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BackNot all is well when it comes to the agreement between European Parliament and Council in matters of the EU budget for the period 2014 to 2020: only this week - three months after the agreement on the EU budget volume in the Council - has the first round of negotiations between the two institutions taken place. Reason for the delay: the EU Finance Ministers hesitated to provide the necessary funds to implement the current EU programmes. This, however, was the basis requirement of the EU Parliament before negotiations on the new EU Financial Framework could start. According to MEP Reimer Böge, the first round of negotiations, the so-called 1st Trilogue was one of the most disappointing trilogues he has ever experienced.
The liquidity position of the European Commission has been rather tense for quite some time. Background for the low ebb in EU coffers is the hesitance of Finance Ministers to follow the obligations, which they themselves have committed to, i.e. to implement EU programmes (structural funds, European Social Fund, agricultural policy, research, etc.) with respective payments. Many lead partners have been waiting for the promised funds for months and now increasingly have problems to pay their own bills.
Following the agreement of the Council regarding the budget volume in February this year, it was shortly afterwards rejected by the European Parliament, which does not agree with the approach and the low allocation of funds for the EU budget 2014. If it was left to the Council, the EU Commission - as with the current EU Financial Framework - may commit to a certain funding volume for EU project contracts; however, EU Finance Ministers have set the actual payments for fulfilling these contracts at a significantly lower level. This cannot possible work in the long run.
This view is shared by the MEPs and as a result they demand the Council to pay the still open sums for 2012 and 2013, which apparently amount to € 11.2 billion. Only then the EU representatives are prepared to negotiate with the Council. Following the agreement of the Council of Finance Ministers to pay at least 7.3 billion, a first negotiation meeting took place this week between Council, EU Parliament and Commission.
Yesterday, the MEPs reported about this 1st Trilogue, which according to MEP Böge of the European People’s Party has been one of the most disappointing trilogues, he has ever experienced. The negotiations should be continued as quickly as possible; however, the Irish Council Presidency will hardly have an adequate mandate for the negotiations. However, the Council would give the impression as if it was the European Parliament that was responsible for not moving things along. “Nobody should try to turn us into the idiots of the Union”, said frustrated MEP Böge. The representatives of some other factions also confirmed the lack of ability to negotiate.
According to the Chairman of the European Parliament's Budget Committee, Alain Lamassoure, time was of the essence. The negotiations should actually be concluded by the end of June. The next trilogues shall take place on 28 May. The Council only wanted to negotiate with his civil servants at a technical level; however, the fact was that political issues had to be discussed. It was a matter of regret that the EU Finance Ministers had ignored the demands of the European Parliament, such as a discussion on the distribution of funds to various policy areas and expenditure caps. In any case, the Council only wanted to decide on the 2nd instalment on the existing payment gap of € 11.2 billion in October, once the multiannual financial framework had been agreed.
The signs for a timely agreement of Council and European Parliament are currently not good. Whether negotiations will indeed be concluded by the end of June is more than questionable. Should the EU institutions only reach agreement in autumn, many EU Programmes - due to the lack of preparation time - will only be able to commence at the end of 2014 or even as late as 2015.
Following the agreement of the Council regarding the budget volume in February this year, it was shortly afterwards rejected by the European Parliament, which does not agree with the approach and the low allocation of funds for the EU budget 2014. If it was left to the Council, the EU Commission - as with the current EU Financial Framework - may commit to a certain funding volume for EU project contracts; however, EU Finance Ministers have set the actual payments for fulfilling these contracts at a significantly lower level. This cannot possible work in the long run.
This view is shared by the MEPs and as a result they demand the Council to pay the still open sums for 2012 and 2013, which apparently amount to € 11.2 billion. Only then the EU representatives are prepared to negotiate with the Council. Following the agreement of the Council of Finance Ministers to pay at least 7.3 billion, a first negotiation meeting took place this week between Council, EU Parliament and Commission.
Yesterday, the MEPs reported about this 1st Trilogue, which according to MEP Böge of the European People’s Party has been one of the most disappointing trilogues, he has ever experienced. The negotiations should be continued as quickly as possible; however, the Irish Council Presidency will hardly have an adequate mandate for the negotiations. However, the Council would give the impression as if it was the European Parliament that was responsible for not moving things along. “Nobody should try to turn us into the idiots of the Union”, said frustrated MEP Böge. The representatives of some other factions also confirmed the lack of ability to negotiate.
According to the Chairman of the European Parliament's Budget Committee, Alain Lamassoure, time was of the essence. The negotiations should actually be concluded by the end of June. The next trilogues shall take place on 28 May. The Council only wanted to negotiate with his civil servants at a technical level; however, the fact was that political issues had to be discussed. It was a matter of regret that the EU Finance Ministers had ignored the demands of the European Parliament, such as a discussion on the distribution of funds to various policy areas and expenditure caps. In any case, the Council only wanted to decide on the 2nd instalment on the existing payment gap of € 11.2 billion in October, once the multiannual financial framework had been agreed.
The signs for a timely agreement of Council and European Parliament are currently not good. Whether negotiations will indeed be concluded by the end of June is more than questionable. Should the EU institutions only reach agreement in autumn, many EU Programmes - due to the lack of preparation time - will only be able to commence at the end of 2014 or even as late as 2015.