Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-04-05-Speech-3-010"
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"en.20060405.3.3-010"2
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".
Mr President, I am very pleased to be here today to share with you my satisfaction with the agreement reached by negotiators from the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on the 2007-2013 Financial Perspectives. I would like, in particular, to congratulate Mr Böge, Mr Lewandowski, Mr Mulder and Mr Walter for their remarkable job, which I know was done under very difficult conditions. I would also like to thank Chancellor Schüssel and his Finance Minister, for their untiring efforts to reach an agreement. I have followed the negotiations very closely, determined to ensure that we reached a good agreement. I can tell you that I am proud of the role played by the Commission – namely by Commissioner Grybauskaitė – during the negotiations, which were very difficult. I truly believe that the outcome of those negotiations is clearly better than the agreement reached at the European Council.
Knowing at first hand how hard it has been to get to this stage, I can honestly say that this is a success. It is good news for Europe because it means we now have the funds to match our ambitions for the development of the Union over the next seven years. We now have a clear financial framework to boost development of the ten new Member States that joined in 2004, and of the two new Member States still to come.
I am particularly pleased that we will have increased funding for programmes directly related to the new Lisbon Agenda, namely, research, lifelong learning, trans-European networks, competitiveness and innovation. Almost EUR 50 billion will be available over the next seven years to enhance the research effort at Union level. Moreover, for the first time the agreement entails a joint effort with the European Investment Bank. European Investment Bank funds act as catalysts for public and private investors in research and technological development, as well as trans-European networks and small and medium-sized enterprises. There will also be significant increases in funding in the important area of justice and home affairs.
Another of my priorities, as you will recall – it was the subject of my letters to the President-in-Office of the Council, and of some of my statements here in Parliament – was to secure additional funding for programmes that reach out to our citizens, such as culture, youth, health and consumer protection. That has now been achieved. That would not have been possible if we had not worked together to increase that funding after the agreement at the European Council. I have also taken note of the comments made on this matter just now by Mr Böge.
Our spending on external actions will also increase, enabling us to continue to promote European values in the wider world. Thanks to that agreement, it will be possible to enhance substantially the Union’s common foreign and security policy.
The agreement reached by the negotiators will now have to be endorsed by Parliament and the Council. We hope this happens without further delay. We have also worked hard to ensure that the future budget of the European Union will be based on principles of sound financial management. I also take very good note of what Mr Böge just said on that: it is not just about figures. Figures have increased, yes, but it is not just about figures, it is about transparency, it is about accountability, it is about the quality of the expenditure and the quality of the way we work together – Parliament, the Council and the Commission.
It is fair to say that the role of Parliament in the process has been strengthened and it will also play an important role in the review of the financial perspectives, which will be one of the top priorities in the coming years. I can confirm to you today something I have said on several occasions: as you know, we have been asked by the Council to come up with a proposal for a ‘review clause’ for the future of the financial perspectives and we want to work as closely as possible with Parliament on that matter.
I know it was difficult. I know that not everybody is happy and nobody will be completely happy – let me say that the Commission is not completely happy – but it was once again a good demonstration of our commitment and our spirit of partnership, that is why I want warmly to congratulate all negotiators. I think we should celebrate this achievement and then move swiftly to build on the momentum created by this agreement to accelerate and complete the legislative process necessary to get all programmes up and running as from next year. We have no more time to lose."@en1
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