Tag: EU budget

European Commission President José Manuel Barroso said yesterday (22 March) that an EU-wide financial transaction tax could save EU countries as much as half of their contribution to the EU budget.

Just days before unveiling long-awaited proposals for the EU's budget until 2020, the European Commission has published a collection of facts on how Europe is financed, in a move apparently aimed at countering stereotypes conveyed by the Eurosceptic British press that it is over-sized and unaccountable.

Important political decisions, such as the EU's long-term budget and the bloc's enlargement to new countries, should be shaped up by prime ministers ahead of summit meetings of heads of state, think-tank representatives told the countries taking over the EU's next three rotating presidencies.

How should the EU's cohesion policy be reformed to meet the challenges facing Europe's regions in the coming years? EurActiv Czech Republic interviewed Fabrizio Barca, one of Europe's leading experts in the field of economics and regional development.

Hungary's EU presidency will focus on reclaiming some visibility for member states' presidencies after Belgium's turn – which saw the country move into the background to allow Herman Van Rompuy to lead as European Council president – and the contentious EU budget process for 2014-2020, writes global intelligence company STRATFOR in an analysis.

UK Prime Minister David Cameron can claim a victory at the 16-17 December summit which perhaps went unnoticed by the general public but was considered resounding by experts: the summit conclusions state that Britain has secured other EU countries' agreement that London will not contribute to future bailouts.

Some cuts to the EU's long-term budget for the period 2014-2020 may be necessary given current financial realities, but severe cuts would reduce the European Union's capacity to act as a global player, Lithuanian Foreign Affairs Minister Audronius Ažubalis told EurActiv in an exclusive interview.

President Nicolas Sarkozy and Chancellor Angela Merkel meet in Freiburg today (10 December) to prepare a joint Franco-German position for next week's EU summit.

Struggling with budgetary pressure at home, Hungary and Bulgaria have nationalised their pre-funded pension schemes and excluded the cost of the reforms from their public debt figures, triggering a row with the European Commission. EurActiv's network reports.

The European Parliament is sticking to its guns by insisting on including in the 2011 EU budget "political commitments" which were recently rejected by the UK and the Netherlands, it emerged after a debate held on the EU assembly's premises in Strasbourg yesterday (23 November).

Guy Verhofstadt, leader of the liberal ALDE group, told EurActiv that the newly established Spinelli Group, which is promoting federalism across Europe, is to hold a public event on 15 December, as an ideological challenge to a key EU summit starting the next day.

EU finance ministers failed to reach a compromise with the European Parliament over the 2011 budget yesterday night (11 November). If they fail to find a mutually acceptable solution by Monday, the 2010 budget will roll over to 2011, raising questions as to how the European Union will finance ambitious new projects such as the European External Action Service.

In a commentary written on 3 November, Tom Spencer, executive director of the European Centre for Public Affairs, discusses Britain's coalition government, recent political developments in the EU and the United States, and the public affairs of climate change.

Europe must respect "difficult times" by adopting a budget that reflects austerity measures being introduced by national governments, European Parliament Vice-President Diana Wallis told EurActiv Slovakia in a wide-ranging interview. 

Three quarters (74%) of Conservative Party members think UK Prime Minister David Cameron missed an opportunity last week to repatriate powers from Brussels to London and slash the EU budget, a poll reveals.  

Wrangling over the European Union's long-term spending plan for 2014-2020 kicked off at a summit on Friday (29 October), months earlier than anticipated, with Britain securing considerable support for a lean budget.

As the European Commission prepares to publish its ideas for the future of EU regional policy after 2013, the political debate on how much money will be available for the bloc's regional funds is already underway. EurActiv France reports.

Tony Long, director of the WWF's European Policy Office, says the draft EU budget for 2014-2020 fails to reflect the bloc's long-term priorities on climate change, biodiversity and resource-efficiency.

Prominent MEPs yesterday (15 September) launched the Spinelli Group, presented as a network aimed at overcoming nationalism and promoting federalism across Europe. They invited citizens to join the circle, making clear it was not a political party.

On his first visit to Brussels, Polish President Bronisław Komorowski stressed his continued backing for European assistance to poorer regions and farmers ahead of EU budget talks later this year.