European Parliament head says some Member States blocked 2011 budget agreement

[News_Editor]

European Parliament head says some Member States blocked 2011 budget agreement

2010-11-16 18:03:16 GMT+7 (ICT)

BRUSSELS (BNO NEWS) -- European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek on Monday said that several Member States shut down the 2011 budget agreement which will as a result undermine the confidence in the European Union.

"We wanted a deal, but I regret that a few Member States closed the door to the 2011 budget agreement," said Buzek. "The intransigence of a few Member States in the Council undermines the confidence of our citizens that the EU is working effectively."

On Thursday, the European Union failed to reach an agreement on the 2011 budget and potentially endangered many programs of the group. Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) met again on Monday in order to negotiate an accord without success.

The disagreement came after some Member States were seeking that the budget for payments, which is the actual money spent over the year, to increase up to 2.91 percent from this year. On the other hand, the European Parliament wants a 6.2 percent increase for the current 122.9 billion Euros.

"I am very disappointed that we have not been able to reach an agreement on the EU Budget for 2011. Only a small minority of Member States blocked it, unwilling to engage in a constructive discussion with the Parliament on the implementation of the Treaty," the head of the Parliament said.

Buzek added that the Parliament presented a very moderate position and even intended to accept a 2.91 percent increase only for the 2011 budget. He added that the EU budget should not be compared with national budgets as it cannot run a deficit as it is an investment vehicle.

The European Parliament had only one condition for an agreement as it expected to achieve a serious agreement on rules and procedures implementing the Lisbon Treaty to avoid future budgetary crises.

"Member states have taken a very unfortunate decision - now it is not clear how to finance many priorities for 2011: the EU's new European External Action Service, emergency aid, our new European Financial Supervisory Authorities, subsidies for small businesses, plans to enhance natural gas pipelines and the ITER fusion project to help meet our future energy needs."

Buzek concluded by stating that he still hopes that by the end of the year, the Council will show a more realistic approach and an agreement could be reached. The European Commission will draft a new budget and will be presented to the MEPs at a later date.

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