mr president in relation to the two budgetary votes may i point out that a lot of people are asking what contribution can the european budget make in terms of a fiscal stimulus in times of economic crisis
the answer is very little
the whole of the european union's budget amounts to less than one of gdp and it has been a declining proportion of gdp in recent years
it is in macroeconomic terms a very small budget and this is something that many of the eurosceptics would do well to remember
on the other hand in certain areas it can be of huge structural significance and gradually improve the structure of europe's economy
on research and development on some aspects of regional fund spending and social spending we can help prepare our economy for the recovery
i am glad that those aspects of the budget are gradually representing a greater proportion of the budget and agriculture and some others are declining
however i think that trend needs to be accelerated and we need to continue much more rapidly in that direction of shifting resources to where they can make a real difference
