Parliament committee proposes bigger budget for EFA
A spokesman for the European Parliament's environment committee has said that the timetable for the proposed European Food Authority (EFA) could suffer a setback if differences between the committee and the Council over the 2002 budget for the authority remain unresolved. The spokesman said that although the Council has proposed a budget of 280 million euro for the authority for 2002, the environment committee says that this would not be enough to finance such an ambitious project. They are calling for an extra 100 million euro - a total of 380 million euro - for the 2002 budget. The spokesman said that a large majority in the environment committee was for the larger budget, with all political groups in favour. He therefore expects that Parliament will adopt the environment committee's recommendation at its plenary session in Strasbourg on 11 December. 'Then it will be up to the Council,' he said. The spokesman explained that if unresolved, a budgetary dispute between the Parliament and the Council could jeopardise the timetable for the creation of the new authority, due to be set in motion early next year. A clash between the two institutions' budgetary authorities could result in the use of the conciliation procedure to reach an agreement. He added, however, that he is optimistic the new authority will go ahead as, and when, planned. Two of the main issues discussed during a debate on 21 November on the draft recommendation on the Council common position on the regulation on food safety, food law and the creation of the European Food Authority were the name for the new authority and the budget which should be assigned to it, according to the spokesman. The draft recommendation was adopted by 40 votes to one. There was unanimous support for an amendment adding the word 'safety' to the name of the new body, which would therefore be called the European food safety authority. It was also decided that the new authority should be funded by the Community. The draft recommendation is scheduled for debate on Tuesday 11 December at the European Parliament's plenary session in Strasbourg.