The EPP group in the European Parliament threatened on Thursday 7 May to veto the EU's multi-annual financial framework (MFF) for 2021-2027 if the European Recovery Plan is implemented outside the democratic control of the Parliament.
The chairman of the group, the German Manfred Weber, and the vice-chairman, the Romanian Siegfried Mureșan, have written a letter to this effect to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the President of the European Council, Charles Michel. The recovery plan "cannot be an exception to this fundamental rule of democracy and legitimacy", they write.
The EPP group will agree only if the MFF and the proposals on the recovery plan meet fundamental criteria, including "a massive recovery plan, fully linked to the MFF", the letter says.
The Commission would consider proposing a recovery plan based on an article of the EU Treaties that would not require Parliament's approval (see EUROPE 12480/3).
The European Parliament must be involved, according to the president of the Renew Europe group, Romanian Dacian Cioloș. In front of the press, he too felt that Parliament should be involved, both for the MFF and for the recovery plan. In his view, the Parliament should not only be consulted, it should be part of the procedure.
According to Mr Cioloș, the future European recovery plan should not only mean "new money for the Member States". It should also provide guidance on industrial strategy and strategic sectors for the Union. He also advocated the creation of new own resources for the EU.
Next week the Parliament will try to adopt a joint resolution on the recovery plan and its link with the MFF.
See EPP Group letter: https://bit.ly/3cgAosw (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)