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Clement Beaune said that excluding Poland and Hungary from the relaunch fund is a legally complex move, but possible.
“Our position is clear: we will not sacrifice either return or the rule of law. It is not about reviewing the mechanism that connects the two, “Clement Beaune told the Journal du Dimanche.
The authorities in Budapest and Warsaw have vetoed the EU’s multi-annual budget for the period 2021-2017, which amounts to 1.1 trillion euros, as well as the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism, which amounts to 750 billion euros. , due to a clause in the multi-year budget that conditions access to funds in compliance with the rule of law.
Beaune estimated that the two Eastern European member states risk losing billions of euros in funding if they continue their opposition. “This is not a threat but a direct consequence of the absence of a new budget if they continue with their veto on the package,” the French official said.
On Friday, European Economic Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni also said that the European Union will go ahead with its financial package worth 1.8 trillion euros, even if Hungary and Poland will continue to veto the project. “Of course we will not capitulate to this veto. This should be very clear for Hungary and Poland … Our premise is very clear regarding these Member States, we will move forward without them,” Gentiloni said.
European Commission options
According to a senior EU official quoted by EFE this Wednesday, the European Commission is already studying various options to activate the post-pandemic recovery fund without Poland and Hungary, if these countries do not veto the plan in the coming days. One of the options considered by the European Commission is to initiate “enhanced cooperation”, a mechanism provided for in the Treaties and which allows a group of at least nine Member States to launch an initiative in which the other Member States do not wish to participate.
Another idea would be for the Member States that wish to participate in the recovery fund to provide the necessary financial guarantees so that the Community Executive can issue the common debt with which this fund will be financed, so that the decision on own resources is no longer necessary. . (which includes the financing sources of the mechanism), blocking this decision the way in which Poland and Hungary opposed this veto.
A third option would imply an intergovernmental agreement between the affected states, but Brussels considers this option to be less attractive, since it would require more time and, in addition, the acquisition of loans from the markets through this scheme would increase indebtedness. of the Member States.
The controversy over the next EU budget would dominate the talks that will take place on the occasion of the European summit that will take place on December 10-11 in Brussels, writes Agerpres.
