In the course of negotiations on the multi-annual financial framework 2007-2013, the Member States and the European institutions agreed to carry out another, more detailed review of functioning of the EU budget. According to this agreement, the European Commission was called to prepare a comprehensive and extensive review of all areas of EU budget expenditures and revenues.

The Commission started preparations for the review in September 2007, when it launched broad consultations on EU finances with the interested parties at local, regional and national levels. It lunched a public consultation document titled “Reforming the Budget, Changing Europe” and invited all parties to submit their contributions. Almost 300 contributions were received within a year.

The key messages and trends conveyed were presented by the European Commission at the conference on 12 November 2008. The Commission announced that all contributions, as well as discussions would be considered when preparing the review, but did not set the deadline when it intended to submit the review for discussion in EU institutions. As the review has been included in European Commission Work Programme for 2009, it can be expected to be released by the end of next year.

Links:

Communication from the Commission “Reforming the Budget, Changing Europe”

The Commission’s web-page on reviewing the multi-annual financial framework

Conference "Reforming the Budget, Changing Europe", 12 November 2008

EU Budget Reform Task Force

In the light of preparations for discussions on EU budget reform and later negotiations on this topic, Janez Lenarčič, State Secretary for European Affairs, established the EU Budget Reform Task Force in November 2006. The task force led by Prof Dr Mojmir Mrak consisted of individuals from both the government and the academic sphere involved in various aspects of EU financing, all acting rather on their own behalf than of their institutions. Its mandate of the task force was first to prepare an analytical basis for budget reform and second to define possible reform scenarios on both the expenditure and revenue sides of the EU budget. The open structure of the task force and an open mandate calling for an analysis of dilemmas and preparation of possible financial scenarios was a leading light for the activities that resulted in the report titled “EU Budget Review: An Opportunity for a thorough reform or minor adjustments”.

Link:

Report “EU Budget Review: An Opportunity for a thorough reform or minor adjustments" (available only in Slovene language)

Report “EU Budget Review: An Opportunity for a thorough reform or minor adjustments" (executive summary in English)


Contribution from group member:

Janez Šušteršič (2007) »Kaj nam ekonomska teorija pove o primernih izdatkih proračuna EU?« (contribution in Slovene language)

Emil Erjavec (2007) »Prihodnost Skupne kmetijske politike v luči evropskih financ – poskus politično-ekonomske analize« (contribution in Slovene language)

Peter Wostner (2007) »Reforma kohezijske politke« (contribution in Slovene language)

Uroš Vajgl (2007) »Sistem virov lastnih sredstev« (contribution in Slovene language)

Peter Wostner (2007) »On the character of the EU and it's budget: look into the future«



Contact:

Uroš Vajgl
t: + 386 1 478 2571
f: + 386 1 478 2486
e: uros.vajgl@gov.si


Archive (Next Financial Prespective 2007-2013)


(last change: 18 November 2008)