EU Cohesion+Agriculture at risk by Financial perspectives draft: Lamassoure reminds Barroso promisse

 

As President of EU Parliament Committee on Budgets, Alain Lamassoure's sources confirmed to "EuroFora", the experienced MEP, former Minister for EU affairs, was astonished to find out that crucial strategic choices for EU's Future, resulting from EU's multi-annual Financial Perspectives, were leaked to the Press even before the out-going EU Commission had informed the European Parliament :

Their content was denounced as "provocative", "explosive", and "unacceptable for many", by Lamassoure, mainly because of proposals to drastically cut even more the EU Funds for Agriculture, Regional and Social Cohesion, etc.

The draft concerns EU Funds for the period starting from 2014, that have to be decided between 2009 and 2011 at the latest, and corresponds to a date considered to be as crucial also for controversial Turkey's EU accession bid, which would notoriously affect EU's Cohesion, Agriculture and Regional policies, as well as EU investments in High Tech., at variance with the country's less developed economy.

Agriculture was already reduced in EU's 2006 agreement, and is due to fall from 61% in 1988 to only 32% of EU's Budget until 2013. But the out-going EU Commission's draft reportedly asks for even more drastic cuts from 2014. This risks to inevitably affect agricultural investments made on the basis of 3 or 5 years previsions, contrary to recent developments in World Food Market prices, which have shown that Europe's Food Security and Autonomy is at stake, as Joseph Daul, Head of EU Parliament's largest Group of MEPs (ChristianDemocrats/EPP) has stressed to Strasbourg Journalists, including "EuroFora".

Cohesion funds are another important point, particularly after even Washington-based IMF's Expert for Europe Allessandro Leipold's early warning, in reply to "EuroFora"s questions during the European Central Bank's 10th Anniversary's Summit at nearby Frankfurt (2007), that one of the main issues that Europe must tackle is to overcome growing gaps of development and ensure the overal Cohesion of the European Economy.

- "Change EU's Budgetary, and, thus, Political Priorities, is not a matter of simle everyday business", and "looks inappropriate for an out-going Commission and for a mid-term review of an agreement signed in 2006", Lamassoure denounced.

On the contrary, it's "on the basis of proposals by a (new) EU Commission, having full Legitimity, strong of a 5-Year mandate, and ready to engage its Political Responsibility (vis a vis EU Parliament and Council) on initiatives of such importance", that "EU Parliament's Budgets Committee will be ready for a Debate", he stressed.

 - "Therefore, it's urgent that the EU Commission's President (Barroso) fixes his Timetable on the financial proposals he intends to present", making it clear whether he speaks "on behalf of the out-going Commission (2004-2009), or on behalf of the New Commission" (2009-2014), Lamassoure concluded.

Leaking drafts to test reactions is not unusual in Brussels, at least as long as EU Commission lacks any other way for a srtuctured democratic dialogue. An "official" draft is due to be formally presented by EU Commission to EU Parliament on mid-November.

What is exceptional now, is that the move reveals a risk to jeopardize one of the main concrete promisses made by EU Commission's President Barroso to EU Council and Parliament in order to get re-elected, amidst MEPs' controversies, on September 2009 before Lisbon Treaty enters into force :

- That he will care for EU's need to have a strong Agriculture and food security and autonomy, as he wrote in a Letter in reply to French President Sarkozy and German Chancellor Merkel's joint call for Barroros to present "a Program" before deciding on his candidature (See July 2009's "EuroFora"'s publication).

This pre-electoral promisse was apparently reminded directly to Barroso himself by Lamassoure, when he met him in Strasbourg on the sidelines of an innovative "Questions' Hour" between MEPs and EU Commission's Chair, inaugurated this week by new EU Parliament's President Buzek. (See Photo).

Speculations and controversies are still going on about whether the forthcoming entry into force of Lisbon Treaty might necessitate not only the election of a new EU Commission as a whole, but also a ..re-election by EU Parliament of the New EU Commission's President, in a fresh vote, according to new rules on its composition (number, national repartition of MEPs, etc).          

The move came while the Agricultural world is already upset and nervous, making EU decide also 300 million € to avoid a collapse of Milk producers throughout 27 EU Member States, at the same moment that more than the double : 653 million € are given to Turkey alone only in 2009, to be followed by ..more than 936 million € in 2013, (according to the outgoing EU Commission's draft), while its eventual entry into the EU from 2014 would cost more than 2 Billions, strongly aggravating also gaps between different levels of development to the detriment of EU's cohesion. A sum of money which risks, moreover, to be engulfed by Turkey's galoping Corruption which usurpates more than 3,8 Billion $ each year, (i.e. 55 $ per inhabitant annually), as denounced recently to in Strasbourg's journalists including "EuroFora" the President of CoE's PanEuropean anti-Corruption watchdog, known as GRECO Committee,  Dragos KOS from Slovenia, (See earlier NewsReports).

Huge contradictions, due to aggravate in 2011 when most EU Governments would need to make Economies to invest for the after-Crisis' era, that obviously only a New EU Commission, holding a strong Political mandate emanating from the latest June 2009 EU Elections through an EU Parliament's votes could seriously tackle in a democratically legitimate way.
 
The last EU Summit which had focused on EU's financial perspectives, back in Brussels on June 2005, had been held amidst an exceptional tension, and resulted into postponing part of the hard choices to be made later on, at a "Mid-Term Review", a concession made to former Brittish Prime Minister Blair.

 Experienced former EU Parliament Budget Committee's President, German MEP Samland, had concluded his career by stressing to Strasbourg's journalists, including "EuroFora",  that : - "In the EU, all that counts are Funds. The rest is only Hot Air !"...

Until EU eventually develops a sufficient Political and/or Security/Defence structure, it is, inded, only its Financial choices which reveal and reflect its Political choices.