Glossary of Institutions, policies and enlargement of the European Union
(Starting with "B")
©
European Communities, 1995-2007
http://europa.eu/scadplus/glossary/index_en.htm
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Barcelona
Process
The Barcelona Process, also known
as the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership, constitutes
the policy of the European Union towards the Mediterranean
countries. Its purpose is to strengthen the links
between the Union and the partner countries, whilst
encouraging closer ties among the Mediterranean countries
themselves.
The objective of the Partnership launched
in 1995 following the Barcelona Declaration is to
promote peace and stability in the region by establishing
a political dialogue that respects the partners' shared
values, such as democracy and the rule of law. Further
aims are to promote the prevention and resolution
of conflicts, as well as prosperity, particularly
through the creation of a free-trade area, and to
develop cooperation.
In this context, the Euro-Mediterranean
Partnership brings together the Member States of the
Union and the Mediterranean countries under a large-scale
programme with three strands: a political and security
strand, an economic and financial strand and a social
and cultural strand. Strengthening cooperation in
the fields of justice, migration and social inclusion
is also an important element of the Process.
The Partnership is put into effect
both bilaterally and regionally. The bilateral arrangements
are tailored to the individual partner country, an
important aspect being the Euro-Mediterranean Association
Agreements. The Process is also supported by Community
funding, the MEDA programme and the European Investment
Bank's Facility for Euro-Mediterranean Investment
and Partnership (FEMIP).
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Broad
economic policy guidelines (BEPG)
The broad economic policy guidelines
(BEPG), which take the form of a Council recommendation,
are the central link in coordination of the Member
States' economic policies. They ensure multilateral
surveillance of economic trends in the Member States.
Since 2003, the BEPG have been published for a period
of three consecutive years.
Their legal basis is Article 99 of
the Treaty establishing the European Community. The
Council, acting by a qualified majority on a recommendation
from the Commission, produces a draft for the BEPG
and reports its findings to the European Council,
which adopts a conclusion. On the basis of this conclusion,
the Council, acting by a qualified majority, adopts
a recommendation setting out these broad guidelines.
The European Parliament is informed of this recommendation.
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Budget
All the European Union's revenue and
expenditure is entered in the Community budget on
the basis of annual forecasts.
The budget is governed by several
principles, including:
- unity: all the revenue and expenditure
is brought together in a single document;
- annuality: budget operations relate
to a given budget year;
- equilibrium: expenditure must not
exceed revenue.
The European Commission is responsible
for submitting an annual preliminary draft budget
to the Council, which shares budgetary authority with
the European Parliament. The nature of the expenditure
determines how power is shared between the two institutions,
depending on whether the expenditure is compulsory
(the Council has the last word) or non-compulsory
(the Parliament takes the final decision). Ultimately,
the European Parliament adopts or rejects the budget
as a whole.
In order to stabilise the annual budgets,
they have since 1988 been the subject of multiannual
interinstitutional agreements between Parliament,
the Council and the Commission on budgetary discipline.
These multiannual "financial perspectives" govern
the allocation of expenditure and seek to ensure a
suitable level of funding and support the Union's
priorities.
The European Constitution now being
ratified provides for the financial perspectives to
be institutionalised under the name of the "multiannual
financial framework", to be respected by all the institutions.
This is intended to ensure that expenditure develops
in an orderly fashion within the limits of the Union's
own resources.
The Constitution also does away with
the current distinction under the budgetary procedure
between compulsory expenditure and non-compulsory
expenditure.
See:
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