There is nothing like budgetary matters to heighten tensions. Since the publication of the European Commission's budget proposals for 2014-2020 on 29 June, elected officials are doing all they can to save their cherished European subsidies.
On 7 July, a delegation of six French region presidents went to Brussels to make their case. Speaking with Commission President José Manuel Barroso, they asserted their "full solidarity" with Brussels on budgetary issues, saying they "wholly condemn the surprising reservations of the French government on the financial framework, particularly in the area of competitiveness spending".
In contrast to France's regions – which are overwhelmingly governed by the opposition Socialist Party – the centre-right French government has been pushing for cuts to regional policy. Last month it published a press release stating that "a very high increase in so-called competitiveness funding is unacceptable while the functioning and effectiveness of this policy are being called into question".
The French government, calling for fiscal restraint in Brussels given the current austerity policies in many member countries, says it will oppose the "30% increase" in the 2014-2020 EU budget proposed by the Commission. France came to this figure by including in this budget the unspent funds from the 2007-2013 period.
Pascal Gruselle, adviser on European affairs for the Association of Regions of France (ARF), also attacked the government's attitude, saying: "At a time when the French trade deficit is over €7 billion, the [French] government is denouncing credits aimed and competitiveness and wants to focus on the [Common Agricultural Policy], which represents a policy of the past."
He interpreted the French government's stance as primarily motivated by electoral reasons. "In the face of the 2012 electorate, it is easier to defend the CAP than cohesion policy," he said. Sarkozy recently strongly committed himself to defending the EU's agriculture spending by saying publicly last May that "France wants to maintain the CAP's budget to the last euro".
Based on reporting by Marie Herbet (EurActiv.fr)
