Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-12-14-Speech-2-193"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20041214.12.2-193"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spoken text |
".
Mr President, let me start by thanking Members of Parliament for their interesting remarks.
My first remark is in response to what Mrs Trüpel and Mr Wurtz said. It is absolutely clear that I am speaking here not on behalf of the net contributors, the 'one per cent group', or the government of the Netherlands, but on behalf of the Council. The Council was unanimously in favour of budgetary discipline. It was also unanimously in favour of only a slight increase in payment appropriations, taking into account the needs of an enlarged Union.
This brings me to concerns expressed by Mr Ferber, Mr Wurtz and Mr Maat about the level of payment appropriations not being enough for all the needs in 2005. The Council's second reading is based on the principle of budgetary discipline. The Council was united in believing that the level of payment appropriations was of prime importance. This is why the Council showed an example by reducing compulsory expenditure in the field of agriculture. In our global agreement, the payment appropriations are EUR 1 billion higher than the Council's estimate of what is necessary to fulfil the obligations in 2005. According to the Commission, which has to implement the budget, the agreed maximum amount is sufficient.
Equally important is the fact that the Council will take up its responsibility if it turns out that payment appropriations are insufficient. The Council has proved that this is not a hollow phrase: it provided additional payments for structural measures this year, as you know. We have committed ourselves to doing this in just one reading for any additional funding needed, as Commissioner Grybauskaitė mentioned.
It was interesting to hear Mr Ferber's question on the results in conciliation with regard to the additional funds for 2005. He forgot to mention the EUR 10 billion that we got back unspent in 2003.
In conclusion, I agree with Commissioner Grybauskaitė that they were tough negotiations. I would like to thank her, the rapporteurs and the Chairman of the Committee on Budgets for their constructive role in the negotiations. The result is what counts, and it is a good compromise. I very much agree with Mr Garriga Polledo, who said it is not a win-lose situation, it is a win-win situation: there is room for both budgetary discipline and political priorities. At the end of the day it is a win-win situation for European citizens."@en1
|
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples