Debate: Presentation by the Council of its position on the draft general budget -  financial year
Date: TUESDAY, 14 SEPTEMBER 2021
Speaker: Johannes Hahn
Language: EN

The Commission has presented a draft budget for 2022 which is in line with the multiannual financial framework (MFF) agreement reached nine months ago. The margins left in our proposal – I’m talking about EUR 1.2 billion in commitments and EUR 1.4 billion in payments – are adequate to cover unforeseen needs. The Commission regrets the Council proposal to increase margins by cutting by EUR 722 million the commitments of the draft budget of EUR 1.4 billion in payments. These cuts are not accompanied by adequate justification.  Some remarks concerning the different headings: in particular Heading 1, Single market, Innovation and Digital, which accounts for 12.9% of the budget in commitments, suffers 30% of the Council’s proposed reductions. These disproportionate cuts are at odds with the priority given to this heading by many Member States. The proposed cuts would mean that programmes may be hampered and delayed. Specifically, for Horizon Europe you have proposed cuts of EUR 316 million, which I find difficult to understand given the excellent absorption capacity of the programme and the importance of research for the competitiveness and sustainability of our economy.  The same applies for the Digital Europe Programme and Invest EU. I invite the Council to be open and reconsider its position regarding the very large cut – I’m talking about EUR 300 million – on the interest line for the European recovery instrument NGEU in Heading 2b, Resilience and Values. It is true that the first borrowing rates for NGEU have been very favourable; however, it would be prudent to wait until later this year to have a clearer view of the outlook for next year. I would propose to come back to this issue at the time of the conciliation. For Heading 6, Neighbourhood and the World, the large reduction proposed to the NDICI cushion – we are talking here about EUR 400 million – not only jeopardises the implementation of the recently adopted legal base, but also the financing for Syrian refugees in Turkey and beyond. I would urge, therefore, the Council to reconsider this position, also in view of the upcoming amending letter. We take note of the position of the Council regarding the EP budget and the increase in staff requested mainly by Parliament. I would just like to recall that while stable staffing in all the institutions is not explicitly provided for in the Interinstitutional Agreement, the MFF ceilings for Heading 7 were established on that assumption and were agreed by both Parliament and the Council. And I have to say that I think we should also look at this issue in view of the potential development of the inflation rate.  The Commission has made a balanced proposal in line with the Union’s political priorities to get Europe back on track by stimulating the recovery and facilitating the green and digital transitions, while always ensuring EU added value, impact and results. The proposal was based on thorough analyses of the level of appropriations required. Providing adequate financing for successful programmes is a necessity and therefore the cuts proposed by the Council raise serious concerns.  As regards the next steps, we will present, as usual, the amending letter in October to update agricultural expenditure and some new elements which will have been proposed or updated since the adoption of the statement of estimates on 8 June. For example, the impact for 2022 of the proposed package for the Syrian refugees as presented in June.  Following the DB reading, I will send you the usual executability letter just before the start of the conciliation. I believe that the budgetary negotiations on the 2022 draft budget can be concluded according to the calendar agreed. I think last year should and could be a good example. I and my team stand ready to work with your rapporteurs and the Presidency during the procedure to facilitate an agreement between Parliament and the Council.