In a letter dated Thursday 16 October, the S&D Group in the European Parliament calls on the European Commission to reconsider several elements of its 2028-2034 Multiannual Financial Framework, failing which it will be rejected.
European Socialists are opposed to National and Regional Partnership Plans, which risk weakening the role of the regions and contravene the European spirit of the budget, but also to a performance-based budget model, which would make the payment of funds conditional on the achievement of reforms.
Parliament’s role in bilateral negotiations between the European Commission and the Member States on 27 national plans raises other questions, with Parliament calling for greater democratic control.
In their letter, the European Socialists call on the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, to grant a specific and reinforced budget line to “affordable and decent” housing and to the European Social Fund (ESF+). For them, there is a need to “invest in people”.
In their view, additional joint borrowing capacity would make it possible to “unlock the necessary joint investment we need in the long term”.
Pressure is mounting on the Commission, since the EPP group in the Parliament is also opposed to the dilution of cohesion and the CAP in Pillar 1 of the budget (see EUROPE 13731/15).
The European Commissioner for Cohesion, Raffaele Fitto, said he was open to dialogue on improving certain aspects of the MFF on Thursday 16 October, during an exchange with the Committee of the Regions (see other news). This led the European Commission to specify that it was not taking a position at this stage “on the various elements of the proposal or on the individual positions of the co-legislators”.
To see the letter: https://aeur.eu/f/j0l (Original version in French by Florent Servia)