The Chair of the Committee on International Trade, Bernd Lange (S&D), criticised on Monday 14 November the “procedure” used by the European Commission in its proposal to grant further macrofinancial assistance for 2023, which he said minimises the role of the European Parliament as the EU’s budgetary authority (see EUROPE 13060/4).
Ukraine needs the support of the European Union, but this proposal, by amending the 2021-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework, is truly “a new approach”. The structure of the proposal and the amount that would be mobilised - €18 billion in loans for the whole of 2023 - are indeed “unprecedented”, he said. And to consider that by acting in this way and on such a tight schedule, the 2013 interinstitutional agreement on this type of aid, which guarantees an equal level of information for Parliament relative to the EU Council, has not been respected.
During the debate, MEPs speaking on behalf of their Groups - EPP, S&D, Renew Europe, Greens/EFA - tended to support the proposal put forth.
Finnish MEP Heidi Hautala (Greens/EFA) nevertheless criticised the Commission’s lack of consideration for Parliament, for which the Commission representative apologised to MEPs, citing the tight timetable for reaching an agreement by the end of 2022. German MEP Helmut Scholz (The Left) questioned the weakness regarding commitments to democratic standards that the proposal requires from the Ukrainian authorities. “This is a highly political issue”, he said, calling for the Commission to report regularly on the issue.
On the proposal, the Commission representative acknowledged that grants would have been “preferable” for Ukraine, but the current EU budget no longer allows for this on such a scale, she noted.
The Member States’ ambassadors will discuss the proposal on Wednesday 16 November. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)