Negotiations between EU institutions to finalise the details of the 2021-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) and the post-Covid-19 European Economic Recovery Plan are struggling to make progress, despite a fifth such meeting held on Monday 28 September (see EUROPE 12568/1).
Progress has been made on own resources for the EU budget, while all is still open on increases in appropriations for the EU’s flagship programmes and the mechanism protecting the budget against failures in the rule of law (see other news).
The aim is to reach a full agreement by the end of October to allow time for the ratification by national parliaments of the Own Resources Decision (which allows the funds of the Recovery Plan to be unblocked).
The next inter-institutional meeting would be scheduled for 8 October.
At a meeting of the European Parliament Committee on Budgets on Monday, Jan Olbrycht (EPP, Poland) noted that there was “growing tension in the Council, as Member States have to find a solution on several issues” in the package, including the rule of law.
In addition, Parliament wants to increase funding for several EU programmes (Horizon 2020, Erasmus+, etc.), “but neither the Commission nor the Council seems ready to follow us”. “If things remain as they are, we will have to switch to a contingency plan for 2021”, Mr Olbrycht noted.
Margarida Marques (S&D, Portugal) regretted the lack of progress on raising the ceilings for EU flagship programmes.
Valérie Hayer (Renew Europe, France) said that “it seemed that a political agreement had been reached” on own resources, but that “misunderstandings remain to be cleared up on this point”. The technical teams are working on a text. The German Presidency agrees to work on an interinstitutional agreement containing a timetable for new own resources. “We have not started negotiations on the specific dates in this schedule”, it said. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)