Following the collapse of talks on the draft 2013 EU budget (this was prior to last week's talks on the long-term EU budget), the European Commission was sent back to the drawing board and asked to come up with a new proposal. The new draft has been published today and...there is a rather strong sense of déjà vu - it is essentially the same proposal EU member states and MEPs could not agree on two weeks ago.
This is the table comparing the two drafts (click to enlarge):
PA = Payment Appropriations (the maximum amount of money which is actually going to be disbursed)
So, basically, the total reduction in payments proposed by the European Commission is less than €127 million. The justification is the usual one: EU member states have committed to a series of projects which are now about to be finalised - and there are outstanding bills to be paid. But, if you are a government under an EU-mandated austerity programme - or a a household - you are forced to prioritise and find savings when there is not enough money in the pot.
