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The agreement arrived at by the heads of state and government at the December Council Summit on the financial perspectives for 2007-2013 is good news for the Eu. Despite the obstacles agreement was reached on an issue that seemed unlikely to be resolved only six months previously. It now allows the Eu to forward plan for seven years; a timely reprieve for a Union which is badly in need of longer-term planning. The total figure for expenditure over the 2007-2013 period for the Eu-27 (with Bulgaria and Romania due to accede in 2007) amounts to 862,363 million euros, which represents 1.045% of Eu Gross National Income (Gni). The tough negotiations secured a reduction in the Uk’s rebate as a necessary concession to pay for the 2004 enlargement. In an act of solidarity, inspired by the contemporary European achievement and full of promise for the polity in the coming years, the new German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, gave Poland 100 million euros that had been earmarked for the former Eastern Germany in a move that appeared to save the day. The agreement on the financial perspectives now enters a phase of endorsement by the European Parliament and the new Austrian Presidency has the task of putting in place the mechanisms necessary to release the finances. Of course the manner in which the negotiations were approached is regrettable. National self-interest prevailed over sharing and solidarity between the 25. Negotiations were done on the basis of what each member state would contribute and receive in monetary terms, rather than being based primarily upon what were the needs of the Union as a whole. Financial negotiations carried out in this manner are not conducive to the long-term strategic aims and needs of the EU. Therefore the possibility of a review of the method by which the budget is structured and funded is to be welcomed. Indeed during this reflection we should return to the report by the high-level expert group headed by Andre Sapir in 2003 entitled “An agenda for a growing Europe making the Eu economic system deliver”. The proposed “full, wide-ranging review covering all aspects of Eu spending, including the Cap, and of resources, including the UK rebate” scheduled to be presented by the Commission in 2008/9 gives the Eu the opportunity to elaborate a financing procedure which is adequate to the challenges facing an enlarged Union in the globalised world. Certainly there is cause for reflection on how the financial perspectives are settled, however this agreement does give the Union the means for continuity in the medium-term. Yet all this needs to be subtended by a basic conviction that only through unity can Europe fulfil its collective ambitions, which include its contribution to peace in the world and the development of peoples. As the world’s biggest contributor to development aid (Oda), the Eu seeks to redress imbalances between rich and poor countries. This same spirit of generosity should thus be applied to the internal funding of the Eu in the pursuit of its collective ambitions. If these principles of generosity and solidarity are adhered to, this might just be a moment for a new departure in the European narrative.
