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The Council of the European Union, which represents the Member States, and the European Parliament reached an agreement on Friday on the EU budget for 2021, but for it to be applicable it is necessary for Poland and Hungary to lift their veto on the multi-annual budget of the EU for 2021. the period 2021-2027, which blocks together with the post-pandemic recovery fund to oppose the conditioning of access to European funds by the rule of law, Reuters reports, according to Agerpres.
“The 2021 budget may come into force after the lifting of the blockade on the EU budget as a whole and the recovery package,” said German Ambassador to the EU Michael Clauss, who holds the six-month presidency of the Council of The EU.
If this veto is not lifted, says the German ambassador, an interim funding system for next year will be implemented in the EU budget, last applied in 1989.
According to this system applicable in the absence of an approved multi-annual budget, each month of the EU budget will be able to spend in 2021 only 12 of what was spent in 2020 for certain budget chapters. Thus, it will not be possible to finance new projects, but only those started based on the budget for the 2014-2020 period. Farmers will be able to access European funds in 2022, but probably with some delays and monthly payments.
Regarding the “Next Generation” plan, which consists of a recovery fund of 750,000 million euros, several European officials, including the leader of the PPE group in the European Parliament, Manfred Weber, and the European Commissioner for the Economy, Paolo Gentilon, indicated the possibility of launching without Poland and Hungary. Possible options put forward by European officials include the enhanced cooperation mechanism provided for in the EU Treaty or an intergovernmental agreement between the other 25 Member States.
Following the adoption by a qualified majority at the meeting of EU ambassadors on 16 November, which conditioned the access of European funds to the rule of law, Poland and Hungary vetoed the EU’s multi-annual budget in a preliminary vote at the same meeting for the period. 2021-2027 (of 1,074 million euros) and the “Next Generation” plan.
This conditionality mechanism, adopted after an agreement between the European Parliament and the German Presidency of the Council of the EU, allows the suspension of European funds in the case of a Member State when the European Commission considers that it violates the rule of law if the States Members approve this measure by qualified majority. against that country.
Poland has changed its mind and maintains its veto by blocking the EU budget
The governments of Warsaw and Budapest see this mechanism as an arbitrary and abusive political instrument to sanction countries that promote unpleasant policies in Brussels. Hungary particularly fears that it will be sanctioned for its anti-migration measures and gender issues, such as the inclusion of the traditional definition of family in the Constitution recently proposed by the Budapest government, while Poland is in conflict with the European institutions. on judicial reforms and rights of LGBT people.
Polish Deputy Prime Minister Jaroslaw Gowin said on Thursday that Warsaw could lift the veto if EU leaders issue a statement committing that the mechanism will only apply to situations strictly related to the EU budget, a position later refuted by Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.
“(The mechanism) violates our fundamental rules, fundamental rights. Therefore, we are concerned about the future of the entire European Union, we have clearly told our partners that we cannot accept the resolution in its current form,” Morawiecki said at a press conference.
In an interview with the German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, the Polish prime minister argued that this “mechanism that supposedly guarantees respect for the rule of law is in itself a fundamental violation of the rule of law” as it can be used arbitrarily. and politically motivated “, and appreciated that its introduction requires a revision of the EU Treaty.
Following the Polish deputy prime minister’s statement on Friday, the Budapest government also confirmed that it had not changed position. The situation created by the Polish and Hungarian veto will be discussed by European leaders at the December 10-11 summit.
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Editing: Robert Kiss
