EU budget 2012/13

The European Parliament has voted to endorse an agreement on the EU's 2013 budget and provisions to partially cover shortfalls under the 2012 budget. The Greens have criticised the deal for failing to bridge the shortfalls under the 2012 budget (1) and continuing the trend of under-budgeting for 2013 and voted against. After the vote, Green budgetary spokesperson Helga Trüpel stated:

“This agreement condemns the EU to cyclical budget crises, with shortfalls and under-budgeting given the go-ahead. The about-turn by MEPs in endorsing this agreement is a blow for sensible budgeting. With EU governments only agreeing to meet part of the shortfalls for 2012, the 2013 budget will be left to fill the resulting €3 billion gap in payments to programmes in EU member states that have already been committed to.

"The original budget proposal for 2013 was a sensible and modest calculation on what resources are needed for the EU to meet its obligations under existing EU programmes. However, Council has pushed through cuts of €6 billion to this proposal. This, combined with the carried-over shortfalls from 2012, will lead to a budget hole of at least €9 billion at the end of next year, perpetuating the current cycle of under-budgeting. It also makes a mockery of commitments to use the EU budget to stimulate sustainable economic recovery.

"The shortfalls faced by key European social, research and cohesion programmes are not due to new or disproportionate budget lines: EU governments are simply refusing to deliver on commitments already agreed to. Ultimately, it is beneficiaries in EU member states that will suffer as a result - notably in crisis-hit countries - making Council's irresponsible position all the more incomprehensible and further undermining public trust in the EU.

"While the original proposals from EU governments were even worse, the budget will continue to get the priorities wrong. The over-budget ITER nuclear fusion pipe-dream will continue to get a large chunk of EU funds (€850 million in 2013), with no cuts foreseen. Meanwhile, with no government willing to fight its corner, EU development aid spending is set to be slashed, despite economies of scale that can be achieved at EU-level."

(1) Of the around €9 billion worth of open bills under the EU budget 2012, which are supposed to be delivered by the year-end, the draft agreement will only deliver on around €6 billion. These shortfalls include under the Erasmus student exchange programme, the EU's research framework programme and, particularly, under EU structural funds.