La bataille du budget : pourquoi la bagarre épique sur les dépenses de l’UE est une opportunité gâchée

The battle of the budget : Why the epic fight over EU spending is a wasted opportunity

[The Economist]

HOTEL rooms have been booked for the extra-long weekend. Spreadsheets are being readied. Bogus arguments and blackmail strategies are being honed. As European leaders prepare for their seven-yearly epic battle over the EU’s budget, they will now be on their worst behaviour. Herman Van Rompuy, the president of the European Council, who will chair a special budget summit on November 22nd and 23rd, has told leaders to be prepared to stay in Brussels for several nights. Veterans of past budgets say reaching agreement at the first attempt would be remarkable. This time the economic crisis in the euro zone raises the stakes. A stalemate would only feed the uncertainty that already surrounds the European project. The bitterness that the EU budget generates is disproportionate to its importance. It accounts for just 1% of the union’s GDP, or about 2% of government spending; the disputed amount is a fraction of this. Still, over the seven years of the “multi-annual financial framework”, the pot of money at stake is about €1 trillion ($1.3 trillion).
For poorer countries in central and eastern Europe, net transfers from the EU are a big boost, for some approaching 5% of national GDP. For southern countries deep in recession, such as Greece and Spain, they are a lifeline.

Lire : economist.com