mr president in december two thousand and five there was a prime minister who sat here in the house
i think one thing we all learned is that we really need to see a seriously reformed budget for the future
let us all together the commission the council member states and the european parliament work out how in the next few years we can build a consensus for a changed and reformed europe in which the budget is a rational part of the future and not an unfortunate piece of horse-trading
well that prime minister was tony blair the man who made the last deal on the financial perspectives
here we are now five years later
what mr blair said is the essential thing that parliament wants to achieve the engagement of the eu institutions and all involved parties to reinvent the financing of the union and to base this financing on rational grounds and not on a horse-trading competition which is the case today
on the figures let us be very clear
it is no secret that parliament could be ready to accept the council figures of course within a broader deal
but we need also to agree on a second element colleagues which is flexibility
let us be very clear on this
that flexibility is not a concession from the council side flexibility is necessary indispensable otherwise we cannot finance a number of important issues
what is more is that flexibility is an acquis
it forms part of the interinstitutional agreement that we have already
in fact the council has broken its word by refusing this now in this budget
finally and this is the most important thing we must agree on the future financing of the union
therefore the issue of own resources must be reopened no doubt about it
let me be clear that own resources is not a question of changing the treaties
own resources is also not a question of new competences
it is a question of applying the existing treaties and it is a question of financing existing competences because the union was always meant to have its own revenue
mrs merkel mr sarkozy and mr cameron do not know this but the union was founded with its own revenue
that was the basis of the financing of the union by the founding fathers
however we all know that with time and a contribution from a certain iron lady the union lost the link to its own resources so instead we now have absurd discussions about who benefits more and who benefits less from the union
not seeking the eu interest but only focusing on the net payment position of every single member state is what the budget is today in the european union
that is called business for the moment in the budget issues of the union
this way of acting is killing the union it is destroying the spirit of unity in the union and it is destroying the solidarity in the union
i repeat we can only require genuine own resources which can also lead to what a number of countries want which is to have less national contributions
if we do not change the system governments and not citizens will stay in charge
if on the contrary we go in the direction of own resources not governments but citizens will be in charge
in short you could say that own resources for europe colleagues means more european democracy it is the basis for a modern european democracy
so i have one request to you mr barroso
my request is very simple
whatever the format is a convention a conference an igc with or without national parliaments do not listen to the voices of the past
go for the future use your right of initiative and put a formal proposal on the table as fast as possible
the pro-european majority in this house is fully behind you and behind that initiative
