The 2007-2013 Budget of the European Union from a French Perspective (original) (raw)

In: Development & Finance 4/2004, pp. 67-75. The budget for the 2007-2013 period is currently under discussion. The annual budget ceiling is set at approximately 1% of the GNP of the EU. In addition to indicating revenue and expenses, the so-called budget chapters include another dichotomy which ensures that there can be no deficit (no surplus is allowed either): the so-called payment appropriations (PA) are automatically transferred from the previous budget period into the current one, therefore the deficit considered from the perspective of Member States in the current budget is booked under expenses in the next budget in advance, while the surplus is recognised under income. Commitment appropriations (CA) are transferred from the current budget period into the next one. Consequently, this focuses on the future while the other is derived from the past. Such overlaps are mainly the result of the fact that the budgets of the 5-year, 7-year and 10-year, etc. programmes of the EU exceed or overlap the budget periods. The European Commission issued its communiqué on 10 February 2004 and thus opened the debate on the new budget. According to French analysts, the opinion of the Austrian, German, Dutch, Swedish, British and French governments in December 2003 already attempted to torpedo the process in a 'positive way' by calling for the budgetary ceiling to be frozen at 1% precisely. András István Türke, PhD (Europa Varietas Institute, Paris)