On Thursday 17 November, the European Parliament’s Committee on Budgets called for a rapid and thorough review of the 2021-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), as successive crises require new funding that was not foreseen at the time of its adoption.
The committee adopted (26 votes in favour, 2 against and 2 abstentions) the draft report on improving the MFF 2021-2027, prepared by Jan Olbrycht (EPP, Polish) and Margarida Marques (S&D, Portuguese).
MEPs point out that the current MFF has already “reached its limits”, less than two years after its adoption, a situation made worse by unpredictable events in 2022, such as the war in Ukraine.
They stress that it is “simply not equipped, in terms of size, structure or rules, to respond quickly and effectively to a multitude of crises” and are “very concerned that the current MFF does not sufficiently enable the EU to respond to possible future crises and needs or to fulfil its strategic role on the international scene”.
MEPs believe that the review should provide new funding for the new policy priorities and ensure a bigger and more flexible EU budget. They therefore call for an increase in the MFF, more budgetary flexibility and a ‘common crisis instrument’ to be able to react quickly in the need arises.
Debt repayment and interest should be placed outside the MFF, say MEPs. Otherwise, these costs, in a context of rising interest rates, could lead to a decrease in funding for programmes such as Erasmus+, EU4Health, Creative Europe or the ‘Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values’ programme.
The European Commission has announced that it will propose a revision of the MFF in the second quarter of 2023. Jan Olbrycht (EPP, Polish) said it was regrettable that the Commission had proposed “only a revision of the MFF in 2023”. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)