Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-11-21-Speech-3-313-000"
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"en.20121121.23.3-313-000"2
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"Mr President, I would like to inform Parliament that unfortunately Mr Lewandowski has been called to Brussels for urgent preparations of the MFF. You will understand why it is quite a busy time for him so that is why I would like on his behalf and that of the Commission to echo what the President said in his introductory remark and welcome the approval of amending budget No 5 which will allow the payment of much awaited support to the people and authorities of Emilia-Romagna. I think that is just one example of what an EU money can actually do and why it matters.
Let me just finish, Mr President, by mentioning some of the consequences of not achieving this, because we believe that the consequences should not be underestimated. Just a few examples: implementation of key EU programmes and actions will be delayed with immediate effects on beneficiaries. That would include, among others, delayed reimbursements for expenditure on direct aid for agriculture because between 75 % and 80 % of the appropriations for direct aids are required for reimbursements in January and February 2013 next year.
It would be impossible to mobilise any of the special instruments like the EU Solidarity Fund, the Globalisation Adjustment Fund, or the Emergency Aid Reserve. And just a final example: some of the EU regulatory agencies which are in start-up phase and are to take on new tasks would face considerable difficulties in fulfilling their role – this would be the case for example with the large-scale IT systems agency in the area of home affairs, which will become operational in the next few days.
I know that both Parliament and the Cyprus Presidency are aware of these risks and that both are willing to cooperate intensively in the next two weeks to pave the way for a sound agreement before the end of the year.
I express my sincere hope for a solution, and trust that, based on common efforts, we will be able to meet in this House in December to endorse an agreed budget for 2013 which reflects shared priorities, can contribute to creating the conditions for economic growth, and shows the Union’s ability to act, which is the best signal we can send to EU citizens in these difficult times.
While the Commission regrets it was not possible to reach agreement on the 2013 budget within the conciliation period foreseen in the Treaty, we are convinced that we can still find a solution by the end of this year and in the next days the Commission will present a new draft budget, as foreseen in Article 314 of the Treaty.
Although there are differences in the positions of Parliament and the Council, the Conciliation Committee already made some progress in identifying possible elements of compromise on the 2013 budget. The Commission is taking these into account in preparing its new draft budget.
In this way, the Commission hopes to maximise the chances for Council and Parliament to reach agreement on the 2013 budget before the end of the year and thus avoid recourse to provisional twelfths.
The level of payments is a key outstanding issue. During the conciliation, one real sticking point related to the shortage of payment appropriations in the budget and the additional payment appropriations requested by the Commission for the year 2012. We are all aware of the economic difficulties facing Europe and of the austerity measures prevailing across Member States. However, it is the Union’s duty to meet its legal obligations resulting from commitments made in the current and previous budgets.
Draft amending budget No 6 is still on the table and there is general recognition that bills have to be paid, and I say to Mrs Andreasen: real bills, real commitments, not estimates; it is also about the credibility of what we are doing here.
A reasonable solution on meeting the payment needs in 2012 must be found now if the EU is to keep its credibility vis-à-vis national and regional authorities who have advanced the funds in the areas of cohesion and rural development, and also towards SMEs, researchers and, as has been mentioned already, students who are awaiting payments under programmes such as Erasmus and the Research Framework programme.
The Commission considers that an adequate and realistic level of payments is necessary to keep supporting investments on growth and job-enhancing measures, which are priorities shared by all institutions.
Let me just return to the 2013 budget and what comes next. The Commission will do its utmost to present a new draft budget that can be a sound basis for an agreement by Parliament and Council, and will continue to act as an honest broker to facilitate a swift adoption of the 2013 budget. We have already faced a similar situation back in 2010, with the first budget under the new Lisbon Treaty rules. At that time, after the failure of the Conciliation Committee, all institutions worked together in a very constructive and intense manner, which allowed for the adoption of the 2011 budget in due time."@en1
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