A reduction in the Community budget would dramatically weaken the European Union
The adoption of the European Union’s financial perspectives 2007-2013 is still pending, demonstrating a lack of political ambition on the part of European and national policy-makers. The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) strongly denounces this indecisiveness, which jeopardises the construction of Europe, the success of the renewed Lisbon Strategy and the much-needed reinforcement of economic and social cohesion policy. The latest proposals from the British Presidency to reduce the EU budget are unacceptable. A larger budget is needed to support continuation of the enlargement process and secure the role of the European Union as a global actor.
To the ETUC, it is paradoxical to ask for more Europe on the one hand and to reduce the Community budget on the other. Such a decision would seriously weaken the European Union, at a time when it needs to be stronger than ever if it is to have a say on the global scene.
The European Union must confront a major challenge: to build stable foundations and fill the gaps that have deepened since enlargement. The EU also has to integrate the new Member States in order to exploit the enlargement potential for greater prosperity and better quality of life for the citizens of Europe. Taking up this challenge means making a considerable financial effort to co-finance Europe’s policies in the less developed Member States, based on the principle of solidarity. In this context, the proposal by the British Presidency to devote fewer resources to the new Member States is totally inadequate.
There is a second challenge to take up: to change policies and devote the necessary financial means to them in order to achieve the objectives of the Lisbon Strategy, in particular in the fields of employment and social policy, social cohesion and quality of life and sustainable development. Social policy is a pillar of the construction of Europe and it must draw on sufficient financial resources to preserve and reinforce Europe’s social model.
Limiting such resources would mean cuts in all current policies and the abandonment of commitments already made. At the same time, a reduction in the budget for structural policies is certainly not the best strategy to adopt while Europe is in question and Europe’s citizens are anxious about their future.
The ETUC therefore regards it as crucial to challenge both the proposals of the countries that want to cut the Community budget to 1% of EU Gross National Income, and those of the Commission and the European Parliament. The ETUC strongly advocates an increase in the Community budget for the 2007-2013 period beyond the current budgetary framework, which fixes a maximum threshold of 1.24% of GNI. Not only is an increase in the EU budget necessary, but the EU should also give attention to the quality of the investments made, their true impact and their sustainability.
European and national policy-makers should be more ambitious on behalf of the European Union, in granting the EU the necessary means to exist, to grow stronger and to make progress, both at European and international levels.
ETUC Resolution: Eu Financial perspectives 2007-2013
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