Strasbourg, 05/07/2016 (Agence Europe) - In Strasbourg on Tuesday 5 July, MEPs said that the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2014-2020 had reached its limits and did not responded to current priorities. They also protested at the multiplication of funds and financial instruments outside the EU budget ('budget satellites').
In plenary, the EP was debating an own initiative report on the MFF for 2014-2020, to fuel the European Commission's reflection before it issues proposals by the end of the year 2016 (see EUROPE 11583 on the report adopted by the EP budgets committee).
Jan Olbrycht (EPP, Poland), rapporteur on the mid-term review of the MFF, said that the current MFF caps needed to be revised to take account of new priorities (youth unemployment and managing flows of migrants, etc). He also called for changes to the budget surplus rules to ensure they remained in the EU budget rather than returning to member states' scoffers.
Isabelle Thomas (S&D, France), another rapporteur, said that with this report, the EP was ringing the alarm bell. The new crises and priorities mean that the MFF endorsed in 2013 was now out-of-date and she called on the Commission to rapidly unveil proposals so that talks can take place at the same time as the negotiations on the EU's budget for 2017.
Budget Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva said she would do all she could to respect the 31 December 2016 for putting proposals on the table. She said that everyone agreed at least on the fact that more flexibility was needed in the budget. The EP has different expectations from the Council, and the Commission is doing its best to bring these highly divergent positions together, explained Georgieva. On the question of the mushrooming of special instruments, she said the EP needed to participate in decision-making.
Neena Gill (S&D, United Kingdom) recommended an increase in expenditure caps for Heading 4 (external action) and a permanent EU crisis reserve to enable extra resources to be mobilised as necessary to deal with emergencies.
On behalf of his group, José Manuel Fernandes (EPP, Portugal) said that the MFF did not have the flexibility required to react to emergencies and a new MFF was needed that had sufficient financial means to cover the EU's ambitions and objectives. Eider Gardiazabal Rubial (S&D, Spain) regretted that no new money had been injected since 2015 for tackling youth unemployment. She recommended: - a genuine own resource system “to not have to depend on the good will of the member states”; - a genuinely harmonised company tax; - working on fighting tax evasion. Bernd Kölmel (CRE, Germany) is in favour of a Europe plan to deal with the refugee crisis and stressed the need to be cautious and reasonable with taxpayers' money. Gérard Deprez (ALDE, Belgium) said the MFF was bursting at the seams and was too conventional in terms of policy. Ernest Maragall (Greens/EFA, Spain) wants the EU to optimise the available resources and called for an increase in the MFF caps. Marco Zanni (ELDD, Italy) called for the vote on this report, scheduled for Wednesday 6 July, to be postponed to take account of the aftermath of the Brexit vote, saying that some priorities should be set aside. The British rebate will disappear and so should all the other rebates, said Alain Lamassoure (EPP, France). (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)