On Thursday 26 March, the chairman and coordinators of the European Parliament’s Committee on Budgets called for an ambitious budget package in response to the COVID-19 epidemic (see EUROPE 12453/26).
“We expect EU leaders to support bold and coordinated action today to address this unprecedented emergency”, say MEPs.
As immediate measures, the Committee on Budgets calls for: – mobilise the remaining €4 billion of margins and flexibilities in the EU 2020 budget (see EUROPE 12445/7); – to use the €3 billion surplus in the EU 2019 budget for the fight against the pandemic, which should normally accrue to the Member States.
MEPs reiterate their support for the reallocation of €37 billion of structural funds (see other news) and call on the Commission to give all necessary support to EU Member States to ensure the flexible and efficient implementation of the available funds.
The Committee on Budgets calls again for a ‘contingency plan’ to protect beneficiaries and avoid a halt to EU programmes at the end of this year (see EUROPE 12448/21) and hopes that Heads of State or Government will soon discuss the next EU Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for 2021-2027.
Learning lessons. The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, said on Wednesday 25 March on the LN24 channel that the COVID-19 crisis shows that the EU needs a fiscal capacity for action. “This crisis has an impact on the negotiations that will continue on the next MFF, as the lessons from this crisis will have to be reflected in the next European budget”. It is therefore necessary, according to him, to have the capacity, through the EU budget, “to affirm solidarity and to have a real instrument to support our priorities for economic recovery”. Negotiations on the MFF will likely resume after the pandemic. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)