WRITTEN QUESTION E-1203/01

by Alexandros Alavanos (GUE/NGL) to the Council

(24 April 2001)

Subject: Increase in the European Union budget

The second report on economic and social cohesion in the EU points out the wide disparities in development between the Member States, the regions and the countries which will be joining the EU in the next few years. In order to reduce these disparities, or to prevent the gap from widening at least, a much greater amount of funding than that provided by the EU budget will be required. At the same time, the cost of dealing with the BSE crisis has raised spending on agriculture to its maximum permissible level, prohibiting any other action and necessitating cutbacks in other areas of agricultural expenditure.

Since it is becoming increasingly clear that the EU's budget is unable to meet the needs of enlargement or cover current EU policies, will the Council consider increasing the EU's own resources? Have the Member States raised the question of increasing own resources or revising the financial perspective? How will the Council satisfy these urgent financial needs?

Reply

(20 November 2001)

The Council wishes to stress that, in accordance with the conclusions on the budget guidelines for 2002 which it adopted on 12 March 2001, it intends fully to apply the Interinstitutional Agreement (IIA) of 6 May 1999 on budgetary discipline and improvement of the budgetary procedure(1), and Community expenditure in the period 2000-2006 must therefore remain within the limits imposed by the financial perspective annexed to that agreement. The rate of change in own resources over that period is governed by the Council Decision (2000/597/EC, Euratom) of 29 September 2000 on the system of the European Communities' own resources(2), which should enter into force in 2002, and that in agricultural expenditure is governed by Council Regulation (EC) No 2040/2000 of 26 September 2000 on budgetary discipline(3).

The Council would point out that the IIA, which was adopted by the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission, includes several provisions to deal with unforeseen expenditure in the application of the Agreement and the financial perspective, whether in connection with the margins under the different headings, by means of the mobilisation of the various reserves, the flexibility instrument or the margin for unforeseen expenditure, but that it is for the Commission to make any relevant proposals required. The Council would also point out that the financial perspective is sufficiently flexible to deal with the European Union's financing requirements and it does not therefore consider it necessary to revise it.

As regards more particularly the expenditure relating to enlargement, the Council would draw the Honourable Member's attention to the fact that the IIA includes not only the financial perspective for a Union of fifteen but also, in Annex II thereto, a financial framework for a Union of twenty-one, which takes account of the foreseeable financing requirements of enlargement. In addition, section 25 of the IIA permits, if necessary, the adjustment of the financial perspective. To that end it states that:

Without prejudice to the outcome of the accession negotiations, the change in the headings concerned should not exceed the amounts shown in the indicative financial framework based on the assumption of an enlarged Union with six new Member States from 2002 and contained in Annex II, which forms an integral part of this Agreement.

The additional requirements will be covered by the available amounts set aside for this purpose in the financial perspective and, if necessary, by using the additional own resources resulting from the increased Community GNP after enlargement of the Union.

Lastly, the Commission has stated that before the end of 2004 it will conduct a general evaluation of the system, taking into account, inter alia, the effects of enlargement on the financing of the budget.

(1) OJ C 172, 18.6.1999, p. 1.

(2) OJ L 253, 7.10.2000, p. 42.

(3) OJ L 244, 29.9.2000, p. 27.