The budget of the European Union for the period 2021-2027 should provide an ambitious response to all of the challenges being faced, without undermining the traditional policies (agriculture and cohesion), France states in a detailed note dating from the end of March which EUROPE has consulted (see EUROPE 11935). On the revenue plank of the budget, the French government opposes all rebates and calls for new only resources to be created.
These are the conditions under which France could consider a budget for the EU of 27 in expansion, the French note on the forthcoming multiannual financial framework (MFF) explains. The document has been drafted ahead of the presentation of the Commission’s formal proposals, on 2 May.
The EU cannot afford to retain the same budget as today: it is opaque from the citizens’ point of view and its content is no longer enough to respond effectively to the many challenges of a migration, security, environmental and socio-economic nature which the EU must face, the French government stresses, calling for a re-founding of the EU budget.
The French authorities reiterate the need to take account of the budgetary constraints resulting from the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the EU. The traditional policies must be reformed and must no longer compete with programmes arising from newer priorities. The challenge must be to modernise the EU budget and reform the traditional policies without making unjustified budgetary cuts, the note explains.
For instance, the traditional policies should not be adjusted beyond the impact of Brexit, France argues.
France hopes to overcome the gulf between the net contributor and the net beneficiary countries. It argues that the EU budget pays for common goods that have a positive impact on all member states (European defence, crisis response, sustainable agriculture, cohesion, etc.).
Paris considers that the EU budget should be based around nine political missions to replace the current architecture based on headings.
Security. France calls for the creation of a single internal security instrument (terrorism, radicalisation, information systems) and of a European defence fund with ‘research’ (funded by at least €500 million a year) and ‘industrial development’ (funded by at least €1 billion a year) planks, together with a financial toolbox. On top of this would come a pillar outside the budget earmarked for security and defence.
Border protection. A single instrument would be brought in, aiming to give rise to an integrated and rigorous system for the management of the external borders of the EU (including a European border police force at least 5,000 strong), providing respectful hosting for people in need of protection (European asylum agency), genuinely integrating and training refugees and reinforcing the policy of returning illegal migrants.
Food sovereignty. France wishes to do more to protect farmers from the great uncertainty and volatility of the global markets, via: - a Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) that protects (with safety net financed in full out of the EU budget); - more reactive crisis management tools (including the idea of precautionary savings); - measures to guarantee fair prices for producers; - the creation of payments for environmental services.
The CAP should also be reformed to make it simpler, more flexible and more legible.
Solidarity. The French position makes the case for an ambitious territorial development policy. A fairer allocation of funding would be achieved by introducing stricter upper limits and social, economic and territorial indicators (e.g. unemployment rate, R&D spending, level of access to broadband).
This policy would respond to three objectives: - convergence (eligibility on the basis of the GDP/head of population criterion and its development over the last five years, taking ‘proportionate’ account of the enrichment of the regions); - accompaniment of transitions and reconversions (all regions would be eligible); - cross-border co-operation (particularly for the cross-border regions).
A ‘Brexit’ fund would be set up (with strictly delineated eligibility criteria) to support the areas and economic sectors most affected by the effects of the UK’s departure.
Referred to as the direct quid pro quo of European financial solidarity, conditionality for the granting of European funds would be brought in, according to the French note. This conditionality would allow genuine social and fiscal convergence and include the rule of law, as the French President, Emmanuel Macron, called for in his address to the MEPs on Tuesday 17 April (see EUROPE 12003).
Ecological transition. France proposes increasing from 20% to 40% the proportion of spending under the EU budget earmarked to tackle climate change. It retains four priorities: green mobility, green energy, living biodiversity and climate adaptation.
Economic, technological and digital power. Emphasis is laid on ‘breakthrough innovation’, the future research framework programme for which a significant increase in budget is called for, the ITER programme and an ambitious space policy, also with a corresponding budget.
Global player. Sub-Saharan Africa and the southern Mediterranean should be central to an ambitious EU foreign policy, according to France. It proposes retaining the current instruments, with reinforced conditionality in the instrument aimed at the accession candidate countries.
Mobility and culture. France refers to the Erasmus + programme (whose budget should be at least doubled), the ‘Culture’ programme (with an increased budget) and specific financial support for universities.
Exemplary admin. France would like to see a legally binding upper limit on EU administrative spending. No deflator should be applied to this category of expenditure. Account must be taken of the withdrawal of one member state to adjust staff numbers downwards.
On the ‘income’ plank, France proposes a reform of the way the budget is financed. The contributions of the Twenty-Seven will have to be topped up out of true own resources, it argues. The Commission is called upon to make proposals, with particular emphasis on taxing the activities of the digital sector (see EUROPE 11986, 11982) and environmental taxation. On Tuesday, Macron reiterated his ambition for the EU to create a ‘carbon’ tax on its borders.
Finally, against the backdrop of Brexit, France opposes all rebates granted to any given member state.
The French note is available (in French only) at: https://bit.ly/2JVRzlB . (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)