91997E3675

WRITTEN QUESTION P-3675/97 by Johannes Swoboda (PSE) to the Commission (10 November 1997)

Subject: Agenda 2000 - financial implications for Austria's net payments to the EU

Austria is at present in relative terms one of the largest net payers into the EU, its net contribution being about 0.5-0.6% of GDP in the years between now and 1999, corresponding to about ÖS 13 billion.

However, according to the calculations of the Austrian Ministry of Financial Affairs, the Commission's Agenda 2000 proposals would add to Austria's burden, bringing the net contribution up to some ÖS 27.4 billion in the year 2006.

Is the Commission aware of these calculations, and has it come to the same result?

Answer given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission (10 December 1997)

Agenda 2000 ((COM(97) 2000 final. )) has made it clear that enlargement will entail substantial extra costs for the present fifteen Member States, reducing the positive balances of net beneficiaries and increasing the negative balances of the others. This deterioration is predictable given the economic character of the prospective Member States. Austria will be no exception to this development.

A key aspect of Agenda 2000 is the reform of expenditure policies. However, it is impossible to say how expenditure will in fact evolve over the next financial perspective since much will depend on whether the policies proposed are adopted and in what form; this is not as yet known.

It should to be noted that, as the Commission has shown in its paper Budget contributions, EU expenditure, budgetary balances and relative prosperity of the Member States ((SEC(97) 1918. )) budget contributions have become more equitable and will continue to become more so.

The Commission is not familiar with the Ministry of finance projections cited by the Honourable Member. Nevertheless, it is essential to understand that there is no unique measure of the net budgetary position of the Member States. To calculate such estimates it is necessary to make assumptions about, for example, the definition of expenditure, the beneficiaries of expenditure, and the accounting treatment of spending. These assumptions play a crucial role in the measurement of budgetary positions, and explain why estimates for the same Member State can differ, often substantially. The Commission, taking account of this, does not produce data for budgetary positions nor does it endorse any particular methodology for estimating them.