Rethinking EU finances in times of crisis

On 7 and 8 July 2011, Notre Europe and the Compagnia Di San Paolo organised a seminar in Turin on the issue of the post-2013 European budget. Many European figures contributed to this working session, including Mercedes Bresso, President of the UEF (Union of European Federalists) and President of the Committee of the Regions of the European Union. Gianni Pittella, Member of the European Parliament, and Vasco Cal, advisor to the European Commission responsible for the finance programme.

I am particularly pleased to conclude this European seminar, which is probably the first to be organised on such a scale since the Commission published its proposal for a new ‘multiannual financial framework’ for the EU a week ago. I found all the presentations and discussions very interesting and useful for defining our analysis and positions in the context of what will be a crucial negotiation, which is likely to last until the end of 2012. I would first like to thank each and every one of you, and in particular our partners at the Centro Studi sul Federalismo, the Istituto Affari Internazionali, the European Policy Centre and, last but not least, the Compagnia di San Paolo, for their valuable moral, intellectual and material support. I would also like to thank the speakers at our working dinner for their valuable contributions, namely Mercedes Bresso, President of the Committee of the Regions, Gianni Pitella, First Vice-President of the European Parliament, and Vasco Cal, Head of the EU Budget at the European Commission’s Bureau of European Policy Advisers (BEPA). The aim of this closing speech is not, and cannot be, to provide an exhaustive summary of what has been said during our seminar and dinner. Rather, it is to offer a few ‘final remarks’ directly echoing our discussions, in order to highlight the main challenges we have identified. I will do so in a personal capacity and will focus on five key points.