The 2011 CFSP budget passed through the European Parliament

If Parliament's plenary, which is meeting this week in Strasbourg, follows its rapporteurs, it should ask the budgetary authority, the European Commission and the Council, to do more for foreign policy, for Palestine in particular, but to limit the 2011 budget for the CFSP and reduce the budget for Afghanistan. The deputies should also set up lines identified for certain missions of the PeSDC, an old requirement of the parliamentarians. The vote takes place on Wednesday 20 October.

Increase the foreign policy fiscal framework

The European Parliament thus intends to underline that: The Union's role as a global actor cannot be adequately financed within the margins foreseen by the multiannual financial framework (MFF) (...) It is essential to carry out a revision of the MFF and to re-examine the ceiling of heading 4 (external) so that it takes account of new needs ". The deputies of the Foreign Affairs Committee believe that " While efforts should be made to identify potential savings, savings should not be made at the expense of the main priorities of the Union's external policy or at the expense of commitments already made, in order not to threaten the stability and prosperity of the countries in both the immediate and wider neighborhood of the Union and not to discredit the global player which is, moreover, the European Union ».

Spending reduced for Afghanistan and frozen for CFSP

And Parliament to propose: “rigorously chosen reductions in appropriations in a small number of budget lines”; in particular for aid for the rehabilitation of Afghanistan and macro-financial assistance. CFSP appropriations are also reduced, at the level of the 2010 budget (281 million euros against 327 million planned by the Commission and the Council).

An effort for Palestine, the European effort not appreciated at its fair value

Conversely, the Parliament wishes " not to arbitrarily reduce appropriations intended for assistance to Palestine, the peace process and UNRWA ". He also claims " its deep conviction that the discrepancy between the overall amount of financial assistance it provides – the Union as a whole being the primary donor – and its limited influence on the peace process is neither justified nor understandable and that this situation should be remedied, in particular in the context of the recently created European External Action Service”.

Lines identified for certain civilian missions of European Defense

The parliamentarians want to “promote a more precise identification of the missions falling under the CFSP and the CSDP”. They therefore decided to create separate budget lines for three missions: EUMM Georgia, EULEX Kosovo and EUPOL Afghanistan. These are the main missions carried out during the 2011 financial year.

Read the draft resolution on the 2011 budget