"Today's vote on the guidelines laid the foundations for the beginning of the procedure that will lead to the approval of the 2012 European Budget", said Giovanni La Via, EPP Group shadow Rapporteur on the 2012 EU Budget.

The EPP Group expressed its support from the start for a preliminary Report to be submitted to the Commission, which would contain an indication of the Parliament's priorities for the next budget, as the Council has already done.

"We have contributed in broadening the spectrum of the political priorities, sharing the balanced approach of the Report, through the inclusion of some strong and recognisable priorities in line with the tradition of the EPP Group, such as European development and growth, together with research and innovation. And we have insisted on the concept of responsibility, as the core of the 2012 budget", said Giovanni La Via.

"I believe that focusing on the concept of responsibility is not to say that until now we did not have budgetary responsibility, but we need to underline that today more than ever, because of the crisis, we must behave in a responsible manner. I also would like to emphasise the importance of inter-institutional cooperation, a decisive instrument in view of the start of the budgetary procedure after the Lisbon Treaty, which provides a single reading. With the indication of the guidelines to the Commission, in view of the draft budget, the Parliament has correctly pointed out the policies on which it intends to invest for the future of the Union and its citizens", concluded Giovanni La Via.

(Translation from the original Italian)

For further information:
Giovanni LA VIA MEP, Tel: +32-2-2845217
Francesco Frapiccini, EPP Group Press & Communications Service, Tel: +32-473-941652