At the negotiations with the representatives of the European Parliament, for the establishment of the Multiannual Financial Framework for the period 2014 – 2020, the Cyprus Presidency at the EU Council has proposed a reduction by EUR 50 Billion of this programme. This measure could have endangered important projects such as the Connecting Europe Facility or Horizon 2020.
State and government heads in the 27 member states of the EU met in the period November 22 – 23, in Brussels, for the Summit dedicated to the multiannual financing programme 2014 – 2020. However, the debates failed, the member states did not reach an agreement on the subject of the EU budget. Most likely, the next discussion round will be held in January – February 2013.
One month before the beginning of the Summit, the Cyprus presidency of the EU Council has proposed a budget reduction of EUR 50 Billion and in Brussels, Herman Van Rompuy, the president of the Council, has proposed a reduction by EUR 75 Billion of the EU budget for the period 2014-2020.
A series of member states did not agree with the reductions.
“We should be able to surpass the existing divergences of opinion. A European budget is important for the Union cohesion and for the increase and jobs in our countries”, was the bare declaration of the Council members at the end of negotiations.
European leaders did not agree on whether they should cut or not EUR 30 Billion more, but the failures of debates do not represent for anyone a surprise since at the present moment, the European Union seems characterised only by dysfunctions.
We can only hope that at the following negotiations, the EU leaders will not make any negative decision as regards the regional development funds. The Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) has already been in danger, in October, when the Cyprus presidency of the EU (which will last until January 1st after which Ireland will be next – editor’s note) proposed a reduction of the Multiannual Financial Framework to EUR 36.3 Billion. EU leaders must think about the fact that the transport infrastructure would benefit by CEF 2014 – 2020 from the amount of EUR 40 Billion for the execution of some important projects among which we can also mention railway infrastructure investments.
The European Parliament has firmly rejected the reduction of the Connecting Europe Facility, because “this reduction could mean that a program such as CEF could not be executed at all in the budget period 2014 – 2020. The programme Horizon 2020 could have also been in danger, as well as the project Galileo. In its turn, the European Commission does not want a CEF reduction.
Nevertheless, before the Summit of the EU leaders, there have also been several discussions which were not decisive but which show us that the Connecting Europe Facility could be exempt from the fund reduction. These proposals (which will certainly need to be analysed within the debates next year), “limit” the prejudice caused to CEF. Therefore, compared to the Cyprus proposal, the proposals for the CEF financing would have stipulated a grant of EUR 46.2 Billion, out of which EUR 10 Billion would have come from the Cohesion Fund.
Out of the EUR 46 Billion, EUR 29.6 Billion could be granted to the transport infrastructure (including the 10 Billion from the Cohesion Fund), the energy could get EUR 8.2 Billion and telecommunications EUR 8.3 Billion. But, as we know, negotiations failed and we wait for the next debates to see the importance for the EU leaders of the projects related to transport infrastructure, which implicitly mean the cohesion wanted by the EU and its leaders.
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