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Foreign Minister Westerwelle on the EU budget: key to more growth lies in greater competitiveness
Against the background of the current debate on the size of the EU budget for 2013, Foreign Minister Westerwelle issued the following statement today (25 July):
“It is a mistake to believe that growth in Europe can be financed by new debts. If cuts have to be made in all member states in order to restore confidence in the face of the debt crisis, then there cannot be a disproportionate rise in the EU budget. The key to more growth in Europe lies in greater competitiveness. First and foremost, we have to work on that. ”Better spending“, not ”more spending“ is the German Government’s negotiating line.”
In Brussels yesterday (24 July), the EU member states adopted their position on the 2013 EU budget. The increase compared to the 2012 budget was reduced from the 6.8% rise originally proposed by the EU Commission to 2.79%.