Amending and supplementary budget 2/2002

The committee adopted the report presented by Guido PODESTÀ (EPP-ED, I) on Draft Amending Budget 2/2002 for the financial year 2002. The report reinstated the budgetary amendments adopted by Parliament at first reading, which the Council had rejected. It thereby upheld the committee's policy of increasing the payment appropriations available to the EU budget for 2002 by EUR 4.5 billion. The commitee pointed out that the budget thus adopted fully complied with the ceilings laid down by the interinstitutional agreement. The net effect of the amendments voted in the committee would be that the balance of EUR 5.5 billion would still be returned to Member States, whereas the 4.5 billion voted would instead be used to accelerate the completion of projects committed by the EU, but which had not yet been paid. Given that the Commission had indicated that a serious shortfall of payment appropriations might be expected for the EU budget in 2003, the committee took the view that payments in 2002 should be accelerated in order to take pressure off in the years to come. �