The European Parliament reiterated this loud and clear on Wednesday 19 February, on the eve of the European Council on the budget battle: it will not approve a compromise on the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) that would take over the elements of the draft presented by Charles Michel.
The Parliament's negotiating team for the MFF 2021-2027 is not afraid to show its teeth. Johan Van Overtveldt (ECR, Belgium), chair of the European Parliament's Committee on Budgets, told a small group of journalists on Wednesday that the proposal from European Council President Charles Michel will not be passed in the Parliament. "The message is clear and it was repeated on Tuesday and Wednesday to Mr Michel", said Johan Van Overtveldt. He denounced the gap between the ambitions shown by the Commission and the European Council on the one hand and the EU's financial resources on the other. "We must avoid disappointing citizens", he said.
With the proposal on the table, "the European Parliament will not be able to give its consent", added José Manuel Fernandes (EPP, Portugal), rapporteur on own resources. He deplored the fact that the EU Council always finds an excuse for not spending enough. When the United Kingdom was in the EU, it was because of it that the 1.0% limit was decided in 2013. Now, according to him, the 1.0% limit is being requested because of Brexit.
€11 billion for gifts. He criticised Mr Michel's ideas on the European Investment Bank (EIB). "We don't need to do something that doesn't follow the community method", Fernandes said. He noted that Mr Michel had made cuts in the margins of the budget, namely €6 billion from cohesion policy and €5 billion from rural development funds, in order to offer "gifts and sweeteners to the Member States at the end of the negotiations".
On own resources, Mr Fernandes welcomed "some positive points", thanks to the creation of new taxes (plastics and ETS), but what is proposed is insufficient, he said.
Jan Olbrycht (EPP, Poland), rapporteur on the MFF, noted that the European Parliament is united on this issue. "A large majority of MEPs agree that they do not accept what is being proposed at this stage". According to him, Mr Michel's proposal is more or less the same as Finland's, plus funds for the Just Transition Fund (€7.5 billion) and two new own resources.
In addition, several MEPs deplored the €5 billion cut in agricultural spending in Mr Michel's plan.
Link to an analysis made by the Committee on Budgets of the effects of Mr Michel's project: http://bit.ly/38IZvT0
Link to a comparative table between the different proposals on the next MFF: http://bit.ly/39Leqfz (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)