Activities of George LYON related to 2012/2016(BUD)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on the mandate for the trilogue on the 2013 draft budget
Amendments (16)
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Notes that there is ane Commission’s proposed increase of 5.4% in payment appropriations for rural development, with further payments under the European Economic Recovery Plan also expected in 2013; urges the Commission to monitor the correct implementation of rural development projects with a view to guaranteeing the legitimacy of EU spending and ensure that funds are targeted at economic growth and job creation in rural areas; calls on the Commission to verify with Member States that their estimated demands for a 5.4% increase in payments are accurate and realistic;
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Notes that the increaproposed in market-related expenditure andcrease in direct aids is mainly a result ofdue to the ongoing phasing-in of direct payments in the EU-12 Member States, creating an additional budgetary requirement of EUR 860 million in 2013, while expenditure on market interventions hasis expected to decreased, owing to higher assigned revenue and the favourable market situation for most sectors;
Amendment 12 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Voices its concern about the continuing problems in the fruit and vegetable sector owing to adverse weather conditions, and notes that this sector has already faced severe problems in certain Member States since 2011 as a result of the handling of the EHEC outbreak; points out the important role that promotion measures can play in improving the sector’s health; notes in this respect that the Commission already proposes to increase overall expenditure on promotion measures by EUR 3.63 million in commitments and EUR 4.02 million in payments in 2013 and calls on the Commission to explain what these extra funds are to be used for;
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Intends, therefore, to strongly defendensure an adequate level of resources for next year's budget, as defined in the Draft Budget, and to oppose any attempt to cut downexcessive cuts of the resources especifically for policies delivering growth and employment; believes that the EU budget, which cannot run a deficit, should not be the victim of unsuccessful economic polici and which is investment-oriented, should not however be unresponsive to economic circumstances at national level; notes that in 2012 several Member States are increasing the size of their national budgets while others are implementing extensive cuts;
Amendment 26 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Takes note that the level of appropriations proposed in the Commission's draft budget corresponds to the current Union of 27 Member States and that the Commission intends to present a draft amending budget in early 2013 to integrate the additional operational expenditure which will be required for the accession of Croatia to the European Union; recalls that any new funding requirements shall be financed with fresh money; highlights that the existing margins currently entered in the draft budget need to be read in this regard;
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Understands that the Commission, at the end of the programming period, puts the accent on the side of payments, as it intends to also provide a solution to the ever more growing level of RALs; while sharing this approach, is particularly concerned bygiven the current economic context, welcomes the proposed freezing of commitment appropriations at the level of the estimated inflation rate for next year; stresses the importance of commitments for determining political priorities and, thus, ensuring that the necessary investments will eventually be put in place to boost growth and employment; does not believe that the freezing of commitment appropriations can be considered as an acceptable strategy to keep the level of RAL under control;
Amendment 32 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Considers the proposed increase of 6,8% in PA compared to 2012 as an initial response to Parliament's request for a responsible and realistic budgeting; notes that the increases in payments are concentrated in the areas of competitiveness and cohesion; due to a greater level of claims expected by running projects in these fields; fully endorses such increase that results not only from past commitments that need to be honoured but also from the actual implementation of programmes that is expected to reach at the last year of the current MFF a cruising speedNotes that it is the increased demand from Member States for European co- financing, as a result of past commitments that need to be honoured and the current MFF reaching cruising speed, that has led to the proposed increase of 6,8% in PA compared to 2012; notes that the increases in payments are concentrated in the areas of competitiveness and cohesion; Calls on the Commission to verify with Member States that their estimated demands for payment increases are accurate and realistic;
Amendment 35 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Remains, however, sceptical on whether the proposed level of payment appropriations will be sufficient to cover the actual needs for next yearCalls on the Commission and the Council to work closely, together with Parliament, to investigate and present options on whether there is any flexibility, and to present detailed options for consideration, for payments to be delayed or reduced, especially in Headings 1b and 2; warns also that the level of payments for 2012 in connection to the level proposed by the Commission for 2013 wouldmay result in billionsignificant levels of decommitments only under cohesion policy; highlights that the current proposal would bring the overall level of payments for the period 2007-2013 to EUR 859,4 billion, i.e. ca. EUR 66 billion lower than the agreed MFF ceilings;
Amendment 38 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Reminds that already in 2011 a significant level of legitimate claims, notably in the field of cohesion policy, could not be paid out by the Commission; notes that those claims will also need to be covered by the Budget 2012, which already suffers from a shortage of funds as a consequence of the limited increase in payment appropriations due to Council's position throughout last year's budgetary procedure; calls, therefore, on the Commission to come up with a draft amending budget as early as possible, in order to rectify this situation, and to avoid shifting 2012 payments to the following year, which would create an unsustainable level of payments in 2013; further calls on the Commission and the Council to work constructively, together with Parliament, to avoid repetition of this situation in future budget cycles by improving forecasting accuracy and agreeing upon realistic budget estimates;
Amendment 43 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Highlights that, according to the recent data presented by the Commission in the inter-institutional meeting on payments which took place on 30 May, any reduction in the level of payment appropriations below the Commission proposal would also result into a further increase of the outstanding commitments (RALs), which at the end of 2011 already reached the unprecedented level of EUR 207 mbillion; reiterates, therefore, its call on the Council to act responsibly and refrain from making artificial cuts by deciding on the overall level of payments a priori, without taking into account the assessment of actual needs for the achievement of the EU agreed objectives and commitments; requests, in the event that this occurs, that the Council clearly and publicly identifies and justifies which of the EU programmes or projects should be delayed or dropped altogether;
Amendment 55 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Takes note of the rationale adopted by the Commission when proposing reductions as compared to the Financial programming, which has led, in the view of the Commission, to the identification of potential savings within under- implemented lines of –among others- FP7 (especially research related to energy), TEN-T, Marco Polo, Progress, Statistical programme, Customs and Fiscalis; is determined to carefully analyse the performance under each of these programmes in order to check the appropriateness of the proposed cuts and exclude negative impacts on the programmes concerned;
Amendment 91 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28
Paragraph 28
28. Recalls in this context that 2013 is the last year of the current MFF, where implementation of co-financed projects runs at full speed and the bulk of payment requests is expected to reach the Commission in the second half of the year; highlights moreover that 2013 will be a year when, due to the lapsing of the N+3 rule, payment claims submitted by 12 Member States will need to be presented for two annual commitment tranches (2010 and 2011 tranches under the N+3 rule and N+2 rule, respectively); considers therefoCalls for the Council, the Commission and the European Parliament to work constructively to identify whether there ais a minimum the proposed increase in payment appropriations by 11,7 % (to EUR 48.975 million) as compared to last year since, as mentioned by the Commission, it strictly relates to 2013 and assumes that payment needs from previous years will have been coveredny room for flexibility and possible reductions in payments that would allow the increase in payment appropriations for the 2013 budget to be brought into line with the Commission's proposed increase in commitment appropriations;
Amendment 92 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28
Paragraph 28
28. Recalls in this context that 2013 is the last year of the current MFF, where implementation of co-financed projects runs at full speed and the bulk of payment requests is expected to reach the Commission in the second half of the year; highlights moreover that 2013 will be a year when, due to the lapsing of the N+3 rule, payment claims submitted by 12 Member States will need to be presented for two annual commitment tranches (2010 and 2011 tranches under the N+3 rule and N+2 rule, respectively); considers therefore as a minimum the proposed increase in payment appropriations by 11,7 % (to EUR 48.975 million) as compared to last year since, as mentioned by the Commission, it strictly relates to 2013 and assumes that payment needs from previous years will have been covered;
Amendment 97 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29
Paragraph 29
29. Considers this increase in payments only as a first step to cover the actual needs of running projects and reiterates its concern as to a possible shortage of funds in the field of cohesion policy; will therefore opposcarefully examine any possible cuthange in the level of payments compared to the proposal included in the DB 2013;
Amendment 146 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 59
Paragraph 59
59. Understands that this was achieved through a reduction in the number of posts in its establishment plans by more than 1% already for 2013, notably in administrative support, budgetary management and anti- fraud, as well as through further cuts in other items of administrative expenditure; requires further explanation as to the actual need to proceed to such staff reductions to freeze administrative expenditure in real terms, when Commission managed to freeze its administrative expenditure in nominal terms in 2012 without resorting to any staff reductionbelieves that all institutions of the EU should share equally the efforts towards budget consolidation in administrative expenditure;
Amendment 148 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 60
Paragraph 60
60. Welcomes this effort towards budget consolidation in administrative expenditure at a time of economic and budgetary constraints at national level; is however concerned about the adverse impact such measures may have on the swift, regular and effective implementation of EU actions and programmes, especially at a time when EU competences keep increasing and new Member States join the Unionrecognises the need for all EU institutions to share the efforts of this consolidation; acknowledges the need to maintain the swift, regular and effective implementation of EU actions and programmes by a modern administration based in particular on the need to reward performance and quality of service, taking into account geographical balance; welcomes the presentation of those areas reinforced in staffing, such as European economic governance, Single Market, Security and Justice but requires similar information as to those policy areas and types of posts where cuts in staffing were made as compared to 2012;