On the morning of Friday 25 October, the ambassadors of the Member States to the European Union (Coreper) held an initial exchange of views on the draft declaration on EU competitiveness that the EU27 are due to adopt on Friday 8 November in Budapest (see EUROPE 13511/1).
According to a European source, the proposed text did not satisfy a large number of delegations, due to its length and the inclusion of several controversial points.
For many, references to the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) are considered premature. These include a commitment by EU leaders to work on the introduction of new own resources to the EU budget and to continue work on those already proposed.
On the energy front, several delegations reportedly called for greater emphasis to be placed on the need for interconnections between Member States, but also on the need to speed up authorisation procedures for energy projects, and to deal with high energy prices.
The ambassadors’ preliminary discussions also focused on how to complete the Capital Markets Union (CMU), guidelines for which were outlined in the conclusions of the April European Council (see EUROPE 13394/1), and in line with the Letta report’s proposal to rename the CMU the “Savings and Investment Union”. This term is therefore included in the draft Budapest declaration.
Concerns were then raised about possible compromises regarding the use of the cohesion fund.
The ambassadors also highlighted the lack of depth on certain subjects compared to others. A number of people reportedly called for the social aspects of the text to be examined in greater depth.
A new version of the draft declaration will be presented to Coreper on Wednesday 30 October and Monday 4 November.
To see the first draft of the ‘Budapest Declaration’, go to https://aeur.eu/f/e0q (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)