedom, security and justice), the Council supports modest reductions to both commitment and payment appropriations since it considers that the increases proposed by the Commission would exceed realistic absorption capacities. Nevertheless the Council has proposed a substantial increase (+5% in payment appropriations) under subheading 3a (Freedom, security and justice) in order to strengthen several budget lines, especially the one related to the External Borders Fund.
With respect to Heading 4 (The EU as a global player), the Council set commitment and payment appropriations at a lower level than that proposed by the Commission, taking into account past and current budget implementation and realistic absorption capacities, as well as the varying requirements of the different budgetary years.
This heading, together with subheading 1a and 1b and heading 2, is covered by a statement on payment appropriations in which the Council invites the Commission to submit a draft amending budget if payment requirements in 2013 exceed expected needs.
With respect to heading 5 (Administration), the Council, as usual, did not modify the European Parliament’s section of the budget. With regard to the other sections, whilst the Council acknowledges the efforts made by the Commission and other institutions to limit the increase in their respective budget estimates, it identified further potentials for savings. As a result, it set the administrative appropriations for the Commission and the other institutions at close to their 2012 levels.
The Council also rejected the creation of new posts in the establishment plans of the institutions, with the exception of posts related to the accession of Croatia. Furthermore, in the light of the Commission’s proposal to reduce by 5% the number of posts during the period 2013-2017, the Council has applied a 1% reduction of staff in the establishment plans of the institutions, apart from the European External Action Service, due to its recent creation, and the European Data Protection Supervisor and the European Ombudsman, due to their small size.
Finally, with regard to the decentralised agencies, the Council decided to maintain the level of appropriations for operational activities as proposed by the Commission, resulting in an increase of appropriations of +1.98% on average, nearly 2 percentage points higher than the nominal freeze applied to most of the institutions.
The same 1% reduction of staff was applied to those well-established decentralised agencies. New posts were only accepted for agencies in the start-up phase or for those which have been given new tasks. Overall, the Council has agreed to the creation of 185 new posts in decentralised agencies. More than one third of these will be for the three financial supervisory authorities (the European Banking Authority, the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority and the European Securities and Market Authority).
Mr President, I am convinced that the Council’s position on the 2013 draft budget strikes the right balance between recognising the difficult economic situation in Member States and providing sufficient appropriations in the EU budget to support programmes and actions with which we are aiming to address the economic crisis.
In the Compact for Growth and Jobs agreed at the European Council in June, Heads of State or Government stated that ‘the European Union budget must be a catalyst for growth and jobs across Europe’. I very much hope that this will guide all of us in our discussions together over the next few weeks and months as we seek agreement on the 2013 budget.
The Council is, of course, ready to work with both Parliament and the Commission during the next few weeks and months in order to secure agreement on a realistic and balanced budget for 2013. I am confident that we can achieve this if we cooperate closely. The Council is, for its part, ready to work constructively and in a spirit of compromise. The first budgetary trialogue, which took place on 9 July, was positive and encouraging.
I thank you for your attention.
Following discussions on the draft budget proposed by the Commission, the Council’s position on the draft budget for 2013 foresees an increase of 1.27% in commitment appropriations and 2.79% in payment appropriations as compared with the 2012 budget.
I would like to draw your attention to the three important points which underpin the Council’s position. Firstly, the Council decided to give priority to the programmes and actions of the EU budget which will help resolve the current economic crisis, support competitiveness and convergence, create employment opportunities and boost economic growth. Secondly, since 2013 is the last year of the current multiannual financial framework, the Council proposed an increase in the level of payment appropriations significantly above inflation. Thirdly, the Council took into account the measures taken by Member States to consolidate their national budgets and, in the current economic context, particular emphasis was placed on keeping administrative expenditure under control in line with Member States’ domestic policy.
I will briefly set out the main elements of the Council’s position on each of the headings and subheadings of the multiannual financial framework.
Starting with heading 1 (Sustainable growth), the Council considers that this heading should be one of the top priorities in the 2013 budget. It has therefore proposed a substantial increase in both commitment appropriations (+2.79%) and payment appropriations (+6.71%). This increase will ensure that adequate financial resources are available to implement the Compact for Growth and Jobs agreed at the June European Council.
The Council attaches particular importance to the implementation of the various programmes and actions under this heading which play a key role in the context of the Europe 2020 strategy and will help deliver sustainable economic recovery.
The Council has also sought to secure an adequate level of payment appropriations for structural actions. It therefore agreed that under subheading 1b (Cohesion for growth and employment), payment appropriations should grow by more than 8% compared to 2012.
With respect to heading 2 (Preservation and management of natural resources), the Council proposes to stabilise the level of commitment appropriations compared to 2012. Nevertheless, because of accelerated implementation in the final year of the current multiannual financial framework, it supports an increase of more than EUR 440 million in payment appropriations compared to 2012."@en1
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