Talks fail to get going on EU Budget proposals.
At the end of June 2011, the European Commission published proposals on the Future EU budget. At the end of December, the Polish presidency tabled a progress report on the negotiations. Progress has been slow, primarily because the euro-zone debt crisis has dominated all of the meetings where the EU budget proposals would ordinarily be discussed. Some key points identified by the Polish presidency include:
• No negotiations have been held on the overall amount of expenditure allocated to the different budget headings.
• All Member States agreed with the seven year approach for the next MFF
• There are differences of opinions on the instruments outwith the MFF (i.e. the globalisation fund, crisis management fund etc). Some delegations saying they should be maintained outwith the framework, others arguing they should be brought back into it.
On CAP:
• Member States were split on the level of the budget (with none arguing to increase it)
• Member States were split on details of how to share the CAP money out between themselves
• Many Member States asked the Commission to publish as soon as possible an annual breakdown per MS of rural development allocations
• Further greening was not opposed as such, but several Member States stressed the need for greening to be done efficiently. Some said it should be done in P2, some said 30% too high, others said 30% too low.
• A majority of delegations argued that there should be no longer be any correction mechanisms (such as the UK rebate)
The Danish presidency which picks up the reins from 1st January 2012, aims to have a common position agree for EU Heads of State to discuss in June 2012. Whether this is feasible will depend on how the Euro debt crisis is resolved.
See attached the full document.
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