Das derzeitige System der EU-Einkünfte sei undurchsichtig, kompliziert und ungerecht, und müsse daher geändert werden. Dies schreibt der ehemalige österreichische Bundeskanzler und Klubobmann der Österreichischen Volkspartei (ÖVP), Wolfgang Schüssel, in einem Beitrag für die Bertelsmann Stiftung.
The current EU financial system has reached its limits and reform cannot be deferred until 2013, when the next financial perspectives will be drawn up, Schüssel says. The forthcoming budget review, scheduled for 2008-09, therefore should be used for a significant reform of the present system, the leader of Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) in parliament adds.
Schüssel criticises the fact that 90 percent of EU budget revenue derives from national budgets and therefore urges European leaders to consider an EU tax. This tax would raise the level of the EU’s own resources and thus could provide the Union with greater financial flexibility for fulfilling its global commitments, Schüssel says.
Another criticism is that 50 percent of the EU’s budget used to come from customs duties, whereas, for instance, short-term financial speculation as well as air and ship transport are entirely exempt from taxation. The former Chancellor appeals to the Commission to include these things in its review, as well as the rebates which the EU currently grants the UK and other ’net contributors‘, such as the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden and Austria.
The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is another sector where revision is needed, Schüssel states. In this context, he praises the Commission’s CAP ‚health check‘ as an important step in making the EU fit for the future.
The ÖVP leader concludes by saying that an even greater effort than in the past is needed to turn the EU into a genuine global player: „If we carry on like this, the present financial perspectives could be our last“.
In the wake of the current discussions, however, Schüssel considers it unlikely that the Commission will submit a proposal for the new 2014 budget framework before the autumn of 2009, by which time its composition will have changed.