Court verdict highlights need for European Budget Reform

Following the European Court of Auditors’ rejection of the EU’s accounts, a spokesman for Business for New Europe said:

“The rejection of the EU’s accounts is again disappointing news. But amidst the obvious temptation to admonish the EU, we should bear in mind that most of the Budget is administered by Member States. Furthermore the EU’s total budget is, contrary to popular myths, only 1.14% of total GNI.

As well as producing an approved set of accounts in the future, the EU must continue to reform its budget.

Progress on this has taken place with CAP as a proportion of budget decreasing from approximately 70% in the mid-1970s to approximately 40% today.

Starting next year, the EU has a golden opportunity to reform its budget and the CAP. We would like to see a reallocation of expenditure from areas such as agriculture and cohesion funds to areas such as R&D, innovation and skills. Europe’s future lies in its knowledge-based economy and a twenty first century European budget must reflect that.”

ENDS

1. BNE’s aim is to support the UK’s active engagement in Europe, and a reformed, enlarged and free-market EU.

2. BNE’s principles are as follows:

• We support the UK’s membership of the EU and oppose withdrawal to the margins; we support positive and constructive engagement with the EU as the only sensible approach and as vital to our national interests.
• We support a vision of a prosperous free-market Europe able to compete in a globalised world.
• We support economic liberalisation and oppose excessive EU regulation, centralisation and red tape.
• We support institutional reform, further cooperation between EU member states where it is in Britain's interests and oppose old-fashioned federalism.  
• We support the enlargement of the EU including Turkey, and recognise the benefits that the recent wave of enlargement have brought.  

3. The above statement is issued from the BNE Executive.

4. For further information about Business for New Europe, see www.bnegroup.org or contact +44 (0) 207 256 6575, +44 (0) 7787 513 864 press@bnegroup.org