Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-11-21-Speech-3-304-000"
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"en.20121121.23.3-304-000"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, President-in-Office of the Council, in this debate we should be talking about the agreement reached between the European Parliament and the Council on the 2013 budget but, unfortunately, that is not the case. There has been no agreement because we have not even begun to discuss the issue.
We are still waiting for the Council to pay the outstanding invoices for 2012. President Schulz talked about this, as did the rapporteur for the 2013 budget, Mr La Via. In Parliament we have a very clear and logical position: we cannot start to talk of the next budget until this year’s problems are resolved. Indeed, this year’s problems are invoices, amounting to EUR 9 billion, which have yet to be paid and which directly affect many citizens in all countries.
Mr Mavroyiannis, 500 workers in my country cannot receive assistance from the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund, but the same applies to 512 workers in Italy, 1 052 in Austria, 1 000 in Finland, 1 900 in Romania and 303 in Denmark. However, they are not the only people affected. European students do not know if they are going to receive Erasmus grants. Researchers in businesses and universities do not know if they are going to be paid for the work they have done. Why? Because the members of the Council cannot agree to pay, and that is unacceptable.
That is why we have been unable to make any progress on the negotiations and that is why we are now waiting for the European Commission to present a new proposal. The Commission is aware of Parliament’s position and we hope that its proposal will be consistent with it.
We believe that there is sufficient room in the budget to give more resources to a number of European programmes. We believe that we need to strengthen the programmes for small and medium-sized enterprises, research and innovation under the Seventh Framework Programme, and training and mobility programmes for our young people.
In reality, there is not a big difference between Parliament and the Council when it comes to our priorities and I think that we can reach a rapid and satisfactory agreement, but the bigger problem with the agreement is, once again, the level of payments. If we do not want our programmes to be at a standstill again, with students worried about grants, or regions and local councils waiting for the money they were promised, the Commission cannot reduce its proposal. In fact, it should increase it, because we now know that neither the November nor the December invoices are going to be paid in 2012 and that we will need more money for 2013.
After two years of promises and unfulfilled commitments, Parliament cannot accept another joint statement in which the Council promises to put in more money if it is needed. We will not make the same mistake again. If our budget is at an impasse today, it is because the Council is not fulfilling its commitments.
Mr Mavroyiannis, I hope that you can reach an agreement. It is in the Council’s hands."@en1
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