24 October 2013

Plenary Session: Parliament votes urgent €2.7 billion amending budget to close resources gap

The amending budget (N° 6) is needed because revenue from import duties collected at the EU's external borders is far lower than was forecast by Eurostat (and endorsed by the EU member states) and thus had to be replaced by a higher GNI contribution from EU countries.

The amending budget was approved with 428 votes in favour, 44 against and 76 abstentions.

Earlier this week, Parliament's Budgets Committee approved the amending budget at a last-minute meeting following an appeal by European Commission President José Manuel Barroso on Monday. He warned that the Commission would no longer be able to pay legitimate bills from mid-November onwards if the additional budget did not come through. The Council approved the request for urgent additional funding via a fast-track procedure on Monday.

Budgets Committee chair Alain Lamassoure (EPP, FR) underlined on Wednesday that this €2.7 billion amending budget has nothing to do with two other draft amending budgets. 

These budgets are needed to make good the budgetary shortfall on the expenditure side in 2013 (DAB 8, €3.9 billion), and to repair flood damage in Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic and remedy the effects of drought in Romania (DAB 9, €400 million). 

"This vote concerns a budget to fill a gap on the resources side. It is not about a bigger budget, but about making up for lower than expected own resources for the existing budget", Mr Lamassoure said after Wednesday's vote on the EU budget for 2014. 

Parliament will not agree to start budgetary 2014 with a deficit 

The Lithuanian Council Presidency has promised that the Council will decide on the other two outstanding budget amendments at an extraordinary General Affairs Council on 30 October. Approval of these budgets is linked to negotiations on the EU's long-run budget (Multi-annual Financial Framework) and those on the 2014 budget, as Parliament insists it will not allow the EU to start the 2014 budgetary year with a deficit. 

Rapporteur on the 2013 budget Giovanni La Via (EPP, IT) welcomed the Lithuanian Presidency's commitment to settle the other two amending budgets: "It will allow the Commission to drive on for a short while, but at far from cruising speed. We cannot go on filling gaps by creating others. I hope it is now clear to the Council that once you commit funds, you are then obliged to foot the bills", he said. 

Press release

BUDG Committee press release, 22.10.13

Commenting on the adoption of the €2.7 billion euro amending budget to the 2013 EU budget, President Martin Schulz stated:

"The European Parliament has worked effectively and swiftly guaranteeing that the EU can pay its bills.

I deeply regret however that the impending cash shortfalls were not acted upon in an equally effective and swift manner by Commission and Council. This is not the way the EU should operate - we cannot continue to muddle through from one budget crisis to another. Rather, the EU needs a realistic and adequate budget which will guarantee that the EU can operate efficiently and would avoid the need for last minute crisis decision-making.

Furthermore, let me reiterate that unless the agreed but still pending €3.9bn Draft Amending Budget is approved for 2013 by the Council, the European Parliament will not grant its consent on the MFF."

Press release

Budget Commissioner Janusz Lewandowski welcomed the vote:

"We have avoided the risk of the EU ceasing payments to legitimate beneficiaries of EU funds, at least for the time being. It is an on-going battle to correct years of under budgeting and to avoid serious damage to tens of thousands of regions, towns, scientists, businesses, students and NGOs across Europe.

The postponement of the vote on a separate request for a top up to budget 2013 (draft amending budget 8) meant we would not have been able to mobilise the necessary additional resources before January 2014. Therefore, yes we needed this €2.7 billion in revenue and we needed it now. We needed it in order to reimburse claims emanating from those beneficiaries of EU funds, in order to avoid creating financial problems to them. They rightly enough expect the EU to honour its commitments to contribute to infrastructure, business or research projects launched years ago.

The European Parliament and the Member States have been aware of this situation for a long time. I have repeatedly underlined that the EU would have to cease paying its bills linked to cohesion policy and rural development from November on unless a top up was agreed to. The same way I have warned both the European Parliament and Member States for years now that we cannot go on like this with heads of states and governments asking the EU to embrace more and more competencies while their finance ministers constantly cut the EU budget.

We are now on safer ground, but only for a few weeks. We absolutely need the adoption of draft amending budget 8 for €3.9 billion in November to cover all our legal obligations towards beneficiaries of EU funds, and to finalise the agreement on the next financial period (MFF 2014-2020)."

Press release

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