EU budget to be approved this month

The EU is set to have its budget for the next seven years approved by the end of this month.

This follows a deal reached between the European Parliament and the Council on Wednesday.

The deal followed intense pressure by MEPs to increase the budget allocation originally agreed to during last December's European Council in Brussels. The increase amounts to €4 billion.

Maltese government sources yesterday welcomed the deal, as this will enable the government to step up its technical preparations to be in a position to start using Malta's allocation as from the beginning of next year.

Malta has secured €805 million for the period 2007-2013.

Asked whether the increase in the general EU budget will in any way affect Malta's allocation both in receipts and in contributions, the sources said the government is not in a position to give exact details as it is still analysing the fine text of the deal.

Following last December's agreement, the European Parliament had threatened to block the deal unless member states agreed to spend more and to make reforms to budgetary procedure.

According to yesterday's agreement, the total EU expenditure will be set at €866.3 billion. The extra cash will be directed to youth and education programmes such as Erasmus while foreign policy spending will also see a boost.

Parliament's negotiator on the budget, MEP Reimer Boge (European People's Party), stressed that the new package was far from perfect but argued that the budget represented hard earned improvements and the best deal available.

The final vote will be taken during a mini plenary session of the European Parliament in Brussels on April 27.