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EP members rail against proposed budget cut

Xinhua, September 9, 2015 Adjust font size:

Members of European Parliament (MEPs), meeting in a plenary session in Strasbourg, decided on Tuesday that cuts in the 2016 budget for the European Union (EU) proposed by the European Council were unacceptable and that they would be a hinderance to the execution of EU policy, notably concerning the issue of migration.

The European Council had proposed a budget of 153.2 billion euros (about 172 billion U.S. dollars) in commitments and 140 billion euros in payments, representing cuts of 563.6 million euros to funds for new projects and 1.4 billion euros to funds for paying incoming bills for 2016.

The Luxemburgish presidency of the Council had presented on Tuesday the position of the member states on the EU draft budget for 2016, provoking the anger of parliamentarians.

"The Council's cuts are unacceptable, incomprehensible and inconsistent. The Council cannot get past the national egotism of the member states," said the EP rapporteur for the bulk of the budget, Jose Manual Fernandes.

"Countries that are demanding solidarity regarding the cohesion funds are unable to display a minimum of solidarity towards migration and are cutting lines that finance migration programmes. Solidarity is a two-way street," said Fernandes.

He has also criticized the Council for having cut funds dedicated to aiding countries who would like to accede to the EU and for having reduced programs aimed at fighting poverty in developing nations.

The rapporteur for the rest of the budget, Gerald Deprez, insisted on the necessity of adequate financing for organizations working with refugees, for which certain funds were cut by the Council.

"It is regrettable that the Council has also cut the EU research program Horizon 2020 and the Connecting Europe Facility for energy, telecommunications and transport," he added.

The Commission declared itself to be equally worried by the budgetary reductions announced by the Council. The latter formally approved its position on the 2016 budget on Sept. 4, after its informal adoption in July.

The most important cuts to the Commission's draft figures would affect foreign policy tools, financing for neighboring countries and programs for transport networks and research.

The Parliament must state its position in regard to the Council's proposal before Oct. 29, the date on which 21 days of conciliation talks will take begin between the Parliament and the Council.

A final budget for 2016 must be submitted before the end of this year. Endit