For the first time, spending on growth and employment policies will represent the highest share of the budget, ahead of agriculture and natural resources. This is the key message sent by the Commission in its budget proposals for 2008, adopted today.
The Commission adopted the Preliminary Draft Budget (PDB) for 2008 – the first step in the budgetary procedure before the budget is finally approved by the European Parliament and the Council.
At EUR 129.2 billion in commitment appropriations, the budget increases by 2% compared to 2007. Payment appropriations are set at EUR 121.6 billion, a 5.3% increase.
Commitment appropriations in the PDB are at the level of 1.03% of EU Gross National Income (GNI), and payment appropriations at 0.97% of GNI. Spending on growth and employment policies increases by +4.2% compared to 2007, to reach 44.2% of the budget, against 43.6% for the protection and management of natural resources, including the Common Agricultural policy.
Today's budget proposal marks a historical shift for the EU: for the first time, spending directly related to growth and jobs take the biggest share of the EU budget. This proves that the Commission is steady in its ambition of refocusing the budget on the global challenges facing Europe as a whole. More funds are now available for policies geared towards economic progress, without sacrificing the efforts needed in other areas, notably the environment, energy, freedom and security, and Europe's common foreign and security policy.
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