ENdoi:10.2864/3724

QE-30-11-227-EN-C

The European Union budget

An adequate budget to meet the EU’s responsibilities

European Economic and Social Committee

The EESC urges proper use of taxpayers’ moneyThe European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) believes that the EU must have an adequate budget to meet its new responsibilities under the Lisbon Treaty, as well as its growth and employment ambitions. The Committee’s opinion on the EU budget review, which was approved by a large majority of members at the June 2011 plenary session, concludes that increasing the European budget is not only desirable but necessary, given the scale of the new challenges requiring a joint response.

Future EU spending should be fair and well targeted: money should be spent on policies and projects that really benefit EU citizens, and gain extra value from being implemented at a wider European level.

Today the European Union does not have the budgetary means to implement either its political strategy or the commitments deriving from the new Lisbon Treaty. We therefore must have the imagination to draw up a “smart” European budget which will provide the EU with the means to achieve its objectives without increasing the overall tax burden on the public and on businesses.

The Committee stresses the need to ensure that the European budget matches the objectives and commitments of the Europe 2020 strategy. This requires visible links between the budgetary activities planned and the various pillars of the Europe 2020 strategy.

The EESC cannot accept that the process of European integration, which depends on the budgetary resources it is granted, is taken hostage by the question of reducing public deficits.

Staffan NILSSON, President of the European Economic

and Social Committee (EESC)

Doing it better at EU levelThe EU budget should have a leverage effect. European and national budgets should complement each other, avoiding overlaps and working towards common priorities. The development of public-private partnerships, take-up of loans from the European Investment Bank and the creation of Eurobonds could help to fund major investment projects and support the Europe 2020 objectives. Furthermore, in the current financial upheaval, a “European treasury” could be used to pool national debts, demonstrating solidarity between Member States and commitment to the euro.

By transferring expenses to the EU level and achieving the consequent economies of scale, we will ensure that the EU maximizes the effectiveness of the public money it receives.

The EESC supports the four core principles set out by the Commission for the budget: delivering key policy priorities, strengthening added value, the obligation to ensure results and maximising the mutual benefits of solidarity. The EESC wishes to add one further requirement, visibility.

Henri MALOSSE, Rapporteur for the EESC opinion on the EU budget review,

President of the Employers’ Group

The EU budget is not just about figures: it is primarily a tool for pursuing a political project. The scale of the new challenges requiring a Community response means that an increase in the budget, based on a permanent system of own resources, is necessary.

One major priority for the European budget is strengthening the policies of the “magic triangle” of research, innovation and education, which are at the heart of the challenge of globalisation.

The economic, social and territorial cohesion policy also contributes directly to the development of European solidarity. The EESC will oppose any dismantling of this policy, which is the symbol of a union of peoples. However, the EESC calls for it to be overhauled to make it more effective, especially by simplifying the way it is managed, focusing more on flagship projects linked to European priorities and ensuring that economic and social stakeholders are involved more closely.

As regards the common agricultural policy, the EESC reiterates its support for an overhaul of the policy. It is a question of reform in order to adapt to the new challenges without renationalising or abandoning the principles which are its strengths: internal and external solidarity, quality of food production, Community preference, and territorial cohesion to promote rural areas, especially upland and island areas.

Furthermore, the EESC believes that more flexibility and better adapted mechanisms may be required for emergency situations, following the example of the Globalisation Adjustment Fund.

Gérard DANTIN, Co-rapporteur for the EESC opinion on the EU budget review,

Vice-president of the Workers’ Group

Dealing with opaque proceduresThe problem is that EU citizens do not currently appreciate the impact of the EU budget. Procedures are too cumbersome and seem “very opaque” to the public. “Operational expenditure is too often confidential, scattered over minuscule projects or concealed within the framework of complex co-financing,” concedes the opinion. This makes it difficult to win public support, and gives some Member States an excuse for curbing expenditure.

The EESC calls for a “real revolution”, to speed up procedures and introduce greater transparency, in order to make the EU budget “a model of governance, effectiveness, transparency and control of administrative expenditure”.

New own resources instead of the “juste retour” principleThe EESC proposes to abandon the “juste retour” (fair return) principle, by which each individual EU Member State fights to get the greatest economic benefit for itself out of the Community budget. This approach was adopted in the 1980s following the UK’s demand for an individual rebate. But it runs contrary to the values of solidarity and mutual benefit which underpin European integration. “It is in large measure responsible for the shortcomings, delays and failures of the integration process,” states the opinion. The subsidiarity principle, on the other hand, should mean transferring policies to Europe when they no longer achieve best results at national level.

The advantages and added value of an economic, monetary and political union should, by their very nature, be of benefit to everyone. The progress made by the European Union is all based on the multiplier effect of joint efforts, the polar opposite of the “juste retour”.

Furthermore, the EESC supports the European Commission in calling for a return to the principle of EU “own resources”: money that goes straight into EU coffers. These could be new funds, levied on carbon emissions or financial transactions, for example, or come from the transfer of a small proportion of national taxes. Various proposals are already on the table, and the EESC believes the Commission should carry out an impact analysis of the alternatives.

The cost of “non-Europe”The EESC is launching an evaluation of the cost of “non Europe” (implementing policies separately at national level). This will show how things can be done better and more cheaply if countries work together and avoid duplication in national budgets, and quantify how much the delays in EU integration – agreeing a common patent or a single European sky, for example – are costing European citizens. The last such research was carried out in 1988.

We cannot increase the EU budget without winning over public opinion. (Staffan NILSSON)

European citizens and taxpayers should be aware of the size of the bill they are now forced to pay as a result of the unnecessary duplicate costs of persistent barriers in both administrative and economic areas.

In 2009, the EESC was awarded the prestigious «Ecodynamic Enterprise» label by the Brussels Institute for

Management of the Environment (IBGE), obtaining 3 stars, the highest level possible. This label rewards

organisations for good environmental performance.

© European Union, 2011

Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged.

doi:10.2864/3724

QE-30-11-227-EN-C

Opinion of the EESC: ECO/290 – CESE 993/2011 Official Journal of the European Union C 248 of 25.08.2011, page 75 www.eesc.europa.eu/?i=portal.fr.eco-opinions.15055

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