Awwal 02, 1432 H/April 06, 2011, SPA -- The European Parliament voted Wednesday to seek a 1.7-billion-euro (2.4-billion-dollar) budget for 2012, with some politicians heralding the fact that it is set to increase less than inflation, while others called the 2.3-per-cent hike "unacceptable.", according to dpa. Parliamentary leaders had initially proposed a 5.2-per-cent increase, which was whittled down by the body's budget committee. "We said in the guidelines that the increase should be around inflation, now we are far below inflation," said Jose Manuel Fernandes, who led the parliament's work on the budget. Inflation in the 27-member bloc is currently at 2.8 per cent. Among the requests cut was funding for political parties and foundations, information campaigns, IT, maintenance of building and the number of posts to the tune of 13.7 million euros, the parliament noted in a press release. However, proposals to restrict lawmakers and parliamentary staff members to economy class on flights of less than four hours and reign in spending on their daily allowances and general expenditures were not adopted. The cross-party coalition of politicians who proposed those amendments said that the business travel restriction - which featured age and health exceptions - could have saved 15 to 20 million euros a year, according to an e-mail seen by the German Press Agency dpa. "In the current context, most of European citizens are dealing with the reduction or the freezing of their salaries or pensions," the e-mail read. "It would be difficult to understand that, while austerity measures are being imposed to the citizens, we are deciding not to implement, at least, contention on our own benefits." The centre-right Conservatives and Reformists group also blasted plans to allocate 55 million euros of parliamentary funding for the establishment of a museum on European history, which it said will also cost 13.45 million euros a year to run. Its budgets spokesman, Hungarian lawmaker Lajos Bokros, called for the parliament to spend only 1 per cent more in 2012 than it will this year - at least as a public relations offensive. "(The 2.3-per-cent increase) is still too high and completely unacceptable," Bokros said. "To show an increase well below inflation would earn some badly needed legitimacy to the parliament in the eyes of European citizens." Fernandes, however, argued that more savings can be made during the budget year, for instead by hiring fewer external experts and limiting travel or the use of paper. "We want all the expenses to be justified and we want the variable expenses to be subject to a cost-benefit analysis," he said. The proposed budget was approved in parliament by a 479-176 vote, with 23 lawmakers abstaining. It will now be sent to the European Commission, which is due to present its draft 2012 budget on April 20. It will then have to negotiate with parliament and member states to reach a final budget.
