EU BUDGET: EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT ADOPTS FIRST ANNUAL BUDGET FOR 25-NATION EU

摘要

Subsequent to its second reading, the European Parliament voted on December 16 to adopt the EU General Budget for 2005. It involves a total amount of Euro 106.3 billion or 1.004% of EU gross national income. This is 4.4% more than in 2004 owing to theinclusion of the new Member States and the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy. Atzo Nicolai, the Dutch Minister for European Affairs, whose country now holds the EU Presidency, stressed this first Budget to be adopted by the EU since it expanded to 25 Member States marked a milestone in its history. "The financial resources for a wider Europe are now guaranteed. The European priorities have been observed. We have extra money to bolster the Lisbon Strategy, promote freedom, peace and justice, to provide citizens with better information and to make progress in the debate about the future of the EU", said Budget Commissioner Dalia Grybauskaite after learning the outcome of vote. She said European citizens were the main ones to benefit from the European Parliament's vote, as it would help fund more European policies that have a meaningful impact on their lives. She cited the example of the Galileo satellite navigation project, which is expected to generate more than 150,000 jobs in Europe and the Erasmus programme on student mobility. And the Parliament's rapporteur, Salvador Garriga Polledo (EPP-ED, Spain) said it was an ambitious but realistic Budget.