On Wednesday 7 May, MEPs adopted (317 votes in favour, 206 against and 123 abstentions) the European Parliament’s own-initiative report on the post-2027 multiannual financial framework.
In line with the text adopted by the Committee on Budgets (see EUROPE 13626/19), the text adopted in plenary argues for a budget that is “significantly more ambitious” than the previous one.
Parliament’s stance, while fairly typical, takes on significance in the context of the upcoming repayment of the Next Generation EU loan from 2028, which would account for 20% of the EU’s current budget.
Indeed, with the arrival of new political priorities (defence, competitiveness) and the maintenance of old ones (cohesion policy, CAP, etc.), the European Parliament has deemed “the current spending ceiling of 1% of the gross national income of the 27 Member States” to be insufficient.
The President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, insisted on the adoption of new own resources - a “major challenge” for the next MFF - and on the use of common borrowing. Threatened by a request for a separate vote tabled by Monika Hohlmeier (EPP, German) on Tuesday 6 May (see EUROPE 13634/13), the two paragraphs calling for joint borrowing were finally preserved, with the EPP instructing its MEPs not to reject them.
This last-minute submission threatened the agreement of the pro-European majority (EPP, S&D, Renew Europe, Greens/EFA), which in the end held firm. The S&D group was ready to make this a red line.
Parliament also united against the idea of an EU budget divided into 27 national plans. According to Parliament, “mega-funds” that merge existing programmes are not fit for purpose. Such an approach would also run the risk of excluding Parliament from the process.
However, the institution is calling for “a structure that guarantees transparency and parliamentary accountability, involving regional and local authorities and all the players concerned”. The European Court of Auditors has highlighted these shortcomings in the use of the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), the instrument that serves as a model for these national plans.
Parliament will now have to convince the Commission. Jean-Marc Germain (S&D, French) warned that Parliament would refuse to make funding conditional on the implementation of reforms. Such an organisation would “kill Europe”, he said. Parliament “will defend its prerogatives”, assured Roberta Metsola, who will be defending her position at the June European Council, which will be devoted to the next MFF. (Original version in French by Florent Servia)