Johan Van Overtveldt (ECR, Belgium), Chair of the European Parliament's Committee on Budgets, confirmed, on Tuesday 1 September, the “deep gulf” between the positions of the Council of the European Union and the Parliament on the improvements to be made to the European Council agreement on the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2021-2027 and the EU Economic Recovery Plan post-Covid-19 (see EUROPE 12547/6).
The institutional trio - EU Council, European Parliament and Commission - will continue their negotiations on 7 September with a view to finalising the agreement on the MFF and the European Recovery Plan reached by the EU27 at the end of July (see EUROPE 12549/1).
But the debates are difficult, confirmed MEPs on the Parliament’s Committee on Budgets.
Mr Van Overtveldt said the Parliament wanted a substantial improvement to the 21 July compromise, “not just mere declarations to make us swallow the pill”.
The rapporteur on the MFF, Jan Olbrycht (EPP, Poland), deplored the cuts made by the European Council affecting 15 EU flagship programmes (including Horizon 2020 and Erasmus). “This version of the MFF is unacceptable”, he said.
He recalled that negotiations with the EU Council on the (budgetary) ceilings for these programmes were about to start.
European Parliament wants binding elements on Own Resources
José Manuel Fernandes (EPP, Portugal) recalled that the European Parliament agreed to move quickly to adopt its opinion on the Own Resources Decision, with a Parliament vote in September (see EUROPE 12549/1). He reiterated that without ratification of this decision by all Member States, it will not be possible to implement the EU Economic Recovery Plan. He called for a binding timetable and an Interinstitutional Agreement on the introduction of new Own Resources.
Valérie Hayer (Renew Europe, France) regretted that the European Council's conclusions could “leave the Member States a loophole” on new Own Resources. The issue, according to her, is a “vocabulary that is not sufficiently restrictive”. Ms Hayer also noted with concern that the text agreed at the level of Member States' ambassadors to the EU (Coreper) “no longer refers to repayment of the loan from new Own Resources”.
In addition, several MEPs also called on the EU Council to agree with the Parliament on a mechanism linking the disbursement of EU funds to respect for the Rule of law in order to protect the EU's financial interests. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)