Negotiations continue. After hours of meetings and meetings, the European heads of state and government gathered in Brussels have not yet managed to reach an agreement on the budget 2014-2020. A compromise hypothesis was put on the table by EU President Herman Van Rompuy: 960 billion euros in expenditure commitments and 908,4 billion for actual payments, to which at least 12 billion would be added off-budget (the EU Commission's proposal was 1.033 billion in expenditure commitments and 987 in payments).
One and a half billion would be allocated to the less developed regions of Italy: a contribution which would form part of the additional special allocations destined for the regions of the Eurozone countries most affected by the crisis. However, the so-called flexibility clause on budget items requested by the European Parliament would be missing.
At the moment the positions are firm on two fronts: the North part (Great Britain and Germany in the lead) wants a more austere budget and the South (France and Italy in the lead) does not want growth to be touched and intends to defend its agricultural funds.
The Italian premier Mario Monti, during the plenary session, he "firmly" called on the leaders "to take their responsibilities to find a valid solution for Europe". Then, during the break, he saw Angela Merkel, François Hollande and Herman Van Rompuy.
If Van Rompuy's proposal were to pass, for the first time in the history of the European Union the multiannual budget would be lower than the previous one (over 34 billion less in seven years). At the moment it remains to be clarified how these cuts will be distributed.
During the night the meeting was interrupted to rethink the subdivision of the cuts between the various expenditure items (agriculture, rural development, cohesion, infrastructure, transport, research, diplomatic service, administration, etc.) and the possible new modulation of the reimbursements of currently enjoyed by Great Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, Austria and Sweden in terms of what they give to the EU and what they receive.
Il European Parliament, who will have veto power for the first time, is unwilling to approve any deal that cuts growth prospects. President Martin Schulz recalled that without an agreement on the new budget there is a risk of a "fiscal cliff", a fiscal abyss that would lead to the economic collapse of the EU.
