EP President Jerzy Buzek and Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme opened the first meeting of the conciliation committee for the 2011 budget on Wednesday, a step which highlights the importance of the new budgetary procedure introduced by the Lisbon Treaty. At this first meeting, the parties agreed on a calendar for the coming negotiations, which are due to be completed on Thursday 11 November.

"We are ready to show good will for 2011 and accept a moderate budget", said Mr Buzek in his opening remarks, adding "In return, we request from the Council an institutional and political commitment on the future financing of EU policies."  This commitment should be made before the end of the conciliation process.

Mr Buzek, who - like Mr Leterme - was present throughout the meeting, also stressed that Parliament was well aware of the difficult economic situation in the Member States.

Laying down the ground rules

The aim of this first conciliation meeting was to agree on a working method and a calendar for the meetings. Alain Lamassoure, chair of the Budgets Committee, proposed dividing the work into two parts - one to discuss the figures for the 2011 budget and the other to reach a political and legal agreement on the future of the EU budget.

"The EU budget needs more flexibility and we need to find new ways of financing it. In addition, the budget needs to accommodate new competences after 2011, including those stemming from the Lisbon Treaty. We are not going to agree on all this during the conciliation, but we want to agree on a framework and a calendar for our talks", said Mr Lamassoure.

The budgetary procedure under the Lisbon Treaty puts the Council and the European Parliament on an equal footing for the whole EU budget. Previously, under the Nice Treaty, the Council had the final say on "compulsory expenditure", mainly related to agriculture, and Parliament the last word on other areas such as cohesion policy.

The conciliation committee is composed of 27 members each from the Parliament and the Council as well as representatives from the Commission, including Budget Commissioner Janusz Lewandowski.

The committee has 21 days to agree on a joint text. If the conciliation succeeds, Parliament and the Council have 14 days to adopt the agreement formally. If no budget is adopted at the beginning of 2011, a sum equivalent to one twelfth of the 2010 budget may be spent each month until there is an agreement.

The next meetings will be:

4 November: trialogue
8 November: trialogue
11 November: final meeting of the conciliation committee
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For further information
Richard Freedman
+32 498 98 32 39