Formal negotiations on the EU’s €960 billion budget over the next seven years will begin in Brussels today under the chairmanship of Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore.
It follows last week’s crunch talks in the Belgian capital where the Taoiseach and Tánaiste met with the presidents of the European Parliament and Commission, Martin Schulz and Manuel Barroso.
At that meeting, agreement was reached on how to proceed with formal negotiations on the EU budget known as the Multi-annual Financial Framework (MFF).
The Tánaiste, who will be joined by Minister of State for European Affairs Lucinda Creighton, will meet with negotiators from the European Parliament, led by Alain Lamassoure and negotiators from the European Commission, led by Commissioner Janusz Lewandowski.
Speaking ahead of today’s meeting, the Tánaiste said: “We managed to unlock the talks process at our meeting last week after a period during which they had stalled.
“My aim now is to get the European Parliament’s agreement on €960 billion in EU funding for the next seven years before the end of June.”
Mr Gilmore said time was of the essence as agreement needed to be reached before the end of the Irish presidency to ensure that new funds would be in place by the end of this year.
“This funding will be vital to support jobs, growth and competitiveness across Europe,” he said.
The proposed €960 billion EU funding for 2014-2020 includes:
* A total of €91 billion for improving European competitiveness
* €80 billion for research and innovation through the Horizon 2020 Programme
* €325 billion for building cohesion among Europe’s regions through structural funds
* €6 billion specifically for tackling youth unemployment
* €30 billion for improving European transport, energy and digital networks
* €19 billion for the Erasmus programme to support student exchanges
Negotiations on the MFF are continuing in parallel to negotiations on the EU’s Draft Amending Budget (DAB) for 2013.
Talks on the DAB are being handled by Minister for Finance Michael Noonan and his team in the Ecofin council of EU finance ministers.
In February, EU leaders gave the Irish presidency a mandate to secure the European Parliament’s agreement to the EU budget. The European Parliament must give its consent to the budget.
The Irish presidency is also working to get agreement among member states on over 60 EU programmes and funds, from Erasmus, to the Common Agricultural Policy, to EU research and development funding.
