“We believe that any move towards recurrent joint borrowing merits careful scrutiny and in-depth legal and political debate.” With these words, Monika Hohlmeier MEP (EPP, German) thus justified her request for a separate vote on two paragraphs of the European Parliament’s report on the post-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework on Tuesday, 6 May.
The European Parliament’s report (see EUROPE 13626/19) identified joint borrowing and joint borrowing through the issuance of EU bonds as viable options “to ensure that the Union has sufficient resources to respond to acute Union-wide crises such as the ongoing crisis in the area of security and defence”. Monika Hohlmeier considered the subject to be “politically sensitive”.
For the S&D group, the two articles targeted by this separate vote could, however, represent a line not to be crossed – this group having defended the call to employ joint borrowing during negotiations on the text. Nevertheless, no decision had been taken at the group level at the time this article was written, according to a source close to the matter.
The EPP supports MEPs’ having the opportunity “to express their points of view”, a source explained. The political group will support “the original text”, even if “certain delegations or certain MEPs vote differently”.
Siegfried Mureşan, the Romanian co-rapporteur himself being a member of the EPP, is “going over the books and thinks it should happen”, explained another source. (Original version in French by Florent Servia)