mr president i shall try to be briefer than the previous speaker
my group proposes to adopt the budget as agreed by the council
it offers a small increase and that is a reasonable compromise
keep in mind that eu member states and citizens have to cut their budgets
unfortunately the debate on the budget had a false start
the parliament demanded an increase of six which was ludicrous and showed that this congregation was out of touch
here the debate was even inflamed by hotheads who wanted to kidnap the budget to force access to own resources in other words eu taxation
we have always opposed that
lisbon is clear on it
the parliament has a right to advise not a right to codecide
the parliament lost this battle as we predicted
now it is moving to the position which the european conservatives defended all along a budget of one of gdp
the hotheads here must cool down particularly the greens
just imagine that the eu had no budget next year while the euro was in a tailspin
is that the image you want to offer the financial markets
they would not be at all happy
i would like to congratulate the governments of the united kingdom and the netherlands for their principled position
i thank the belgian government for their role as honest broker and i thank the commission for its knowledgeable and cool-headed work
