FEARS that the European Union's Peace and Reconciliation Fund for Northern Ireland would be cut by £78 million appeared to evaporate last night after a three hour meeting of the European Parliament's Budget Committee.
The committee is believed to have devised a formula that would ensure the fund, which is to provide £240 million over three years to Northern Ireland and Border regions, will be fully financed. The matter will not be finally resolved, however, until the full parliament votes on the issue on Thursday.
The SDLP leader, Mr John Hume, said last night that he was "quite certain" that there would be no cut in the fund.
"The money will be found," according to the Labour MEP, Ms Bernie Malone. "The whole parliament is in favour of funding the Northern Ireland Peace Process."
A vote by the committee a fortnight ago to propose the £78 million cut in the fund provoked an acrimonious dispute among Irish MEPs. The proposal came from the socialist group, but appears to have been a political manoeuvre in the parliament's ongoing conflicts with the Commission and the Council over the EU budget, rather than a serious attempt to cut the fund.
The SDLP leader, Fine Gael and Labour MEPs all said the move was merely a "book keeping exercise" and that the full £240 million would be spent in the North and the Border counties, as originally intended.
But Fianna Fail MEPs, led by Mr Pat "The Cope" Gallagher, have said that the budget committee vote has seriously endangered the fund.
The Government, and the EU Regional Affairs Commissioner, have also expressed concern over the decision.
The Budget Committee's stance, however, is generally seen as an expression of European Parliament frustration at the refusal of the European Council of Ministers to increase the overall EU budget
The Council of Ministers originally earmarked £160 million for the fund, but later increased this to £240 million, without saying from where the extra money should come. The cut proposed by the committee has the effect of forcing the Council of Ministers to state from where they intend to raise the money. The Parliament is resisting cutting other projects to pay for the fund.
The committee voted on October 9th to divert money intended for the Northern Ireland fund to the EU's depressed steel and textile regions, on the proposal of the Socialist group. The committee also stated that it wanted the full £240 million promised to the Northern had to be spent.
These two decisions taken together have the effect of forcing specifically where they intend to find the money to pay for the Northern Ireland fund. The dispute is part of the annual complex dispute between the parliament, the Commission and the Council over the size and spending of the EU budget.
The European Parliament will vote on Thursday on the budget committee's proposal. All major political groupings in the parliament have now said they support the spending of the full £240 million.