The first ‘official’ views from the Commission on how the EU Budget should look after 2013 are likely to be published at the start of next month.
The EU Budget Review paper has been in the pipeline for a long time and is likely to advocate a thorough evaluation of how resources are spent.
Unsurprisingly, future funding for the CAP and the future of the UK rebate will be two important themes. All EU commissioners will attend a seminar in mid-September to try and thrash out the principles on which the budget should be based, but there have been conflicting reports on whether or not the paper will include figures.
An earlier version of the document caused huge controversy, in October 2009, when it was leaked from the EU Commission President’s office. Many member states objected vociferously that they had not been consulted on the document and the subsequent review has been buried until now.
This leaked version said that the amount of EU money spent on agriculture should be significantly reduced and that the CAP should be modernised to meet new EU priorities on growth and jobs, climate and energy security and Europe’s position as a global player.
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- Brian Wright - 01/10/2010
It is time we stopped subsidising our competitors by our NET contributions to the EU. We would be much better off out of the EU...