I am aware that you have recently been appointed to a number of posts – could you elaborate on what these consist of?

The European Parliament recently voted in favour of the creation of a new special, temporary Committee on EU Budget Reform. This will bring together MEPs from various fields in order to discuss and decide on issues of relevance to the EU Budget following the economic crisis.

I have been appointed as a member on this special committee that will, as of July 2010, commence a thorough analysis of Parliament’s budget priorities and bring forward proposals on how the EU budget should be financed in the future. The Committee will be composed of 50 MEPs and its main task will be to prepare work on the EU’s financial perspective – this being a periodic long-term budgetary framework for the EU.

More specifically the Committee will be responsible for defining Parliament’s priorities for the EU’s next financial perspective, in both political and budgetary terms as well as formulating estimates concerning the amount of money the EU will require in order to meet its objectives. The Committee will also be responsible for defining the duration of the next financial perspective.

Within the EP there currently exists a special Committee on the Financial, Economic and Social Crisis – the term of which is now coming to a close. Another fundamental role of the new Committee will be that of following up on the results of this crisis committee.

I was also recently appointed rapporteur of the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee on a report that intends to amend the VAT Directive with regards to the duration of the obligation to respect a minimum standard rate of VAT.

The minimum standard rate that is set by the VAT Directive is due to expire at the end of the year. The current minimum standard rate is set at 15 per cent in member states. The Commission proposal as it is currently drafted aims to extend the applicable period of the minimum standard rate by another five years, leaving it at 15 per cent.

It is imperative that during these times of economic turmoil the business sector has an amount of certainty of what the future will hold. For this reason it is essential that the Commission proposal is analysed and that a European Parliament position is formulated as soon as possible.

We have seen numerous positive developments with regards to the common VAT system, having been based on the VAT strategy that was last updated in 2003. Nevertheless shortcomings as well as a number of administrative burdens are still in existence. I look forward to the publication of the consultative green paper that the Commission has promised to issue in the near future. It is only through such an exercise that we will be able to establish a long-term strategy in respect of standardised VAT rates within EU member states.

In the Employment and Social Affairs Committee, I was appointed rapporteur on an opinion with the aim of reinforcing economic policy coordination and improving the economic governance and stability framework of the Union, in particular in the euro area.

The report will propose short-term measures with the aim of modifying the mechanisms of economic policy coordination in the EU. Such policies have demonstrated weaknesses in part due to failures to comply with the rules necessary for the correct functioning of the Economic and Monetary Union.

The surveillance procedures that are currently in existence are not sufficiently comprehensive – it is vital that the EU commences to make better use of instruments of surveillance that are available under the Treaty.

The conclusions of the opinion will establish the position of the Committee of Employment and Social Affairs on this report and will subsequently be incorporated into the main dossier.

David Casa is a Nationalist MEP