European Budget for 2009 - Entrepreneurs and Co: Euro Finance & Business Development News, Services & Experts
- By Didier Delmer
- Published 14/10/2008
- Finance
- Unrated
Didier Delmer
"The Didier Delmer Daily News Watch"
Profile :
- Serial Entrepreneur in the High-Tech & Service Industries,
- Expert in European Business Development,
- VP International at Newcom Inc (Nasdaq listed),
- Founder of Easy Consulting,
- VP @ High-Tech Business Club,
- Founder of Portail des PME,
- Currently working on Entrepreneurs and Co & DidierDelmer.com ,
MEPs increased most of the figures proposed by the European Commission, believing that the Council's cuts had made it impossible to meet the EU's commitments. The fight against climate change, the EU's social dimension and security questions are Parliament's priorities for 2009.
The work on the next EU budget is taking place in a very particular context. The world financial crisis is forcing the Community to make spending cuts, while a number of recent policy commitments, such as food aid to developing countries and aid for reconstruction in Georgia, have been added to ordinary EU policies and programmes which cannot be abandoned. The gap between the forecasts of financial needs ("commitments") and prog
rammed expenditure ("payments") entered in the draft 2009 budget by the Council has never been so wide.
According to the Budgets Committee, this situation bodes ill for the implementation of the budget and indicates a shortage of funding to meet the EU's commitments and its priorities. The committee therefore decided to reduce this gap.
However, to take account of the world situation, MEPs chose not to increase payments to the maximum allowed under the ceiling of the financial perspective (the EU's multiannual budget plan), which is 0.97% of the accumulated gross national income (GNI) of the Member States. The budget proposal adopted yesterday by the Budgets Committee places the level of payments at around 0.954% of GNI.
This will become Parliament's negotiating position if confirmed by the plenary in late October. By comparison, the Commission's preliminary draft budget (PDB) proposed 0.899%, while the Council adopted a figure of 0.885%. The budgetary conciliation between Parliament and Council, the two arms of the budgetary authority, takes place on 21 November.
The work on the next EU budget is taking place in a very particular context. The world financial crisis is forcing the Community to make spending cuts, while a number of recent policy commitments, such as food aid to developing countries and aid for reconstruction in Georgia, have been added to ordinary EU policies and programmes which cannot be abandoned. The gap between the forecasts of financial needs ("commitments") and prog
rammed expenditure ("payments") entered in the draft 2009 budget by the Council has never been so wide. According to the Budgets Committee, this situation bodes ill for the implementation of the budget and indicates a shortage of funding to meet the EU's commitments and its priorities. The committee therefore decided to reduce this gap.
However, to take account of the world situation, MEPs chose not to increase payments to the maximum allowed under the ceiling of the financial perspective (the EU's multiannual budget plan), which is 0.97% of the accumulated gross national income (GNI) of the Member States. The budget proposal adopted yesterday by the Budgets Committee places the level of payments at around 0.954% of GNI.
This will become Parliament's negotiating position if confirmed by the plenary in late October. By comparison, the Commission's preliminary draft budget (PDB) proposed 0.899%, while the Council adopted a figure of 0.885%. The budgetary conciliation between Parliament and Council, the two arms of the budgetary authority, takes place on 21 November.
