mr president it is a great pleasure for me to have an opportunity to speak to you this morning
i know that the first stages of this budgetary procedure in particular the july conciliation took place in a very positive atmosphere and i hope we can build on this cooperation in the coming weeks
we still have some way to go in the twenty ten budget procedures and there are other important issues to agree on such as the second phase of the european economic recovery plan so it is crucial that all three institutions work closely together
turning to the actual situation following the council's first reading and the establishment of the draft budget for twenty ten the commission acknowledges that the cuts proposed by the council are less severe than in previous years
however there are some particular concerns which i would like to highlight
the commission regrets the council's cut of eur one point eight billion in payment appropriations
these cuts are proportionately more significant for headings one a and four and sent a negative message in the priority areas of growth in jobs and the eu's international role not least in relation to pre-accession assistance
the cuts proposed to the administrative support expenditure allowance the administrative allowance for research and the agencies are particularly harsh
rather than taking into account the specific situation of each agency the cuts with few exceptions have been general regardless of the stage of development or tasks of the agency concerned
the cuts in administrative support expenditure will hamper the implementation of programmes particularly in the field of research and for external actions
i am hopeful that in preparing its first reading parliament will seek to redress this situation
although the cuts in headings one b and two are regrettable i am partly reassured by the council's proposed declaration on payments and by the second opportunity to examine the needs for agriculture in the upcoming letter of amendment which the commission will present at the end of october
as announced the commission has now presented the budgetary authority with an amending letter to update the needs for heading four
the key elements of this concern an additional eur ninety-five million in commitment and eur sixty million in payment appropriations to support the palestinian authority and reconstruction efforts in gaza and the need to consider the establishment of bananas accompanying measures in view of the possible trade agreement that will affect the preferential regime of acp banana-supplying countries
there is also an additional eur fifty million in commitment appropriations and eur twenty million in payment appropriations to assist developing countries in combating climate change which should help to promote a successful outcome to the december copenhagen climate change conference
under heading five administration the commission was particularly modest in its pdb requests with a proposed increase in the commission's administrative expenditure of only zero point nine compared to two thousand and nine
while this point has been acknowledged by the presidency it is rather disappointing that the council has introduced further cuts to the commission's administrative budget
in conclusion i am hopeful that the european parliament will restore the appropriations cut by the council and i am confident that our ongoing negotiations between the three institutions will be constructive and that we will achieve a satisfactory outcome to this budget procedure
