By Martin Banks - 21st October 2010
The budget votes are always complicated
Ian Hudghton
Parliament's president Jerzy Buzek has hit back at fierce criticism of the decision to increase the EU budget for 2011 by nearly six per cent.
MEPs in Strasbourg approved a €129bn EU budget for next year - a €7.3bn rise on this year.
Britain's Europe minister David Liddington led a chorus of criticism, branding the increase as "outrageous."
UKIP deputy Nigel Farage agreed, branding the decision "immoral."
But Buzek, a Polish MEP, hit back saying the rise was justified and that parliament had "acted with a great sense of responsibility."
He added, "Parliament is aware of the difficult fiscal situation in the member states. Yet, we need to have guarantees for the future financing of the EU."
"We need sufficient funding for life-long learning, to create opportunities for the young generation, for research and for a modern infrastructure in all regions of the EU."
German Greens MEP Helga Trüpel agreed, saying, "The vote will equip the EU to act in priority areas and fulfil the new competences set out in the Lisbon treaty, while at the same time keeping expenditure in check during these straitened times."
SNP MEPs Alyn Smith and Ian Hudghton had voted to freeze the EU budget but their amendment was overwhelmingly defeated with 92 votes in favour and 564 against.
Hudghton said, "The budget votes are always complicated but while we are approaching the end of a budget cycle we must surely recognise that the global economic picture has changed markedly, and some EU budgets could take a bit of squeezing."
He said the increase "sends a signal that MEPs are out of touch with the concerns of the people who elected them."
Smith said, "Freezing the budget for next year would indeed be inconvenient for a number of projects, but some projects could do with a bit of a harder analysis."
His comments were endorsed by Hungarian MEP Lajos Bokros, the European Conservatives and Reformists group budgets coordinator.
As with the SNP duo, the ECR tabled amendments that would have reduced the parliament's administrative budget but these were rejected.
Bokros, who was the author of the infamous 'Bokros Package' of financial reforms when finance minister of Hungary, said, "Parliament and commission are taking short-term decisions which are leading to over budgeting based on inflated expectations regarding implementation."
"We could argue that increasing the EU budget is naked short-term populism, but I doubt it is that popular in many countries."
The decision to increase the budget was also castigated by Stephen Booth, of the UK think tank Open Europe, who said, "This demonstrates how seriously out of touch MEPs are with reality.
"It's absolutely ridiculous that on the same day the UK government announces huge cuts to public spending, parliament votes to increase the EU budget by 5.9 per cent."
"When the UK government is being forced to make difficult choices about the public services it can afford, taxpayers will be outraged to see more of their money heading to Brussels, when they see such little benefit from the EU budget as it currently stands. MEPs have completely shot themselves in the foot."
The vote is likely to start a battle with national governments, such as Britain's, which say a large spending rise is unacceptable at a time when most member states are introducing tough austerity measures.
The EU conciliation committee, composed of representatives of member states and parliament, will be convened on 27 October in a bid to thrash out a compromise.
The committee, chaired by Buzek, will then have 21 days to agree on a common text.
