On Wednesday 31 August, the European Parliament’s Committee on Budgets called for a broader revision of the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) than the one proposed, including the budgetary integration of the Social Climate Fund or provisions to better reflect the increase in the price of carbon.
The European Parliament’s Committee on Budgets adopted (29 votes in favour, 3 against and 5 abstentions) the interim report by Jan Olbrycht (EPP, Polish) and Margarida Marques (S&D, Portuguese) on the proposal for the revision of the MFF for 2021-2027.
The aim is “to enable the funding of the new Social Climate Fund through the EU’s long term budget, without undermining the funding of other European policies and programs, namely the Cohesion Policy”, according to Ms Marques.
MEPs call for an additional allocation to be made to the Social Climate Fund on an annual basis to reflect the rate of increase in order to further support vulnerable households and transport users in the transition to climate neutrality, should the carbon price increase to a higher level than initially assumed in the proposal.
MEPs also insist that “a broader revision of the current MFF is needed as it was already pushed to its limits in its first year”. The European Commission is invited to present a legislative proposal “as soon as possible, and no later than the first quarter of 2023”.
The vote on the report is scheduled for the European Parliament’s plenary session on 14 September.
The proposal of 22 December 2021 provides for: - an increase in the ceilings provided for in the multiannual financial framework for the proposed Social Climate Fund; - the introduction of an automatic adjustment of the Multiannual Financial Framework ceilings according to the new own resources, which would allow for the repayment of the loans taken out under Next Generation EU. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)