Representatives of the EU Council, the European Parliament and the European Commission hope to finally reach a compromise on Monday 9 November on the final elements of the EU’s Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for 2021-2027 and the €750 billion Recovery Plan, following the damage caused by the Covid-19 (see EUROPE 12592/4).
Before next Monday’s potentially conclusive political trilogue (this will be the 11th such meeting), technical meetings between representatives of the EU Council, Parliament and Commission are scheduled, notably on Wednesday 4 November, to prepare the texts of the political agreement.
The draft texts, seen by EUROPE, leave subjects to be decided at political level on Monday, such as the amount of the envelope to reinforce the credits of certain EU flagship programmes (Horizon 2020, Erasmus+, InvestEU, etc.) or the modalities for introducing new own resources for the EU budget.
With regard to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), Parliament expects it to be implemented from 1 January 2024, whereas the EU Council prefers the beginning of 2026.
On ETS revenue, the Council of the EU stands by the beginning of 2023, while MEPs advocate an introduction on 1 January 2021. A compromise could be found between the EU Council and Parliament positions, for example, by deciding on the dates of 2024 for the FTT and 2023 for the ETS resource.
At this stage, the Council of the EU accepts an amount of €10 billion in reference to these programmes, whereas Parliament initially requested €39 billion. Common ground could be found, for example, by reducing the list of EU flagship programmes (established by Parliament) to fewer than 15, with increased funding.
In addition, MEPs welcome a possible agreement to include a target of at least 10% of MFF expenditure to be spent on biodiversity measures in 2027 and at least 30% on climate action (with a corrective mechanism to ensure that the target is met, if necessary).
The draft text also provides for a mid-term review of the next MFF before January 2024.
‘Rule of law’ conditionality. A fifth trilogue will take place on the morning of Thursday 5 November on the proposal to link the disbursement of EU budget funds with respect for the rule of law (see EUROPE 12591/9). An agreement seems possible between the institutions on this sensitive subject after progress in the talks.
On Monday 2 November, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Parliament President David Sassoli and German Chancellor Angela Merkel discussed the negotiations on the MFF and the Recovery Plan. Ms von der Leyen considered that “the remaining differences must be overcome. We need an agreement very soon”. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)