On Wednesday 30 August, MEPs on the Committee on Budgets (BUDG) and the Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) welcomed the draft report by Michael Gahler (EPP, German) and Eider Gardiazabal Rubial (S&D, Spanish), which amends the legislative proposal establishing a ‘Ukraine Facility’, designed to stabilise the European Union’s financial assistance to Ukraine at €50 billion for the period 2024-2027 (see EUROPE 13236/8).
At the start of the debate, David McAllister (EPP, German) highlighted the tight timetable for adopting the proposal by the end of the year. And Margarida Marques (S&D, Portuguese) pointed out that the proposal on the table was part of a package of three texts for the mid-term review of the 2021-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) (see other news).
Outlining the changes made by the draft report, Mr Gahler insisted in particular on strong provisions designed to combat fraud and corruption in Ukraine, both in wartime and during the country’s reconstruction. Like his compatriot Viola von Cramon-Taubadel (Greens/EFA), he had a negative view of the reform sought by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, which would give responsibility for this fight to the intelligence services to the detriment of the competent public bodies.
Gardiazabal Rubial called for the role of the European Parliament to be strengthened, and in particular for it to be placed on an equal footing with the EU Council in terms of exchanges of information. Like several of her counterparts, such as José Manuel Fernandes (EPP, Portuguese), Petras Auštrevičius (Renew Europe, Lithuanian) and Karol Ressler (EPP, Croatian), she admitted that the €50 billion package might not be enough to get Ukraine back on its feet, since in annual terms it is less than the €18 billion macrofinancial assistance that the EU has granted for the year 2023.
Vlad Gheorghe (Renew Europe, Romanian), Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz (S&D, Polish) and Francisco José Millán Mon (EPP, Spanish) advocated beefing up the provisions that will mobilise frozen Russian public assets in Ukraine’s reconstruction effort, once a solid legal basis is in place.
On the composition of financial aid, Damian Boeselager (Greens/EFA, German) argued for a better distinction between emergency aid to countries at war and support for future investment. He also felt it necessary to include environmental considerations in the criteria for European aid. Mick Wallace (The Left, Irish) pointed out the risk of aid being used to continue the war, and of Ukraine’s debt being prolonged, and called for more support in the form of subsidies.
See the draft report: https://aeur.eu/f/8cu (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)