On Monday 4 March in Brussels, the Romanian Presidency of the EU Council of Ministers indicated that it would seek a "reasonable" compromise with representatives of the European Parliament on the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) for the next EU Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2021-2027 (see EUROPE 12198).
The Romanian Presidency and representatives of the European Parliament hope to reach a partial inter-institutional agreement on the architecture of the CEF on Thursday 7 March. The Presidency recalled that, if an agreement is reached, it will only affect sectoral provisions and not budgetary elements as discussed in the context of the negotiations on the next MFF.
"We have had intensive discussions with the European Parliament since January, but progress has been mixed," Romanian Energy Minister Anton Anton said during an assessment of the situation at the Energy Council. He lamented the lack of progress in the negotiations on co-financing rates for projects (including renewable energy), transport and energy and hoped that a compromise could be reached on 7 March, during the "last trilogue".
Luxembourg noted that the European Parliament was "more ambitious than the Council on renewables" and asked the Presidency to show "flexibility" in this matter.
Completion of the CEF file before the European elections in May remains the objective, which leaves very little time. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)