2013 Budget: Is this enough for growth and jobs? / 26-04-2012

"I hope that the proposed budget will allow EU projects to continue without difficulty. This is why we asked the European Commission to make a realistic proposal for payments. This proposal looks sufficient even though it is below our requests. On the commitments, I have to say that a 2% increase just means a freeze of the EU budget", said Giovanni La Via MEP, Rapporteur on the 2013 Budget of the European Commission, reacting after the presentation of the draft EU Budget for 2013 by Commissioner Janusz Lewandowski today.

The European Commission is proposing an increase in the payments budget of 6.8% and an increase of 2% in the commitments budget.

"To recover from the crisis, I am convinced that we need 'more Europe' not 'less Europe'. Therefore I don't agree totally on this proposal. We need a stronger commitment to find effective ways to get back to growth and job creation that are the priorities agreed by all three European Institutions", explained Giovanni La Via MEP.

Giovanni La Via MEP and Alain Lamassoure MEP, Chairman of the Budgets Committee of the European Parliament, following misunderstandings on the payment figures during last year's negotiations on the 2012 Budget, asked for a joint meeting with the three Institutions involved to figure out the exact level of payments needed to pay the bills for the different policy areas: "We hope that such a meeting - which will take place in May - will advance the negotiations on the 2013 Budget by making the amounts the Commission is obliged to pay clear.

(Portal Europe)