Verbatim report of proceedings

Wednesday, 15 December 2010 - Strasbourg

7.3. Parliament's position on the new 2011 Draft Budget as modified by the Council (A7-0369/2010, Sidonia Elżbieta Jędrzejewska and Helga Trüpel) (vote)

– Before the vote:

  Sidonia Elżbieta Jędrzejewska (PPE). – (PL) Mr President, I think the Members should be given a word of explanation. We are voting on the draft presented to us by the Council, with no changes, because this draft is exactly the same as the position which the Committee on Budgets adopted last week. It is in accord with what we negotiated during the very long negotiations, which lasted for 10 months.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank in particular the specialist rapporteurs from the European Parliament committees. Thank you for your unceasing confidence and support. Thank you for making it possible for us to adopt the 2011 budget, today, so that it can be put into effect efficiently at the very beginning of January next year.

– After the vote:

  Olivier Chastel, President-in-Office of the Council. − (FR) Mr President, honourable Members, Parliament has therefore approved the Council’s position on the 2011 draft budget without amendments. Clearly I cannot but be pleased, on behalf of the Council, with our common agreement on the 2011 budget.

(Applause)

  President. – Please listen to this statement. It is important. For the first time in history, we have applied the procedure set down in the Treaty of Lisbon. Last year, we followed a simplified procedure. This was the first time the full procedure of the Treaty of Lisbon has been followed. Therefore, I would like to make the following statement. The European Parliament has adopted the Council’s position of 10 December 2010 on the draft general budget which was presented by the Commission on 26 November 2010. The budgetary procedure has been completed in accordance with Article 314 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. In accordance with this article and point 4(a) thereof, I declare that the budget for the year 2011 has been definitively adopted, and I will now sign the document officially.

Dear Colleagues, I shall say a few words at the end. I would like to thank and congratulate all the colleagues on the European Parliament’s Conciliation Committee, 27 people, for their hard work and for achieving a positive result in the end.

I would like to ask three key players to come here for a photo opportunity: Alain Lamassoure, Chair of the Committee on Budgets, and the two rapporteurs, Sidonia Jędrzejewska and Helga Trüpel.

(Applause)

Let me also express my gratitude to the Presidency of the Council, the Belgian Presidency, for its excellent cooperation and activity, especially to Prime Minister Yves Leterme and State Secretary Melchior Wathelet, who are not here at present. You were very active on behalf of the Belgian Presidency.

Let me also thank Commission President Barroso, who is not present, and Commissioner Lewandowski, for preparing the budget and for facilitating today’s agreement. Please come forward for this short photo opportunity.

(Applause)