The European Commission's proposals on the post-pandemic coronavirus recovery plan and on the new version of the EU's Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for 2021-2027 are expected to be hotly debated at the European Council on 18 June. But caution is still warranted on the chances of reaching an agreement at this meeting of EU leaders.
On Wednesday 27 May, the European Commission will present an amended proposal for the MFF 2021-2027 and a European Recovery Plan with a European Recovery Fund at its heart closely linked to the MFF (see EUROPE 12492/2).
On Tuesday 26 May, the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, said: “tomorrow I expect a detailed, precise and costed proposal to be presented”.
Once the proposal has been presented, Member States will need to be able to fully understand the “implications” that flow from it. “On the basis of this, it will be up to me to continue the political consultations and, depending on these consultations, I will have to assess (...) what the next political steps will be”, he explained.
Work quickly in the European Council. Mr Michel said he hoped “to work quickly, as it would be useful for the EU to agree on a common recovery strategy, both in the framework of the MFF and in the framework of recovery funds”. He also intends to maintain a regular dialogue with the European Parliament, which has a role to play in this context.
Martin Selmayr, former Secretary General of the European Commission, told the Austrian press on Tuesday 26 May that the Commission will propose a fund of €500 billion in aid, most of it non-repayable, to fight the coronavirus crisis.
But the Commission did not wish to confirm this figure, which will be revealed on Wednesday 27 May, its spokesperson said.
The idea, according to Mr Selmayr, would be to allocate aid to the most affected countries through ‘four channels’: about half through the recovery instrument and the rest through the cohesion funds, the 'Just Transition Fund' and the 'InvestEU' programme, which supports strategic investments and provides liquidity to businesses.
In addition, according to Mr Selmayr, the Commission will propose the creation of new own resources (tax on plastics, CO2 emissions trading, digital tax). It is estimated that these new taxes could bring in up to €300 billion to EU coffers.
The EU General Affairs Council held a debate on Tuesday 26 May on the revised MFF and the EU recovery instrument, confirmed Croatian Minister Andreja Metelko-Zgombić. According to her, “no concrete text was discussed”. She said she was “optimistic” about the prospect of an agreement in the month of June.
Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič stressed that the Commission wants to create new instruments for recovery. “What we want is for the MFF to be properly adapted to the new economic reality, to generate massive investments for our economy”, he said. He cited three main thematic pillars (green, digital and resilience). “We will do our utmost to avoid fragmentation of the Single Market and to continue convergence”, the Commissioner added.
Michael Roth, Minister of State for Europe at the German Federal Foreign Office, recalled that his country “has put forth, together with our French friends, an ambitious proposal that clearly shows that we want to help the countries and economic sectors that are most affected by the pandemic” (see EUROPE 12489/1). Regarding loan/subsidy arbitration, he added: “We can't build on debt alone. We also need subsidies within the MFF, especially for the sectors and countries that will be most affected. All this must, of course, be incorporated into the EU Treaties”. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur, Mathieu Bion and Pascal Hansens)