Goal and Justification of the expenditure of EU money in The Netherlands

On Wednesday the 10th of February 2010, the MA European Union Studies and the Montesquieu Institute welcomed mr Gijs de Vries, a member of the Algemene Rekenkamer. He gave an impressive lecture on Goal and Justification of the expenditure of EU money in The Netherlands.

The EU budget is relatively limited compared with that of normal states or even with that of the federal government of the United States. Funded by its member states, Brussels can not pursue ‘ordinary’ macro-economic policies like member states do, financial transfers are by and large intended for solidarity purposes. 

Since the creation European Coal and Steel Community to the current European Union, this European project has seen major changes in regard to its financial politics. Rather big landmarks were the adoption of a single budget in 1970, the introduction of new categories of revenue with the Single European Act in 1987 and the European Parliament’s full control on EU budget spending with Lisbon in late 2009. 

The role of the EU, regarding financial matters, in the current financial crisis is rather limited. The EU budget can not be used for, in this case, solving Greek financial problems. Only single EU member states, for instance Germany, could help the troubled Greeks.  

Last but not least, is the question whether the EU is equipped for dealing with the present crisis? Despite critics claiming the nearing dying day of the Euro, the relatively stabile Euro has actually been instrumental in preventing an intra-European financial crisis due to the global financial crisis. The value of the Euro in regard to the Dollar has decreased only a slight fraction since the crisis hit us (from 1.50 to 1.35 dollars). Possible instruments combating the crisis might be the strengthening of EU-wide macro-economic supervision and the monitoring of risks; and the creation of a common EU fund through a tax on Europe-based banks.