Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 27 April 2005
111 Mr. Gormley asked the Minister for Finance if he supports the proposal of the six net contributors to the EU budget, Britain, France, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands and Sweden, calling for a spending cap of 1% of gross national income for the 2007-13 period; if he further supports the Commission’s proposal that member states should contribute 1.14%; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13377/05]
Amharc ar fhreagraFrom the start of these negotiations, Ireland has adopted the approach of examining each of the Commission's proposals on its merits, having regard to what is best for the European Union as a whole and for Ireland. Within this broad approach, we have looked at the Commission's proposals to see if they provide adequate resources for the implementation and development of Union policies and to assess whether they operate within the strictures of budgetary discipline that member states must respect in their own domestic finances. Due to the budgetary constraints within which all member states must operate and because Union expenditure is funded by Union taxpayers, Ireland considers that the criteria relating to budgetary discipline and value for money which characterise national budgets must apply also at Union level.
EU budgetary expenditure is running at 1% of the Union's gross national income. The 1% ceiling would therefore stabilise the present share of EU spending in the Union's GNI. On current economic forecasts, this implies an increase of around 2% per annum in budgetary spending over and above the rate of inflation.
Ireland has not aligned itself with the approach of those countries mentioned by the Deputy. This is because that approach would seem to us to imply a reduction in the provisions already agreed for the Common Agricultural Policy, Ireland's main priority, and-or a reduction in the Commission's proposals for expenditure in the less developed countries of the Union. Ireland strongly supports the Commission's proposals in that regard and would not like to see any reductions therein.
Ireland has not endorsed the specific expenditure levels proposed by the Commission, amounting to an annual average of 1.26% of EUGNI in commitments and 1.14% of EUGNI in payments. What we have done is fully support the Commission's proposals on the Common Agricultural Policy as they relate to direct payments and market supports. We will also look constructively at the Commission's proposals on rural development with a view to ensuring that the major achievements made by the Union in its rural development policy are consolidated and secured.
We have endorsed the objective of a meaningful cohesion policy for the less developed member states. For our own regions, we will seek an equitable deal within the parameters of regional policy as it applies in the more developed member states. We have also argued that the system of financing the Union's expenditure must be simple and transparent and closely related to member states' ability to pay as measured by their respective levels of gross national income.
