MEPs called on the European Council on Wednesday 17 June to “in July” secure a compromise on the post-Covid-19 European Recovery Plan and the EU’s Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for 2021-2027 (see EUROPE 12494/1). They also advocate respect for the rule of law and the creation of new own resources for the EU budget.
The Croatian State Secretary for Relations with the European Parliament, Nikolina Brnjac, felt that the discussions on the proposals held so far in the EU Council had clarified many points. “If we want the package to enter into force on 1 January 2021, the EU Council will need to give political guidance before the summer break”, she said. She acknowledged that the timetable was ambitious, as “positions are sometimes very different on certain points”.
According to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, the recovery plan will help to relaunch the EU’s internal market, competitiveness and innovative capacity. She said the modernisation of the EU economy should be accelerated in order to “be stronger after the crisis”. She also called for the creation of “new own resources to repay our loans”.
Iratxe García Pérez (S&D, Spain) hoped that the few remaining, reluctant national governments would agree to secure a deal in July on the MFF and recovery plan. The amounts proposed by the Commission – €750 billion for the Next Generation EU recovery plan – are a minimum, according to the S&D group chair. “We will not accept a bad deal in the EU Council”, she warned.
Parliament will have to give its consent to the unanimous agreement of the European Council on the 2021-2027 MFF.
No breakthrough expected on Friday. According to Marco Zanni (Identity and Democracy, Italy), there will be no agreement on the recovery plan on Friday, but rather a clash between Member States.
“Let’s be honest, nobody is expecting anything from this EU summit”, said Ska Keller (Greens/EFA, Germany). Afterwards, each leader will appear before the national press to emphasise how well the national interests have been defended, she said. However, she believes that urgent action is needed by targeting funds to the economy we want for tomorrow.
New own resources. On Wednesday, the S&D group in Parliament advocated a basket of new own resources to feed the EU budget, to “finance the economic and social damage of the Covid-19 crisis”.
According to this group, these new revenues should be aimed both at protecting the environment and promoting a fairer internal market (revenues from EU Emissions Trading Scheme auctions, a contribution on non-recycled plastic packaging, a border adjustment mechanism for carbon, a corporate income tax based on a common consolidated corporate tax base, etc.).
See the S&D group’s position on own resources: https://bit.ly/3d8YFjZ (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)