Own resources for the EU budget: EPP Group calls for a simple system to finance EU budget

The Presidents of two of the European Institutions - Martin Schulz for the European Parliament, José Manuel Barroso for the European Commission, and Antonis Samaras, President of the Greek Presidency of the Council - today launched a high level group on own resources under the Chairmanship of former European Commissioner Mario Monti.  The high level group will work on ways to reform the financing system of the European budget in order to present first proposals at the end of the year.

Alain Lamassoure MEP, Chairman of the Budgets Committee of the European Parliament, said: "I am more than happy with this initiative: in a personal capacity, of course, having been one of those, alongside Jean-Luc Dehaene and Anne Jensen, who have been asking for a thorough reform of the EU budget financing system in favour of a simple, transparent and fair system for the European citizen; in the name of my group, the EPP Group, which has been supporting this dossier for years; and in the name of the European Parliament, which has fought for and obtained the creation of this high level group in the framework of the MFF negotiations.

"The high level group chaired by Mr Monti can now start its work. What is at stake is crucial: to come back to a financing system of the European budget through resources feeding the common budget without having to dig in to national coffers in a transparent, fair and sustainable manner, while reducing the burden on the taxpayer", concluded Lamassoure.