Conciliation on the EU budget for 2012

The Council and the European Parliament meet on 18 November in the Conciliation Committee with the aim of reaching an agreement on the EU budget for 2012.

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Given the current economic crisis and member states' fiscal consolidation efforts, the main priority of the Council is to match the overall amount of EU budget payments in the best possible way to the real needs of expenditure at EU level. This is to avoid a situation where the national contributions to the EU budget remain unspent, while at home the member states take drastic measures to consolidate their budgets.

The Council therefore considers that a 2.02% increase of payments (compared to the budget for 2011) is sufficient to meet expected needs and to allow the financing of priority measures, notably to stimulate growth and jobs. This position is based on thorough analyses, examining how the budget has been implemented in recent years and what absorption capacities there are in the EU for the next year.

The rise proposed by the Council almost exactly corresponds to the Commission's latest forecast of inflation of 2% in the EU in 2012, which means that in real terms the Council's position would lead to a budget freeze.

The Parliament is asking for payments to be increased by 5.23%.

The Council and the Parliament will also have to agree on the financing needed for some of the EU initiatives in the area of growth and employment as well as for projects relating to the EU's role in the world.

Polish Minister of Finance Jacek Rostowski earlier stated that the Council did not question priorities such as the Europe 2020 strategy and the EU's external relations, but that there was a need for strict planning of next year's spending, looking into current performance and a rational estimation of requirements.

If the conciliation succeeds the Council and the Parliament have two weeks to adopt the agreed text formally.

The 21-day-conciliation period expires on 21 November. If no agreement is reached by then, the Commission will have to submit a new proposal for the 2012 EU budget.

More information:
EU budget explained