European Union draft budget 2009 adopted unanimously at the ECOFIN Council - Budget.
D. Grybauskaité, E. Woerth
© Le Conseil de l'Union européenne
- On: 17.07.2008
- In: Brussels
Eric Woerth, the French Minister for the Budget, Public Accounts, and the Civil Service, chaired the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (Budget) which unanimously adopted at first reading the European Union draft general budget 2009, following the traditional consultation meeting with a European Parliament delegation led by the Chairperson of the Committee on Budgets.
This budget proposal is the result of amendments made by the Council to the preliminary draft budget of the Commission, and will be examined and amended at first reading by the European Parliament in autumn 2008. The second reading by the Council will take place in November 2008, and by the Parliament in December. Once voted, the budget will enter into effect on 1 January 2009.
The smooth adoption of the draft budget shows the determination of the Council to foster good management of Community public funds, and to respond to the concerns of European citizens, whether they relate to support for growth and competitiveness, to policies favouring Member States that joined the European Union in 2004 and 2007, or to solidarity between the European Union and third countries.
This draft budget allows for €133.9 billion in commitment appropriations (i.e. €469 billion less than in the Commission's preliminary draft), and €114.9 billion in payment appropriations (a reduction of €1.77 billion over the Commission's preliminary draft). The main items in this draft budget concern the conservation and management of natural resources (€57.1 billion), cohesion (€48.4 billion), competitiveness (€11.1 billion) and EU external action (€7.3 billion).
On the occasion of the approval of this draft budget, the Council and the European Parliament agreed upon joint declarations which, in particular, will enable the improved management of Community funds earmarked for cohesion and rural development policies and for the European Union Solidarity Fund.
- Updated: 17.12.2008
