Committee plan for multi-annual budget debate

By Anna McLauchlin

Date: 09/09/04

THE European Parliament is set to create a temporary committee to provide a counterweight to the Council of Ministers in the heated debate over the EU's next multi-annual budget.

Group leaders meet today (9 September) to discuss the committee's mandate and decide on its composition before a plenary vote takes place either next week or in October.

The committee will represent a collective view of relevant committees, including agriculture and regional policy, concerning the "financial perspectives", 2007-13.

It would be composed of 35 members, but this figure might be increased to 45 as some groups, namely the Greens and the United Left, have complained that they are not sufficiently represented.

The draft mandate calls on the committee to pitch the Parliament against the Council on the sensitive issues of setting the total EU budget and how and where the cash is distributed.

"With one committee we will strengthen the Parliament's rights against the rights of the Council," said centre-right MEP Markus Ferber, who sits on the budget committee. "It will be more effective than different opinions from all the committees involved."

The temporary committee will provide a preliminary report to the European summit on 17 December and a final report before the Spring summit of next year.

The financial perspective debate has already seen sparks fly as some rich member states have demanded a 1% of gross national income cap on national contributions to the EU coffers. The matter is on the agenda for the informal gathering of finance ministers on 10-11 September in Scheveningen, the Netherlands.

The European Parliament intends to set up a temporary committee for the debate over the EU's multi-annual budget for 2007-2013.