Cypriotisch voorzitterschap tevreden over afronding begrotingsprocedure 2013 (en) - Hoofdinhoud

The Cyprus Presidency welcomed today’s European Parliament’s (EP) approval vote of the agreement concerning the 2013 EU budget and the draft amending budget (DAB) n 6 for 2012. The positive EP vote constitutes the final endorsement phase of the agreement, after the Council’s approval on December 6. Speaking in Strasbourg after today’s EP’s Plenary vote which endorsed the agreement, Cyprus’s Deputy Minister for European Affairs, Ambassador Andreas D. Mavroyiannis, expressed his deep satisfaction for the outcome.

The Cypriot Deputy Minister had lead the negotiations on behalf of the Council on the budgetary procedure, which lead to an agreement for both the amending budget no 6 for 2012 and the 2013 budget, at a trilogue on November 29.

“I am very pleased that we managed to succeed on an agreement on the budget package. This timely agreement means that the Union today can implement the many programmes and actions to the benefit of our citizens as from the beginning of next year. It also means that the outstanding payment needs of 2012 will be met. From my point of view, this agreement helps to further enhance the credibility of the EU and restore trust and confidence. It is the product of very hard work, strong commitment and dedication by both arms of the budgetary authority,” commented Ambassador Mavroyiannis.

The Cypriot Deputy Minister expressing his warmest gratitude to the European Parliament, to the Commission and to the members of the Council, which “though starting from very diverging positions, demonstrated a spirit of compromise and adopted a very constructive and results oriented approach, allowing us to together deliver, and live up to our responsibility".

In yesterday’s EP Plenary discussion, the Cyprus’ Justice and Public Order Minister, Mr. Loucas Louca, representing the Presidency, commented that the EU had “finally delivered what our citizens expect from us - a compromise which has enabled us to secure a budget for 2013 and which avoids further difficult discussions between our institutions.”

Mr. Louca stressed that “at these difficult times everyone simply wants to know that valuable EU programmes and actions can continue to function, whether they be Erasmus or other elements of Lifelong Learning, the research framework programme, which serve -and will continue to serve- the interests of the citizens and the interest of Europe”.

2012 Amending Budget and 2013 EU Budget

With regards to 2012, the agreement will not only provide the Commission with an additional EUR 6 billion to pay outstanding bills - the largest amending budget - but will also avoid the recourse to the provisional twelfths at the beginning of next year, and further weeks and months of difficult budgetary negotiations. Moreover, additional redeployments of EUR 100.46 million between various budget lines have been agreed.

The 2013 EU Budget includes commitment appropriations of EUR 150.9 billion representing 1.13% of the EU's GNI (+ 1.6%), leaving an overall margin of EUR 2.5 billion below the ceilings of the current Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF). Payment appropriations amount to 132.8 billion euro or 0.99% of the EU's GNI. This represents an increase of 2.4% compared to the EU budget for 2012 as amended by amending budget nos 1-5.

As part of the overall compromise, the European Parliament and the Council agreed on joint statements on payments. With a payments' increase of 6.8% under heading 1 (sustainable growth), next year's EU budget strongly focuses on measures enhancing growth and creating jobs, in line with the conclusions of the June European Council.

Background

This year’s budgetary procedure has been long and particularly challenging, especially given the difficult economic circumstances facing the EU and its Member States.

The 21 days Conciliation period set by the Lisbon Treaty, which ended on November 13 2012, did not result in an acceptable joint compromise text between the Council and the EP, making it necessary therefore for the European Commission to submit a new draft budget on November 23 . On that basis, both sides of the budgetary authority had to work hard side-by-side in order to still reach an acceptable compromise before the last Plenary of the year to allow for for the 2013 EU Budget to be adopted timely.

A ‘draft package’ was agreed by the Council and the EP at the trilogue of November 29, 2012. The past two weeks constituted the last window of opportunity for an agreement that could still be adopted before the end of this year, bearing in mind the meeting calendars of both institutions. Both sides agreed that they would submit the "draft package" to their respective bodies for confirmation.

On the Council side, the Committee of Permanent Representatives (Coreper) endorsed the agreement on November 30, while the EP’s Committee on Budgets gave a positive indicative vote on December 4.

On this basis, the Council formally adopted its position on the new 2013 Draft Budget and on DAB no 6/2012 on December 6. The EP’s Committee on Budgets formally approved the Council's positions on the new 2013 DB and on DAB No 6/2012 without amendments on December 10 2012.