The EU Council hopes to approve this week, Wednesday 29 or Friday 31 July, the legislative texts that came about from the European Council conclusions on the EU’s post-Covid-19 Economic Recovery Plan and the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF). This should enable the German EU Council Presidency to begin preliminary discussions with the European Parliament in the second half of August on the points of the agreement to be improved (see EUROPE 12533/1, EUROPE 12532/2).
EU ambassadors (Coreper) could approve on Wednesday 29 July the following texts, adjusted in the light of the conclusions of the European Council, which reached a compromise on the Recovery Plan and the 2021-2027 MFF on 21 July: – the regulation establishing the MFF for 2021-2027; – the interinstitutional agreement on budgetary discipline, cooperation in budgetary matters and sound financial management; – the decision on own resources; – the implementing regulation on own resources; – the Recovery and Resilience Facility regulation.
If these texts are endorsed this week, the first exchanges of views between the EU Council and the European Parliament could start in the second half of August. An early agreement is needed to allow the Recovery Plan and the MFF to enter into force on 1 January 2021.
Rule of law. Discussions between the EU Council and the European Parliament on the regulation linking respect for the rule of law and the disbursement of EU funds could start in September.
Parliament calls on the co-legislator to complete its work on the mechanism proposed by the Commission and insists that, in order to be effective, this mechanism should be activated by a reverse qualified majority (see EUROPE 12534/2). The conclusions of the last European Council stipulate that the cross-compliance regime to protect the budget and Next Generation EU will be introduced. In this context, the Commission will propose measures in case of non-compliance, which will be adopted by the EU Council acting by qualified majority.
Discussions on the MFF/RERCAP, on the one hand, and on the rule of law mechanism, on the other hand, are normally conducted separately, but some delegations, such as Poland and Hungary, would like to deal with all these subjects (including the rule of law mechanism) as a package.
At Coreper meetings last week, Poland was reported to have said it wanted the EU Council to work on the whole package, including the ‘rule of law mechanism’. “There is no agreement on anything until there is agreement on everything”, Hungary is reported to have said for its part. These countries believe that only the European Council could ultimately decide on possible financial sanctions in the form of a suspension of funds. EU countries have a different reading of the European Council conclusions on the controversial issue of the link between respect for the rule of law and the disbursement of EU funds. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)