The meeting, attended by PES Heads of State, Prime Ministers and deputy Prime Ministers, recognized that the European Budget is created to redress social, territorial and economic imbalances throughout Europe. It is a solidarity budget that benefits all Member States and promotes European integration.
Mr. Stanishev added that; “We must use the European Budget in an effective manner to combat rising unemployment, especially those of young people, and to establish a European Youth Guarantee. We must use it to fight against social exclusion. In short, this EU budget must be based as much on solidarity as on efficiency”.
He urged that there should not be; “competition of one policy against another. In other words, the real question is not CAP or Cohesion? Development or Trade? The real question we should ask is how can the MFF provide the tool so that these policies contribute to lifting Europe out of the protracted economic, social, and political crisis”.
The meeting agreed that the PES representatives would fight for:
- an EU Budget that contributes to building a strong social Europe
- a budget that supports growth oriented investment for job creation
- a budget that that can fund a European Youth Guarantee
- a budget that invests in green growth
- an EU budget that includes proper gender budgeting
The meeting also reiterated the PES commitment to identifying and generating new European ‘own resources’. The Financial Transaction Tax was noted as a potential revenue stream. Corporate and green taxation proposals needed to be developed. The EU Budget was also seen as leverage for promoting projects through the capacity of the European Investment Bank.
