Conferentie nieuw langetermijnbudget EU (en)
That was the conclusion of the conference ‘The New Long-Term EU Budget. How to Stimulate Economic Growth and Reduce Development Disparities Among the EU Regions’ organised by the Polish Embassy, The European Commission Representation and the European Institute of Romania on 21st September.
‘More Europe for the same amount of money” was a summary by Mr Janusz Lewandowski i, Financial Programming and Budget Commissioner, in his keynote speech introducing the premises of the EU’s new long-term financial framework. The Commission is proposing to freeze spending on cohesion and agricultural policies at the current level in order to allocate more resources to research and development, transport and energy infrastructures as well as immigration and foreign policies. While this change of the current spending pattern is seen as an evolution, a revolution is planned on the revenue side. The Commission is proposing changes in its own revenue base, especially in taxation of international financial transactions. These ideas were nearly identical to a position of the European Parliament represented by Martin-Jean Marinescu, MEP and Deputy-Chairperson of the EPP Group, who urged governments of Member States to display a greater degree of solidarity in their work on the new budget.
Romanian national authorities were represented by Mr Leonard Orban i, the newly sworn Minister for European Affairs, Ms Elena Udrea, Minister of Regional Development, and Gheorghe Gheorghin, a Secretary of State at the Ministry of Public Finance. They welcomed the Commission’s draft as a sound and balanced starting point for negotiations. According to Minister Orban, the debate on the future EU budget is not so the matter of any particular financial allocation, but really has to do with the future of the EU as a whole. If Member States fail to display common sense as well as an ability to achieve compromise and a sense of solidarity, then Europe will risk straying off the path towards further integration and may even revert to its pre-World War Two status. Economic turbulence and budgetary difficulties experienced by certain EU members must not jeopardise the future of the entire European Union.
Conference footage and interventions of its participants are available at: