Nick Smith
Main Page: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney)Department Debates - View all Nick Smith's debates with the Cabinet Office
(11 years, 6 months ago)
Commons ChamberMy hon. Friend is entirely right. There is a danger that the European External Action Service, which was, of course, part of the Lisbon treaty that he and I opposed, will start duplicating what is done by individual countries. We need to work very hard to make sure that it is adding value rather than just displacing it.
Given the significant difference between the payment ceilings and the commitment ceilings, what does the Prime Minister think is the likelihood of the EU having to increase the annual budgets beyond the level set out in the multiannual financial framework on a year-by-year basis?
The hon. Gentleman asks an extremely important question. Over the last MFF, there was something like a 7% gap, on average, between commitments and payments, so I would argue that a 5% gap is perfectly safe. I think that what we will see is lots of efforts by the institutions of the European Union, now that they are on a tighter budget, to try to spend their money more effectively and to try to use the headroom available. That is perfectly understandable and it might lead to better financial planning, but we can be confident that the ceilings are fixed and that, as a result, the spending will be less.