Following the presentation of a new Draft Budget for 2011 by the European Commission today, President Jerzy Buzek said “Parliament will do its utmost to reach an agreement before the end of the year, so that by the beginning of 2011 all the EU projects and policies will be fully operational”. He hopes for the Member States to show the same commitment.

“I welcome the fact that the Commission was able to put forward a new proposal for the 2011 budget in such a limited time frame. This proposal appears to be a step in the right direction. The European Parliament will analyse it in depth”, he said, adding that “if the European Union does not show sufficiently strong leadership, this would give negative signals to our citizens, but also to the markets”.

“Negotiations might be tough, but we need to show willingness to compromise on both sides and reach solutions earlier rather than later. A non–decision is a very costly decision.”

Referring  to the resolution that was adopted by Parliament yesterday with an overwhelming majority of the votes, Mr Buzek said “Parliament is ready for an agreement on the 2011 budget within the limits set by the Council, provided EU governments accept Parliament's request for budget flexibility and an agreement on a future working method for EU funding.  Parliament's only condition was to have a serious agreement on rules and procedures implementing the Lisbon Treaty to avoid future budgetary crises.”

Sidonia Jędrzejewska, the EP's general Rapporteur for the EU 2011 Budget, welcomes the fact that the European Commission presented a new draft budget, even before the 1st of December: “This exercise might speed up the negotiation process between the European Parliament and the Council and result in an adoption of the EU budget 2011 before the end of the year”, she said.  

On Thursday the Parliament adopted a resolution, outlining its position in view of the budget 2011 negotiations. The text can be found via the attached link.