The German EU Council Presidency announced, on Wednesday 29 July, that the EU Member States had paved the way for talks with the European Parliament on the Recovery Fund and the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for 2021-2027 (see EUROPE 12536/3).
Negotiations between the European Parliament and the EU Council could start in the second half of August.
“This green light for talks is a crucial step towards concluding negotiations on the future budget by the end of this year. We are now ready to engage in the talks with the European Parliament”, the German EU Council Presidency told EUROPE.
At Wednesday’s meeting of the Committee of Permanent Representatives of the Member States to the EU (Coreper), there was ‘broad agreement’ on the legislative texts of the MFF 2021-2027 and on the details of the Recovery Fund after the coronavirus pandemic.
Some technical details remain open before formal approval of these texts: EU Council Regulation laying down the MFF 2021 to 2027, EU Council Regulation establishing an EU Recovery Instrument to support economic recovery in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, draft Interinstitutional Agreement (European Parliament, EU Council, Commission) on budgetary discipline, on cooperation in budgetary matters and on sound financial management and two proposals for an EU Council Decision on the system of the EU’s Own Resources.
On the same day, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen spoke on the phone with European Parliament President David Sassoli and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose country holds the rotating Presidency of the EU Council, about the next steps towards the adoption of the Next Generation EU and the next MFF.
The aim of the discussion, convened by Mrs von der Leyen under Article 324 of the Treaty, was to prepare the interinstitutional negotiations that lie ahead and enable a swift adoption of the package, “building on the agreement reached last week by the European Council and on the resolution adopted by the European Parliament on 23 July”, according to a statement.
The participants reaffirmed that “reaching rapidly a good agreement” was their highest priority for the coming weeks and that there was no time to waste. They agreed on a method and timetable to ensure that the recovery package is in place by January 1, 2021.
The European Parliament is ready to give its opinion on the Own Resources Decision (see EUROPE 12536/2) as soon as possible. After the formal adoption of this decision by the EU Council, the Member States will then have to ratify it, in accordance with their constitutional procedures.
Negotiations on the sectoral programmes for the next MFF also need to be completed before the end of the year. Mrs von der Leyen proposed that a regular meeting with the President of the European Parliament and the rotating Presidency of the EU Council be held from mid-September onwards. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)