On Wednesday 16 September MEPs again called for the inclusion in the interinstitutional agreement of a binding timetable for the introduction of new own resources for the repayment of the €750 billion recovery plan to support the EU economy after the Covid-19 crisis (see EUROPE 12560/6).
After a debate on the previous day, European Parliament adopted on Wednesday (455 votes in favour, 146 against and 88 abstentions) its opinion on the new own resources decision that gives birth to the Recovery Plan, empowering the Commission to borrow on the markets and introducing a first source of revenue for the EU budget from 1 January 2021: a uniform call rate by weight for non-recycled plastic packaging waste.
The plenary vote will enable the EU Council to adopt the Own Resources Decision quickly and to start the ratification process in all 27 EU countries so that the Recovery Plan can be implemented as soon as possible.
Six new sources of income. Parliament wants the Council of the EU to agree to include in the interinstitutional agreement a “legally binding timetable” containing the dates of entry into force of five new own resources, in addition to the ‘plastic tax’: - on 1 January 2021, a uniform call rate at the amount representing the revenue generated by the allowances to be auctioned; - revenues generated by a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (by 1 January 2023); - revenues generated by the Digital Services taxation (by 1 January 2023); - beginning 1 January 2026, a uniform call rate on the share of taxable profits attributed to each Member State in accordance with Union rules on the Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base; - a financial transaction tax beginning 1 January 2024.
At a press conference, Parliament’s rapporteurs on own resources, José Manuel Fernandes (EPP, Portugal) and Valérie Hayer (Renew Europe, France), called the timetable requested by the EU Council in the negotiations for finalising the details of the Recovery Plan and the 2021-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) ambitious and realistic.
These negotiations will resume on Friday 18 September (see EUROPE 12558/5).
An approach supported by the German EU Council Presidency. Mr Fernandes noted that the German EU Council Presidency “agrees with the principle” of a basket of new own resources. “Double unanimity (a vote in the EU Council and ratification by national parliaments) requires a fair and balanced agreement, and I am confident that the EU Council will find that agreement“, Mr Fernandes said. He concluded by saying that the agreement must be legally binding and therefore should included in an interinstitutional agreement. A simple statement is not enough, he repeated. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)