Brussels, 11 October 2016 – Spokesman on budgetary affairs of the ECR group, Bernd Koelmel (Allianz für Fortschritt und Aufbruch), criticised the European Parliament’s general lack of willingness for cuts in the 2017 budget during today’s votes of the EU budget committee. According to Koelmel, the European Union should focus on its key responsibilities. Combating unemployment for example lies within the competence of the Member States. Koelmel warns of mismanagement and a way towards planned economy. The committee requested a total of six billion Euro more than the European Council.

“According to the will of the majority groups the EU should receive more money from the member states for the struggle against unemployment, for coping with the problems of dairy farmers, for infrastructure projects and so on. In other words: everybody is asking for more money except for the ECR group. We wonder where the promising concepts are”, says Koelmel. “Most of the approaches are already a planned economy!“

Above all, Koelmel thinks the EU is required in the migration crisis. “We cannot solve problems of the third millennium with political foci of the 1960s. One needs to acknowledge that at the time being Europe is not threatened by a famine, but a migration catastrophe.” Koelmel pointed out, that the new budget line for the support of victims of terror attacks, concluded upon request of the ECR group, was a first step in the right direction. Five million Euro shall be provided for this purpose from 2017 on.   

 ENDS  

Press Contact:

Michael Strauss

Press Officer German Delegation

+32 470 88 23 48

michael.strauss@europarl.europa.eu