In Brussels on Monday 5 November, the committee on budgets of the European Parliament reiterated its position in favour of an ambitious forthcoming multiannual financial framework (MFF) for the EU (see EUROPE 12113). The MEPs called for the ‘bridging’ clause to be triggered for a move to qualified-majority voting at the European Council on the 2021-2027 MFF.
In its adoption (25 votes to 5) of the report by Jan Olbrycht (EPP, Poland), Isabelle Thomas (S&D, France), Janusz Lewandowski (EPP, Poland) and Gérard Deprez (ALDE, Belgium) on the EP’s position on the 2021-2027 MFF, the budget committee calls for a 2021-2027 MFF of €1324.1 billion in 2018 prices, or 1.3% of the GNI (gross national income) of the EU27. The Commission proposed 1.11% of GNI. The report on the next MFF will be voted on by the EP at the plenary session in Strasbourg on 14 November.
The budget committee opposes any reduction in the credits for the ‘old’ EU policies laid down in the treaties: cohesion policy, common agriculture policy (CAP) and common fisheries policy (CFP). It considers that the EU’s contribution to the climate targets should represent at least 25% of total EU spending over the period of the 2021-2027 MFF and 30% by 2027 at the latest.
‘Bridging’ clause. The MEPs criticise the fact that the Council votes unanimously on the regulation on the MFF and call upon the European Council to activate the so-called ‘bridging’ clause set out in article 312, paragraph 2 of the Treaty, to allow the Council to adopt the MFF regulation by qualified majority. The ‘bridging’ clause makes it possible to move from unanimous voting to qualified-majority voting to adopt an act in a given field.
Strengthening certain programmes. The report calls for adjustments of the following programmes: - increasing the ‘Horizon Europe’ budget to €120 billion in 2018 prices (€83.4 billion under the Commission’s proposal); - increase the funding for ‘InvestEU’; - raise the financing level of the ‘transport’ plank of the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF); - double the specific financing for SMEs (COSME programme); - further increase the single market programme to finance a new objective on market supervision; - double the level of funding proposed for the EU anti-for programme and increase the level of funding of the FISCALIS programme; - introduce a specific allocation for sustainable tourism; - further reinforce the European space programme, particularly the programmes SSA (space surveillance) and Govsatcom (government satellite telecommunications) and Copernicus; - keep the financing of the cohesion policy for the EU of 27 at the level of the 2014-2020 budget in real terms; - double the resources given over to tackling youth unemployment in the European Social Fund+; - introduce a specific allocation (€5.9 billion) for the ‘child guarantee’; - triple the budget of the Erasmus+ programme to €41 billion (the Commission proposed €26.3 billion); - secure a sufficient level of funding for the DiscoverEU (Interrail) programme; - increase the current financing of the ‘rights and values’ programme and introduce a specific allocation for a new ‘EU values’ plank (at least €500 million); - keep the financing of the common agriculture policy (CAP) for the EU of 27 at the same level as the 2014-2020 budget in real terms, and budgetise the initial level of the agricultural reserve; - increase by 10% the level of the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund; - double the current budget of the programme Life+ including the envelopes for biodiversity and management of the Natura 2000 network; - introduce a specific allocation (€4.8 billion) for a new ‘energy transition’ initiative; - reinforce the instrument or instruments in favour of the neighbourhood and development policies (+ €3.5 billion) to make a greater contribution to the financing of an investment plan for Africa.
Own resources. The draft report as amended fleshes out the proposals on the ‘revenue’ side of the budget. It supports the suggested update of existing own resources, involving: - keeping customs duty as a traditional EU own resource, but reducing the percentage retained by member states as ‘collection costs’ and going back to the initial rate of 10%; - simplifying the VAT own resource by introducing a uniform call rate without exceptions; - maintaining the GNI-based own resource, but moving progressively towards reducing its share of the financing of the EU budget to 40%.
The MEPs welcome the Commission’s proposal to phase in a set of new own resources that will respond to the EU’s strategic objectives, which offer clear European added value, without increasing the budgetary burden on citizens: - the proper functioning, consolidation and reinforcement of the single market, for instance by applying a common consolidated corporate tax base (CCCTB) (new own resource, setting a uniform levy rate on the revenue from the CCCTB); - the taxation of large companies in the digital sector benefiting from the single market; - tackling climate change and speeding up the energy transition, thanks to measures such as a share of resources from the emissions trading regime; - fighting to protect the environment via a contribution based on the quantity of an recycled plastic packaging.
They also call to extend the list of potential new resources, which may include: - own resource based on financial transactions tax (FTT); - a carbon border adjustment mechanism, to ensure fair competition conditions in international trade and reduce the delocalisation of production whilst internalising the cost of climate change in imported goods.
The EP insists on the introduction of other revenue streams: - the fines paid by companies for breaching EU rules or fines for late payments of contributions; - proceeds from fines generated by rulings of the Court of Justice of the EU, including lump sum or penalty payments imposed on member states stemming from infringement actions; - fees linked to the implementation of mechanisms in direct relation with the EU, such as the ETIAS system; - seigneuriage, in the form of assigned revenue, for the purposes of financing a new ‘Investment Stabilisation Function’.
The Commission must present a proposed revision of the MFF directive before 1 July 2023. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)