The Greens/EFA group in the European Parliament considers the European Commission's hopes of reaching a compromise on the multiannual financial framework (MFF) of the EU for 2021-2027 before the European elections of May 2019 to be unrealistic.
On Wednesday 2 May, the Commission will adopt its proposals on the next MFF, following a final guideline debate at the College on Wednesday 25 April.
MEP Helga Trüpel (Greens/EFA, Germany) said at a meeting with the press in Brussels on Wednesday 25 April that discussions on the forthcoming MFF will be harder than ever, because of “Brexit, Eurosceptic tendencies and the situation at the Council”, with hard-right leaders in certain countries.
She went on to say that Commissioner Günther Oettinger wants a new MFF before the elections of 2019. “But I don't think he will manage. I think this is unrealistic”, she said. Some members of the group consider that a compromise on the EU budget is much more likely in 2020.
This pessimism has not prevented the Greens/EFA group from making its own proposals for the forthcoming MFF. In favour of a 'greener' budget, it is calling for the proportion of EU expenditure devoted to tackling climate change to be increased from 20% at the moment to 50%.
A budget at least equivalent to that of 2020. Under no circumstances should the budget be less than in 2020 from 2021 onwards, the Greens argue, even taking account of the budgetary effect of Brexit.
In 2020, the budget will be €173 billion in commitments. The Greens/EFA group anticipates that it will be €180 billion a year, Jordi Solé of Spain explained.
Currently, the EU budget is limited to 1% of the gross national income (GNI) of the EU. The Commission is expected to propose a total budget of between 1.1% and 1.2% of GNI, while Parliament is hoping for 1.3% (see EUROPE 11981).
The Greens hope to make savings in the budget (€13 billion a year) by putting a limit on direct agricultural aid. This upper limit, which will affect 1% of farms, would be set at €50,000 a year per holding, Solé explained.
Trüpel welcomed the fact that Oettinger is proposing to increase the funding for the programme Erasmus+.
A temporary mechanism to suspend funds. The Greens suggest a temporary mechanism to suspend European funds when a country is not respecting the rule of law and democratic values.
But this system, which will be triggered in the event of the mobilisation of article 7 of the Treaty, as is currently the case for Poland (see EUROPE 12003), would not lead to a total suspension of the funds. It would be managed by the Commission, working closely with the regional authorities, Solé said. All European funds would be included, not just cohesion policy funding.
“It would not be a direct punishment, but a certain conditionality”, Trüpel commented. She went on to say that making funds conditional on compliance with the rule of law is the subject of disagreement from the EPP party.
In favour of new own resources. The Greens/EFA group welcomes Oettinger's intentions of pushing forward new own resources, as any progress in this area will help to reduce the national contributions to the EU budget by the same amount. “The Commission is prepared to make ambitious changes in terms of new own resources”, Trüpel noted
Early this year, Oettinger referred to a tax on the production of plastics as a possible new source of revenue for the EU budget and a way of reducing waste. However, the Commission did not adopt the idea in its contribution to the informal European summit of February, which discussed the future of the EU budget (see EUROPE 11961).
Other ideas are doing the rounds, such as creating a carbon tax on the borders of the EU, or taxing digital platforms active in the EU. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)