The European Parliament endorsed without amendment, on Tuesday 17 October, the position of the Committees on Budgets and Foreign Affairs on the proposal to stabilise the European Union’s macro-financial assistance to Ukraine at €50 billion (512 votes in favour, 45 against and 63 abstentions) (see EUROPE 13265/4).
The previous day, during the plenary session debate, co-rapporteur Michael Gahler (EPP, German) welcomed the fact that MEPs had reached an agreement on continued financial support for Ukraine. “Ukraine will never return to Putin’s gulag”, he said, stressing the importance of the multiannual plan, in which the Ukrainian authorities will detail the investments and reforms to be implemented in exchange for financial aid, enabling Ukraine to move forward on the road to membership of the European Union.
Co-rapporteur Eider Gardiazabal Rubial (S&D, Spanish) claimed that it was “necessary and urgent” to adopt the new macro-financial assistance package of €50 billion, two-thirds of which in the form of preferential loans. In her opinion, Russia must pay for the damage caused on Ukrainian territory. The European Parliament is therefore calling on the European Commission to provide a legal basis for mobilising the revenue generated by Russian public assets frozen in the EU (see other news).
The European Commissioner for Budget, Johannes Hahn, indicated that the European Commission was already working with Ukraine to prepare the multi-annual plan. We encourage other international donors to use this plan to provide their support, he added.
Parliament also advocates measures to increase transparency in the implementation of macro-financial assistance and to prevent the waste of resources and corruption.
To see the European Parliament’s position: https://aeur.eu/f/92q (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)