As European leaders converge in Brussels for a summit meeting to discuss the eurozone, bailouts and other fiscal and economic matters, the EU Parliament has confirmed a deal for the 2012 and 2013 budget package.

In a statement, the parliament said that  €6 billion to pay bills in 2012, priority for growth and jobs in next year's budget and a strategy for dealing with payment shortfalls in 2013 – were the main parts of the budget package formally adopted  by the assembly.

The parliament said that the endorsement is an important political signal of the determination to ensure that the EU has all the resources needed to implement its policies properly. The €6 billion agreed to partially cover 2012 payments, as well as the commitments in the 2013 budget, will guarantee investment in growth and job-creation, as will the additional funds provided by the Council in 2013, wherever there is a need. We insisted on this during the negotiations and we got it.
The package now formally endorsed by the EP includes a budget for 2013 worth €132.8 billion in payments and €150.9 billion in commitments. 

EP president Martin Schulz, Commission president José Manuel Barroso and Cyrpriot president Dimitris Christofias jointly signed three declarations, promising to add fresh money during 2013 as soon as this proves necessary to pay outstanding bills from 2012 or to cover the gap between the level of payments adopted and the estimated needs.

But there are other matters at hand. EU leaders are meeting today to discuss the eurozone and how closer fiscal and economic ties can be put into effect in an effort to prevent a crisis from hitting the bloc as it did in the past years.

There are differing opinions and differing formulas. But at the end of the day, there are only two avenues open. Either more integration, or the unraveling of the union. Of course, trade agreements and open borders could still be retained, but unless Europe agrees to a more federal approach to finances and economy, then the eurozone is still wide open to threats. We have now learned. We cannot have a situation where fiscal governance is interpreted differently across the bloc. We have to learn from the cases of Cyprus, Greece, Ireland, Itay, Portugal and Spain. We cannot have situations where some countries are pushing for fiscal consolidation and others racking up excessive deficits and sovereign debts.

Of course, further integration will mean that we need to introduce new frameworks to prevent countries from overspending when they cannot. The European Commission will need to be empowered to ensure that countries do not break the rules, and if they do, that they are brought to heel and corrective measures are taken.

It will not be easy. Negotiations will be long and arduous. Some nations will not be ready to cede powers to a Super Commissioner in Brussels. Also, the EU will need to find someone with the moral fibre and backbone to be able to push all this through. These are not easy times. But they are easier times than the catastrophic days we experienced in the crash of 2009 and beyond. With goodwill and commonsense, a solution will be found.