Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-09-04-Speech-2-169"
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"en.20070904.21.2-169"2
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"I would like to welcome everyone to the new season, which seems interesting and intensive as always. It is so gratifying that already in July we achieved some very productive and well-intentioned communication. In Lithuania it is said that a good start is half the job. Therefore, I hope that the atmosphere in which we have started working and the results that we have already managed to achieve by negotiating and adopting three important declarations is a really good start to the task at hand. Today we discussed the first version of the Council’s budget, although I very often hear from Parliament that we – the Commission – are given so many tasks. I certainly accept this and agree with it; we are ready to react and provide any information that is required.
As regards the first draft of the Council budget, I would like to mention that the Commission, when it presented its version, referred to the forecasts of the Member States using our analysis. We therefore believe that our proposal was fully economically and politically sound. Therefore, the Commission cannot fully agree with many aspects of the Council’s first negotiated budget. Certainly, we agree with the opinion already presented by MEPs that the biggest horizontal cuts… I would like to repeat that the method of horizontal cutting was applied again in all categories. The Commission, certainly, considers that this approach and methodology is unsound, particularly in categories 1a and 1b, where we talk about innovation and research, even more so as we have an additional problem with the European Institute of Technology and the Galileo programme, which has to be solved as an additional parallel problem of the annual European budget procedures. Certainly, this means that it is necessary to return to discussions on quantities and sizes and not to consider arithmetical reductions. The same applies to agriculture and the category of foreign affairs policy where, in my opinion, the Council’s approach of putting funds in reserve is rather conservative and, surely, we will all have to return to it soon. Over the coming fortnight the Commission will be presenting its proposal to Parliament and the Council on the adjustment of the budget as regards Kosovo and Palestine.
Certainly, as always, we worry about the Council’s approach to administrative expenditure and I agree that the budget has a certain Finnish colouring, especially in the European Parliament. I mean this in a good sense, because I see the need for discipline, strict responsibility and soundness in the expenditure of the country representatives and we accept this and will always respond to it. The Council’s proposal includes the horizontal cut in the conditions in which the Council itself will not be able to fulfil its commitment to employ extra people; more than 800 staff members to perform additional developmental tasks surely cannot be acceptable to the Commission. We really expect Parliament to have the same attitude towards this issue as we do and hope that the re-adjustment will be made jointly with Parliament. Briefly speaking, therefore, it is gratifying that the beginning has been successful. Yet we react critically to the Council’s first proposal and assess it critically, and we are ready to discuss Kosovo and Palestine in the short term and also to discuss and take decisions on the proposals on the Galileo programme and the European Institute of Technology on around the 19th and will try to come to a mutual understanding on these important issues. I therefore hope for a successful procedure and hope that my fellow Lithuanians manage to translate my first Lithuanian speech well and correctly."@en1
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