On Thursday 10 October, MEPs called for an emergency plan for the EU's Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), which is a safety net to protect the beneficiaries of EU funding programmes, "so that the current MFF can be extended if the next one is not adopted in time".
The European Council will discuss the next MFF the following week and the Commission and European Parliament hope that an agreement can be reached by the end of 2019 on this highly sensitive issue.
By adopting a joint resolution (EPP, S&D, Renew Europe, Greens/EFA) confirming and updating their November 2018 negotiating mandate, both for the expenditure and revenue side of the MFF 2021-2027, the European Parliament calls for this emergency plan to be formally presented in early 2020 so that it can be quickly adopted by the EU Council and the Parliament.
MEPs demand that negotiations with the EU Council be opened without further delay, with a view to reaching a strong and timely agreement.
The Parliament confirms its negotiating mandate, as set out in its interim report on the MFF of 14 November 2018, regarding MFF figures (expenditure), the Union's own resources, flexibility provisions, the mid-term review and horizontal principles (United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the fight against climate change). It advocates a MFF 2021-2027 representing 1.3% of the Twenty-Seven’s gross national income (GNI) and opposes cuts in appropriations in traditional policies.
MEPs are getting impatient. "We don't have much time left", said Jan Olbrycht (EPP, Poland), calling on the EU Council to quickly take decisions on the next MFF. He defended the Parliament's "realistic" position on this issue. Traditional policies must not be cut back and he warned that there will be no agreement on the MFF if there are no new own resources.
"It is time to meet citizens' expectations", said Margarida Marques (S&D, Portugal). The system for financing the EU budget must be changed, she reiterated. Valerie Hayer (Renew Europe, France) said the Parliament was getting impatient. "The time has come to switch into high gear and involve the European Parliament", she told the Eu Council. She requested additional financial resources for the new programmes to be launched by the new Commission.
A strong EU is needed, stressed Rasmus Andresen (Greens/EFA, Germany). However, the position of the German government and other countries in favour of capping the MFF at 1% of GNI is "harmful", he said.
Marco Zanni (ID, Italy) criticised the Parliament's "utopian" approach of always asking for more money. He criticised the conditionalities in the budget. Own resources are the new illegitimate taxes, he also deplored.
Roberts Zīle (ECR, Latvia) said the Commission's proposal was disappointing, as it reduced cohesion policy funding.
Dimitrios Papadimoulis (GUE/NGL, Greece) criticised the cuts in the Commission's proposal.
Rule of law. Tytti Tuppurainen, on behalf of the Finnish Presidency, considered that EU countries' contributions to the MFF after 2020 should be fair and acceptable. She defended the creation of a balanced and legally reliable instrument on the protection of the budget in the event of non-compliance with the Rule of law in the Member States. This instrument is a "crucial" element of the next MFF, she said.
The Commission indicated that it is not yet time to develop a contingency plan for the MFF. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)